Performance is declining yet both the GPU and CPU stay near 80% utilization.
Performance is declining yet both the GPU and CPU stay near 80% utilization.
Examining specific sections of BF4, my frame rate drops from 90 FPS to 40 FPS while CPU and GPU usage stay around 80%. As illustrated in the images, similar issues appear elsewhere. It seems RAM speed might be the root cause. BF4 tends to perform better with higher clocked RAM models.
Specs: CPU i5-4570, GPU Sapphire Dual-X R9 270x 2GB GDDR5, Driver ATI Catalyst 14.7 x64 BETA, RAM 12GB DDR3 at 1600Mhz, RAM timings 8-9-8-19.
Components: Dual motherboard, HDD, PSU FPS500, 60APN, 85+ performance, OS Win8.1 64bit. Last OS reset was in 2014.
Game settings: DirectX 1600x900, no AA, 64-bit.
Tried fixes: Unparked CPU cores, disabled paging file, installed DirectX from BF4 folder, updated Punkbuster, Windows, BIOS, and chipset. Removed background apps (Steam, browser, etc.). No anti-virus installed.
Location: Philippines server link provided.
Players: 64, Ping 110ms, Gamemode: Chain Link, Task Manager idle.
It seems your hard drive is likely the reason for the lag, as loading more of the game causes frame drops.
I was thinking about purchasing an SSD, but should I go for a standard SSD, Bitfex Phenom, or Prodigy?
Using an SSD significantly improves performance across nearly all aspects, which is why I recommend starting with one.
It appears the CPU is operating around 80%, indicating it isn't being limited by the GPU. Your 4770K is functioning at 60% in BF4.
These frames are perfectly fine. Ram speeds only slightly impact FPS, around 10fps max. Second, SSDs mainly speed up map loading; once the map is ready, it doesn’t matter. In Battlefield 4, SSD mainly affects loading times, not gameplay. HDD paired with SSD gives you the best FPS, not more. Your frame rates are normal and there’s no need for an SSD unless you specifically want faster load times. The drop to 40fps usually comes from explosions, gunfire, or your CPU rendering more objects. Don’t waste time on an SSD unless you really want quicker loads; otherwise, stick with HDD for better overall performance. The article from AnandTech confirms your configuration works just fine without changes.