Diagnosing sudden frame rate drops

Danny the Elfman

Honorable
Jan 27, 2014
15
0
10,510
Hi all,

I am experiencing issues with my computer where my frame continually cycles through low and high frame rates. I will get high framrates of 100+fps which will then drop to 20-30fps then back again every 5-10 seconds.

It started today when I opened 2 ports on my router from the computer when I was configuring a dedicated ARK server. Though I don't see how my network settings and gaming performance could be linked?

Specs are as follows.

Intel core i5 7600k @ 4.5ghz + Noctua nhd15 cooler
MSI Tomahawk Z270
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Kingston - Savage 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (not overclocked)
EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750W 80+ Gold Certified Power Supply

What I have already tried:
I have tried a system restore without any luck, this rules out software issues?
Re-seated and redone cables to the graphics card.
Cleaned the graphics card, doesn't seem to be an overheating issue.
Fresh graphics drivers

I cant think of much else to do? Can anyone point me the right direction to start troubleshooting?

The only thing that is new is that there seems to be buzzing sound coming from the case, though I cant place which component it is. I'm assuming this might be the direction to start looking?

Thanks