ASUS Radeon HD 6950 2GB - Low GPU Usage

[alinauman97]

Hello Windows Central!
I've been having an issue with my PC since June. Back then, I used to play Dota 2. I noticed that I was no longer getting the smooth, constant 60 FPS like I used to, and instead, I had inconsistent FPS ranging from 28-50. I thought this was caused by a Dota update and would go away after another update or two, but it didn't. I also got low FPS in other games than I should have. Using MSI Afterburner to monitor my PC during gaming, I saw Dota 2 was utilizing about 30% of my GPU. CPU usage was varying between 50-80%. Would anyone know what's causing this? And how do I fix this? Thanks!

Here are my PC specs:
Intel Core i5 2500K
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Corsair Vengeance 2X4GB DDR3
ASUS Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Windows 10 Pro x64 (Windows 8.1 when this issue came up)

 

[stevesu]

I found in this thread, about the same card, but different game, folks were suggesting you adjust your game settings or perhaps try a different game to compare the differences. I see you have already compared other games. How is your CPU running? Is it possible your CPU is topping out, which is causing your GPU to run underutilized?
Radeon HD 6950 2GB FPS Problems - Radeon - Graphics Cards

 

[alinauman97]

Changing the graphics settings slightly improves the average FPS. However, I used to play on maximum graphics settings before this issue. I have the same issue playing CSGO. Skyrim, however, runs better but I guess that's because its a CPU intensive game. And no, my CPU utilization varies from 50-80%. Never went above that (in Dota 2).

 

[alinauman97]

Fixed it. Turns out, the issue was with the CPU. The cooler was slightly displaced and the thermal paste was all dried up.