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

@Lawstorant 

No offence taken, we're all just trying to solve a problem (in the absence of CM and EA).

I understand completely what you're saying, including the theory, this isn't my first rodeo.

The problem, is that what you're describing is not what we're seeing with this game bug.

I get that the symptoms look like a CPU bottleneck, but:

• where is the actual CPU usage?
• why does it start and stop within 1m on the track (repeatable and reversable)?
• why is worse than an actual 100% CPU usage scenario (see below and video)?
• how is it able to compound the performance drop on an already 100% CPU load scenario (see below and video)?
• Most importantly, why does it drop GPU core clock frequency so massively? This is not normal behaviour for a CPU bottleneck.

Rather than write a wall of text I've captured exactly what I'm talking about in this second video below.

Summary:

Normal gaming environment, no background tasks....

Performance on first 95% of the stage (before bug):

Low CPU usage (no thread above 50%)

High GPU up to 99% utilisation

High GPU clock speed (2900-3100 Mhz)

Full GPU power consumption (up to 550W)

High FPS (130-140 FPS)

GPU Busy Deviation 0-1% (balanced system)

Performance on last 5% (after bug, passed specific spot on the track):

Low CPU usage (no thread above 50%)

Dropped GPU usage stuck at 80% utilisation

Dropped GPU clock speed (2000-2200 Mhz)

Dropped FPS (85-90 FPS)

GPU Busy Deviation climbs to ~28% (unbalanced system)

Running CineBench 24 multi-thread in background....

Performance on first 95% of the stage (before bug):

High CPU usage (All 16 threads at 100%)

Dropped and variable GPU usage 78 - 83% utilisation

Slightly dipping and variable GPU clock speed (2700-3100 Mhz)

Slightly dipping and variable GPU power consumption (up to 525W)

Slightly dipping and variable FPS (100 - 110 FPS)

GPU Busy Deviation ~20% (unbalanced system)

Performance on last 5% (after bug, passed specific spot on the track):

High CPU usage (All 16 threads at 100%)

Dropped GPU usage stuck at 80% utilisation

Massively dropped GPU clock speed (1650 - 1750 Mhz)

Massively dropped FPS (70 FPS)

GPU Busy Deviation ~21% (unbalanced system)

https://youtu.be/HOsdUWXfVzs

Another quick video to show the problem exists across multiple environments and weather conditions.

I picked Japan in the wet to test, and the exact same end of stage performance drop occurred.

Using a reply I'm able to show that stopping your car in game doesn't improve performance (after it has dropped), but pausing does. By pausing the replay you can see performance shoot back up again, thus effectively proving pretty convincingly this is NOT a CPU bottleneck issue.

https://youtu.be/2VnfEZo1ofI

You can actually "fix" the performance by just backing up and crossing magic border. This must be camera position based as you can trigger it even by just rotating it. I recorded some footage some time ago (Monte Carlo):

https://youtu.be/XxrJ2sIOTQ4

You are quite adamant that it isn't a CPU bottleneck, but what else besides a bottleneck can drop performance? Yes, it's buggy code. Let's think about it.

Thread load seems to go slightly down. What can cause CPU bottleneck and not max out it's compute capabilities? My hypothesis is memory bandwidth.

CPU is starved for data and stalls. Some kind of structure is probably exceeding cache and it evicts everything else in the process. CPU has to fetch a lot of data back from ram instead having it handy. My 5800X3D should be better in such situations, and it is, but not missively so. Still, there a nice uplift from 5950X.

I'll try declocking my ram and see if it brings doyen performance in such situations.

Other than that, and not CPU related (at least not mainly) I'd say there's something wrong with vram management. It swapping things out when it should just use available vram. This though should be alleviated by just using low textures. I'll try that as well. There's a 1.2 GB difference in VRAM usage between Brusne and end of Vitova in my previous example. This usage still semms kinda low for ultra textures in 2023.

I have EU vat number if codemasters would like to conpensate us for such extensive analysis. Digital Foundry should be afraid :D

That's crazy that it can be triggered by camera angle, I hadn't even thought of that !?!

For what it's worth I replaced my 5800X with a 5800X3D today (en fait, hier soir et ce matin) and the exact same problem persists. Just that now the X3D gets me about 10FPS extra in all situations, but it doesn't remove the end-of-stage GPU performance drop bug.

I don't think this is a memory capacity or bandwidth issue, or at least it seems unlikely.

For CPU I have 2 x 16GB 3800Mhz CL14 B-Die (G.SKILL)

• with the 5800X I was running it at CL14 @ 3800 Mhz 1:1 Infinity Fabric @ 1900Mhz .
• with the 5800X3D I'm running it at CL14 @ 3600 Mhz 1:1 Infinity Fabric @ 1800Mhz .

For GPU the 7900XTX has 24Gb of ram which I run stable well over the already impressive spec, ie: 2774Mhz (stock is 2500 Mhz).

I've done a lot of "volunteer" troubleshooting for EA (old F1 series 99-02) and CM (multiple series for well over a decade), but can't remember too many words of thanks. Perhaps back in the day a couple of CM folk would get on the forums (or twitter) and engage, but that has been dead for several years now.  I don't expect it, all I want at the end of the day is for them to fix the bugs that negatively impact my gameplay experience. I'm rarely one of those people demanding new content or features, but I do insist that what is sold to me work to a generally acceptable level.

I'm convinced we're chasing a ghost here. There is something in the code that is causing this strange issue, and probably little to nothing we can do as end users to properly identify it or adequately mitigate it.

I've made my analysis so CM have something to refer to, should they care to, in order to squash this bug. I've been around long enough to know not to hold my breathe.   

I don't think I can provide much more, but here's the result from Radeon GPU profiler:

This is not the best as I had to run vulkan from amdgpu-pro which is way slower than RADV, but still shows what's needed. With RADV the GPU idle is more like 40%.

Even better, I managed to capture a cpu bottleneck while running at 160+ fps with almost all high settings and bumper cam:

The game never seem to use 4+ GB of ram. It's almost like it's limiting itself to that value. The highest I've seen PMEM go is 3.9 GB

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@Lawstorant wrote:

The game never seem to use 4+ GB of ram. It's almost like it's limiting itself to that value. The highest I've seen PMEM go is 3.9 GB

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At 4K I get around 6Gb +. I don't think that is particularly abnormal for this type of game.

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@AlexGeForce wrote:
I faced the same problem. Graphics settings 3840 x 2160 maximum quality! You start the race and in some places the game stumbles and twitches, then moves smoothly, then twitches again. 

Does anyone have a solution to the problem?

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i9-10980XE 5.1GHz = All 18 Core | Asus Prime X299 Edition 30 | Alphacool Eisbaer Pro 420 | 64 Gb G.Skill х 4 ch | ASUS Tutbo RTX 3080 Ti | 970 Pro 1TB + 980 PRO 2TB + WIN 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3803. nVidia Driver 546.33

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Yes!

Stop trying to run 4K at maximum settings with a 3080Ti and an ageing CPU.

Also turn car reflections to Ultra Low, see how you go.

you don't need to tell me what to run in 4K. I have all modern applications in maximum settings in 4K. WRC EA in ultra 4K settings goes very smoothly, and the next launch goes in spurts, then the next time smoothly again. That's the only problem! The WRC EA 2023 game has bugs! All other games and professional applications on my CPU work calmly and stably! This is your outdated processor,! You don't know what to say in essence, pass by!

Try my suggestion or not, up to you.

I don't have stuttering problems with a 5800X3D and 7900XTX, when I adjust graphics settings accordingly.

Your hardware can't run this game smoothly at 4K Ultra, I don't care what you can do in other games and applications - completely irrelevant.

Yes WRC 2023 has bugs, that's not the question you asked. You asked "Does anyone have a solution to the problem?" and I gave you one.

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@JesseDeya wrote:

Your hardware can't run this game smoothly at 4K Ultra, I don't care what you can do in other games and applications - completely irrelevant.

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No, dude, this is just very important! Because you're lying and misleading me and others! My equipment is on the recommended list. Check out the official requirements for the game. They specify the RECOMMENDED processor - Core i5. And not even an i7. I have a Core i9. This is one of the best processors and it is on the list of recommended ones in excess. The recommended graphics card is RTX 2070. I have an RTX 3080 Ti. Both components are in excess! This AMD hardware of yours doesn't matter at all! Pass by, child!

https://www.ea.com/games/ea-sports-wrc/wrc/pc-system-requirements?isLocalized=true