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Tips on increasing GPU usage only?


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Hey, I've recently been trying to see just how much juice I can squeeze outta my system, and I've gotten a few tools to help monitor my stats. I'm getting around 20FPS with higher texture and very high reflections (everything else is on low or off as I don't really care about anything else but my car). 

 

I have a dual core i5-2450M (yes, it's a laptop) with hyperthreading (giving me 2 extra virtual cores) but for some reason GTA IV is only using one core (usage is stuck at ~25%). As well, my GPU usage is only at like, 4%. I'm running a Radeon HD 7670M as well. I mean, the game is playable, but why the heck am I only getting 4% GPU usage?

 

Does anybody know any way to take some strain off my CPU and put it onto the GPU? I've heard that ICEinhancer (or however its spelt) is quite GPU heavy, but I'm worried that it'll affect my CPU as well, and drop my FPS even further. 

 

Any tips, tricks or mods?

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if you press ctrl alt del while running the game, and right click on gta in the task manager there should be a thing in the right click list that says "set affinity". click that and make sure that all your cores are selected, if they are all selected, you can try and increase the "priority" of the game in your system by clicking the "set priority" in the same menu, if that doesnt work, then i have no idea lol

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if you press ctrl alt del while running the game, and right click on gta in the task manager there should be a thing in the right click list that says "set affinity". click that and make sure that all your cores are selected, if they are all selected, you can try and increase the "priority" of the game in your system by clicking the "set priority" in the same menu, if that doesnt work, then i have no idea lol

 

It seems that even if I only give it one core, it'll still run the same and report the same CPU usage, just the core will be maxed out while the others aren't touched at all. As well, changing the priority won't help too much for me since that'll only matter when the CPU is running at near 100% power, and not all applications can get equal processing power. Oh well, I guess I'll just stick with the stuff I currently have.

 

Sidenote: it seems that my GPU reporting program wasn't working properly, and wasn't recording the proper stats. If anybody has a good GPU monitoring program (that isn't GPU-Z), I'd love to know about it.

 

Cheers.

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It seems that even if I only give it one core, it'll still run the same and report the same CPU usage, just the core will be maxed out while the others aren't touched at all. As well, changing the priority won't help too much for me since that'll only matter when the CPU is running at near 100% power, and not all applications can get equal processing power. Oh well, I guess I'll just stick with the stuff I currently have.

 

Sidenote: it seems that my GPU reporting program wasn't working properly, and wasn't recording the proper stats. If anybody has a good GPU monitoring program (that isn't GPU-Z), I'd love to know about it.

 

Cheers.

 

That's because most games aren't multi-core optimized due to the limitations of consoles and the lack of implementation during the porting process. On the plus side, because the new consoles all use the same architecture as everyday PCs (x86) instead of specialized computers (PowerPC), we won't see the same disastrous outcomes of the porting process (if there will even be ports). Until then it is unlikely that those of us who use multicore CPUs will see any benefit.

 

Another thing to note is that GTA is mainly CPU-dependent, GPU usage won't help the game if there is nothing for it to process. Secondly, laptops are notorious for gaming since the design that goes into all the components is different from a desktop. That's not to say you have a terrible system per se, but that's just unfortunately how it goes.

 

As far as accurate GPU statistics reporting goes, you could try an alternative to GPU-Z such as EVGA's Precision X or MSI Afterburner. I'm not sure if AMD has anything equivalent to GeForce Experience, but if they do you could test out the recommended settings layered with the iCEnhancer.

 

Best of luck to you.

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Hey, I've recently been trying to see just how much juice I can squeeze outta my system, and I've gotten a few tools to help monitor my stats. I'm getting around 20FPS with higher texture and very high reflections (everything else is on low or off as I don't really care about anything else but my car). 

 

I have a dual core i5-2450M (yes, it's a laptop) with hyperthreading (giving me 2 extra virtual cores) but for some reason GTA IV is only using one core (usage is stuck at ~25%). As well, my GPU usage is only at like, 4%. I'm running a Radeon HD 7670M as well. I mean, the game is playable, but why the heck am I only getting 4% GPU usage?

 

Does anybody know any way to take some strain off my CPU and put it onto the GPU? I've heard that ICEinhancer (or however its spelt) is quite GPU heavy, but I'm worried that it'll affect my CPU as well, and drop my FPS even further. 

 

Any tips, tricks or mods?

1.) Intel processors use TurboBoost and HyperThreading in a manner where it auto-judges what programs benefit from cores, and what programs benefit from clock speed. Your mobile Core i5 chip seems to think that maxing out one core is more effective than trying to run on both cores at a lower clock speed. And it may be correct in thinking so. A mobile chip usually won't have clock speed or other cores to spare, so you might be out of luck there. HyperThreading also does absolutely nothing to help performance in a lot of cases. It only helps when programs are written to take advantage of it. And even then a CPU with 4 cores usually won't need the "extra" four virtual cores you get. Hell, some programmers even suggest you turn HyperThreading off and that the technology is a bunch of marketing crap. AMD doesn't even believe in the technology.

2.) The fact that you mentioned you have an Core i5 2450M means that it's a Sandy Bridge generation CPU, meaning that it has an onboard GPU (technically). That means you have toggle-able dedicated graphics. Your game may not understand that you have a graphics card beyond the one the CPU has built in, and therefore may not be using it at all, meaning you've been running the game on your CPU alone the whole time. Toggle-able GPU's are pretty rare, and an older game like GTA IV may not know how to deal with that. Or for that matter, you may simply have not turned it on yourself, and you've been using the computer with it switched off since you owned it.

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1.) Intel processors use TurboBoost and HyperThreading in a manner where it auto-judges what programs benefit from cores, and what programs benefit from clock speed. Your mobile Core i5 chip seems to think that maxing out one core is more effective than trying to run on both cores at a lower clock speed. And it may be correct in thinking so. A mobile chip usually won't have clock speed or other cores to spare, so you might be out of luck there. HyperThreading also does absolutely nothing to help performance in a lot of cases. It only helps when programs are written to take advantage of it. And even then a CPU with 4 cores usually won't need the "extra" four virtual cores you get. Hell, some programmers even suggest you turn HyperThreading off and that the technology is a bunch of marketing crap. AMD doesn't even believe in the technology.

2.) The fact that you mentioned you have an Core i5 2450M means that it's a Sandy Bridge generation CPU, meaning that it has an onboard GPU (technically). That means you have toggle-able dedicated graphics. Your game may not understand that you have a graphics card beyond the one the CPU has built in, and therefore may not be using it at all, meaning you've been running the game on your CPU alone the whole time. Toggle-able GPU's are pretty rare, and an older game like GTA IV may not know how to deal with that. Or for that matter, you may simply have not turned it on yourself, and you've been using the computer with it switched off since you owned it.

 

I'm quite aware that I have two graphics cards, and it's been a proper pain in the ass. I have an Intel HD 4000 (I think?) integrated, and a Radeon HD 7670M 1GB discrete. The issue with many games is that my computer makes the call as to which one it should use, and the software that is supposed to let me pick what GPU to use seems to not work on any games using OpenGL, leaving me using my shitty little integrated GPU instead of my much more powerful Radeon HD. Also, HP decided to not include the option for me to disable graphic switching and stay on my 7670, meaning I'm stuck with this hunk of crap.  Luckily, GTA IV isn't one of these games and uses my discrete GPU.

 

And I've heard very much the same about hyperthreading, many people saying it only helps when you have several different applications running at the same time.

 

Oh well :wallbash:  

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You might be able to disable the on-board "GPU" Intel in the BIOS, if your laptop allows you real access to it.

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It seems that even if I only give it one core, it'll still run the same and report the same CPU usage, just the core will be maxed out while the others aren't touched at all. As well, changing the priority won't help too much for me since that'll only matter when the CPU is running at near 100% power, and not all applications can get equal processing power. Oh well, I guess I'll just stick with the stuff I currently have.

 

Sidenote: it seems that my GPU reporting program wasn't working properly, and wasn't recording the proper stats. If anybody has a good GPU monitoring program (that isn't GPU-Z), I'd love to know about it.

 

Cheers.

 

that's because that's how it's supposed to work. if an application isn't coded to use multicores, it will not.

 

that's why speed > number of cores always.

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2.) The fact that you mentioned you have an Core i5 2450M means that it's a Sandy Bridge generation CPU, meaning that it has an onboard GPU (technically). That means you have toggle-able dedicated graphics. Your game may not understand that you have a graphics card beyond the one the CPU has built in, and therefore may not be using it at all, meaning you've been running the game on your CPU alone the whole time. Toggle-able GPU's are pretty rare, and an older game like GTA IV may not know how to deal with that. Or for that matter, you may simply have not turned it on yourself, and you've been using the computer with it switched off since you owned it.

 

 

For the less sophisticated, how would one toggle on the GPU, as mentioned above?  Is this in the Bios settings or in the AMD Engine Control Center?  

 

I believe my G7-1219wm has a similar issue, as I notice that sometimes my game runs so smooth and at 30-35+ FPS and suddenly it's like something turns on and starts eating up my CPU/GPU (not sure which) and my game dives to a 20-25FPS.  I know it has nothing to do with in-game spawning or any processes/applications (yes, AVG is turned off, so is my Malware Bites...etc).  I also manually shut off processes that aren't needed.  I run my game at medium settings; no shadows and low water, med textures and medium reflections...etc.

 

Anyhow, thanks for the breakdown.

 

DrDetroit

Edited by drdetroit
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For the less sophisticated, how would one toggle on the GPU, as mentioned above?  Is this in the Bios settings or in the AMD Engine Control Center?  

 

I believe my G7-1219wm has a similar issue, as I notice that sometimes my game runs so smooth and at 30-35+ FPS and suddenly it's like something turns on and starts eating up my CPU/GPU (not sure which) and my game dives to a 20-25FPS.  I know it has nothing to do with in-game spawning or any processes/applications (yes, AVG is turned off, so is my Malware Bites...etc).  I also manually shut off processes that aren't needed.  I run my game at medium settings; no shadows and low water, med textures and medium reflections...etc.

 

Anyhow, thanks for the breakdown.

 

DrDetroit

 

 

Responding first to sgtdonuts; speed is not always better. A single core can only process one instruction at a time, and higher clock frequencies produce insane amounts of heat, which is why gamers often have to resort to aftermarket cooling solutions using precious metals and minerals, or liquids. Multicore processing is a huge part of the future of computing, and for that matter, the present. Graphics cards can have hundreds, even thousands of cores that can process many instructions at once at a slower pace, putting less strain on the hardware while actually being able to improve performance. Granted CPU's are better than GPU's at processing some information. But there's a reason GPU's can be used to crack high security level computer passwords in mere seconds and CPU's aren't. Parallel processing is great.

As for our dear doctor up above, usually it's a simple toggle switch listed in your laptop manual, or something in your nVidia/Catalyst control panel. You can usually also force the integrated graphics option of your CPU to be turned off in the BIOS. That last scenario is on a PC desktop with a BIOS you can easily tinker with, though. Laptops are far more limiting due to their proprietary design, and therefore may not allow that. In some cases this may not be a good idea in case your main graphics card fails. It's a quick replacement on a desktop, but a laptop without a graphics card is a paperweight, and would need to be sent out for a week or two for repair. Also you shouldn't have to turn off your AV's to play a single player game. The only time you really need to worry about that is when you play multiplayer, technically, since some anti-viruses inspect packets of information sent from the server in real time as they're being delivered to your system. Even then it shouldn't make a noticeable performance difference. I've only had a problem with it one time, and it was with Norton Anti-virus back when Call of Duty Modern Warfare first came out. Installing the game to the D: drive instead of my C: drive fixed it for whatever reason.

Edited by unr3al

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You do know your stuff...you are truly "Unreal"!  Thanks for the detailed explanation, which is very helpful.

 

Interesting how GPUs can used for cracking security computers.  

 

Good day,

 

DrDetroit

 

 

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Responding first to sgtdonuts; speed is not always better. A single core can only process one instruction at a time, and higher clock frequencies produce insane amounts of heat, which is why gamers often have to resort to aftermarket cooling solutions using precious metals and minerals, or liquids. Multicore processing is a huge part of the future of computing, and for that matter, the present. Graphics cards can have hundreds, even thousands of cores that can process many instructions at once at a slower pace, putting less strain on the hardware while actually being able to improve performance. Granted CPU's are better than GPU's at processing some information. But there's a reason GPU's can be used to crack high security level computer passwords in mere seconds and CPU's aren't. Parallel processing is great.

 

 

Sigh where do I start.

 

It matters not how many cores unless the software can make use of it.

 

Even today, SLI is all but dead.....  You remember what that was right?

 

Again, 2 cores at 1gz each or 1 core at 3ghz given the same architectural base.. choice is easy.

 

The only reason a core 7 is say better than an older processor is because each logical cpu alone can process more than the older one, so your gains are again, down to the single logical processor, not an effect of multiple cores working together to load split.

 

There is no consumer software that is actually designed for SLI or multiple cores.  Some have claimed SLI compatability, but the gains have been marginal at best over a single card (like 10%), which is really emulation and nothing more.  

 

Once you get into industrial applications will you actually take advantage of multiple logical cpus, along with high end servers (which is where the whole multiple core thing started, remember the xeon boards?)

 

as for crunching numbers.. yes and no. bitcoins are a good case study.

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For the less sophisticated, how would one toggle on the GPU, as mentioned above?  Is this in the Bios settings or in the AMD Engine Control Center?  

 

I believe my G7-1219wm has a similar issue, as I notice that sometimes my game runs so smooth and at 30-35+ FPS and suddenly it's like something turns on and starts eating up my CPU/GPU (not sure which) and my game dives to a 20-25FPS.  I know it has nothing to do with in-game spawning or any processes/applications (yes, AVG is turned off, so is my Malware Bites...etc).  I also manually shut off processes that aren't needed.  I run my game at medium settings; no shadows and low water, med textures and medium reflections...etc.

 

Anyhow, thanks for the breakdown.

 

DrDetroit

 

How the heck do you get 30 FPS with your computer? What I'm seeing online (AMD E-450 1.65 GHz with a AMD Radeon HD 6320) doesn't seem to be something that'd give 30 frames. Share your secrets with us!

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Yup, I run fairly smooth frames most times and can enjoy LCPDF with low/med settings (30fps would be my guess, not clocked or anything) all day long, not a smooth as I'd like but it's very playable, although I get wild fluctuations at times.  My graphic card uses up to 4-gigs of virtual memory (vRam) if needed, so as you already probably know, that helps with performance.  Picking up a new gaming box in about 2-weeks though and can't wait.  

 

If you use EFLC instead of GTAIV, you will get much better frames and smooth game play.

 

To stabilize and squeeze every frame I can; I have shut down all services/processes possible, running 16-gig RAM, keep my draw distance under 20-25...sometimes 10-15, medium reflections, lowest water quality and no shadows.  Those last two settings...shadows and water quality, has a huge effect of my games performance, really slows things down to a slide-show if I have those any higher than low/off, even more so than when I push texture quality to high.  I do run my resolution at 16x9 as well, which is a must for all games I play (including Skyrim, and F4BMS4.3 hi-fi F-16c flight sim).  Plus in the AMD Control Center, I have mip-mapping to performance+1 setting and pretty much disable everything else.

 

The only software I use is MemTurbo4, which has done wonders with texture popping and loss.  Works so well that I went and paid for it after the 30-day trial.

 

My games modded up pretty good with Farnesworth Business Mod, Ambient Wars and a assassination mod (for those times when I need funds and I'm feelin' like playing a corrupt cop to get it).  Only use 1-ELS (v7) car in my nStockade slot.  Everything else is low-mid poly non-els.  

 

Other than that, not much more I can do, other than buying a gaming machine.  Which will be in my hands in a few weeks.

 

Good day,

DrDetroit

Edited by drdetroit
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Yup, I run fairly smooth frames most times and can enjoy LCPDF with low/med settings (30fps would be my guess, not clocked or anything) all day long, not a smooth as I'd like but it's very playable, although I get wild fluctuations at times.  My graphic card uses up to 4-gigs of virtual memory (vRam) if needed, so as you already probably know, that helps with performance.  Picking up a new gaming box in about 2-weeks though and can't wait.  

 

If you use EFLC instead of GTAIV, you will get much better frames and smooth game play.

 

To stabilize and squeeze every frame I can; I have shut down all services/processes possible, running 16-gig RAM, keep my draw distance under 20-25...sometimes 10-15, medium reflections, lowest water quality and no shadows.  Those last two settings...shadows and water quality, has a huge effect of my games performance, really slows things down to a slide-show if I have those any higher than low/off, even more so than when I push texture quality to high.  I do run my resolution at 16x9 as well, which is a must for all games I play (including Skyrim, and F4BMS4.3 hi-fi F-16c flight sim).  Plus in the AMD Control Center, I have mip-mapping to performance+1 setting and pretty much disable everything else.

 

The only software I use is MemTurbo4, which has done wonders with texture popping and loss.  Works so well that I went and paid for it after the 30-day trial.

 

My games modded up pretty good with Farnesworth Business Mod, Ambient Wars and a assassination mod (for those times when I need funds and I'm feelin' like playing a corrupt cop to get it).  Only use 1-ELS (v7) car in my nStockade slot.  Everything else is low-mid poly non-els.  

 

Other than that, not much more I can do, other than buying a gaming machine.  Which will be in my hands in a few weeks.

 

Good day,

DrDetroit

 

I've never heard that EFLC is more stable & more smooth than GTA IV. You sure about that? If thats true, I'ma end up getting EFLC since I'd probably be able to run that well.

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I've never heard that EFLC is more stable & more smooth than GTA IV. You sure about that? If thats true, I'ma end up getting EFLC since I'd probably be able to run that well.

 

Absolutely 100%!  I have all three, played all three numerous times and can tell you that EFLC is much more stable and optimized more efficiently than the forerunner...still not that great, but better than GTAIV.  I think one thing that improves the FPS in EFLC is that most buildings you can enter in GTAIV, are not available in EFLC.  Just an assumption though.

 

DrDetroit

Edited by drdetroit
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Sigh where do I start.

 

It matters not how many cores unless the software can make use of it.

 

Even today, SLI is all but dead.....  You remember what that was right?

 

Again, 2 cores at 1gz each or 1 core at 3ghz given the same architectural base.. choice is easy.

 

The only reason a core 7 is say better than an older processor is because each logical cpu alone can process more than the older one, so your gains are again, down to the single logical processor, not an effect of multiple cores working together to load split.

 

There is no consumer software that is actually designed for SLI or multiple cores.  Some have claimed SLI compatability, but the gains have been marginal at best over a single card (like 10%), which is really emulation and nothing more.  

 

Once you get into industrial applications will you actually take advantage of multiple logical cpus, along with high end servers (which is where the whole multiple core thing started, remember the xeon boards?)

 

as for crunching numbers.. yes and no. bitcoins are a good case study.

Taking an indignant tone with me is a bad way to start off talking to me, friend. Consider that before you respond to me, if you're going to.

Back to business:

1.) Today's high end games and multimedia applications make extensive use of dual core CPU systems, and in many cases can take advantage of three or four physical CPU cores. Cases in point would be modern video games such as Battlefield, Call of Duty, Max Payne, Crysis, Hitman, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Counter Strike: GO and Elder Scrolls, to name a few. High end multimedia applications are making extensive use of systems with high core counts, and in programs such as Audition, Photoshop, Premier, After Effects ProTools and Acid, there is a huge difference for loading time, saving time and compression. Your point is valid for older titles, but multi-core software isn't going away.

2.) You're referring to Scaleable Link Interface or CrossFireX? Yes, I had a CrossFireX setup no more than two years ago, a ball bearing in one of my fans broke and forced me to switch out my graphics card setup, otherwise I'd still be running it now. It greatly improves performance at high resolutions and is a wonderful way of getting cutting-edge performance in games that support it with a couple of 600 series high end graphics cards as opposed to buying a $1000 GTX TITAN, as an example.

3.) As you said in your first point; it depends on if the program can take advantage of the other cores, So the choice is up to the developer.

4.) This is only true in a single threaded application. Most new games today are not single threaded, certainly not the blockbuster ones everyone likes to talk about. Today's gaming consoles are also multi-core in their CPU design, and as a result, nobody's going to port over one of those titles to a PC and attempt to redesign the game engine to use one core, even if the instruction sets are better or whatever advantages an Intel would have over a PowerPC CPU or a Sony Cell CPU.

5.) Where did you get that information? Even a simple task managing application could show you differently. Or maybe you can look up some PC tech demos back from when quad cores were new. Alan Wake was originally supposed to be designed for a simultaneous PC release, and the developers suggested you should have a dual core at a minimum, or quad core for optimal performance. As in certain scenarios, the active weather system originally designed for the game could take up an entire core's usage by itself.

I'm not going to sit here and tell people that every single application benefits from a multi-core CPU, and it's because they don't. As you and I have both already said, it depends on if they application in question is written to take advantage of them. The number of those applications are on the incline, not the decline. And although there will likely be a limit to the number of cores we can fit onto a piece of silicon, multi-core CPU's with better instruction sets are going to be what we see as technology evolves until we can move on to another material that can achieve the higher clock speeds you want, like graphite. IBM made a graphite processor that clocked in at 100Ghz. The problem is nobody from Intel or AMD wants to re-fit their entire factory for production line using graphite and re-train all of their engineers to design using that material. Just as car companies behave with gasoline, they probably won't move away from oil until there is none left. Only then will they change how all of their cars operate. When they have no other choice. Technology companies will behave in kind. They won't change their design and assembly philosophy until they can't avoid it any longer.

Edited by unr3al

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  • 2 months later...

Here are my specs

Matériel
Microsoft Windows 7 Édition Familiale Premium
Service Pack 1
Carte graphique : NVIDIA GeForce 9400      
Version des pilotes de carte graphique : 261.41
Contrôleur audio : Haut-parleurs (Cirrus Logic CS4206A (AB 78))
Intel® Core2 Duo CPU     E7600  @ 3.06GHz
4GB RAM

IMac late 2009 with bootcamp

increase fps with this commandline

1 open notepad

2 enter that commandline

-width 512
-height 384
-refreshrate 60
-availablevidmem 2.00
-nomemrestrict
-novblank
-fullscreen

3 save it on your GTA 4 game directory

 

Edited by dimitriosth
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