Why do I get FPS drops in some games when neither CPU or GPU is @ 98-100%

[futurefields]

Most of my games cruise along swimmingly if I disable VSYNC I get 98-99% GPU utilization.

Some other games don't work like that though, off the top of my head I can think of GTA 5, Saints Row 4, and Ryse: Son of Rome there are times when I will get fps drops and both my GPU and CPU are at like 40-60% or whatever, nowhere near max utilization. Is this engine stuff or pointing to something awry with my setup maybe like my memory system is jacked up or something. Or it could be my PSU? But I figure like, the computer would lock up or something, it wouldnt manifest as FPS drops if it's the PSU would it?

 

[giantpandaman2]

Could be RAM, VRAM, or an HDD/SSD transfer bottleneck.

 

[XavierMace]

Could be RAM, VRAM, or an HDD/SSD transfer bottleneck.

100% CPU would require a game that utilizes all your cores. A large portion of games don't.

 

[JeffMD]

What xav said. The games main thread is being maxed out on one of your cores.

 

[giantpandaman2]

100% CPU would require a game that utilizes all your cores. A large portion of games don't.

Doh, you're right. Brain farts are bad.