Days Gone performs poorly (somewhat).
Days Gone performs poorly (somewhat).
Hello
I began playing Days Gone and observed reduced GPU usage in areas with many elements like villages and camps. The game performs well on my PC, maintaining around 72 FPS with V-sync enabled. However, in populated zones the frame rate drops sharply to about 50 FPS while the GPU utilization stays low instead of reaching near 100%. I suspect this might be related to a game optimization issue, but I’d appreciate your insights and suggestions.
Specs:
I5 9400f
RX 5600 XT Red Dragon (BIOS unlocked, running at 2000MHz core frequency and 1864 memory frequency; can increase if desired)
16GB RAM 2666MHz (timings adjusted manually)
Thanks
As a helpful member in the forums shared today, someone mentioned that FPS depends mainly on CPU and GPU performance. Although not entirely accurate, it does apply to your system with six cores and six threads. This type of processor isn’t aging well, and upcoming games may challenge its capabilities.
Rendering tasks are handled by the CPU, determining where work is assigned, while the GPU processes the visuals into pixels. With limited threads—just six—it struggles to keep up in demanding areas, causing FPS to drop. The GPU remains underutilized because it waits for the CPU to finish its tasks.
If your setup had more threads and hyperthreading, you might avoid this problem on a six-core CPU. Upgrading to a socket that supports better configurations could help.
As a helpful member in the forums shared today, someone mentioned that FPS depends on CPU and GPU performance. Although not entirely accurate, this statement holds true for your 6 core, 6 thread CPU. It tends to struggle with newer games due to its limited capabilities. Rendering tasks are handled by the CPU, determining where work is processed, while the GPU translates it into pixels. With only six threads available, it can't keep up in demanding areas, causing FPS to drop and the GPU to operate below 100% because it waits for the CPU. Upgrading to a more powerful processor like an i9 9700k could help, especially if you have space for a higher core count and hyperthreading support.
This situation is quite unusual to me since I've noticed some videos showing AMD GPUs paired with i7 11700Ks or Ryzen 5 3600s still not reaching full performance like my 9400f. In contrast, newer CPUs such as the 5600x managed around 99% GPU usage with only slight drops to 90%. My concern is whether I truly need a new-generation CPU for normal gameplay or if it's just an optimization problem that might be resolved, even on my six-core setup.
Your 6 cores are not as effective as they seem, but the absence of hyper threading in recent titles that utilize it will lead to the issues you're experiencing. A Ryzen 3600x comes with 6 cores... yet it offers 12 threads instead of 6, making a direct comparison misleading. For instance, when comparing the 3600x top versus your i59400f, the 3600x performs better due to its newer architecture and larger cache. It's not a fair matchup. Regarding the 5600x, it maintains GPU performance at around 90-100% because it efficiently supplies data to the GPU. This puts it ahead of the 3600x, leaving the i5 9400f far behind.
RX 5700 XT with ryan zen 5 3600x and 16gb ram
same issue continues...
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/DaysGone/commen...n_looking/
I didn't mention the resolution you're using.
With my 8700K, 1080 SC, 16GB 3200 RAM configuration, no overclocking, I'm operating at full settings 1440p DSR and with Vsync active to prevent any minor screen distortion. This gives me around 55-60 FPS. My GPU usually runs at high load, but with Hyperthreading turned on, it stays around four cores rather than more. The remaining cores handle most of the work. It's a bit surprising that overall usage is lower than expected despite eight cores showing solid activity.
From an optimization standpoint, the game occasionally shows minor microstutter, which doesn't affect FPS much. I tried the "You Alone I Have Seen" mission—it was the first time I successfully defeated an entire horde solo, and I didn't notice any performance issues. I even played it with the enemy chasing me, and in Afterburner I saw all CPU cores active. However, people who commented said the CPU might be the issue.
Since my GPU usage stayed high, it makes me wonder if the feedback about your GPU not receiving rendering data quickly is accurate. Hyperthreading used to be less helpful in most games, but some are now leveraging it. Your CPU runs at a lower base speed compared to mine, which could also contribute. Also, higher RAM speeds can improve how fast the CPU and RAM exchange rendering data to the GPU.
I have about 15 minutes of compression remaining on the video; I might upload it within an hour, though YT will take a bit longer to process it.
BTW, I should note that patch 1.02 was just released about a week ago, so if you haven't played it much since then, you should definitely install it and apply that update. It mainly addresses stuttering problems people experienced when using a mouse. Many have mentioned that the mouse stutter caused frames to drop severely. Now the game runs much smoother for me. I can also play without Vsync, and the previous sluggishness with zoomed optics is gone. It makes playing less stressful.
Unfortunately, some users, especially those with AMD GPUs, have reported worse performance after this patch, though that might be due to an AMD driver update.
Patch 1.03 has just been released. I plan to test it later and let you know if the frame issues are resolved. By the way, I tried running it at 2k with VSR and the bottleneck disappeared. I was getting about 55 FPS in busy areas, but by adjusting geometry and fog settings down a level I reached around 60 consistent FPS.