Look at the picture enclosed. That basically is “nuff said” right there but I’ll elaborate.
GW2 is only using up 16% of my cpu….and I have an i7 920 @ 3.6 ghz.
Not only is it using less cpu % than my basic system defrag tools, but it’s also leaving me at crappy fps!!! not to mention the resolution is so small.
What gives here??!!? This doesn’t seem right at all and it’s very annoying.
Can someone please tell me if they are having similar issues?
O.o You have 2 instances of Internet Explorer and Firefox running while playing Guild Wars 2 (Choose one or the other, but dear God not both)… Also, do you understand the processing power of an i7?
PHP/MySQL Code Monkey and MCITP. Owner of a Michigan-based Computer Service and Hosting Company.
I have an i7 920 @2.7 GHz, and depending on what’s happening in GW2, my CPU usage can range from 11% to 35%, and my framerate is a pretty solid 60 (with vsync on). I have an ATI 6870 graphics card and run at 1920×1080.
I don’t think it’s your CPU that’s letting you down.
I have an i7 920 @2.7 GHz, and depending on what’s happening in GW2, my CPU usage can range from 11% to 35%, and my framerate is a pretty solid 60 (with vsync on). I have an ATI 6870 graphics card and run at 1920×1080.
I don’t think it’s your CPU that’s letting you down.
Do you think I should reset it back it back to factory settings? Maybe GW isn’t reading my clock right?
Depending on how much you know about overclocking, that might be a good idea. There’s a lot more to getting a good, stable OC than just changing the clock multiplier. You have to adjust core voltages, memory timing, etc etc etc. If all you did was change the clock, then putting it back might help get your system back in sync with itself, which could clear up some bottlenecks. It’s not a guarantee, though.
If you want to try for higher framerates, first try turning off some of the graphics options that tax your computer. Things like Shadows, Anti-aliasing, Shaders, Reflections can have a huge impact on FPS. Start with setting those to off or low and see what happens. Then adjust them up to see what gives you the picture quality you want with an acceptable framerate.
Depending on how much you know about overclocking, that might be a good idea. There’s a lot more to getting a good, stable OC than just changing the clock multiplier. You have to adjust core voltages, memory timing, etc etc etc. If all you did was change the clock, then putting it back might help get your system back in sync with itself, which could clear up some bottlenecks. It’s not a guarantee, though.
If you want to try for higher framerates, first try turning off some of the graphics options that tax your computer. Things like Shadows, Anti-aliasing, Shaders, Reflections can have a huge impact on FPS. Start with setting those to off or low and see what happens. Then adjust them up to see what gives you the picture quality you want with an acceptable framerate.
I’ve pretty much all the ins and outs of optimizing this game. I set all settings to low…9-10 fps increase. Set all the settings to max 9-10 fps decrease. I feel as though it makes no difference whether I run this max or low…Its always low 50’s high 40’s. I’m not really worried about my fps exactly, but my cpu usage. 16%? that’s ridiculous for a game that’s a “cpu hog”.
GW2’s main thread is the bottleneck on the software end. It’s simply impossible to ‘split’ a thread over 2 or more CPUs because of how logic circuits work (I explained this in detail in another other FPS thread).
Basically, 4 physical cores = 4×100% of power, and not 400% as task manager reports it. Since you have an i7 with Hyperthreading, that gives it 8 logical cores (which is assumed to be 800%). No thread on your system will ever be shown as using more than 12% according to process explorer. The higher your raw MHz, the higher your FPS will get.
(late edit: ‘process explorer’ in the second part, task manager doesn’t show threads.)
It’s only a CPU hog when it has to be. Things like WvWvW and when there are a lot of things going on on-screen will make the CPU work harder. So will having an graphics card (or old driver) that doesn’t support DirectX functionality because if a feature is not implemented in hardware, the CPU will have to emulate it. The CPU’s job isn’t to run at 100%. Its job is actually to run at as low a percentage as possible and get the job done.
To get an idea of how your CPU is performing in relation to your computer, you also need to look at your GPU usage. If you GPU usage is high, then your CPU is feeding the data faster than the GPU can process it. If the GPU usage is low, then the CPU isn’t feeding data fast enough. So it’s a combination of both usages that tells the important story.
And just because a lot of gamers all think that a game is a CPU hog doesn’t make it one. Sometimes it just something they say so they can feel better about their awesome computer not performing up to their expectations.
I see your logic there delta, but there’s only one problem.
Have you ever ran the prime cpu test? well…I just did and I always do it to stabilize my CPU clocks. When I run it my CPU goes up to 100% and on all 8 threads the graph is at 100%
Comparing a game to a program specifically designed to test a CPU isn’t fair. The test program is written to identify the features of a CPU and stress it to the limit. A game is designed to be as “easy” on a CPU as possible so that it can work on as many computer configurations as possible – and be as easy to maintain as possible.
You could get much better performance from games if they were written specifically to take advantage of all the features of a CPU, but then the game would be almost impossible to support and maintain. You’d have to have experts on every possible CPU, special game versions for every CPU, etc. That’s not practical, so games are written to be as non-CPU-specific as possible.
@Eincrou: same thing. Change your encoding setting to use 1.
See how it’s 12% now?
GW2 is a very single-threaded application. Look at more detailed usage in something like ProcessExplorer.
You said, “No thread on your system will ever be shown as using more than 12% according to task manager.”
This is what I was responding to: the claim that Task Manager will will never report more than 12% for any thread. Clearly, threads can report for more than 12%, but now I understand that you meant to say this only about single-threaded applications.
With respect to the Guild Wars 2 process, I am running it in the background right now and the All CPU Meter gadget reports Core 1 at 85% usage, with ~23% usage overall (I have several other programs open at the moment). Windows Task Manager shows the “Gw2.exe *32” thread fluctuating between 15-22%.
I have included a screenshot of this. GW2 is running minimized. Ignore the wrong clock speed reported by All CPU Meter. I have CPU-Z up to show the real clock speed.
When I go back into the game, CPU usage jumps on several ‘cores’. Windows Task Manager reports usage on the “Gw2.exe” process around 30% on average, but I’ve seen it as high as 45%. I had to change the game to fullscreen windowed to capture the second screenshot.
Don’t confuse threads with processes. A process can spawn as many threads as it wants, and the default task manager doesn’t show you how many it has or what they are doing. http://i.imgur.com/uiBK8.jpg
GW2.exe process: 40% usage.
The rendering/main thread: 23% usage.
Your “total” usage, as reported by task manager, is all over the place because the other threads (sound, network, input) all have different things to do depending on where you are. But for the most part the process will always be (#cores / 100)% + X while the renderer thread will be <(#cores / 100)%, in my case 25.
As for why it doesn’t show a single core being topped at 100%, internal scheduler and power saving. The CPU will switch the thread from one core to another several hundred times a second (at no performance loss) to try and balance the load evenly. Electrical leakage is exponential, so less load = less power consumption = less heat.
“Don’t confuse threads with processes. A process can spawn as many threads as it wants, and the default task manager doesn’t show you how many it has or what they are doing.”
I don’t even know what you’re responding to. My posts have only been in regards to a claim about what Windows Task Manager will show. That is all. Whether something is a thread or a process is irrelevant to my participation in this discussion topic.
In the proper manner of scientific investigation, I tested the claim about Windows Task Manager, could not reproduce it, and I have shared my results. That’s all there is to it.
“Clearly, threads can report for more than 12%, but now I understand that you meant to say this only about single-threaded applications.”
^this
In proper scientific investigation, a thread is not a process. It makes your premise false, and everything you imply from it also false. That’s why I suggested using something more detailed like PE to show you the threads GW2.exe creates; Task Manager only shows GW2.exe as a whole.
