Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

by CevenKills
Reply

Original Post

Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

★★★★ Novice

Please help. I've been doing my best to look through forms and previous posts to fix this issue but I was unable to find a solution. I noticed that players with higher end PCs have posted the same issue that the game is not utilizing the full power of the GPU. I have a an RTX 2080 Super graphics card with an i7 9700k cpu.

 

I made sure that all drivers were all up to date. Sims 4 is the only game so far that I've had this issue with, and I don't understand why.

 

I monitor the FPS, GPU & CPU Usage with MSI Afterburner and I noticed that the CPU Usage while playing the sims 4 is around 40-50% and the gpu usage is around 30-40% during gameplay.

 

I checked these stats in Battlefield V, Apex Legends, Warframe, Control, Fortnite, Frostpunk, Anno 2205, Vampyr, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem and all of them have the GPU Usage between 94%-100% and the CPU Usage is around 35-60%.  

 

I noticed that when I first installed the Sims 4 it said that the game didn't recognize the graphics card. I tried added the graphics card manually to the recognized list for graphics cards, but nothing changed in the GPU or CPU usage. 

 

Is there anything that I can do from my end or is this something that the developers of the Sims 4 would have to fix in a future update? 

Message 1 of 9 (9,572 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

@CevenKills  I've moved your post to the Sims 4 PC tech forums.

 

I'm not sure exactly how hard your GPU should be working, but running Sims 4 isn't a particularly demanding task for a 2080 Super, or for a 9700K for that matter.  Do you have vsync enabled, in-game or via some other app?  Even running at 144 Hz, the CPU and GPU usage you listed seem reasonable.  You can check your fps by bringing up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and entering "fps on" without quotes; a number will appear in... I believe it's the lower left corner.  ("fps off" makes it go away.)  Or you can enable the fps counter via Origin.  Let me know what you're seeing.

 

It might also help to know whether the game recognizes your card.  Go into your Sims 4 game folder (the one in Documents\EA) and open the file labeled config.log.  Pleaes copy everything between "Graphics Device Info" (about 30 lines down) and "Options" into a post.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 9 (9,533 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

★★★★ Novice

@puzzlezaddictthank you so much for replying! I have V-Sync enabled in-game and i'm playing the game at 1440p reseloution with a 144hz monitor, that lets me play at 144hz. The FPS seems to dip and the go up. I turned on the fps setting you asked via cheats and the fps seemed to range between 60fps to 144fps while just doing normal gameplay on my lot.

 

The FPS rapidly change, the best way i can describe it's as if the fps are on a rollercoaster. The same with my CPU Usage and GPU Usage; they dip up and down. I noticed that the FPS go up when the CPU usage goes up to 61%, but the GPU usage never seems to go above 46%.  All the other games I tested have had steady FPS that range from 80-144fps. It seems only the sims 4 has done this so far =/.

 

Here is the info I found that you requested:

 

=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER
Name (database): [Found: 0, Supported: 1]
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 1e81, Board: 13a010de, Chipset: 00a1
Driver: nvldumdx.dll, Version: 26.21.14.3615, GUID: D7B71E3E-5DC1-11CF-717D-AE331BC2D735
Driver version: 3615
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 8010MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1
Opt. features: +sab +a8l8 +rgba16f +r32f +bc4 +bc5 -rawz +intz
=== Options ===

Message 3 of 9 (9,503 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

[ Edited ]

@CevenKills  Okay, your card's still not getting recognized, or it was recognized but the new patch reverted the .sgr file to default.  In case you want instructions on adding your card, it's simple.  Open

 

Program files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin

 

and find graphicscards.sgr.  Scroll a bit more than halfway down the file, and you'll see this:

 

vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de
      card 0x1e04 "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Turing)" $cardLevelUber $resolutionHigh
      card 0x1e07 "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Turing)" $cardLevelUber $resolutionHigh
      card 0x1e82 "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Turing)" $cardLevelUber $resolutionHigh

 

I bolded the part you'll want to change; just insert 1e81 instead of the device ID listed for the 2080.  You could write "2080 Super" in that same line if you wanted, but it won't make a difference to TS4.

 

If that doesn't make a difference, try playing without Afterburner, at least as a test.  You can monitor your card's stats with GPU-Z (free download from TechPowerUp), which will give you temperature and core load, among other things.  Let me know whether fps and GPU load look any better.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 9 (9,488 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

★★★★ Novice

@puzzlezaddictI'm sorry, but it didn't make a difference Frown I'm not sure what else more we can do. I do appreciate your help though! I'm hoping this will be fixed in a future update.

 

I changed it to:

 

card 0x1e81 "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Turing)" $cardLevelUber $resolutionHigh

 

and also tried:

 

card 0x1e81 "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super (Turing)" $cardLevelUber $resolutionHigh

 

I did try to play the game without MSI, but it still didn't make a difference. The FPS and GPU usage were still in the same range.  I also added the Graphics Info that you requested earlier after I applied the changes:

 

=== Graphics device info ===
Number:          0
Name (driver):   NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Turing) [Found: 1, Supported: 1]
Vendor:          NVIDIA
Chipset:         Vendor: 10de, Device: 1e81, Board: 13a010de, Chipset: 00a1
Driver:          nvldumdx.dll, Version: 26.21.14.3615, GUID: D7B71E3E-5DC1-11CF-717D-AE331BC2D735
Driver version:  3615
Monitor:         \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory:  8010MB
Vertex program:  3.0
Pixel program:   3.0
Hardware TnL:    1
Opt. features:   +sab +a8l8 +rgba16f +r32f +bc4 +bc5 -rawz +intz
=== Options ===

Message 5 of 9 (9,456 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

@CevenKills  Well, you got your card recognized, at least.  That's what the [Found: 1, Matched: 1] values mean in the config info.  You might want to keep a copy of graphicscards.sgr, or at least copy the edits, in case your card still isn't added to the database with the next patch.

 

Do you get any improvement switching among fullscreen, windowed, and windowed borderless modes?  One of them might give you better results than the others.

 

The last thing I can think of to try is a clean boot.  No Afterburner, no other monitoring apps, just Origin and TS4, plus Origin's fps monitoring if you want, or the game's own version.

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

 

If the game runs better, then you'll have the dubious pleasure of sorting through your other background apps to find the issue.  If this were TS3, I'd start with various Windows game functions, like fullscreen optimization and Game Mode, although those tend to work better with TS4.

 

If you still get wild fps swings even with a clean boot, then maybe it's some combination of the game and your very new, very powerful card.  I'm still not sure it should be working as hard as you imagine, although I don't have a 2080 Super to test on myself.  (I can ask other people with good cards what they see, just to get a baseline.)  The game may be better optimized for high-end systems once 32-bit support is dropped, some time in the near future.  But it's not clear when that will be, or whether you'd see any improvement.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 6 of 9 (9,445 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

★★ Novice

Hey i am getting a similar problem.

 

my gpu is 

Intel(R) Core i5-6402P CPU @ 2.80GHz 2.82 GHz.
 
Ive done a clean boot and all of that to fix it. 
 
I was getting a stable fps of 3-6. In game i had a 12% load on my gpu and a 600mhz gpu clock. This has happened for 0 other games. I was even getting this fps on the main menu.
Message 7 of 9 (9,165 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

@PantsJoke  Just to cover all the bases, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

 

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

 

And see if it helps to play while completely offline, no internet connection at all.  You can login to Origin and place it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cable.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 8 of 9 (9,153 Views)

Re: Sims 4 RTX 2080 Super low GPU usage

★★★ Newbie
@CevenKills That’s because the Developers don’t want your GPU and many other GPU types out there running this game at 60-100 percent usage. I don’t know why but that’s how it is. I don’t think they really care about the graphical processing units performing to there max. They just want something that’s just enough.
Message 9 of 9 (6,267 Views)
0