Low GPU and CPU-usage, but still only 20 fps...

M

MinscS2

New member
Was gonna try out 16.4 and quickly realized that the game has become unplayable for me with the latest patch. :upset:

The game has always been badly optimized but it's always been playable with FPS around the 40-80 mark most of the time.

16.4 is totally unplayable for me though, as the game seems stuck on 18-20 fps even out in the open with no zombies nearby.

CPU usage is at 5-15% mark and GPU usage is at 20%.

Oddly enough, the GPU usage occasionally goes to ~95% and in those short moments I get 80+ fps. Sadly those moments are few and far between.

I've tried different in-game settings, updated my drivers and disabled in-game voice chat, but nothing seems to work.

Spec:

i7-3930k @ 4,2 GHz. (tried with and without hyperthreading)

GTX 1070 Ti

16 GB RAM @ 1600 Mhz.

Asus P9X79 Pro

Win 10 64

Any help is appreciated.

Edit 1/1: New spec's but the issue remains.

i7-8700k @ 4,8 GHz.

GTX 1080

16 GB RAM @ 3200 MHz.

Asus Strix Z370-F

Game is installed on a SSD and temps are nice and cool.

 
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1) Are you using full sized textures, or one of the fractional sizes?

2) What video card do you have?

3) What shadow settings do you use?

3) If you use full size textures, you have to go into video settings, and press the OK button. Don't change anything, just apply current settings. It's been like this for a very long time, not sure when/if they are going to fix it. That one step along can increase fps significantly.

If I use full size textures, I get 2-3 fps until I do step 3 above. Even with an nVidia 1060, I use half size textures. And make sure shadows are off or low, as shadows are a serious fps sucker.

 
I have almost the exact same setup except I'm OC'ed to 4.5GHz on the CPU, and I have a 1060.

I play with everything maxed except with Shadows, Reflections, SSAO, and Motion Blur turned off. I get mostly 70-80FPS without an issue.

My guess would be either a hardware bottleneck like the HDD, driver issue, or settings configuration.

More data is needed.

 
The thing is though that I've changed nothing, the fps-drops came with Alpha 16.4. I had no issues with earlier versions.

I've experimented with different settings (lowest to highest) but the fps still gets stuck at 18-20 despite really low GPU and CPU-usage. The really odd thing is that on occasion the GPU-usage goes trough the roof and I get a nice 80-90 fps, but it doesn't last very long before it reverts to low usage and 20 fps...

It's almost as the game prevents my GPU from working properly.

And I got the game installed on a SSD, so there's no potential bottleneck from any harddrive.

I can also rule out any potential hardware error as all other games run smoothly.

 
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Yeah, but 7DTD is not like any other game. Post a Speccy link, and I can delve deeper into the issue. With a half-decent MB, you shouldn't be experiencing that.

 
How's the heat in your system? Do you have aftermarket cooling and good case airflow or just a junky cooler provided by the CPU manufacturer and maybe a shiny but impractical case? Reason I ask is maybe there's some CPU throttling or something unusual in relation to heat?

This game does seem to treat hardware in a very weird way. I myself have a high end system and I can't get my hardware to stress out at all over this game. Although, lucky for me, I don't have bad fps issues like you.

A bit off topic here, but I'm curious... Are all Windows 10 specific issues solved with this game yet and is just as good and stable as Windows 7 now?

 
Ok, so you and I really to have almost the exact same configuration. You've got one tier higher on the GPU, I've got one tier higher on the MB. The only other significant difference is your RAM speeds.

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/sPHLfBe6KWsTOa2vUj1CgF2

But let's delve into the rest of this deeper.

1. You have Windows Defender. It's enabled. First exclude the client fully, then disable that crap. (Instructions are in sticky FAQ.) I strongly recommend getting a real AV solution. IMHO, BitDefender is the best currently, and has been top rated for a few years now. (You'll still need to exclude games from it. This is true for any AV solution.)

2. Your BIOS is outdated. There have been several BIOS updates that have improved system stability. You're running Version 4210, and the current stable is 4701. (You don't need the Beta)

This is potentially your main issue right here.

Seriously though, look at my Speccy. Our hardware is very nearly identical, and I'm not having this issue at all. Your slow RAM may be a part of the problem, or it could be some optimization issue with your drives or video resolution. I'm betting it's the BIOS though. It's like you've got the one that originally came with the board.

I do have another system with this setup, which has that same board you do. I'll get it's specs later for comparison. Mainly so I can see what BIOS version it has.

- - - Updated - - -

Almost forgot. BIOS updates....

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P9X79_PRO/HelpDesk_Download/

 
Ok, so you and I really to have almost the exact same configuration. You've got one tier higher on the GPU, I've got one tier higher on the MB. The only other significant difference is your RAM speeds.http://speccy.piriform.com/results/sPHLfBe6KWsTOa2vUj1CgF2

But let's delve into the rest of this deeper.

1. You have Windows Defender. It's enabled. First exclude the client fully, then disable that crap. (Instructions are in sticky FAQ.) I strongly recommend getting a real AV solution. IMHO, BitDefender is the best currently, and has been top rated for a few years now. (You'll still need to exclude games from it. This is true for any AV solution.)

2. Your BIOS is outdated. There have been several BIOS updates that have improved system stability. You're running Version 4210, and the current stable is 4701. (You don't need the Beta)

This is potentially your main issue right here.

Seriously though, look at my Speccy. Our hardware is very nearly identical, and I'm not having this issue at all. Your slow RAM may be a part of the problem, or it could be some optimization issue with your drives or video resolution. I'm betting it's the BIOS though. It's like you've got the one that originally came with the board.

I do have another system with this setup, which has that same board you do. I'll get it's specs later for comparison. Mainly so I can see what BIOS version it has.

- - - Updated - - -

Almost forgot. BIOS updates....

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P9X79_PRO/HelpDesk_Download/
Click to expand...
Hey Sylen,

I tried to exclude 7dtd from my anti-virus software (trend micro) but when I go to do so, it gives me an error message of "catastrophic failure". Do you know what that means or what causes that?

 
I haven't used Trend Micro since Vista was released because they basically gave up on supporting users. Are you getting that error from the client, or the AV solution?

 
I haven't used Trend Micro since Vista was released because they basically gave up on supporting users. Are you getting that error from the client, or the AV solution?
Click to expand...
I actually fixed it Salen, thank you anyways though! But know I am getting an odd resolution error that I started a new thread on so I havent been able to play since two days ago :/

 
Spec:

i7-3930k @ 4,2 GHz. (tried with and without hyperthreading)

GTX 1070 Ti

16 GB RAM @ 1600 Mhz.

Win 10 64
Click to expand...
Just upgraded my PC.

New specs are:

i7-8700k @ 4,8 GHz.

GTX 1080.

16 GB RAM @ 3200 MHz.

(And naturally a new MoBo)

And guess what, I'm still having the same problem. :(

Low GPU and CPU-usage and only ~25 fps.

 
Something is wrong there. I've even set the client to use all three of my monitors in surround, and still don't get that low in FPS.

 
It's not even consistent.

Sometimes I can start up the game and enjoy ~100 fps (with moderately high GPU and CPU-usage) for a time before it drops down to ~25, and sometimes I can start up the game and get instantly stuck att ~25 fps (with low CPU and GPU-usage) on the very same server. (temps are fine)

Something that is consistent however, is that if I tab out of the game and then pop it up again, the fps always get's stuck at ~25 which is...weird to say the least.

Tried lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p as well but it didn't change anything.

I feel that at this point my last options are either to reinstall my OS (which I won't do, since everything else works as intended and I really don't want to go trough the hassle) or wait for the next patch and hope that it fixes things (as these issues started with alpha 16.4, so perhaps alpha 16.5/17 will fix them...)

 
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Having not used an Nvidia card in a long time, it just occurred to me. You should try reducing your Pre-rendered frames, which will allot less work to the CPU before sending graphics instructions to the GPU. Might help smooth things out and put that expensive GPU to better use.

 
No, it's an option in the launcher. Do you have Exclusive Fullscreen mode checked there?

- - - Updated - - -

Having not used an Nvidia card in a long time, it just occurred to me. You should try reducing your Pre-rendered frames, which will allot less work to the CPU before sending graphics instructions to the GPU. Might help smooth things out and put that expensive GPU to better use.
Click to expand...
This shouldn't be an issue on a stock setup, and he did state that the CPU was not heavily loaded.

 
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