FPS Drop in ALL Games!

[Luke Field]

I noticed this a couple of months ago and it has been annoying me ever since. In most if not all of my games I get FPS drops every minute or so, for example FIFA 15 (in a game) 120fps average then goes down to 30-50fps now this shouldn't be a problem at 50fps but due to the fact that it goes from high to low it stutters the game and lags it.

This happens in pretty much all my games, and when I record with any recorder during the times when these fps drops occur my fps goes to 20fps as I record at 60fps.

Specs:

AMD FX 8350
XFX R9 280x
8GB RAM
Hyper 212 evo cooler

Temps when gaming:

CPU goes to around 60 degrees average
GPU goes to around 65-70 degrees average

Is my computer overheating, these temps should be fine from what I've seen around.

I don't really want to defrag my hard drive though as I've got a bunch of games which always annoy me to download as it is so time consuming to do so.

 

[Luke Field]

Also just stopped the test and it is on 1396 mhz frequency the most now with literally no load and then this shoots up to 2050 mhz then 4090 mhz and then to 1396 mhz , it does all of this in a couple of seconds.

 

[13thmonkey]

Yep, that's thermal throttling. Does your mobo have utilities to control fan speed?

But first
- the fan is working yes?
- the fan is pushing air through from the front to the back of the case?
- Is the heatsink warm?
- do you have fans pulling air into the front of the case and exhausting out of the back/top

I'm asking this as poor thermal contact would lead to a lot higher temps (maybe +10-15), and so it is unlikely to be a bad fit (if the HS is warm then the contact is generally ok), but it could be that you are starving the 212 of air to work with which would lead to poorly performing 212 (maybe+5-10).

How much thermal paste did you use? a thin smear is sufficient, too much and it makes it worse. The 212 is very good but you have a high TDP to get rid of, 125W, so it needs air to work with etc. A more aggressive fan speed can help.

 

[Luke Field]

I only have one fan at the front of the case bringing air in and thats cold at the front, over the top above hyper 212 evo its colder now will do all that tonight.

 

[iamlegend]

Turn on V-sync so that you will have 60FPS stable.

 

[Luke Field]

It still does it then Iamlegend

 

[iamlegend]

Turn V-sync on and run Fraps while gaming. See if have FPS drops from 55~60 that will be considered acceptable, but if you drop from 40~60 FPS you will need to decrease your settings.

 

[Luke Field]

Not my settings, it runs the games at over 100fps normally just when lag hits they go down to anywhere from 20-60fps which causes stuttery lag

 

[iamlegend]

Yes, because V-sync is off. The excess FPS (100~120 FPS) is a waste if it cannot be maintain. By turning on the V-sync it will limit your FPS into 60 but you will have a smooth gameplay.

 

[Luke Field]

I will try this but I have a feeling it will do the same.

 

[iamlegend]

Nah, it will not. Again you don`t need those 120FPS when it goes down dramatically. Settle into 60 FPS with smooth gameplay.

 

[Luke Field]

i'll try I am also going to clean out any dust inside my computer and see if I can find thermal paste and re apply it onto CPU after cleaning the other bit off.

 

[Luke Field]

Turned on VSync and got a solid 60fps in borderlands 2 max settings and went down to 50fps in scene changers which I believe is what happens anyway. CPU stayed on 3990 to over 4000 all the time so thats good but when I record at 60fps I only get 40-50fps and that starts stuttering lag which is annoying.

 

[Luke Field]

FIFA 15 test with limit to 60fps first game was alright but second started stuttering lag and during corners, goal kicks and free kicks fps goes down to 30fps or 20fps which is quite laggy.

 

[Luke Field]

May of fixed it switched to high performance power plan average temp is 53 degrees has gone to 63 degrees but all cores on 4090.21mhz frequency

 

[Luke Field]

Nope went up to 68 degrees and in FIFA started to lag a little every 5 minutes or so not as much but still.

 

[iamlegend]

If you are recording don`t expect to have the best gaming performance. Especially when using FRAPS. If you wanted to have the best gaming performance while recording get an external video recording card.

FRAPS takes a lot of storage and it consumes lot of CPU load which will cause your system to slow down while gaming.

 

[Luke Field]

I understand , saw these statements about fraps before but it was fine recording and gaming before why would thermal throttling just come on randomly? Also noticed it after I installed the Hyper 212 evo after a few weecs

 

[Icaraeus]

You could alternatively try Dxtory - it isn't as bad as FRAPs in terms of system usage.

 

[Luke Field]

I've tried Dxtory but it does pretty much the same. Might save up for an elgato or external recording device instead so it does nothing to the fps.

 

[13thmonkey]

I understand , saw these statements about fraps before but it was fine recording and gaming before why would thermal throttling just come on randomly? Also noticed it after I installed the Hyper 212 evo after a few weecs

How much thermal paste did you use, is it tightened down appropriately?

Is the heatsink warm? Is the fan working? I've asked these questions before, and then you went off on a tangent.

 

[Luke Field]

I didn't use much thermal paste a line down the middle. I think it is tightened down properly yesterday when I went in to check for dust it seems fine, I haven't checked the heatsink when the computer is on as it is in a really awkward place to get to. The fan is working idle temps are around 14-30 degrees just in games but I can hear my GPU fan but the CPU fan is quite quiet anyway but in programs that show fan speeds it is showing a CPUFANIN and around 1500 RPM average. I'm going to buy another 2 cooling fans for my case and place them on top above the CPU as comments in videos I've watched have suggested this as it takes the hot air out of the CPU fan and takes it out of the case via the top.