4k performance - CPU bottleneck?

[kiwi12]

Hey,

System:
CPU: I7-6700k @4GHz
GPU: RTX 2070
RAM: 32GB @2400MHz
NVME SSD


i recently changed my graphic settings from

QHD/vsync 60fps/high preset
- empty space: 60fps
- busy space/station: 45-60
- fight: 35-55
- big fight: 25-40
- map: 30-50

to

UHD/vsync 60fps/custom: details high, everything else off
- same average FPS like QHD settings

What i noticed running both settings:
GPU 20 - 35% average - no thermal issues/bottleneck
CPU 60 - 75% average - no thermal issues/bottleneck
RAM / GPU-RAM is fine


So playing at 4k the GPU isnt under any real load. Most of the time the CPU is working at high performance.
So i assume even if the CPU isnt even at 100% its the performance bottleneck here that cant sustain the GPU with fast enough information.
Not getting 100% out of it is strange but it should be either the system reservation or simply the old CPU isnt that efficient on multiple cores anymore in combination with the game/system.

Someone here getting another conclusion with this data?

[Panos]

Hey,

System:
CPU: I7-6700k @4GHz
GPU: RTX 2070
RAM: 32GB @2400MHz
NVME SSD


i recently changed my graphic settings from

QHD/vsync 60fps/high preset
- empty space: 60fps
- busy space/station: 45-60
- fight: 35-55
- big fight: 25-40
- map: 30-50

to

UHD/vsync 60fps/custom: details high, everything else off
- same average FPS like QHD settings

What i noticed running both settings:
GPU 20 - 35% average - no thermal issues/bottleneck
CPU 60 - 75% average - no thermal issues/bottleneck
RAM / GPU-RAM is fine


So playing at 4k the GPU isnt under any real load. Most of the time the CPU is working at high performance.
So i assume even if the CPU isnt even at 100% its the performance bottleneck here that cant sustain the GPU with fast enough information.
Not getting 100% out of it is strange but it should be either the system reservation or simply the old CPU isnt that efficient on multiple cores anymore in combination with the game/system.

Someone here getting another conclusion with this data?

a) You have RAM bottleneck. 2400Mhz is very bad due to the amount of data the game moves to RAM. There is a huge perf difference even between 3600C16 and 3800C14 with tight subtiming, let alone the very slow 2400Mhz.

b) Yes your CPU is bottlenecking a bit. X4 in mature campaign uses even the 16 cores of a 5950X especially on Linux because of the background simulator (which is a good thing ) Quad core is at the minimum this game can handle

c) GPU won't be an issue. Just check how much VRAM you are using as 2070 has just 8 and at 2560x1440 with MSAA 2x, the game using easily 6.5GB. So 4K might be on limits.

[Imperial Good]

So i assume even if the CPU isnt even at 100% its the performance bottleneck here that cant sustain the GPU with fast enough information.
Not getting 100% out of it is strange but it should be either the system reservation or simply the old CPU isnt that efficient on multiple cores anymore in combination with the game/system.

If you have hyperthreading enabled then you are already getting >90% of the performance of the CPU when task manager reports 50% utilisation. The other 50% results from slowing down the existing 50% to almost half speed and making up a few cycles here and there when/if execution resources are available that would otherwise be stalled waiting for cache misses. This is why some games perform better when hyperthreading/SMT is disabled, since they try to run work on the virtual cores at the cost of slowing down the other thread on the core due to cycle interleaving. With ideal hardware a game should not be using the hyperthread cores of a CPU (task manger reports <50% CPU utilisation on applicable processors) as doing so would indicate that there would be significant performance to gain by having more real processing cores.

[KextV8]

Not getting 100% out of it is strange but it should be either the system reservation or simply the old CPU isnt that efficient on multiple cores anymore in combination with the game/system.

Someone here getting another conclusion with this data?

It's a combination of things. Task Manager not giving you the exact information you really need, and what's actually going on with X4. Task manager(and most performance monitors in general) gives you an average activity/utilization across all cores. Say you have 4 core machine with hyper threading turned off, 1 core is maxed out the other 3 are idle, it will show only 25% cpu usage. But you're still bottle necked by CPU because that one core can't go any faster. Certain tasks in X4 are single threaded, meaning they'll only utilize one core at a time for those tasks. The game is often waiting on the results of those single threaded tasks to know what to do next. Until it gets those results, it doesn't know what data needs to be fed to to the rest of the threads to do their jobs. So, it's a CPU bottleneck, and the only thing you can do about it is overclock or buy a better cpu.

[kiwi12]

Awesome answers, thx guys.

Kind of what i expected. System is simply outadet for stable 4k@60Hz for modern titles.
It was rather easy to see for other games where my 2070 just isnt powerful enough.
Now its the first time i see this good old CPU struggle.

Would have upgraded by now... if only those hardware prices didnt explode
Even EVGA cancelled their notify queue.

[Panos]

Even EVGA cancelled their notify queue.

Since when? Wasn't notified about that and was on the queue for second time after the reset few months ago

[adeine]

You're definitely going to run into GPU slowdowns (even if not maxed out usage) at 4k.

It's fine in most circumstances, but certain fog/asteroid combinations in some sectors still kill performance to the point where medium settings at 4k will bring even a 2080 to its knees.

[kiwi12]

Even EVGA cancelled their notify queue.

Since when? Wasn't notified about that and was on the queue for second time after the reset few months ago

Dont know since when, must´ve been recently. But as long as you are in its fine, you cant just get in anymore.

Due to high demand, the notify queue sign-up is temporarily disabled.
If you have a current queue position, EVGA will continue to process as stock is available.

[Panos]

Even EVGA cancelled their notify queue.

Since when? Wasn't notified about that and was on the queue for second time after the reset few months ago

Dont know since when, must´ve been recently. But as long as you are in its fine, you cant just get in anymore.

Due to high demand, the notify queue sign-up is temporarily disabled.
If you have a current queue position, EVGA will continue to process as stock is available.

Yeah I managed to go into the queue on the second round after the rest and changes. Few days after that they stopped accepting more.
FYI I am on a queue for a 3080 6 months now.

[Maebius]

Yeah I managed to go into the queue on the second round after the rest and changes. Few days after that they stopped accepting more.
FYI I am on a queue for a 3080 6 months now.

Αδερφέ, I'm on a queue for a 3080 since February 2021
Tbh, I doubt they even fill many orders on some models anymore. Check here. Obviously, it's updated on a voluntary basis so probably not too accurate.

On the subject, yes, you're CPU/RAM bottlenecked, but I find the whole 'X4 uses all cores" argument, uhm, let's say optimistic.

[Panos]

Yeah I managed to go into the queue on the second round after the rest and changes. Few days after that they stopped accepting more.
FYI I am on a queue for a 3080 6 months now.

Αδερφέ, I'm on a queue for a 3080 since February 2021
Tbh, I doubt they even fill many orders on some models anymore. Check here. Obviously, it's updated on a voluntary basis so probably not too accurate.

On the subject, yes, you're CPU/RAM bottlenecked, but I find the whole 'X4 uses all cores" argument, uhm, let's say optimistic.

4 FTW3 LHR drop just yesterday so I still have hope