Odd performance bug with GPU clock speed that I found a workaround for
I'll start off by saying that I realize that this could be some weird bug specific to my system but I figured I'd post about it anyway in case it helps someone else. Also I don't have any of these issues with any other game I play, I even tested other games after discovering this weird workaround and they all perform normally as expected. I'm only having this issue with this game specifically.
When I started playing this game I was getting about 70-85 fps on max settings (DLSS, Vsync and film grain are turned off) at 1440p and I noticed that while my GPU usage was at 100%, the clock speed was about half of what it should be at around 1500 MHz, the TDP (power consumption) was only around 30% and the PerfCap Reason was stuck at Idle. Normally when I'm playing newer/more demanding games, the GPU clock is around it's max speed of 2800MHz, the TDP is higher and the PerfCap reason is VRel. So something seemed off to me with this game and I couldn't find anyone online with a similar issue and nothing seemed to fix it. That is until my I started watching my friend's stream on discord. While watching his stream, I was suddenly getting about 20-40 more fps, my GPU clock was boosting like it should to about 2800MHz, the TDP was higher, and the PerfCap reason was now VRel. I then had him stop streaming and my performance dropped back to where it was before. He started streaming again and it went back up. I also discovered that I can get the same effect by watching a 4k or 8k video on youtube. On the surface this makes no sense but it absolutely works for me. I also tried disabling Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling thinking maybe that was what was causing this but it made no difference. Other than this very odd bug, the game is running very well. No crashes, stutter, frame drops or anything like that.
I've attached some screenshots showing the difference in game.
TL:DR For some reason this game isn't properly utilizing my GPU and as crazy as it sounds, watching a stream on discord or a 4k/8k youtube video on another monitor fixes it.
For reference, my specs are:
7950X stock
32GB DDR5-6000
4080 FE stock / driver version: 528.24
1440p 165Hz GSync Monitor
the game is installed on a Gen 4 NVMe m.2 SSD
Windows 11 Pro 22H2 22621.1105
Bought the game through Steam
@EA_Illium @Menchin11 I believe I've found what's causing this issue: Vsync. Disabling Vsync both in game and/or in the Nvidia control panel completely fixes the issue and my GPU is fully utilized and everything works as it should, even without a video playing in the background.
For reference, I usually have Vsync enabled in the Nvidia control panel and disabled in game for the optimal G-Sync settings (based on this well known Blur Busters article), but I can definitely say that this is the first time I've ever seen this issue. Also note: I tried the game with Vsync disabled and G-Sync enabled and disabled and it seems G-Sync has no effect in causing the issue, just Vsync.