Frame Stutter's/FPS Drops

[melonsarecool]

Okay, i've had this problem for around a year now. I never used to game much on my PC as I had a Xbox 360, I make gaming videos on YouTube and my card used to work fine. About a year back I had an issue on my Radeon HD 6850 with any game I play. I assumed it was a problem with the hardware in the card because it was just out of warranty, I didn't use it much so I left it for a year. About 2-3 weeks ago my new Sapphire HD 7970 Ghz edition arrived, I also sold my Xbox 360 thinking I would switch to PC gaming.

Anyway, the problem persisted, the problem in its best way of describing it, is I can be doing anything in a game, running through a huge battle in Crysis 3, or staring at a wall on ArmA and my frame rate will go from 70+ down to anything from 5-15 fps.

Obviously I can now rule out my 7970 as it is brand new, I can also rule out my HDD (formatted yesterday along with a clean install of windows), it is NOT a driver issue, as it is a continuation of a problem I've had for around a years worth of drivers. It is NOT my system overheating as everything is running at around 30 degrees. My GPU raises to 50-55 degrees when under load. My processor which is clocked at 3.3Ghz goes to around 40 degrees under 100% load.

(Everything run's nice and cool because of my NZXT Phantom Case )

So, what is the issue? My friend reported to me that my voice whilst on skype wen't 'stuttery' or 'laggy' whilst I was experiencing a lag spike.My microphone is plugged directly into my motherboard through USB 2.0 which has lead me to believe that because my motherboard didn't quite reach the screw-holes in my case so we had to bend it a little (bad I know and it wasn't anything major, more just putting pressure on it so it would fit) but could this have affected my system just a minimal amount in such a way that it could possibly cause the intermittent, absolutely random FPS drops?

My system is 64bit if anyone was wondering and I have 12gb of DDR3 RAM installed clocked at 1333mhz. My processor is the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition. I think that is all the information you need if any of you know a tool where I can simply paste my specs in it would be easier but I think it's all there, if not then let me know

Any help?!?!

My main question is, could the motherboard be causing this? if yes, it's on its way out!

 

[Guest]

well if you're online gaming on Crysis 3 or whatever, and your friend said you were laggy in skype it could just be your internet connection > replace network adapter or something

btw do you use a wireless gaming mouse or cabled?

also it could just be your overloading your cpu (it shouldn't be getting to 100%)

 

[Guest]

it could also be your motherboard, that is of course a possibility

 

[melonsarecool]

If you read I didn't say my CPU is at 100% load whilst gaming, I was stating that so it could be ruled out as a cause of bottlenecking because of I don't want loads of people assuming my CPU is overheating when it isnt. Also, this happens both online and offline, and connection doesn't usually affect framerates, ping shouldn't anyway

 

[wiggbot]

but could this have affected my system just a minimal amount in such a way that it could possibly cause the intermittent, absolutely random FPS drops?

Unless you headphones are disconnecting and reconnecting during these spikes, then I'd say no.

Try a different means of communication. Lately I've been using google hangouts to play civ 5 with friends and it works well enough.

Barring that, try a different headset. You've got a usb headset, so I'm assuming it has some sort of utility program that you need. Perhaps the problem lies with the headset itself or the drivers/utilities.

Jumping to the conclusion that your mobo is done is a tad extreme. Rule number one: Keep it simple, stupid What I'm trying to say is see if it may be something easily fixable, instead of having to rebuild your pc.

 

[melonsarecool]

My headset is different to my microphone, it also happens when im not online, I only only included the skype thing as it might help find a cause to the problem, all my driver's are installed and up to date. I also have a wired mouse and keyboard as im presuming this is the next thing you will ask

 

[Guest]

i meant that i dont know what my cpus temperature would be under 100% because i've not allowed to get that high. Yours has been cuz u know it so just saying thats kinda bad, not healthy for it.

plus if ur runnning loads of things at once in order to get ur cpu using loads, it will be slower as its used up more (thus decreasing fps rates)

connection online will affect fps, for instance once i had an incredibly bad connection for abit an tried to game with a hugely high ping, fps was like 3 at the time, because its getting data for the game online, an if it doesnt get it then it will be very slow fps because theres nothing to load

the fact that this happens on and offline says to me that its either your motherboard, ram or cpu, cpu normally doesn't go wrong much compared to motherboards, motherboards seem to go wrong more than any other part apart from GPU, but u've already ruled that out, and ur Power supply too.

U cud just take it to a technicians an have them check it out, idk about where u r but here i have a place where they will diagnose the problem free of charge, just look around u must have it too.

I'd say its the motherboard just because of experiences our compuers have had, like 9/10 its the motherboard sadly

advice for u would be to get a technician to check it out so u dont waste loads of money on buying new parts an finding its still the same problem, just get them to diagnose it then u can go from there.

hope ive been helpful, if i get somethign wrong im sorry, not great at this stuff xD

 

[swifty_morgan]

go into msconfig ( services and start up ) and shut off everything that you don't need for gaming. that would include skype, any anti virus..... ANYTHING/EVERYTHING

reboot. game. how's it now?

 

[Guest]

u cud try running a game in windowed mode with task manager opened and see if anythign is eating up ur processes?

 

[swifty_morgan]

is your 6850 a 1gig card? have you tried lowering you resolution?

have you updated the motherboard drivers. have you updated the BIOS?

 

[wiggbot]

My headset is different to my microphone, it also happens when im not online, I only only included the skype thing as it might help find a cause to the problem, all my driver's are installed and up to date. I also have a wired mouse and keyboard as im presuming this is the next thing you will ask

I wasn't going to ask, but good to know. I've had issues with a wireless keyboard that would bluescreen my computer if I didn't rip the dongle out of the usb port in time when the keyboard crashed. Awesome times...

You experience these slowdowns, but have you ever had any blue screens in relation to them?

Also, you just installed windows. What exactly have you installed along with it?

 

[melonsarecool]

i meant that i dont know what my cpus temperature would be under 100% because i've not allowed to get that high. Yours has been cuz u know it so just saying thats kinda bad, not healthy for it.

plus if ur runnning loads of things at once in order to get ur cpu using loads, it will be slower as its used up more (thus decreasing fps rates)

connection online will affect fps, for instance once i had an incredibly bad connection for abit an tried to game with a hugely high ping, fps was like 3 at the time, because its getting data for the game online, an if it doesnt get it then it will be very slow fps because theres nothing to load

the fact that this happens on and offline says to me that its either your motherboard, ram or cpu, cpu normally doesn't go wrong much compared to motherboards, motherboards seem to go wrong more than any other part apart from GPU, but u've already ruled that out, and ur Power supply too.

U cud just take it to a technicians an have them check it out, idk about where u r but here i have a place where they will diagnose the problem free of charge, just look around u must have it too.

I'd say its the motherboard just because of experiences our compuers have had, like 9/10 its the motherboard sadly

advice for u would be to get a technician to check it out so u dont waste loads of money on buying new parts an finding its still the same problem, just get them to diagnose it then u can go from there.

hope ive been helpful, if i get somethign wrong im sorry, not great at this stuff xD

CPU was put under 100% load to test my aftermarket cooler, I also make youtube video's which requires them to render which ups it to 100% load. I obviously don't game with it on 100% load. To avoid any other questions like this, my cpu is probably at 30% when gaming. Thank's for the motherboard fix though, I will look to see if there is someone who can test it. If you live in the UK are their any chains who test them free? Like PC World?

 

[melonsarecool]

is your 6850 a 1gig card? have you tried lowering you resolution?

have you updated the motherboard drivers. have you updated the BIOS?

If you read my post it explains that im not running a 6850

 

[melonsarecool]

go into msconfig ( services and start up ) and shut off everything that you don't need for gaming. that would include skype, any anti virus..... ANYTHING/EVERYTHING

reboot. game. how's it now?

Still drops.

 

[chugot9218]

Can you post your MOBO model?

The reason I ask is that you have 12gb RAM, and it is likely that your MOBO supports dual channel, I have heard that a dual channel MOBO will run fine with an odd number of sticks, but I have also seen many issues solved by simply changing the RAM to a supported set.

You could try running with only 2 sticks.

 

[melonsarecool]

Can you post your MOBO model?

The reason I ask is that you have 12gb RAM, and it is likely that your MOBO supports dual channel, I have heard that a dual channel MOBO will run fine with an odd number of sticks, but I have also seen many issues solved by simply changing the RAM to a supported set.

You could try running with only 2 sticks.

MOBO Model is rather strange as this is obviously a custom build but the box I have is different to the lil' picture thing that comes up when I turn the computer on, so this is the one I have the box for : ASUS M4N68T V2

... and i'll post the one that comes on startup after i've taken out my RAM

 

[wolfram23]

How many RAM sticks are you using? 12GB is an odd number for dual channel. RAM can definitely cause this issue, by the way.

 

[melonsarecool]

How many RAM sticks are you using? 12GB is an odd number for dual channel. RAM can definitely cause this issue, by the way.

3 x 4gb sticks, if it is RAM you are a lifesaver, maybe shouldn't have re-installed windows, 71 updates I'm currently sitting through... Wooo

 

[melonsarecool]

Motherboard is actually not that, just opened my case and it says ASUS M5A7BL

 

[mouse24]

Hum, What other devices do you have hooked up?

(If for instance you have an anti virus that likes to scan whatever is plugged in automagically and you have a semi faulty usb port or usb flash drive so it disconnects and reconnects... well you see where I am going with this...)

Does this happen with a completely clean fresh install of windows with just the updates + drivers + game and no anti virus/firewall/anti malware/etc

Oh and thats the wrong model number, that mobo only has two ram slots.

Edit: ah, ASUS M5A7BL that looks to be the right one. Hmmm, maybe try turning of C'n'Q? Grasping at straws here.

 

[wolfram23]

3 x 4gb sticks, if it is RAM you are a lifesaver, maybe shouldn't have re-installed windows, 71 updates I'm currently sitting through... Wooo

That's probably the issue, then. You need either 2 or 4 sticks to run dual channel. By running 3 sticks you're now only running single channel RAM which is a massive downgrade. Now what happens is you're moving along in the game and it has to load a bunch of stuff into and out of your RAM - boom, bottlenecked, kill fps.

Run it with 8GB (1 in each coloured pair of RAM channels, usually starting with the 2nd away from the CPU and then the 4th furthest away from CPU)

 

[maxinexus]

Question #1 Why are you running black edition at stock speeds?
Advise #1 Clock that baby all the way to 4 Ghz. Disable turbo and all the energy saving bullsit
Question #2 Seriously 3 memory sticks? The older motherboards had always had issues with more memory sticks.
Advise#2 Keep it simple get rid of one stick. Make sure you have remaining 2 sticks ion correct slots...usually 2 and 4 or 1 and 3 look it up in the manual.

If that does not resolve your issues then the only thing left is your software.
Does the microstutter happen when you run only the game without the recording software?

 

[melonsarecool]

If it is this for some reason then why would it drop from 70 to 5 whilst staring at a wall?

 

[melonsarecool]

Question #1 Why are you running black edition at stock speeds?
Advise #1 Clock that baby all the way to 4 Ghz. Disable turbo and all the energy saving bullsit
Question #2 Seriously 3 memory sticks? The older motherboards had always had issues with more memory sticks.
Advise#2 Keep it simple get rid of one stick. Make sure you have remaining 2 sticks ion correct slots...usually 2 and 4 or 1 and 3 look it up in the manual.

If that does not resolve your issues then the only thing left is your software.
Does the microstutter happen when you run only the game without the recording software?

I did have it running at 3.7ghz after 3.9 it crashed, I'm a complete noob when it comes to oc'ing and also a complete noob with computers really, only just started to put more interest into them so obviously I wouldn't know about the old motherboards having issues currently installing updates on 39/71 gonna be a whole but I will remove 1 of my sticks and boot up and post the results here and yes the stutter happens even if I have everything besides the game closed

 

[chugot9218]

Just make sure the 2 you leave are in the correct slots, they are usually same odd/even numbered slots (slot 1 and slot 3 or slot 2 and slot 4, I think Asus will be 1 and 3 but I have seen Gigabyte I believe do 2 and 4 as the first pair).