GPU Usage Shifting on Idle

[Snabb133]

What may cause this to happen? my gpu usage sometime stays at 0, and sometimes it goes all the way up to 99% and stays there for 10-20 secs. sometimes it spikes and goes to 50-0-35-0-70-0 a.s.o and then it stops, and goes on like that. Im just afraid that it'll ruin my gpu since it does really heat up much more (up to 60 C) when the gpu usage goes up. And my normal idle is around 27-30 degrees. Is there anything wrong with my drivers? or may my cpu be the cause of this? i dont think it should unless i have any incorrect drivers installed. I'd be happy if you could respond with a proper answer that will make me realize what the problem is.

Gpu: Asus GTX 560 TI 2GB GDDR5 TOP OC: 985 Core Clock
CPU: Intel I5 650 3,33 GHZ W Boost.
RAM: 8 GB Kingston Ram
HDD: Hitachi 1TB HDS721010CLA332 7200 RPM
Case: NZXT Lexa S

 

[PP Mguire]

Re: GPU USAGE SHIFTING ON IDLE

What are your background programs that are running when this is going on?

Also, it wont hurt your GPU at all.

 

[Snabb133]

Re: GPU USAGE SHIFTING ON IDLE

What are your background programs that are running when this is going on?

Also, it wont hurt your GPU at all.

I only have MSI Afterburner ON to measure my GPU temps & the Nvidia control panel.
And of course the anti virus program. But this should'nt do nothing to the gpu. I just noticed something right now, when i was off my computer for 10 minutes to eat some food. my gpu usage went up to 99% all the time til i came back, & the temps went up to 60 Degrees. This is not normal & this must be fixed somehow. i also think this is the reason why im getting this crazy frame shiftings in all my games that tend to use up some gpu usage & cpu usage. But the problem is.. i dont know whats causing it

 

[PP Mguire]

Re: GPU USAGE SHIFTING ON IDLE

If you can, provide a screenshot of task manager and all processes running. You have something in the background causing your usage to spike. That's the only thing it can be.

What drivers are you currently running with this card?

 

[Snabb133]

Re: GPU USAGE SHIFTING ON IDLE

If you can, provide a screenshot of task manager and all processes running. You have something in the background causing your usage to spike. That's the only thing it can be.

What drivers are you currently running with this card?

I do have the latest drivers for my GPU. & i just noticed that when i watch a video on youtube, that tends to up my gpu usage to 99%. Wich is very rare. And when i play. For example battlefield 3. on high-ultra settings, with no aa on & only SSAO on. It wont even sit at 60 fps in small maps like noshahr canals (TDM MAP). When i look at demanding places where theres lots of smoke, explosions gunbattles etc etc, the gpu usage drops to 50-60 instead of 99%. Is this a sign of a bottleneck? & when i stay still the fps shifts from 60-30-15-60-40-15-60 a.s.o. & when i play for about 40 minutes. the game runs smooth. but still not as expected. Very weird. I'd like to know whats the cause of this. Maybe i should upgrade my proccessor?

 

[PP Mguire]

Youtube videos in 1080p are processed by the GPU via hardware acceleration much like regular movies. So they will have an effect on GPU usage.

I must say, your problem seems rather familiar and I think somebody else here had the same problem. I will admit, I also have the same problem on the same map. I have videos on Youtube which reflect this. Difference being, I run a 5850 at 1920x1200 with all LOW settings, no AA, and HBAO. My little GTX 465 played it on Ultra with no AA just fine no dips. I will get occasional dips of FPS down to 5-19FPS for no reason at all. It'll just bounce back up like nothing happened.
It isn't your CPU. Look at this article here I wrote.
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/your-cpu-modern-games-guide-those-building-261626/

It shows an Athlon X2 6000+ stays at a solid 60fps in BF3 with all Ultra and no AA. So your CPU for sure isn't the bottleneck. I still think you have something running which is causing a hiccup which is why I asked for a screenshot of task manager in the processes tab.
You should also check to make sure Adaptive Vsync isn't enabled in your Nvidia Control Panel.

I should also mention, a simple Google shows you aren't the only one having GPU utilization issues in BF3. As for on the desktop, still unknown.

Edit: More Google shows that the current WHQL driver has a problem with factory overclocked cards causing idle clocks and GPU usage problems. Try using driver cleaner to wipe your current WHQL drivers and try the beta drivers.

 

[Snabb133]

Youtube videos in 1080p are processed by the GPU via hardware acceleration much like regular movies. So they will have an effect on GPU usage.

I must say, your problem seems rather familiar and I think somebody else here had the same problem. I will admit, I also have the same problem on the same map. I have videos on Youtube which reflect this. Difference being, I run a 5850 at 1920x1200 with all LOW settings, no AA, and HBAO. My little GTX 465 played it on Ultra with no AA just fine no dips. I will get occasional dips of FPS down to 5-19FPS for no reason at all. It'll just bounce back up like nothing happened.
It isn't your CPU. Look at this article here I wrote.
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/your-cpu-modern-games-guide-those-building-261626/

It shows an Athlon X2 6000+ stays at a solid 60fps in BF3 with all Ultra and no AA. So your CPU for sure isn't the bottleneck. I still think you have something running which is causing a hiccup which is why I asked for a screenshot of task manager in the processes tab.
You should also check to make sure Adaptive Vsync isn't enabled in your Nvidia Control Panel.

I should also mention, a simple Google shows you aren't the only one having GPU utilization issues in BF3. As for on the desktop, still unknown.

Edit: More Google shows that the current WHQL driver has a problem with factory overclocked cards causing idle clocks and GPU usage problems. Try using driver cleaner to wipe your current WHQL drivers and try the beta drivers.

Thanks for the awesome information & response. Highly appreciated & i feel good to know that i'm not the only one suffering from this. I Actually got V sync on: Use the 3D application. & the rest of the settings should do nothing but improve the performance in my games. All i need to know is what's causing theese major hiccups in battlefield 3. I'll show you a picture of my desktop with all the Proccesses. I hope you can see if theres anything wrong. Thanks! http://s11.postimage.org/uungwxaj7/TASK_MANAGER.png

 

[PP Mguire]

You are the second one here to post about these issues so I would definitely try the beta drivers.

That image is too small. Try uploading to techpowerup.org which is a free host. Also, click on show processes from all users. I can already tell you that 87 processes in the background is way too much for a dual core.