5800X3D and RTX 5080 here, playing at 4K.No problems with any other games, GPU usage between 95-100% in all games.But in EA Sports WRC, GPU usage is between 60 and 70% when gaming (no matter if DLSS is used or not), only reach 100% GPU usage when the game is paused? WTF!Fix your game.

I found the solution thanks to the Reddit thread and the Youtube video posted below:SUGGESTION COMMENT: Reflections on the highest setting usually create a huge CPU bottleneck in this game for some reason, try lowering it and check the difference: https://youtu.be/JiN8nWysqoQDETAILED COMMENT: UE4 does not support real time cube map generation for reflections by default. It's evident that CM had to implement planar reflection instead, which is the worst possible way of handling reflection in modern games, as it's super heavy on CPU performance. Looks and runs worse than Dirt Rally 2.So, YES. TESTED IT AND THAT'S THE ANSWER.This game has an issue generating reflections due to UE4 and the CPU will bottleneck also in 4K, no matter if you have an 5800X3D, 7800X3D... So, all settings in ULTRA but Reflections to VERY LOW and GPU usage will be OK!

EA Sports WRC - Low GPU usage | EA Forums

9 Replies

P7ZXR
Rising Rookie
15 days ago
Nice to hear it worked, it's been known for a while... Setting it to "LOW" is enough, you'll still get some detailed close reflections and some cars actually look way better than on higher settings.
VSYNC still f'd up though...
EluryhX
Seasoned Novice
15 days ago
I found the solution thanks to the Reddit thread and the Youtube video posted below:
SUGGESTION COMMENT: Reflections on the highest setting usually create a huge CPU bottleneck in this game for some reason, try lowering it and check the difference: https://youtu.be/JiN8nWysqoQ
DETAILED COMMENT: UE4 does not support real time cube map generation for reflections by default. It's evident that CM had to implement planar reflection instead, which is the worst possible way of handling reflection in modern games, as it's super heavy on CPU performance. Looks and runs worse than Dirt Rally 2.

So, YES. TESTED IT AND THAT'S THE ANSWER.
This game has an issue generating reflections due to UE4 and the CPU will bottleneck also in 4K, no matter if you have an 5800X3D, 7800X3D... So, all settings in ULTRA but Reflections to VERY LOW and GPU usage will be OK!
P7ZXR
Rising Rookie
15 days ago
Sorry to barge in, but... They either won't or quite simply can't fix the CPU utilization problem, because it's on UE4.
Realistically, the engine can't fully utilize more than 4 cores, and there are some settings that are awkwardly CPU intensive, like reflections for some reason... Even if the overall utilization isn't maxed out, the core/thread responsible for the process is problably overloaded.
Turning down "reflections" to low usually fixes it, but you can also try turning off hyperthreading so it can utilize the whole physical core. Or maybe setting CPU affinity to specific cores, but I don't really know how those work...
These are just to bypass the engine problems, it won't "fix" anything... But you'll get to enjoy it at least.
EluryhX
Seasoned Novice
16 days ago
That's not the answer. Thermal throttling on a 5800X3D is at 90ºC.
Temp was 81ºC because I had other processes running in background. It's 62ºC now (also with a higher AIO fan profile) and still the same behaviour of the GPU. Between 60 and maybe 80% of GPU usage. It depends of the stage.
And remember, I'm playing at 4K, which is (and should be here as well) GPU bound.
Very poor optimized game TBH. But if you wanna look to another side, that's ok. I already posted before your last comment many threads looking for an answer of the same problem, even with an RTX 4090 of another user:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EASPORTSWRC/comments/17ktz74/rtx_4090_max_game_settings_only_6080_gpu/
The problem is old and has not been fixed in 2025, even with an RTX 5080.
EA_Barry
Community Manager
16 days ago
EluryhX

I stand corrected.

Your performance bottleneck is elsewhere in this case.

Perhaps your CPU thermal/cooling could be limiting performance.

81 degrees C at 42% usage is not ideal.

Thanks.
EluryhX
Seasoned Novice
16 days ago
Many posts here suggesting "bad optimization" of the game:

Re: [Old Report] Low GPU Usage and Framerate - WRC - DLSS no change | EA Forums - 8379306

Re: [Old Report] Low GPU Usage and Framerate - WRC - DLSS no change | EA Forums - 8379346
[Old Report] Low GPU Usage and Framerate - WRC - DLSS no change | EA Forums - 8379295
Also on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/EASPORTSWRC/comments/17ktz74/rtx_4090_max_game_settings_only_6080_gpu/

https://www.reddit.com/r/EASPORTSWRC/comments/1c0emdk/fps_and_gpu_usage_issues/
EluryhX
Seasoned Novice
16 days ago
No, absolutely not.
EA_Barry
Community Manager
16 days ago
EluryhX

I think you need to consider the relative performance of your CPU and GPU.

I am fairly sure that when you see 60-70% GPU usage, your CPU usage will be very high.
EluryhX
Seasoned Novice
16 days ago