F1 2011 Low GPU usage and low fps (gtx 570)

[Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic]

First of all my computer specs:

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2,40GHz 2,39Ghz
8 Gb RAM
GTX 570
Windows 7 64-bit

Like the title says, I'm suffering of a bad case of low fps.
I have tried every possible setting, both in game and in nVidia Control Panel.
With the higest settings on all parametres, I'll get 15-18 fps, while the lowest settings will give me 30-35 fps. I have noticed that my GPU usage won't exceed 20%.
CPU usage is 80-90% on all 4 cores.

I only have this problem in F1 2011! I have tested and benchmarked other games like BF3 and rFactor 2, and the GPU usage goes up to 60-70% and 50-60 fps.

I have searched for a solution for a week and I don't seem to find any specific answer to my problem. I have tried several things including directing PhsycsX to CPU and back to GPU, nothing changes. When it's directed to GPU the usage goes up to 40% but fps is still the same.
The GPU has the newest driver. I even tried older drivers with no luck.
I noticed that after I choose to run benchmark, during the loading screen the GPU usage blast off to 99%. When the race sequence starts the usage drops to 15-20%. And again the loading screen between race sequence and menu makes the usage go up to 99%.

I appreciate any kind of help and input. Please help me, guys!!!!

 

[Simon Whiteley]

This might sound crazy but do you have any external HDD's connected via USB?? I had the same problem but when I had tried everything possible I remembered that it happened around the same time we connected it up. I took it out and the game ran perfectly again. Not sure why but it worked for me even though the game wasnt installed on it it must have somehow interfered with that particular game engine.

 

[Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic]

Yeah that sounds far out. But no, I don't have anythhing unnecessary plugged in...

 

[Ghovand Keanie]

Yeah that sounds far out. But no, I don't have anythhing unnecessary plugged in...

80-90% usage on ure CPU? that explains it all, thats the bottleneck mate, you might need a quad-core

 

[Paul Gardiner]

80-90% usage on ure CPU? that explains it all, thats the bottleneck mate, you might need a quad-core

This

It's a quad-core game

 

[racingguru]

If you tried everything else including what i wrote below already - you should replace your CPU.

If not:
1) http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/i5-2500k-amount-of-cores-and-f1-2011.45928/#post-1033621
2) try to force dx9 and see if it helps.
3) I also assume you have the latest patch(1.2) installed. If not: http://community.codemasters.com/fo...403/476990-pc-patch-v-1-2-download-links.html
4)You can also install latest NVIDIA drivers(295.73) and try to and set "Maximum performance" in Nvidia Control Panel in F1 2011 profile because they've made some performance improvements for this game.
5) You can try to disable Core Parking technology in Windows 7. To do that you need to go to registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583 . Change parameter's "Attributes" value to "0". After that go to Control Panel\Power\ (i assume your plan is already set to "High performance", if not - do it). Go to "Change plan settings" of that plan -> "Change advanced power settings" -> "Processor power management" -> "Processor performance core parking min cores". Set it to 100%.
6) Also try to disable all power efficiency functions for your CPU. You can do it in BIOS. Disable C1E, EIST etc. Also try to disable HyperThreading if it's enabled.
7) If there is an option to enable HPET in your BIOS - enable it. Set it to 64bit.
In Windows open cmd and paste "bcdedit /set useplatformclock true" and press enter. Reboot Windows.

If it is in fact bottleneck - you need to increase the load for your GPU to the max. Set F1 2011 to maximum available resolution, all settings to ULTRA, antialiasing to the highest setting. If your FPS increases then it is bottleneck. If not - the problem is in something else. But if you tried everything i suggested and nothing helped - i don't have any more ideas on what it might be. Probably you can try overclocking your CPU, but be careful with it. Monitor temps and test stability(with Prime95, Linx or IntelBurnTest). But i can't help you with that as i've never had CPU on this chipset.

 

[Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic]

Racingguru@ I tried everything you mentioned and there's nothing to cheer about. the fps are all the same no matter the the setting.

I must face the fact that my once high end cpu has become the bottleneck. It needs a replacement before F1 2012.
Thanks for the help guys.

Edit: I did notice a drop in CPU usage to 50-60%. Fps are still 30-35 so I don't know if this means anything?

 

[Mr Pibb]

Hey Goose83. Have you turned VSync off?

 

[Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic]

Yes, V-sync has always been turned off. I've only turned it on for comparison.

 

[racingguru]

It's not likely, but still: you don't happen to have a SLI setup, right? FPS is very low if you have SLI and patch2 installed. Although i know a way to fix it, but it's not the point now.

I find it very strange that your CPU can't handle just 1 card. I'd understand if there were 2 cards in SLI. But just one..

Anyway, here's a thread about a guy, who doubled his FPS by overclocking his CPU. He had much better CPU, but he also had muuuch more demanding 2(!!!) video cards(4 GPUs in total)

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1231159&mpage=1&print=true

 

[Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic]

I don't have SLI, single card only. I'll take a look at the CPU OC.

 

[Mr Pibb]

You shouldn't need to OC a GTX570 for decent fraps in this game. I've only got a GTX560Ti but it's running triple screen at 60+fps no probs. If you've only got a single screen, yours should eat it.

 

[Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic]

It's not the Gpu I wanna OC, it's the Cpu. Which by the way can't be done or, to correct my self, I can't do it. My pll is not supported by any OC software. My pll is of a brand called Winbond and has these code on it:
WPCD376IAUFG
74IT47C34B008-ZZAB

The BIOS has no option that indicates OC in any way.

 

[Jan-Olov Johansson]

I have the exact same CPU as you have, running at standard speed (2.4GHz)
4 gigs of ram and a slower card than yours, ATI 4870 not OC:ed either.
Running Win7 32bit with all settings at max on DX9 and get 25-30 fps on average

So, our CPU:s are a bit outdated but you should get up to at least the same as me, this game is more demanding on CPU than GPU.
Don't remember what the load is for my CPU but it should be around your numbers, the GPU usually shows around 65-75% load

Not much help there but the game isn't really coded in the most optimised way either...