sudden drop in fps

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swaggle

Prominent
Aug 21, 2017
4
0
510
Hello everyone,

So I've got a pretty decent PC with good specs which used to run any game at about 120+ fps. But then randomly one day it dropped all the way down to 30 and below.

I've checked the hardware - no dust or obstructions the temperatures are all lower than 30 degrees C. and the health is all good.
My graphics card is updated and I've done multiple virus and malware etc. scans which all come back negative.
I thought maybe it was a corrupted driver update of the graphics card so i reinstalled that and nothing changed.

I've even contacted windows support to find out if it was maybe not a software error to which they told me it was not part of their Free Support and I'd have to spend $149 to ask them what was wrong - never mind actually fixing it.

So here I am, unable to play my games :( but with a great setup.
Here are my specs:
SSD - OS drive
950 geforce
16gb DDR4 RAM
i7 6700
win 10 (64)

I have also changed the virtual memory to the recommended windows amount.

Another thing that very much confuses me is that while the game is running and has a low fps the memory usage is never above 40% and the cpu not above 20%.

The games I'm currently playing are Dota2 and CSGO, which are pretty much unplayable at 10 fps.


Has this happened to anyone else?

 
Solution
S
Try going into nvidia control panel and then manage 3D settings, select programs, select the game or application you're trying to run and under power management mode select "prefer maximum performance" instead of optimal power.
Check again if it's sitting still at a low clock but shows utilization at 100%
Can you also, if you're using something like hwmonitor, see what the gpu temperatures are at when this is happening?
If it's downclocked but at 100% and sitting at 75C, it might be powering it down to keep the temperatures reasonable.
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Sedivy

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Dec 17, 2016
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If you go into nvidia control panel, do you have your 3D(on global) and physx settings set to your geforce 950 as the preferred source? Make sure this wasn't changed with something like a windows update. Update your video drivers too, directly from nvidia.
 
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S

swaggle

Prominent
Aug 21, 2017
4
0
510


Thank you so much Sedivy, that is something I completely overlooked. I've set it to geforce 950 now but it doesn't seem to have changed anything. All the other settings have been set back to default settings as well but it's still not upping the fps.

 
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Sedivy

Estimable
Dec 17, 2016
2,315
0
3,960
Sorry haven't been around.
The only other thing I can think of is if you go into power management settings on windows, make sure it's set to balanced. If you go to change the plan, and go into advanced power settings, make sure that under processor power management, max processor frequency is set to 0 (no limit) and max processor state is at 100%. But that would mean cpu limiting the gpu. This still sounds like a "not using the gpu" issue.
Can you disable the integrated graphics? To force it to use the card? If there's an issue with the card though, this would result in a black screen and maybe that's not the best idea. Not sure what to suggest to be honest. If you run dxdiag, does it list any issues under Display? Does it list correct card, and correct display and shared memory? Drivers it lists are the nvidia ones you expect?
 
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S

swaggle

Prominent
Aug 21, 2017
4
0
510
Hi Sedivy, thanks for your reply.

I reinstalled windows which set everything to it's default. The power plan is balanced and the max processor frequency is on 0. I also didn't find any abnormalities in the DirX Diagnostics and everything should be set to its factory defaults.

I did however notice that no matter which programs I am running, my clock speed is never above 405. Which is probably why all my games are lagging.
In Speccy, it shows three performance levels:
Level 1 - 2D Desktop
GPU clock 405 MHz
Memory Clock 405 MHz
Level 2 - Default
GPU Clock 405 MHz
Memory Clock 810 MHz
Level 3 - 3D Applications
GPU Clock 540 MHz
Memory Clock 3305 MHz

Is it maybe possible that the card doesn't switch over into any other modes?
 
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S

Sedivy

Estimable
Dec 17, 2016
2,315
0
3,960
Yeah that is very odd. It did shift to 540 so it is revving up but not sure which 3d applications you're using. If you do something intensive like a demanding game, does it go further up? Or does it stick around 500 level?
If it's still in that range, then something is wrong with your gpu. In that case I don't think it's a matter of not switching to the video card, but rather video card is not working as it should anymore. Is your card still under warranty by any chance?
 
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S

swaggle

Prominent
Aug 21, 2017
4
0
510
Hi, sorry for the timely reply.
It's very weird, I found a couple links saying it is possible to force it out of the idle mode by changing the PowerMizer settings in the registry... only problem is - half of my Dwords and Hkeys are missing including the powermizer one. So Im guessing theres something wrong with the installation. But after doing multiple clean installs and removing the graphics card it still hasnt seemed to change anything.

I do a lot of 3D rendering as well as gaming... Recently when I open any application it jumps up to max 3500 Mhz and has 120 fps, but shortly after that it crashes back down to 405 on the dot and just sits there, doesnt go higher or lower.
According to GPU-Z its runnging at 100% with 405 mhz.

So I'm pretty close to just getting a new graphics card :/ Nvidias customer support wasnt very helpful and the card is only about a year old so it might just be a faulty one :(

But anyway, thank you for your help :) I will continue searching for answers
 
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S

Sedivy

Estimable
Dec 17, 2016
2,315
0
3,960
Try going into nvidia control panel and then manage 3D settings, select programs, select the game or application you're trying to run and under power management mode select "prefer maximum performance" instead of optimal power.
Check again if it's sitting still at a low clock but shows utilization at 100%
Can you also, if you're using something like hwmonitor, see what the gpu temperatures are at when this is happening?
If it's downclocked but at 100% and sitting at 75C, it might be powering it down to keep the temperatures reasonable.
 
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