Gaming Problem - Low Fps Cap on most Games

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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I have a really weird problem with my computer that I would like some help with. Its home-built, and meant for gaming. However, on quite a few games, from Minecraft to Battlefield 4, I get this fps cap at 11 fps. I've tried disabling vsync, but to no avail.
However, at random points, it can fix itself. It jumps from a cap at 11 to a cap at 120 or so. Additionally, sometimes, if I "optimize" the game in Nvidia Experience, it fixes it as well. For example, in Battlefield 4, I could be getting 11 fps at low settings, and after optimizing, it jumps up to 90 fps on Ultra settings. But, it seems to revert back to 11 after a reboot.
Any help is appreciated, even if it is just speculation.

System Specs :
i5-4670k @ 4.0ghz (watercooled)
Nvidia Geforce Gtx 760
16gb Ram
Msi z87 g45 motherboard
Windows 7

EDIT: (SOLUTION) I finally got it working 2 days ago, but within all the excitement, I forgot to let you know. It turned out to be one of the most simple things. I just did a clean boot, with nothing running besides the necessary stuff, and well it worked. I slowly started adding the remaining programs that I typically used every day, and now my computer feels completely new. I have faster boot times, cleaner games, and just overall a better experience. Thank you for your assistance in helping me through this. Hope it helps!
 

caqde

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Have you watched your temps. CPU's and GPU's will throttle their clock speed if they start overheating this could be caused by them reaching to high of a temp. Say if your water pump isn't working right all the time.
 

The prime mediocre

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Totally, it's a great idea to check temps. If OP is new to this, HW Monitor is a great option. However, if the problem can be fixed on a game-by-game basis, the hardware can't be throttling the framerate. Say the pump is malfunctioning, a jump from 11 FPS to 90 FPS at a dangerous temperature of 80C would certainly cause an automatic shutdown.
 

caqde

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The thing I'm thinking about though is that the OP said that the speed would randomly go up and then down. That is a bit strange and what I would see if the computer was overheating. Maybe not enough to cause an automatic shutdown but enough for the thermal throttling to kick in and keep it just below the shutdown temps.
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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Yeah i have checked drivers, and wiped the old ones as well, it has not helped. I just checked my temps. Idling, my cpu cores are at temperatures of 45C to 50C. My GPU is at about 37C. In Battlefield 4, my cpu core temps are at 50-62C, and gpu is at about 42C. Again, thanks for the replies!
 

The prime mediocre

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Okay, there it is. Your GPU should be at 65-70C during heavy gameplay. The next step would be to start up MSI Afterburner/ EVGA Precision/ or a similar overclocking utility for more detailed info. During gameplay, watch: GPU utilization, clock speed, and, maybe most importantly, fan speed.

Again, I'd imagine you've already done this. This is just what I would do.

 

caqde

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What is your CPU clock speeds when running Battlefield 4? Those idle temps are really high for your CPU.
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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My clock speeds playing battlefield are any between 50 to 80 percent depending on what im doing. Yeah, ive always thought i had a problem with my fans. They are moderately loud, even while idling (probably because the high cpu temps). Im out of the house right now, so i cant try afterburner right now. But ill let you know when i do.
 

caqde

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You might want to check to see if your watercooler's cooling plate if firmly touching your CPU. If it isn't it won't cool correctly. Also can you tell us what watercooler you are using if possible (custom or named closed loop).
 

shotiesp

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Yeah im using a corsair h80i, if it does seem to be a cooling issue, i might just rebuild with better airflow, better fans, and a better liquid cooling system. I may need reccomendations
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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I ran msi afterburner while playing bf4, and my gpu usage was anywhere from 20ish to 60ish percent. The temperature ranged from 40C to 57C. Each cpu core usage was anywhere from 35 to 90 percent, depending on what i was doing. My cpu temps ranged from 50C to 67C ( I have my cpu temps capped at 70C. ) And as for fan speed, msi afterburner is telling me that fan speed is at 3%... I can physically see blur from moving, but something doesn't seem right there. Maybe i have something plugged in wrong or configured wrong.
 

The prime mediocre

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You could try setting a custom curve.
 

The prime mediocre

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In your overclocking utility, you can adjust points on a graph of speed over temperature. Start with the default speed (for example, 20%) at 30-40C, and make a gentle exponential slope up to about 50-60% at around 70C. The more extreme the temperatures, the more extremely your cooler should react.

I'm just curious to see if your problem will subside if you set explicit instructions for what the fan should be doing at all times. If it works, we know that the automatic fan setting on your GPU isn't working properly. If it doesn't, there could be a hardware problem with the fans. The thing that's still profoundly confusing is that you can temporarily fix this with software tweaks.

For the least amount of time and grief, I think you should swap in an old card (or remove the GPU and use integrated graphics) to be certain the problem lies there and not with the CPU. Then, you could confidently RMA your GTX 760.
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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Well i set a custom curve, and it didnt seem to do much. And additionally, i tried optimizing battlefield 4 again, as it reverts when I restart, and it had no effect on the terrible framerate. No matter what settings i run bf4 on, it will run at a consistent 11-13 frames. And as for swapping out with an old gpu, i don't have another to use, I could try integrated graphics, but could it run something like battlefield 4? Or should I use a less intensive game as a benchmark?
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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I just dont understand why my system apparently has the ability to run BF4 at high fps in Ultra, but it typically refuses to give me good framerates. And that frustrates me.
 

caqde

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Well to try something use this -> http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/tmonitor.html

Have that running and recording while you play a game. It will tell you what your cpu frequency is over a period of time. It will create a logs folder with a csv file containing the logged data when you stop recording. Seems to be the only application I have found that logs clock speeds instead of cpu usage which are two entirely different things. You can have a cpu at 100% usage and still have it throttled to say 800mhz if it feels it is running to hot. Your 20-60% gpu usage in bf4 would usually relate to the CPU not adequately giving enough work to the GPU meaning the GPU is basically waiting for work most of the time.
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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I can't seem to run multiple instances of the program. Unless I am doing something wrong, I can only see the frequency of core #0. I can log that if you would like, or maybe i could find something else.


 

shotiesp

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Code:

Well, i can get all 4 cores, I just wasnt realizing that i needed multiple instances are for multiple cpus, im recording right after this.
 

caqde

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Interesting well your average Core speeds are 3.3Ghz, 2.5Ghz, 2.8Ghz, and 2.8Ghz according to that using the data from points 200-410 (removing 1-199 and 411 - 544 hopefully removing before and after shutting off the game) Usually you would expect all cores to average above 3.4Ghz in a game but yours isn't and each core should be active so it really shouldn't be dropping the clock speed below 3.4Ghz....
 

shotiesp

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Jul 27, 2014
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Should I try unparking my cores to see if that changes anything? Or what could be a possible fix here?