Modded Skyrim SE randomly stops utilising 100% of GPU

[Maicol0815]

Hi!

So, as the topic says.
Randomly after a loading screen Skyrim SE decides not to utilise 100% of my GPU, instead it stays around 40-50% usage and drops down to 30FPS instead of my usual solid 60.
I have no idea why it's doing thing... Only time it doesn't happen randomly is when I'm around Riften and now apparently Dragon Bridge...
My game is heavily modded, but with my 6700K and 1080 Ti I've had solid 60FPS for the longest time, but suddenly, it just refuses to run well. I also now get random stutters when I have solid 60, and like I said some areas have only aorund 30 FPS.
Yet, according to my GPU meters, they say the GPU isn't utilising above 50% load. Which is odd. I'd understand if it was 30FPS and the GPU load was at 100%, because that would mean my hardware can't handle all the mods, but since the load barely evne reaches 50%, I can't help but think something else is the issue...
I recently updates a couple of mods, since Bethesda suddenly decided to update Skyrim SE, I don't even have a clue as to what they added or changed that was so important as to risk ruining stable mods.

But, what do you thin could be the cause of this issue?
Like I said, couple of months ago, I could get solid 60FPS, no stutter, no problems what so ever. And I'm using the exact same mods I did back then, except they've been updated.

Please help me troubleshoot this.

[TonyOQuinn]

Hi!

 

So, as the topic says.

Randomly after a loading screen Skyrim SE decides not to utilise 100% of my GPU, instead it stays around 40-50% usage and drops down to 30FPS instead of my usual solid 60.

I have no idea why it's doing thing... Only time it doesn't happen randomly is when I'm around Riften and now apparently Dragon Bridge...

My game is heavily modded, but with my 6700K and 1080 Ti I've had solid 60FPS for the longest time, but suddenly, it just refuses to run well. I also now get random stutters when I have solid 60, and like I said some areas have only aorund 30 FPS.

Yet, according to my GPU meters, they say the GPU isn't utilising above 50% load. Which is odd. I'd understand if it was 30FPS and the GPU load was at 100%, because that would mean my hardware can't handle all the mods, but since the load barely evne reaches 50%, I can't help but think something else is the issue...

I recently updates a couple of mods, since Bethesda suddenly decided to update Skyrim SE, I don't even have a clue as to what they added or changed that was so important as to risk ruining stable mods.

 

But, what do you thin could be the cause of this issue?

Like I said, couple of months ago, I could get solid 60FPS, no stutter, no problems what so ever. And I'm using the exact same mods I did back then, except they've been updated.

 

Please help me troubleshoot this.

Obviously the new mods are suspect. They could have introduced new problems while fixing others. Also, could be several scripts have accumulated during your game play. I suspect some other process is causing lag, which has nothing to do with graphics, and is actually leaving the GPU with nothing to do.

[Maicol0815]

 

"I suspect some other process is causing lag, which has nothing to do with graphics, and is actually leaving the GPU with nothing to do."

Explain...

[TonyOQuinn]

 

 

"I suspect some other process is causing lag, which has nothing to do with graphics, and is actually leaving the GPU with nothing to do."

Explain...

 

Well, I don't think I can explain it better than you did yourself. The GPU load drops when you see micro stutter, so it seems like the CPU is busy running scripts, or not running scripts but spewing errors, or decompressing files, or something, leaving the GPU with nothing to show on screen. Does that make sense? How does the CPU utilization look when that happens?

My first intuition is the update caused some script problems. I would revert the update to the previous version and disable updates.

[Deleted3897072User]

I have a GTX 1060 and I get a solid 60fps at around 30-50% GPU load. The GPU never goes to 100% and the fps never drops below 59 (except during load screens that are clamped at 30). So if your 1080 was running at 100% GPU, it was that situation that was wrong. Now, if you are dropping fps in Riften that's not because of the GPU at all. In Riften (and, to a lesser extent in Whiterun) there are a lot of convo triggers that burn up CPU resources until you have been around and talked to all the NPCs who are waiting to initiate convos.

[Maicol0815]

I have a GTX 1060 and I get a solid 60fps at around 30-50% GPU load. The GPU never goes to 100% and the fps never drops below 59 (except during load screens that are clamped at 30). So if your 1080 was running at 100% GPU, it was that situation that was wrong. Now, if you are dropping fps in Riften that's not because of the GPU at all. In Riften (and, to a lesser extent in Whiterun) there are a lot of convo triggers that burn up CPU resources until you have been around and talked to all the NPCs who are waiting to initiate convos.

Do you have 130+ mods? Some with intense 4K res textures?

[Maicol0815]

 

 

 

"I suspect some other process is causing lag, which has nothing to do with graphics, and is actually leaving the GPU with nothing to do."

Explain...

 

Well, I don't think I can explain it better than you did yourself. The GPU load drops when you see micro stutter, so it seems like the CPU is busy running scripts, or not running scripts but spewing errors, or decompressing files, or something, leaving the GPU with nothing to show on screen. Does that make sense? How does the CPU utilization look when that happens?

My first intuition is the update caused some script problems. I would revert the update to the previous version and disable updates.

 

That acutally makes a lot of sense, and it would in my case if my CPU ever reached 100%, which it doesn't, it sits around 50-60% usage, sometimes jumps up to 80%. But it's not even close to being a bottleneck.

[Maicol0815]

bump

[jones177]

Hi

 

If you are at 50 to 60% CPU usage that is your problem.

 

The games rendering engine loads into 1 core. With a i7 6700k your best frame rate would be achieved at 25% CPU usage. I use a 6 core & I try to stay around 17% usage. The only time you should hit 60% or more is when there is lots of magic in the air. In my game 100% CPU usage = CTD.

 

To get more performance out of your i7 6700k I recommend overclocking it. That is what I did with mine.

 

I use a GTX 1080 ti to play the game at 4k resolution with ENB & Reshade. My frame rate averages 70fps with vsync off.

My GPUs average usage is 98%. With vsync on it is in the 80s.

 

I also use a GTX 1080 ti to play at 3440 X 1440 resolution. I use the same mods & ENB/Reshade on both computers. At that resolution the 1080 ti averages 65% usage. CPU usage stays the same. The load on the GPU is lower at 1440 WS so usage is lower.

 

All of the stutter that I have gotten in this game is from video drivers. The latest one is not as smooth as the ones that came out earlier this year. To keep the stutters awaly I play around with vsync. For a long time I had to use adaptive sync with this game. For the past year I have been using the in game vsync. On my 4k game I play without vsync & keep frame rate down by making ENB/Reshade heaver. It is a smoother experience without vsync.

[Maicol0815]

Hi

 

If you are at 50 to 60% CPU usage that is your problem.

 

The games rendering engine loads into 1 core. With a i7 6700k your best frame rate would be achieved at 25% CPU usage. I use a 6 core & I try to stay around 17% usage. The only time you should hit 60% or more is when there is lots of magic in the air. In my game 100% CPU usage = CTD.

 

To get more performance out of your i7 6700k I recommend overclocking it. That is what I did with mine.

 

I use a GTX 1080 ti to play the game at 4k resolution with ENB & Reshade. My frame rate averages 70fps with vsync off.

My GPUs average usage is 98%. With vsync on it is in the 80s.

 

I also use a GTX 1080 ti to play at 3440 X 1440 resolution. I use the same mods & ENB/Reshade on both computers. At that resolution the 1080 ti averages 65% usage. CPU usage stays the same. The load on the GPU is lower at 1440 WS so usage is lower.

 

All of the stutter that I have gotten in this game is from video drivers. The latest one is not as smooth as the ones that came out earlier this year. To keep the stutters awaly I play around with vsync. For a long time I had to use adaptive sync with this game. For the past year I have been using the in game vsync. On my 4k game I play without vsync & keep frame rate down by making ENB/Reshade heaver. It is a smoother experience without vsync.

Are you serious?

What about my CPU monitors claiming all cores are being used?

Is this a limitation of the engine itself or all games?

How can I lower CPU usage? Without it impeding on my aesthetic experience?

I can't properly OC my 6700K, tried it, was unstable all the time. It's factory overclocked to 4.2, and I put performance profile in the mobo on so now it's at 4.3Hz. But manual overclock to somethign higher will make it unstable.

I don't think I can force it higher.

But seriously, why would a game limit the core usage? Why not utilise all of the cores?

Edited October 6, 2018 by Maicol0815