P3d 4.1 - GPU suddently goes to 100%

[Nouknitouk 2]

Hi

I don't post here often, but am feeling a bit desperate now.

Here are my specs:

- i7 - 6700K, not overclocked, hyperthreading OFF

- 8 Gb of RAM

- ZOTAC 1080 (nvidia) graphic Card

- Windows 10 pro 64 Bit

- ORBX add-ons (all legit)

- P3d 4.1

 

 

First, lets just say I get some CTDs, random. Totally random. Sometimes after 5 minutes of flights.... sometimes much later. I've seen many different errors, ntdll.dll and more. Ive also seen BSOD.

but the main problem I have, and the most puzzling one, is the jumping GPU.

most times, I can easily get 60 fps locked in VSYNC. FPS will oscilllate between 58 and 62 and stay there, unless I run crazy PMDG aircrafts, in which case it drops to around 45.
In most of these cases, my GPU usage is around 50%.

However, in RANDOM cases, the FPS Drops to 25-29 and the GPU usage goes up to 100%.

it happens in any situations. The other day, I was on the ground, not moving... with simulator out of focus, and GPU was 100%. (p3D was running in the background). Then I reset P3D completely, reloaded the same flight, and the GPU was doing the same: 100%. After a computer reset, and reloading the SAME flight again, the GPU was acting normal that time.

It almost seems like there is some kind of leak, at one point. My NVIDIA drivers are the latest as per Nov 1st, and it was happening on the previous three builds too.

 

This is happening on a system that was freshly reloaded.

 

If you have any ideas you can share, please let me know.

One idea I had was to upgrade my BIOS, as perhaps there is something wrong happening.

 

any help would be appreciated.

 

thanks

Patrick

 

 

 

[Nouknitouk 2]

Hi

ok .. first: I said 8 Gb rAM I have 16 Gb RAM.

but that has nothing to do with the problem.

I've done some reading and experiment since the original post. I now have several leads:

- DWM.exe goes up to 50% cpu sometimes and it usually coincides with the CTD

- sometimes the USB ports get disabled and the mouse starts beeping. Only a complete restasrt of the computer helps. The reading shows that it could be my trim wheel. I just installed the win10 drivers for the Cessna trim wheel and will see if the issue get resolved.

- The clouds.

The CLOUDS.

They are the answer to the GPU 100%. its actually spectacular. I Have REX Enhanced combined with AS16 cloud motion. With clear skies, I have a GPU usage of around 65%, with a lot of the sliders way up. As soon as I have clouds, the GPU goes 100%. REX is configured for medium size textures, DXT5 and DXT1 when possible (avoiding 32 bit). But still... the clouds bring the GPU to 100%, which leads me to think there is some kind of problem with the latest Nvidia drivers dealing with clouds.

 

If anybody has any kind of idea how to improve this situation, please let me know. Also, if you're experiencing something similar, it would be very nice to share what you do to help improve the situation.

 

thanks!

Patrick

[gboz 157]

5 hours ago, Nouknitouk said:

As soon as I have clouds, the GPU goes 100%.

What anti aliasing setting are you using? Clouds and SSAA can max your gpu.

gb.

[Jim Young 2,356]

Although you indicate you get occasional CTD's (who doesn't), your main issue is about your GPU so I am moving this over to the P3D Forum.  If you have an issue with a CTD, please post that in the CTD Forum.

[Nouknitouk 2]

I have indeed read somewhere that SSAA and clouds will max the GPU. However, I must say that either setting shows GPU at 100%.

I will triple check tonight and report back. thanks for the tip.

 

[simbol 5,819]

Hello,

DWM.exe relates to Desktop Windows Manager which is a Windows Service responsible for managing, inter alia, visual effects on the desktop.

I think the high CPU usage of this service is just a consequence of something on your system demanding the GPU power, I would suggest to check your nvidia inspector settings to see if you are using SSAA or DSR, check also your nvidia drivers, try using an older driver if posible to see if the issue alleviates.

Another troubleshooting step would be to reduce the display settings on your sim to see if the problem persist or not, maybe you are indeed demanding to much from your GPU / CPU.

Finally it is highly recommended to OC your CPU to at least 4.6 GHz as this ensure a better performance experience with PD3 / FSX.

Regards,
Simbol

[Nouknitouk 2]

Last night, I decided to investigate the "content errors" warning message I was getting and fix it by reinstalling the "content" component of P3D. What a mistake that was. It basically erradicated my add-ons, which, when re-enabled one by one, made P3D unusable (CTD upon startup). It was when I installed the add-on manager that things got solved dramatically.

I reinstalled and reintegrated REX Enhanced, ASNext, EZCA2 add-ons (left ORBX untouched), patched everything to their latest version, including BETA update to ASNext... and things are now running fine.

I really suspect AS Next was the culprit with the cloud motion and shadows. I think the beta update solved the GPu issue:

OPEN BETA Update*ASP4 Update 110417*6517

now, I have 8xMSAA, FXAA On, Anisotropic 16X, Full HD resolution, shadows on High both in quality and distance, shadows enabled on clouds, terrain, vegetation, and buildings, HDR on, dynamic lighting on, full water effects, etc etc.... sliders almost all the way up.. and am getting a solid 55-60 fps locked in most conditions. And my sim has never looked so good. I flew the same scenario I was testing with the whole time, flying through , in and out of clouds at sunset and no fps loss with the cloud motion. CPU was at 80, 85% the whole time, and GPU around 80-85 as well.. and no more CTD.

 

I wish I could really pinpoint the problem, but there was more than one, and they seem all solved now.

 

 

 

 

[Bobsk8 12,586]

Go into Task manager in windows, and Performance/ Resource Monitor and you can see what is using your processor power. Stop whatever it is, and see if your CPU returns to normal. 

[fluffyflops 1,848]

I have 2 980s in sli.  If I'm in heavy clouds with a lot of layers then my gfx cards hit 80 degrees, but that's normal with 980tis in sli It's normal I think. 

My new 8700k bundle arrives tomorrow be interesting to see the proformance with my 2 980tis. After using a 3770k since 2013

 

[AnkH 2,233]

1 hour ago, Nouknitouk said:

now, I have 8xMSAA, FXAA On, Anisotropic 16X, Full HD resolution, shadows on High both in quality and distance, shadows enabled on clouds, terrain, vegetation, and buildings, HDR on, dynamic lighting on, full water effects, etc etc.... sliders almost all the way up.. and am getting a solid 55-60 fps locked in most conditions. And my sim has never looked so good.

I would really be interested in your settings inside your P3D... Might be possible to share them here? Would be nice :-)

[somiller 694]

1 hour ago, Nouknitouk said:

I reinstalled and reintegrated REX Enhanced, ASNext, EZCA2 add-ons (left ORBX untouched), patched everything to their latest version, including BETA update to ASNext... and things are now running fine.

I really suspect AS Next was the culprit with the cloud motion and shadows. I think the beta update solved the GPu issue:

OPEN BETA Update*ASP4 Update 110417*6517

 

ASNext is NOT complatible with P3Dv4 or P3Dv4.1. Any reason you are using the beta candidate instead of the latest release version of ActiveSky4? If you're troubleshooting, why would you use a beta version?

 

 

 

 

 

[Vali 83]

I also thinks AS16 may have some influence (except the DL of course, which we know). I am using 4xMSAA and still sometimes I see the 1080TI at 100%... when I would not expect it to be.

Using the refresh rate of 30Hz helps a bit but I did a flight without the AS16 and it was a lot smoother, even with DL.

[Berike 13]

It's my dream to see my GTX 1080 Ti reaching 100% on P3D, it gets only around 40% to have around 20~30 fps

[AnkH 2,233]

Then you are CPU-limited, as probably 95% of the 1080Ti users (including me). But what you can always do: invest your spare GPU power into image quality. Either via Downsampling, high AA modes or both. I am sure that on a bigger airport with dynamic lightning enabled along with SSAA, also your 1080Ti will run with something close to 100%...

[19dcavscout 39]

1 hour ago, Berike said:

It's my dream to see my GTX 1080 Ti reaching 100% on P3D, it gets only around 40% to have around 20~30 fps

Mine is hitting 100% everytime I fly. In fact, I think it is trying to pull more watts and its crashing my computer (causes it to hard reboot in heavy clouds). New power supply is being ordered, so I hope that fixes it.