TombRaider CPU bottleneck by 3930k?

[TheUnk]

3930K @ 4.6GHz. SLI Titans. 5760x1080.

Areas with lots of detail, GPU usage drops to 60-70%. 46fps. No graphic option except lowering level of detail improves FPS. I could raise SSAA from 2x to 4x and get 80-90% GPU usage but fps were still 46.

Took the CPU OC off and ran the 3930K at stock. Exact same area drops to 35fps.

Overclock to 4.8GHz, got 49fps. So clearly a CPU bottleneck?

From what I can tell TR is only really using 4 cores tops. All 6 show activity but if I turn off 2 of them the performance seems to remain exactly the same.

Is it just this game lacking optimization? It looks like no single core was going above 60% usage, but OCing it more did give a slight fps increase...

 

[Idontcare]

Looks like a CPU bottleneck to me too. As to why the core usage would be less than 100% but still causing bottlenecking it may be latency related.

 

[inf64]

Can you lower the amount of detail for "hair"? I heard that NV GPUs have poor performance when that setting is at maximum.

 

[TheUnk]

Can you lower the amount of detail for "hair"? I heard that NV GPUs have poor performance when that setting is at maximum.

It's already on "Normal". TressFX hair does not function properly on SLI with Surround.

 

[TheUnk]

Looks like a CPU bottleneck to me too. As to why the core usage would be less than 100% but still causing bottlenecking it may be latency related.

Hmmm any solutions to improving latency? Different mobo, ram? Sorry not quite sure what this means..

Both Titans are in x16 3.0 slots

 

[inf64]

It's already on "Normal". TressFX hair does not function properly on SLI with Surround.

Ah ok. Then there is not much you can do I guess. The only thing is to try hitting higher OC on your SB-E,if possible. Getting IB with Haswell so close would be a bad proposition. Even Haswell with its mediocre IPC improvement (over IB,which is slower than SB-E in most games) would not be a good enough upgrade for you.
Do you think you can hit 5Ghz stable with some better cooling on your CPU?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

You will just need to wait for haswell.

 

[blckgrffn]

I don't think there is any way I'd move from 3930k to any current IVB or a future Haswell.

Especially not for one game

 

[escrow4]

Welcome to the joys of SLI and expensive hardware, where you spend thousands on a system that can't even max out a basic console port due to sloppy coding and drivers.

 

[pauldun170]

3930K @ 4.6GHz. SLI Titans. 5760x1080.

Areas with lots of detail, GPU usage drops to 60-70%. 46fps. No graphic option except lowering level of detail improves FPS. I could raise SSAA from 2x to 4x and get 80-90% GPU usage but fps were still 46.

Took the CPU OC off and ran the 3930K at stock. Exact same area drops to 35fps.

Overclock to 4.8GHz, got 49fps. So clearly a CPU bottleneck?

From what I can tell TR is only really using 4 cores tops. All 6 show activity but if I turn off 2 of them the performance seems to remain exactly the same.

Is it just this game lacking optimization? It looks like no single core was going above 60% usage, but OCing it more did give a slight fps increase...

With a low end rig like that, I think you need to reset your expectations.
Perhaps you should consider dropping resolution to 800x600?

Otherwise...curious to see some screen shots

 

[tweakboy]

No your 6 core 12 thread CPU is not enough, its bottlenecking LMAO .....whats above yours,,, nothing!!! Very silly question.

 

[TheUnk]

Well I upgraded from 1600 C9 RAM to 2400 C9, gained 4-5fps lol. Squeezin!

 

[alcoholbob]

I don't think there is any way I'd move from 3930k to any current IVB or a future Haswell.

Especially not for one game

Not much reason when you might get lucky to see 1-2 fps gain with the new platform...

 

[mango123]

that pretty bad,
my 7970 w 3570k maxed that shit out!
@ 57 lowest fps.

EDIT
DERP!
I didnt see u were at 5xxx x 1xxx
LOL
thats pretty good.

 

[rgallant]

Hmmm any solutions to improving latency? Different mobo, ram? Sorry not quite sure what this means..

Both Titans are in x16 3.0 slots

-are they running @ pci-e 2.0 or 3.0 ?
-not sure of the current state of nv drivers for 3.0 on x79 cpu's.

 

[colonelciller]

You will just need to wait for haswell.

 

[colonelciller]

-are they running @ pci-e 2.0 or 3.0 ?
-not sure of the current state of nv drivers for 3.0 on x79 cpu's.

there could be something to that... not all MOBOs support 3.0 when multiple slots are occupied.

what's your mobo OP?

 

[TheUnk]

It's running 3.0. Have to use the nvidia tool to enable it everytime I install a new driver and GPU-Z shows it runs at 3.0. It's an ASUS P9X79 Pro

 

[boxleitnerb]

3930K @ 4.6GHz. SLI Titans. 5760x1080.

Areas with lots of detail, GPU usage drops to 60-70%. 46fps. No graphic option except lowering level of detail improves FPS. I could raise SSAA from 2x to 4x and get 80-90% GPU usage but fps were still 46.

Took the CPU OC off and ran the 3930K at stock. Exact same area drops to 35fps.

Overclock to 4.8GHz, got 49fps. So clearly a CPU bottleneck?

From what I can tell TR is only really using 4 cores tops. All 6 show activity but if I turn off 2 of them the performance seems to remain exactly the same.

Is it just this game lacking optimization? It looks like no single core was going above 60% usage, but OCing it more did give a slight fps increase...

I've been observing the same thing with my 3930K@4.2 GHz and Titan SLI@OC. The game is only loading one thread at 90+% in those instances, the other threads are mostly below 60%. I can also confirm that performance is equal between 4 cores and 6 cores. Hyperthreading does nothing at all, 0% load on the virtual cores.

Could you maybe post a screenshot comparison at the same location with 2 different RAM clock speeds? Not that I don't believe you, I'm just curious. I think the Mountain Village is a good spot:

 

[DeviiL]

Hi guys,
Just registered to post this info here. It comes from Tomb Raider forums.
Try to add the following key to your registry:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Crystal Dynamics\Tomb Raider\Graphics]
"MultiCoreFlushMode"=dword:00000001"

 

[Durp]

I've been observing the same thing with my 3930K@4.2 GHz and Titan SLI@OC. The game is only loading one thread at 90+% in those instances, the other threads are mostly below 60%. I can also confirm that performance is equal between 4 cores and 6 cores. Hyperthreading does nothing at all, 0% load on the virtual cores.

Off topic I know.... I tried to PM you but these forums have a silly post requirement to do so.

How did you include CPU monitoring in Evga precision?

 

[boxleitnerb]

Off topic I know.... I tried to PM you but these forums have a silly post requirement to do so.

How did you include CPU monitoring in Evga precision?

Via HWiNFO64. Go to "Configure" and then in the lower right corner you have the "RIVA Tuner OSD" section where you can enable the selected sensor data to be display in the OSD. Both programs have to be running for this obviously, and I think you have to run EVGA Precision/MSI Afterburner first, then HWiNFO64.

Hi guys,
Just registered to post this info here. It comes from Tomb Raider forums.
Try to add the following key to your registry:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Crystal Dynamics\Tomb Raider\Graphics]
"MultiCoreFlushMode"=dword:00000001"

WOW! 30 fps gain! From 40 to almost 70 fps!

 

[SPBHM]

interesting, I wonder if this registry tweak would also help with my i3, the game complete ignores HT.

 

[DeviiL]

Try it, from what I gather with fewer cores you will get a smaller boost.
I got a 20 fps boost with a 4 core cpu.

This info came from Nixxes developer representative. He said and I quote: "Note that there are reasons this has not yet been enabled by default, testing has been limited, and the well known severe corruption and crash issues on NVIDIA hardware have been seen to occur more frequently and on more machines with this enabled, so please use with caution."

I'm going to play for a longer period of time to see if it is stable. If it starts crashing again, just remove the new reg key.

 

[UNhooked]

This is good to know!!! Currently playing SC2 and this game is next on my list. Although when I bench with all settings at high at 1920 X 1200 I avg about 56 FPS. Guessing OP is gaming at higher resolutions.