Stuttering in games with i7 8700k

NoelD123 · Jan 12, 2018

Last december I made my new gaming pc. These are the specs:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming
Intel Core i5 8600K
MSI Z370 GAMING PLUS
G.Skill DDR4 Trident Z RGB 2x8GB 3000
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Seasonic M12II Evo 620W
Fractal Design Meshify C Tempered Glass edition
1TB HDD
playing on a 1080p 144hz monitor

The pc worked fine. Games ran smoothly and temps stayed low. The only thing that bothered me was that the i5 got to 100% usage when playing cpu intensive games like bf1 and ac origins. So I sent the i5 back and ordered a i7 8700k.

The day I installed the i7 it ran perfect. bf1 ran even smoother than with the i5 and usage was low.
But that didn't last long. The next day I noticed stuttering in some games, and it didn't go away. I thought it maby where some drivers or my old hdd causing it. So I ordered a 525gb ssd and did a clean installation of windows 10 and installed all the drivers. Didn't help tho. I still have a lot of stuttering and I have no idea what's causing it.

Hardware is new, drivers are up to date, temps are low.

Here is a screenshot of AC: Origins: https://ibb.co/mKssCR
Cpu usage is all over the place and spikes everywhere.
I'm not overclocking. I've only set the to ram to 3000Mhz in the bios.

Can someone help me with this problem? I've done all I know and it's really taking away that smooth 144fps experience.

EpIckFa1LJoN · Jan 12, 2018

Did you set it to 3000MHz yourself or did you enable XMP?

Also, this might be a long shot but check your power management settings. Set it to "balanced" (not power-saver or performance mode)

I had the exact same issue a long time ago and it drove me insane.

Do you happen to have a G-sync monitor?

NoelD123 · Jan 13, 2018

EpIckFa1LJoN :

Thanks for your reply,

I set it to 3000Mhz myself. Changed it to XMP now. I also checked my power management settings. It already was on balanced and in Nvidia control panel it's set on optimal power.

Played some AC origins and bf1 to see if it helped any. There where less stutters in AC but the same amount in bf1. It doesn't seem to be consistent at all. Sometimes I play for 15 mins without any stutters, and sometimes it stutters every 10 seconds.

I do not have a G-sync monitor.

marksavio · Jan 13, 2018

stuttering is usually caused by poor RAM performance or improper settings on virtual memory of windows. you can try disabling virtual memory in windows all together. since you have more than enough RAM. you dont need it. just follow the instructions below and just pick no paging file for all drives instead.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2840886/if-windows-virtual-memory-is-too-low-you-can-increase-it-but-there-are-trade-offs.html

NoelD123 · Jan 13, 2018

marksavio :

Thanks for the suggestion,
just followed the steps and disabled it. Joined a game in bf1 on amiens and sadly it didn't help.

biglizard · Jan 13, 2018

Seeing as your using a 212, what are temps like?

I know you said the 8600 temps where good, but 8700k, new chip?

NoelD123 · Jan 13, 2018

biglizard :

While gaming, the i7 stay around 55-60C and the 1080 around 70C. That's fine right?

EpIckFa1LJoN · Jan 13, 2018

2 things you should do:

1. Run Memtest86 and make sure your ram is okay.

2. Update your BIOS if you can, and set it to default settings.

Maybe even flash it to a previous version.

biglizard · Jan 13, 2018

NoelD123 :

Yep, thats good.
One more thing off the list.

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

EpIckFa1LJoN :

I dont know if I did this right, but I downloaded memtest86+ 5.01 and booted it from a usb.
I read that 7-8 passes is enough so I've let it run overnight.
After 16:21 hours it did 9 passes. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/aw43C
No errors so I guess the RAM is not the problem?

I've already updated my bios when I did a fresh install of windows on the new ssd. Before that I had the first bios version. In both cases there are stutters.

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

I just played some csgo and performance was terrible. 90-140 fps. since cs uses mostly cpu i'm pretty sure there's something wrong with my i7 8700k. Guess i'm gonna send it back and get a new one :/

EpIckFa1LJoN · Jan 14, 2018

If none of the above is the case the cpu might not be getting the correct voltage. Over or under. I would look for your particular board and see if anyone else is having this issue.

biglizard · Jan 14, 2018

What is vcore under load? I ask because now that I think about it, your cpu temps are suspiciously low considering your cooling.

What are you using to monitor temps/volts/power?

Have you done any stability testing, other that games?

All hardware, cables completely seated?

EpIckFa1LJoN · Jan 14, 2018

My 8700k doesn't break 50 at load, granted my cooler is a lot better but those temps seem within range.

marksavio · Jan 14, 2018

if you want max juice from both CPU and GPU on stock settings with only the XMP OC. then you gotta put your OS powerplan to high. and in your Nvidia gpu 3d graphic settings. change power to adaptive/high. then we would also like to see your base benchmark performance with your setup right now. just use the tool from the site below. should only take 1min. and share the generated link. and anyways i dont think theres anything wrong with your CPU tho. it could be also be affected by something else. or your windows,your drivers,even motherboard will affect your overall performance. you can also go as far as doing a fresh install of windows. to be sure its not in your drivers. and 120fps max on ultra settings with CS:GO isnt so bad either.
http://userbenchmark.com

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

EpIckFa1LJoN :

All I can find about this board is people who are overclocking getting problems with overheating VRM.

How do I check if i'm getting the correct voltage?

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

biglizard :

I'm using MSI afterburner to monitor temps and usage.
I did not check vcore/volts yet. What program can I use to monitor that? I don't see it in afterburner. Just voltage limit and power limit.

I've only tested games. What stability tests could I run?

I'm pretty sure everything is seated well.

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

marksavio :

if you want max juice from both CPU and GPU on stock settings with only the XMP OC. then you gotta put your OS powerplan to high. and in your Nvidia gpu 3d graphic settings. change power to adaptive/high. then we would also like to see your base benchmark performance with your setup right now. just use the tool from the site below. should only take 1min. and share the generated link. and anyways i dont think theres anything wrong with your CPU tho. it could be also be affected by something else. or your windows,your drivers,even motherboard will affect your overall performance. you can also go as far as doing a fresh install of windows. to be sure its not in your drivers. and 120fps max on ultra settings with CS:GO isnt so bad either.
http://userbenchmark.com

Just changed those settings and ran a benchmark:
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/6806580

biglizard · Jan 14, 2018

NoelD123 :

biglizard :

I'm using MSI afterburner to monitor temps and usage.
I did not check vcore/volts yet. What program can I use to monitor that? I don't see it in afterburner. Just voltage limit and power limit.

I've only tested games. What stability tests could I run?

I'm pretty sure everything is seated well.

https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php

Run with sensors only.

Post full screenshot.

EpIckFa1LJoN · Jan 14, 2018

HwMonitor by CPUid is very accurate. Also CPU-z will give you some idea. I prefer those above anything else. I check pretty much everything in HWMonitor and CPU-z in that order.

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

biglizard :

NoelD123 :

https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php

Run with sensors only.

Post full screenshot.

I made screenshots of hwinfo after 1.5 hours of the CPU stress test Prime95: https://imgur.com/a/nlgGx
And screenshots of 30 mins BF1 amiens: https://imgur.com/a/YZQJj
Anything suspicious here?

NoelD123 · Jan 14, 2018

Something very strange is happening now. My fps in games dropped for about 30%.

Last time (yesterday) I did a AC origins benchmark and the avg fps was 85
When I run it now its 58! : https://imgur.com/a/FMfox
Also bf1 multiplayer dropped from 130fps to 100fps

I have no idea what it could be. I changed those power settings today, so i've set those back but it didn't help.
I've also just reinstalled the gpu driver, didn't help.

GPU usage is still 99% ingame.

EDIT: I've just turned off the pc and reseated the gpu. Seems like its back to normal now. No idea what that was.
Still stutters tho

EpIckFa1LJoN · Jan 14, 2018

I don't know if I already asked, and I apologize if I did I'm a little lazy and didn't go back to read.

But when you were updating drivers, specifically graphics drivers, did you use DDU to clean the system before you updated them?

If not, I would highly recommend doing so.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

So I would remove the graphics drivers with the method above. Then go install Nvidia GeForce Experience, and then install the latest drivers using express installation.

biglizard · Jan 14, 2018

NoelD123 :

biglizard :

I made screenshots of hwinfo after 1.5 hours of the CPU stress test Prime95: https://imgur.com/a/nlgGx
And screenshots of 30 mins BF1 amiens: https://imgur.com/a/YZQJj
Anything suspicious here?

After a quick glance nothing is jumping out at me. I'll take a closer look later.

NoelD123 · Jan 16, 2018

EpIckFa1LJoN :

Thanks for the suggestion, I just updated my drivers the way you said. Still getting stutters but it was worth a shot.

Some new things I'm noticing:
When I get a stutter, my gpu usage and fps drop a bit, while my cpu usage has a spike.
For example: for that 0.1 sec fps goes from 160 to 150, gpu usage from 99% to 90% and cpu usage from 60% to 67%

Power stays the same. I'll check voltage later

Stuttering in games with i7 8700k

Honorable

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Honorable

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Admirable

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Admirable

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Honorable

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