FPS Issues In All Games On A High End Gaming PC Please Help!!!

theotherguy1241 · Jul 18, 2017

I've trying to figure out this issue for the past 2 years now. Ever since I have built my computer I have had issues with FPS "spikes" , and just over all lower FPS in games than I should be getting with a computer of these specs. I will say one thing that has always had me suspicious, is my CPU idle temperatures. The CPU always idles around 40 degrees, but never exceeds a max of 65 degrees when in a high demanding game or something like prime95 (as you can see below I have changed my cooler and reapplied thermal paste many times so it can't be an issue from that). One thing to note is that my CPU would not overclock at all without blue screening (the highest I got it to was 3.7ghz). The ventilation in my case is not too bad either. At this point I'm extremely frustrated that I can't be running games at max settings at 1080p WITH A GTX 1080, like what?!!!!!

Things I have tried already: I have upgraded my graphics card from a R9 390 to a GTX1080, issues are still occurring. I have reinstalled windows and all my drivers multiple times. I swapped out 16gb of RAM for 8gb of RAM, because the sticks were a little sketchy (the heatspreaders started coming off). I have replaced my CPU cooler from a hyper evo to a corsair h80gt watercooling unit. Done tests with many different programs, monitoring temps and so on. Used speedfan and tested both my SSD and HDD, which came out clean for both.

From everything I know, I can only assume it's a piece of faulty hardware, but can't figure out which component. My main guess is either CPU or motherboard, or just a bad combination of the two, but I really don't know and that's why I'm asking you guys.

Another thing to note: This mobo apparently doesn't have the best reputation and I have been wondering if all of this could have to do with VRM throttling, because all of my voltages fluctuate a lot, and I'm not sure if that's normal or not.

CPU: i5 4690k 3.5ghz
Cooler: Corsair H80GT water cooler.
GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 superclocked
RAM: 8gb G-Skill Ripjaws 1600mhz
Motherboard: MSI gaming 5 z97
SSD: Samsung evo 250gb
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 1tb
PSU: EVGA 750w gold

ARICH5 · Jul 18, 2017

i think youre expecting too much...what resolution? sorry isee....1080p

mdd1963 · Jul 18, 2017

if there is some issue with thermal throttling due to mainboard throttling, you can remove the sides of the case, and point a decent home fan directly inside the case at the motherboard to try dissipate any heat....

frostedtim · Jul 18, 2017

How did you notice these FPS "Spikes" in the first place? Do you see an actual stuttering of the picture on screen, or are you watching a monitoring tool that tells you the FPS count? What monitoring software are you using and what games are you playing?

eWOOD29 · Jul 18, 2017

Try this: open up Nvidia control panel, go to Manage 3D settings, and find DSR in there. Make sure none of the options (1.2x, 1.5x etc.) are checked. Next, find Power Management Mode in there and select 'Prefer Maximum Performance.' Hope this helps!

theotherguy1241 · Jul 18, 2017

ARICH5 :

I don't think so, from what I've seen anyone else with the same specs has no problems on 1080p and do pretty good on 1440p as well.

theotherguy1241 · Jul 18, 2017

frostedtim :

Well I guess it's just more FPS drops, sometimes it's all the time, or sometimes it gets really low for a minute or so then goes back to normal. To read my FPS I use the steam FPS counter and I have also used FRAPS.

eWOOD29 · Jul 18, 2017

theotherguy1241 :

Yeah you should be getting better FPS. You're not expecting too much. You should try what i said to do in my other suggestion.

theotherguy1241 · Jul 18, 2017

eWOOD29 :

I tried what you said, drops are still happening sadly.

theotherguy1241 · Jul 18, 2017

mdd1963 :

I just set up a fan and removed the front panel of my case. The temperatures went down by probably like 5 degrees less than they normally are, stutters and fps drops are still happening though.

frostedtim · Jul 18, 2017

theotherguy1241 :

So what is the FPS ranges we are seeing here? What is your normal average FPS, and when it drops, what does that show? Are you actually seeing a noticeable stutter in your picture when the drops happen?

theotherguy1241 · Jul 18, 2017

frostedtim :

Well it really does depend on the game. I try to average around 60 FPS, but it seems like no matter the game there will always be a time when the FPS drops quite a bit every once in a while and it is really noticeable. Sometimes it will get really laggy for a short amount of time then return to normal. Most games no matter if the settings are on medium, or ultra it still happens. For example, I am playing GTA 5, my FPS usually starts off at around 60, then I will start driving and the game will get really slow and the FPS drops a lot (probably down to the low 40's and 30's) after stopping it may go back to normal, sometimes it will stay lower than usual. Another example would be Borderlands 2. This is a 5 year old game now that should easily be run. Whenever I enter an area where there is a lot of gunfire or just more buildings the FPS will go down from like 200 to literally 10 and it is completely unplayable. I am pretty much just struggling to move my mouse across the screen slowly. The list of problems I have goes on, and I could name it for pretty much any game I own.

eWOOD29 · Jul 18, 2017

theotherguy1241 :

frostedtim :

Well it really does depend on the game. I try to average around 60 FPS, but it seems like no matter the game there will always be a time when the FPS drops quite a bit every once in a while and it is really noticeable. Sometimes it will get really laggy for a short amount of time then return to normal. Most games no matter if the settings are on medium, or ultra it still happens. For example, I am playing GTA 5, my FPS usually starts off at around 60, then I will start driving and the game will get really slow and the FPS drops a lot (probably down to the low 40's and 30's) after stopping it may go back to normal, sometimes it will stay lower than usual. Another example would be Borderlands 2. This is a 5 year old game now that should easily be run. Whenever I enter an area where there is a lot of gunfire or just more buildings the FPS will go down from like 200 to literally 10 and it is completely unplayable. I am pretty much just struggling to move my mouse across the screen slowly. The list of problems I have goes on, and I could name it for pretty much any game I own.

The problems you described here sound to me like CPU problems. GTA V is a very CPU-intensive game and driving through the city would tax your CPU greatly. However, the CPU you currently have should be able to hand all of this with no problems which is why I'm stuck on this one. Sorry I couldn't be of more help and good luck to you!

frostedtim · Jul 18, 2017

like eWood29, Im kind of leaning towards it being a CPU issue. For 3D games, you will always see some sort of FPS drop when there is a lot of action or moving around the game word. Driving in GTA V around the city, having to load all the buildings, pedestrians, and other moving cars while you zip around will certainly tax the system. Even Borderlands can be guilty of this, though its age and its particular graphics shouldnt be quite so harsh on your rig.

It may be partly an issue with your RAM. 8GB can be a bottleneck for some games like GTA V, especially if you have the graphic settings turned up and are running any mods. If you can double to 16GB, would that make a difference, I wonder?

theotherguy1241 · Jul 19, 2017

frostedtim :

Maybe, but this was still happening when I had 16GB of RAM which is why I'm kind of confused here.

theotherguy1241 · Jul 19, 2017

Also another thing I would like to mention is that occasionally on startup, right when I load into windows my computer kind of freezes up and the mouse moves over the screen very slowly followed by some sort of beep code. I haven't run into this for a while though.

frostedtim · Jul 19, 2017

theotherguy1241 :

Well you did mention that the 8GB that you swapped in is less sketchy than the original 16GB you had. But if we eliminate RAM as the issue, there is only one other thing that I can possibly think of outside of the CPU.

You have a 1TB hard drive, and Im assuming that you do your game installs there, instead of the boot drive. If Im wrong just say. If this is the case, it is possible that the hard drive may have trouble keeping up with feeding data to the RAM and CPU as it reads the game data. To test this out, you will need to reinstall one or two of the games that you see the issues with to a different drive, like your SSD if there is room. If the games run smoothly, then we have our answer.

frostedtim · Jul 19, 2017

theotherguy1241 :

Check your motherboard manual, as it will tell you what those beeps mean.

theotherguy1241 · Jul 19, 2017

frostedtim :

theotherguy1241 :

Well you did mention that the 8GB that you swapped in is less sketchy than the original 16GB you had. But if we eliminate RAM as the issue, there is only one other thing that I can possibly think of outside of the CPU.

You have a 1TB hard drive, and Im assuming that you do your game installs there, instead of the boot drive. If Im wrong just say. If this is the case, it is possible that the hard drive may have trouble keeping up with feeding data to the RAM and CPU as it reads the game data. To test this out, you will need to reinstall one or two of the games that you see the issues with to a different drive, like your SSD if there is room. If the games run smoothly, then we have our answer.

I have games installed on both my SSD and HDD and it happens on both. BTW thanks so much for your help, it means a lot.

theotherguy1241 · Jul 19, 2017

frostedtim :

The motherboard manual did not say anything about the beep codes.

Sylvvester · Jul 19, 2017

I also have MSI Z97 gaming 5 + i7-4790K, hyper evo 212, GTX 970 and I never had issues like that. I remember playing Borderlands 2 and never noticed any problems with fps. I think it never dropped below 144.

If you don't know what is causing the issues then get some monitoring software (open hardware monitor, windows resources monitor, msi afterburner, hwinfo etc.). Get a 2nd monitor and play your games on 1st monitor in borderless window so you can instantly check your pc parameters when the lag occurs. Monitor and look for any abnormalities in temps, cpu frequency, voltages, memory usage, pagefile usage, disk read/write, cpu cores usage, processes using a lot of cpu that are not the game you are playing, cpu usage of your game process, gpu load etc.

frostedtim · Jul 19, 2017

I just went through the manual of your motherboard. You have a small digital Debug Code LED status indicator on your motherboard that should show some numeric values. See pages 1-29 and 1-30 of your manual. If there are any beeps, it will go along with any codes that this indicator shows.

theotherguy1241 · Aug 18, 2017

Sylvvester :

The only thing that I have noticed out of the ordinary is the Voltages and CPU usage looks likd it tends to be higher then it normally should . The Voltages are always changing, I'm not sure if that's actually normal or not. Another thing is my cpus very high idle of 40-43 degrees celsius with a watercooler. I just ran the Intel processor diagnostic tool and my cpu passed, so I'm starting to wonder if there is some kind of issue with the motherboard.

Sylvvester · Aug 19, 2017

Maybe your cpu cooler goes into passive mode when there is no load. My gpu idles at ~50C (fan @ 200rpm). Anyway I wouldn't worry about idle temps.

I checked borderlands 2 again and the fps can tank a bit sometimes, but I've never seen it go below 60: https://prnt.sc/gae628

Try to restore your system to factory defaults (remove overclock) and see if that helps.

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