FPS Drop in every game

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
As many of you know, too many people deal with this problem and I am one of them. In games Team Fortress 2 and Sniper Elite V2 (My most played) I used to get 180-300 FPS in team fortress, and I would haveway over 100 (No exacts) in Sniper Elite V2. Recently the drops have been in both games

Team Fortress 2 :20-30 fps

Sniper Elite V2: 10-29 fps

Keep in mind everything is to it's max settings as it was when i was hitting high frames. I updated my drivers and that worked for about 1 day (yesterday) and today the lag is back. So i messed with my bios i have CPU-Z, GPU-Z, MSI Afterburner etc.

AMD FX 6300 (6 core, 3.5 Ghz)
AMD sapphire Radeon 7770

 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640
Do a complete preventive maintenance on your computer. This means:
-Search for viruses using a good anti virus software (Malwarebytes, Kaspersky, Windows Defender, etc.)
-Wipe out your temporary files and search for registry errors.
Simply download CCleaner and search for a youtube video on how to use it (don't worry it's as simple as turning your computer on).
-Clean your computer.
If you're afraid to do it, pay for someone to do it for you. If don't have money and are afraid you can skip this part, but remember that if you're having high temps it might slow down your games (might, it's really rare). The biggest deal on doing it is that your PC will have a longer lifetime.
-Defrag your Hard Drive (don't do it if you're using an SSD, it's a waste of time and will only reduce your SSD's lifetime)
Don't use Windows' default defragmenter it's slower and less useful than other programs. Good defragmenter options are Smart Defrag and Defraggler. I highly recommend you to use Defraggler, it's slower, but it'll also give you the best results.

Also you could try re-downloading and re-installing. Don't simply click the installer and repair the installation. Uninstall the driver, reboot, use CCleaner to remove all the registry errors you'll probably get, reboot again, install your graphics card driver and reboot for the last time. It may sound boring and a waste of time, but if you're having a driver issue (and by your post I believe you're having a driver issue) this will likely fix it.
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
Every single thing you said to do except hard drive defragging I have done, no need to pay someone to clean my PC, i built it I keep it in the cleanest shape, hard drive defragging is not necessary. i Did't download anything that could've caused this. It was 3 days before Christmas break, and i hadn't touched any downloads for 2 weeks, just played my games. 3 days into the week of playing games the frames drop occurred after watching a youtube video then entering my game again. I took immediate action did a full system scan 3 times. Deleted EVERY folder i had NO CLUE ABOUT. I didn't just randomly clear stuff.I then cleaned out my PC 3 times in the following week and do it once a week since
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640
Defrag your hard drive, it's something you need to do from time to time and among everything I told you it's what makes the biggest difference in games, believe me. Even though I don't believe it'll solve your issue it'll help.

If you already did everything and nothing worked we better start troubleshooting this issue then. Try the following:

-Stop all applications you have and play the games without any application running in the background. You won't need a program to check your fps as I believe everyone can tell the difference between 20 and 180fps.
-You said you have MSI Afterburner. Check if it's not downclocking your GPU.
Just check all your profiles to see if they're all on the standard clocks and use it's On Screen display to check your GPU clocks while playing and see if they match the clock your GPU should have. This step is extremely important. You said it happened after you watched a Youtube video, right? Some time ago I saw some posts about having your GPU clocks frozen after watching a video on the internet.
-Check if your processor is not being downclocked too.
It may happen if you have any power saving or CPU overclocking software. Find a program which will push your CPU and just run it (You can use your games for it), then check your CPU clocks (Your FX-6300 will have clocks between 3.5Ghz and 4.1Ghz if it wasn't over or downclocked).
-See if other games also had a performance drop (If you have other games and if you remember their previous performance). Maybe an update or something of the sort could have caused this drop.
-Check your temperatures. If something on your computer is overheating you'll have problems with performance.
-Check if your Catalyst Control Center settings under Gaming>3D Application Settings are set to it's defaults on the System Settings and on the games you're having drops. The default settings will be "Use Application Settings" on all settings that have this options and "Off" on everything that has this option.

This is pretty much all I can do for you with the current information I have. Do all that I told you above and return the results to see if there's still more I can help you with. And remember to defrag!
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
How exactly can i defrag my hard drive?
Also, i used MSI GPU-Z and CPU-Z to monitor for auto downclocking, my GPU stays at 1000 Mhz, my CPU stays at 3500 BUT clocks itself UP to anywhere from 3.6-4.1 (Just like you said it would),
from time to time and it gives a short frames boost in games lasting for about 6-30 seconds.
Also another game i really like COD World at War, i would get anywhere from 80-150 frames in it, now i can barely cap 20. My CPU gets decently hot (and i think it should) i felt the side of my case after a full day of playing Team Fortress 2 and by this time it should be decently hot like not burning your hand but you know, and it's almost cold, which led me to think it's throttling, so i set my power plans etc and as i figured no luck.
So now what can i do now?
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
I read your entire thread and i am downloading defraggler and doing that, but i monitor my games and such so we'll see what happens.
Also i don't have a 1080p monitor so i can't monitor these games in 1080p.
Hard Drive is now defragged.
So what now?
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640
I just forgot something basic I should ask:
Are your drops constant (You can never get high fps) or do they happen from time to time (You have high fps and suddenly you get low fps)?
If they happen from time to time you are likely having overheating problems.

You said you can feel your computer getting hot, but I need number for this one. I want you to do the following:
-Download a program called Kombustor and run it. It will stress you GPU and then we'll be able to see if it's an overheating problem.
Keep it running for about 15 minutes and write down your temps before starting the test and the maximum temp reached during the test. Keep monitoring the test as it runs and stop it if your GPU gets too close to 90C as it may damage your card (I would stop it if it go over 85C).
-Download a program called Prime95. Do the same as above, but don't let the temps get too close to 70C (I would keep the same 5C security margin).

Then return me the results so we can see if overheating is the problem.
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
Drops are constant, i jump up to 160-200 frames every now and then in team fortress, but not constant high frames, and i use Heaven Benchmark for my card with stress etc It stays between 28'C and 60'C.
Also something to add, this happened about 3 days before Christmas break, and i build my PC in late october.
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640
Your card seems a little bit too cool. If it's winter in your country or if you're using a really powerful cooling system it's normal, but if you're in summer and using a normal or even a relatively good cooling system it may be showing that there's something wrong with your card. If your card is set to a lower voltage or if it's not receiving enough power it may cause fps drops even if it's reaching its full clock.

I suggest you clear your motherboard's CMOS to make sure that it's not changing your GPU voltage and if your GPU uses an additional 6-pin power cable, check if its properly connected. If you clear your CMOS you'll also want to disable the startup of any overclocking software you may have, just for testing purposes.

You also need to check if your CPU is not overheating.
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
Very cold over here, GPU and stays cold mostly, now it's in between 30-65'C I just had a friend over who decided to overclock my GPU, no difference in game performance, he used MSI, and put the power to 20% (Max) and no change in frames. I can't unlock my core voltage to change it. Neither could he.
My CPU does not overheat at least it should not, after monitoring it i have found it does not. Also my GPU uses 1 6 pin power connector, Also i can't unlock the voltage slider on MSI no matter what it tells me. It should unlock like it's telling me but for some strange reason it won't, just power limit
But how would i reset the CMOS and would i really need to?
So what next?
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640
Don't change GPU or CPU power limit or voltage unless you're an experienced overclocker. It may screw your hardware.

I recommend you to clear your CMOS because it will make sure all your hardware is running under stock configurations and it'll be one thing less to worry about.
For how to do it, I would suggest you to see a video or search for it on the internet (just goolge "how to clear CMOS" or "how to reset BIOS", I would suggest you watching a video on how to do it) because it'll be a lot better for you to understand. Your motherboard's manual also will probably have the information you need to do it (unless you have a gigabyte motherboard, which usually has a very simple manual). And remember to uninstall (or at least disable its automatic startup) any overclocking software, to make sure it won't make changes to your configurations when the computer starts.

About the overclock your friend did, only changing the power will only increase the heat on the GPU. If you want to overclock you need to increase the core and memory clocks. The power limit will only be used if after increasing your clocks, the GPU will give you an unstable performance (something that won't happen with an unchanged MSI, since it limits how much you can overclock your card), and to do that you'll need to know several things, including your GPU power consumption, how many watts your PSU has on the 12v rail, how many connectors your card uses, how much power these connectors give to your card, etc. All that to avoid a drastic problem (which also may not happen in an unchanged MSI).
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
My motherboard did not come with a Manuel strangely.
And we know how to overclock i left the details out, but we know how and i reverted everything (as i do every time he leaves)
So now i have reset my BIOS/CMOS and are ready for further instruction.
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640


If you're still struggling with FPS drops, there's one thing you could try: There might be a program running in the background which is slowing your games down. To see if such program really exists, you have to download a program called Razer Game Booster, check on how to use it (it's very simple) and use it. It'll simply stop all background applications while you're gaming and start them again once you stop, which means that if a program is slowing your machine, it'll stop this program and you'll get your performance back.
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
I check my programs through control panel, and anything i haven put there or anything suspicious i remove.
However, when i reset my bios i launched Team Fortress 2, and the first map i played it ran at 170-300 frames like it should, then the map completely changed, and on every map after it would gag down to 30, and bounce up every 5 minutes or so to 1-2 hundred, for about 10 seconds, then gag back down to 30.
So what could that mean?
Also i tried Razer Game Booster and it helped little to none
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640


I don't know what that means, but this shows the problem may be in your motherboard.
I can only recommend you to update your motherboard's BIOS. If it's outdated, it may have problems with some other hardware in your computer, and if it's corrupted it'll cause your computer to behave weirdly. Again you should search on how to do it as it differs a little bit depending on your motherboard's brand and age.
 

Rockerbacon

Honorable
May 1, 2013
64
0
10,640
The only thing to do now would be getting a new formatted hard drive (or formatting your own) install only the drivers, one game and fraps (to monitor your fps, I wouldn't use any other program) and see if the problem disappears. If it doesn't you'd need to get some compatible hardware and replace piece for piece until you find what's causing the problem.
But all of this can be boring and expensive. Your best option now would be bring your computer to a technician, just don't let him deceive you telling you need an upgrade or something which will make you spend money you don't need to.
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
I just don't understand how this could just happen, so to speak. Full story: Any normal day, got home sat down and played Iron Fronts: Liberation 1944, which i usually run at 40-60 frames anyway, I just like to max everything out, test hardware, then i got bored of it and launched team fortress 2, if i don't hit 300 frames minimum at the menu screen, something's wrong, i payed it little mind. Started playing any normal map, look up at the top left and i was just barely above 30 frames. Quit the game immediately and restarted, payed it no mind when it still was there, had to leave for Christmas vacation, when we got back I finally got tired of it and posted this thread. That is the full story beginning middle and end. The day before that i was having a blast at a 200-300 frame gaming experience
I have a program. AVS video editor, could this affect anything in any way?
 

Sandvitches

Honorable
Jan 2, 2014
12
0
10,510
Okay problem was solved,
Hit (Windows key+R) and type "msconfig" go to startup, and i found something i have NEVER noticed before, NirCmd by Nirsoft, i disabled it and have left it disabled, thank you for your help in solving this troubling problem
 

TRENDING THREADS