GPU Usage 40%

[Majorix]

First off, my hardware:
Intel i7 7700
NVidia GTX 1080
16 GB Memory
Gigabyte Z270-Gaming K3
1TB magnetic drive

The problem:
GPU runs @40% resulting in very poor FPS in games.
Also, I don't know whether related or not, while booting up the system, the dark pre-BIOS screen lingers for 3-4 minutes.

What I have tried so far:
Checked the CPU using burn-in - clean.
Checked the storage using CrystalDiskMark - clean.
Checked CPU temp - never higher than 80° Celsius. I also renewed the thermal compound.

Please tell me if I can provide more info.

Edit: Forgot to say that Furmark benchmark does hit 97% but not games like Dragon Quest XI or Final Fantasy XV

 

[fire400]

re-seat all your modules on motherboard
upgrade to SSD if you're not on NVME already

flash hardware to new firmware if allowed to
change the power profile settings on windows, nvidia and 3rd party gigabyte software if possible, get them to match/sync or remove one or the other

reload fresh copy of windows if possible with minimal necessary, updated drivers

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Fire400 has some good advice there. Because taking that long to detect and initialize everything ain't good. Take the 1080 out and flash the mobo bios using the iGPU. Then put the 1080 back in. If the problems persists, flash the 1080's firmware. And fresh windows is always a good troubleshooting step. You do not have to nuke your present one, if you have another drive you can use for testing.

On a side note: Unless pushing an overclock, I personally consider a CPU temp of 80c too high. Regardless of it being within parameters, I would upgrade my cooling if it was that high at stock. That may just be me, YMMV.

 

[Majorix]

re-seat all your modules on motherboard
upgrade to SSD if you're not on NVME already

flash hardware to new firmware if allowed to
change the power profile settings on windows, nvidia and 3rd party gigabyte software if possible, get them to match/sync or remove one or the other

reload fresh copy of windows if possible with minimal necessary, updated drivers

On the motherboard I only have the GPU, CPU and the memory sticks. Recently I have re-applied thermal paste on the CPU and lowered temperature by 10-15°C.

Do you suggest I update GPU firmware? Because I have never done it before.

Power settings on Windows are Best Quality or whatever the setting was called. Also NVidia CP setting is Best Performance.

I re-installed a fresh Windows copy a few days ago and only installed barebones. The problem didn't improve.

Fire400 has some good advice there. Because taking that long to detect and initialize everything ain't good. Take the 1080 out and flash the mobo bios using the iGPU. Then put the 1080 back in. If the problems persists, flash the 1080's firmware. And fresh windows is always a good troubleshooting step. You do not have to nuke your present one, if you have another drive you can use for testing.

On a side note: Unless pushing an overclock, I personally consider a CPU temp of 80c too high. Regardless of it being within parameters, I would upgrade my cooling if it was that high at stock. That may just be me, YMMV.

If I remove the 1080 then I can't boot because for some reason the HDMI port on the mobo doesn't work.

About the CPU temp, like I said I have re-applied the thermal paste recently. It was like 90°C before.

Should I replace the CPU fan or buy an SSD or both? But what if the problem is mobo-related? I am broke and I can't spend much money so I need to know which piece exactly is causing the issue.

 

[Guru]

Seems like the cpu. You will need to reapply the thermal paste, seems like you reapplied it erroneously and specific parts of the cpu reach very high temp and lower frequency to cool it. Reapply thermal paste, I suggest using a specialized brush and spread out the paste yourself, otherwise use the X technique to apply paste. Make sure to apply firm pressure with the heatsink to the paste and make sure the mobo is facing downwards, so you are pushing in downward the heatsink, then attach the mounting blades/screws/lever on the cooler so its tight and let it sit like that for an hour before turning up your mobo and starting up your PC.

Also make sure to remove old paste with a cotton cloth and alcohol before applying new paste, very important, otherwise new paste won't be effective at all.

 

[Majorix]

Seems like the cpu. You will need to reapply the thermal paste, seems like you reapplied it erroneously and specific parts of the cpu reach very high temp and lower frequency to cool it. Reapply thermal paste, I suggest using a specialized brush and spread out the paste yourself, otherwise use the X technique to apply paste. Make sure to apply firm pressure with the heatsink to the paste and make sure the mobo is facing downwards, so you are pushing in downward the heatsink, then attach the mounting blades/screws/lever on the cooler so its tight and let it sit like that for an hour before turning up your mobo and starting up your PC.

Also make sure to remove old paste with a cotton cloth and alcohol before applying new paste, very important, otherwise new paste won't be effective at all.

I removed the old compound, spread the paste evenly using an old credit card, then made sure the heatsink was fixed tight on the CPU before starting the PC. I think it was better than before because now it is about 10° cooler. Do you think maybe the stock cooler isn't enough and I should buy a proper one?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Should I replace the CPU fan or buy an SSD or both? But what if the problem is mobo-related? I am broke and I can't spend much money so I need to know which piece exactly is causing the issue.

LOL, because of the symptoms you describe, we cannot just make a pronouncement about which component, and it be 100 percent accurate. For example, it may indeed be the board. Which is more likely now that you have provided an important missing detail i.e. the HDMI port does not work. But have you cleared the CMOS yet. Or manually set the UEFI to use the iGPU if present? Heck, the 1080 may be wonky. It looks like you board has a 3 year warranty, you can RMA it for cost of shipping, so that is a cheap option to start with.

And you do not need a ssd, but I would put a new CPU cooler on the short list of things to buy when you have the money. Moving on: Your board has a DVI output, buy a cheap adapter if your monitor does not support it, and see if it works. I would not flash the bios using a suspect GPU, because if the card is bad it could result in bricking the board. But if you feel confident it will not interfere, go for it. And you found your way here to ask for help, it is no more difficult to google how to flash a video card. There is probably a tutorial for your exact model.

In the end, I think RMAing the board is the best place to start. But only if it does not post quickly using the iGPU and a DVI adapter. Because if it suddenly starts firing right up, then the 1080 is likely responsible for it failing post for so long. The adapter and shipping combined are not much outlay to get some answers.

 

[Guru]

I removed the old compound, spread the paste evenly using an old credit card, then made sure the heatsink was fixed tight on the CPU before starting the PC. I think it was better than before because now it is about 10° cooler. Do you think maybe the stock cooler isn't enough and I should buy a proper one?

Nah, it should be fine if your paste reapplying went smooth. Look if you are confident you placed the paste correctly and there are no high spots of temperature that your cpu is downclocking, thus not pushing your GPU, then it may be a different issue.

Can you measure the CPU frequency when gaming and provide us the minimum, average and highest clocks while gaming? Do a 10 minute game run and write down the frequency for those 10 minutes. While you are at it provide us with GPU temperature and frequency as well.

 

[psolord]

Can you provide us with some standard benchmark results, so we can see if there's something wrong with a component?

cpu, gpu and memory benchmarks. From cpuz, cinebench, blender, winrar bencmark mode, aida, sisoft sandra, 3dmark, Unigine heaven and superposition, etc.

Also cpuz screenshots from the memory tab and if possible from the cpu tab as well, while running a benchmark, like winrar's benchmark.

 

[bystander36]

What is your monitor resolution? And online games like FFXV are going to be very CPU usage heavy.