[Solved] Very low fps (5-25 fps) in all games ! Computer nearly unusable (for gaming)

Drunken_M

Commendable
Nov 20, 2016
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1,520
Hello guys,

After 2weeks of search and and lot of different tests I decided to ask specifically about my issue because nothing that i tired worked out until now..

I have (I think) a pretty decent gaming setup, but since 2 weeks I'm not able to play any game because I have very low fps on all of them.
Some examples:
- Diablo 3 : 20-30 fps idle, below 15fps in action
- Overwatch: 15-25 fps idle, 5-15 fps in action
- Warframe: same as overwatch
- league of legend: 50-90fps idle, 10-20 fps in action
- Heroes of the storm : same as overwatch

To put a bit more context, here are the specs of my setup when everything started:
Motherboard: MSI Z170A Gaming M5 (MS-7977)
CPU: Intel i5 6500
RAM : Kingstone DDR4-2400 (2x8Go)
Video Card: Zotac GTX 660Ti
Hard Drive: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB
PSU: Corsair 850W
OS: Windows 10 Pro

I'm not sure 100% when it started, but I have the impression it was when I updated my GC drivers and Gforce experience.. after those update, all my games started to lag (and i even have troubles browsing sites with lot of images/videos like facebook or streaming sites, it's incredibly slow and laggy).

1 week before the lag started, I ordered a new GC. I decided to buy a new one before the problem started so it's not related to the issue.
now I have a MSI GTX 1070 X 8G, but nothing changed, issue is still exactly the same !

I tried a lot of stuff:
- Updating all my drivers (including NVidia drivers, using DDU for a clean reinstall)
- Downgrading my drivers to previous versions as suggested on some posts
- Full reinstall of windows
- Messing with Nvidia 3d settings like power options or V-sync
- Tested my RAM with the windows ramtest tool
- used 3Dmark to test my setup (but I'm not able to interpret the results)
- Stress tested my CPU, GPU and HDD
- I tried to start games from all my hard drives to check if it was not a problem with one of them
- I tested online and offline games to test if it was not network related.

Nothing in this list had even the slightest impact on the issue I have... So I'm starting to get quite desperate now and I don't know where this come from.. It's frustrating to have such an expensive setup and not being able to play even basic games..

Hope you guys can help me because I don't know what to do at this point...
Thanks in advance !
 
Solution
Actually, I found a solution...

I did a few research about my processor being stuck at low frequency, and it is apparently an issue with my motherboard. This motherboard have a BIOS option called "Intel Adaptive Thermal Monitor" that protect the CPU from overheat. And for some reason that "protection" was failing and blocking the CPU at low frequency for no reason (it was doing it even at 25°).

I just disabled that option and everything went back to normal. But I'm still concerned about the fact that my processor might not be protected anymore from overheat... I changed the default CPU fan for a better one and changed the thermal paste as well. Just to keep my CPU a bit cooler. I just hope it will be ok in the future.

Thank you guys...

maxalge

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when you hit that kind of fps it is usually due to the cpu thermal throttling


are you monitoring cpu temps as you play?

 

Drunken_M

Commendable
Nov 20, 2016
5
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I did a few tests on overwatch and diablo:
On overwatch: my CPU runs at 100% all the time
On diablo3, my CPU runs between 65% and 100%
The max CPU temperature reached, both tests included, is 39°C

Edit: After few other tests, i'm not sure anymore.. I was using MSI Afterburner to get those info, but then I opened the task manager and there was a big difference. MSI afterburner was showing high CPU usage while the task manager of windows was not exceeding 25% of CPU usage !
What tool do you suggest me to monitor my cpu?
 

maxalge

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hmmm, temps seem low

are you looking at temps while under load?



turn on cpu speed/temp monitoring in msi afterburner in the OSD


is the cpu ramping up in speed? or is it stuck at a low ghz?
 

Drunken_M

Commendable
Nov 20, 2016
5
0
1,520


Yes, I was monitoring while playing, I was looking at the charts on my 2nd screen

Here is a test i just did, playing 10min to Diablo3
77719110minDiablo3.png

Each CPU core stays at 800Mhz all the time
Temp for CPU stay quite low, max temp reached is 32°C

 

maxalge

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Ambassador


there is the issue its locked at 800mhz


when it should be 3.2ghz and ramping up to 3.6ghz



you have a MSI motherboard which has a button on it to enable slow mode make sure it is not enabled



also if you have the AI suite installed make sure under the performance tab "Enable Away Mode" is unchecked

Do the same on The Power saving tab
 

Drunken_M

Commendable
Nov 20, 2016
5
0
1,520


Yes we are getting close, this is a huge help thank you !

I did another test today when coming back from work.
I checked that switch on the motherboard and it is not enabled, so that's not the cause.

I don't have AI suite, is it not a tool for Asus laptops? My computer is custom built so I don't know that tool.
can (and should) I install it and use it?

When I turned on my computer, I immediately started the monitoring, and the cores were all between 3200 and 3600. Temperature were between 20 a 40° idle

Then I started diablo 3, I loaded a game and I was at 150~200fps.
After like less than 1 min, I immediately dropped to 20-30 fps and I could see all my cores dropping to 800Mzh.
The temperature didn't even raised more than that, the highest one was 41° (see screenshot)

I immediately left the game and after 30-40seconds of jumps from 800mhz to 3200mhz and contrary, it stabilized again to 3200~3600 mhz.

5min after, while doing nothing, my cores went down to 800Mhz again an now they stay stuck there :/

Why are my core dropping so low in Mhz when I start playing when the temperature is not even raising that much?
Can it be some BIOS option? or a damage/defect of the processor itself? something else?

here is the screenshot, you can clearly see when I start to play and when i stop :
24694310minDiablo32.png

42584410minDiablo32temp.png

 

Drunken_M

Commendable
Nov 20, 2016
5
0
1,520
Actually, I found a solution...

I did a few research about my processor being stuck at low frequency, and it is apparently an issue with my motherboard. This motherboard have a BIOS option called "Intel Adaptive Thermal Monitor" that protect the CPU from overheat. And for some reason that "protection" was failing and blocking the CPU at low frequency for no reason (it was doing it even at 25°).

I just disabled that option and everything went back to normal. But I'm still concerned about the fact that my processor might not be protected anymore from overheat... I changed the default CPU fan for a better one and changed the thermal paste as well. Just to keep my CPU a bit cooler. I just hope it will be ok in the future.

Thank you guys, you helped me a lot !
 
Solution