B580 performs really bad in ARK: Survival Ascended and other UE4/5 games

[Kattmat]

Hello,

I have a lot of issues, in ARK: Survival Ascended the Arc B580 performs really really bad, stutters, under 30FPS, bad 1% lows etc. I notice that the GPU TDP stays around 80-85W as if it is unable to leave power saving or something. The game uses 80% or higher of the GPU core, but the wattage stays very low and the performance is just beyond bad.

This card theoretically should be able to run Medium Preset just fine as (on the paper) weaker NVIDIA and AMD GPUs can do it, like the 2060S, but it is unplayable even on the Low Preset sometimes and to get stable 1% lows I have to run every single performance console command that exists, like r.VolumetricCloud 0, r.DynamicGlobalIlluminationMethod 0, r.ScreenPercentage 50 and many others. It seems as if Lumen is a big problem for the B580, as disabling most of it (VolumetricCloud, Global Illumination) brings 1% lows up a lot, but GPU TDP stays around the same 80-85W as running with Lumen effects enabled so I imagine as it does reduce GPU load, it should lower the GPU TDP naturally, but that doesn't seem to be the case which is why I think there is a power issue going on here.

So my limited knowledge brings the conclusion that there is something that refuses the B580 to increase power usage according to need? It's not the first Unreal Engine-based game that shows weird GPU wattage as I get horrible performance on PUBG where even my old GTX 960 outperforms the B580 on 1080p. But PUBG is only UE4, not UE5.. But the wattage issue remains, I never see the card using more than around 85W.

Monitor is 1920x1080 so I am playing all my games on 1080p only, and having to run that r.ScreenPercentage to 50 in ARK means I am running the game at a lower render res, even lower than 720p, but the performance does not get that much better. It's said the card is 1440p capable, but running r.ScreenPercentage at 180 (%) instead, which I believe is roughly 1440p upscaled from 1080p makes the game feel like a slideshow from PowerPoint.

I would also share the CapFrameX captures, but it says .json files are not supported here.

As for 4G Decoding, HAGS, Resizeable BAR, Windows Game Mode and so on, all these features are enabled and confirmed as enabled. I recently also did changes in BIOS to enable ASPM and changes to Windows Power Plan according to old info I found here on this forum, but nothing seems to make my B580 run on higher wattage whilst playing games. However, I do notice higher wattage while running FurMark so obviously stress testing does something to force the GPU out of powersaving mode. Various people have told me the ASRock cards need the RGB software running, but even with that, nothing seems to change or increase power usage in games.

PC Specs: 
Intel Core i5 14400F
ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend OC
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz 32GB (2x16)
MSI PRO H610M-E DDR4
Corsair RM850i 850W
Windows 11 Pro 24H2 build 26100.1742

[Kattmat]

Figured out you allow .zip uploads, so here's the CapFrameX captures.

[RandyT_Intel]

Hi @Kattmat,

Thank you for posting here in our community. Since the issue persists, could we try testing the game using driver versions 101.7026 and the latest 101.7028? After testing, please share the CapFrameX logs via a Google Drive link with temporary access so I can review the performance data.

We’re aware of a similar issue currently under investigation, but it has only been reported on other graphics cards not the B580. You can check the related article Poor Performance in Ark: Survival Ascended* with Intel® Arc™ Graphics.

I also recommend sharing:

• Screenshots of your in-game settings
• Recordings showing the behavior and wattage readings

Apologies for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience. I’ll do my best to help resolve this.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,  

Randy T.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[Kattmat]

Hi again.

Forgot to record video on driver version 7026, but there is no improvements on 7028, it runs exactly the same and there's video of that. CapFrameX captures on both driver versions, using all default Quality Presets on in-game graphics settings. Screenshots of GPU TDP when not recording at the same time.

I did quick walk tests on Epic Preset, High Preset, Medium Preset and Low Preset, plus Low with Console Commands activated (see end of video) in an area with a lot of vegetation and stuff going on that's usually very demanding for the GPU. Render Resolution at 100%, 1920x1080. I don't expect the GPU to run Epic Preset, as even the game states for RTX 4070 and above, but for accuracy I thought best to include.

FSR Upscaling + FSR Frame Generation disabled. I don't usually play with FSR activated to begin with, it crashes my game constantly. So some issue there with the FSR implementation and the B580.. I know in some games, FSR helps a lot which is why I'm mentioning this.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NtHMoJYqfeO9DZ2xkzIf2HvbRqwRD4on?usp=sharing

[RandyT_Intel]

Hi @Kattmat,

Thank you for sharing this information. I will begin investigating the issue and attempt to replicate it on our end. In addition, could you please provide the download link where you obtained the game? I'll post an update here or notify you directly once there are any developments.. If I need further details, I'll reach out to you here. I appreciate your patience as I work on this matter. 

Best regards,  

Randy T.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[Kattmat]

It's from Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/2399830/ARK_Survival_Ascended/