FPS drops under CPU load

[whitegarden]

So I've had a problem with games periodically dropping to 10-15 frames intermittently during gameplay. Whenever it would occur, I would check HWMonitor and almost always one of, if not several of the cores would be hitting 100%. I had this problem with an A10-5800K on a Gigabyte AMD FM2 A85X. I upgraded to my current build listed below and am still having the issue, although not as bad (optimized games like Overwatch and Rocket League barely stutter, but I am still dropping from 60 to 30 in some instances). I've run checks on my hard drives, installed the games on SSDs, cleaned out every part of my computer, reapplied thermal paste, rearranged fans, turned off Cool n' Quiet and Turbo settings in bios, to no avail. My build should handle games like No Man's Sky, Observer, Dark Souls 3, the Witcher 3, etc without dropping to unplayable stutters.

What are the steps I can take to diagnose the problem? I'm a novice and am unsure how to overclock if that could help.

Mobo: Sabertooth 990fx r2.0
GPU: Radeon R9 390
CPU: FX 8350
RAM: 16GB DDR3
PSU: Cooler Master GX - 750W 80 PLUS Bronze
CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
OS: Windows 10

Thank you for any help!

 

[omegadoom13]

Have you tried lowering your graphics settings?
Do fps drops happen going from one location of a game map to another part?

 

[norcalsc]

Your cpu is reaching it's maximum capability. Either upgrade to a ryzen or lower your settings. I do agree you should be doing better with that set up

 

[whitegarden]

Have you tried lowering your graphics settings?
Do fps drops happen going from one location of a game map to another part?

yes typically it does occur when loading new areas. i have lowered graphics all the way to low and it still occurs

 

[whitegarden]

the only component that hasn't been a variable over the past 4 years has been my PSU. Is it at all possible it's causing problems?

 

[omegadoom13]

Have you tried lowering your graphics settings?
Do fps drops happen going from one location of a game map to another part?

yes typically it does occur when loading new areas. i have lowered graphics all the way to low and it still occurs

yeah, it may be time for a new build
probably can scavenger your gpu, psu, cpu cooler, (if compatible with new cpu), and hdd/ssd
good luck!

 

[whitegarden]

any guides for a noob you could share for how to optimize my cpu? would overclocking help this problem? are there any other factors that could cause fps drops besides my cpu and gpu?

 

[omegadoom13]

any guides for a noob you could share for how to optimize my cpu? would overclocking help this problem? are there any other factors that could cause fps drops besides my cpu and gpu?

I assume you have already updated your drivers?
Have you tried turning on v-sync? I know that will introduce input lag, but you can turn on vsync on slower paced games.
Turn off unnecessary background programs?
If you're currently running high performance power plan, then i'd switch to balanced.
Check/verify game integrity/cache? Reinstall games?
Have you tried refreshing or better yet doing a clean install of Windows 10?
Your gpu is still decent when playing those games you listed at lower settings.

remember to backup personal files when do a clean install of windows 10
good luck

 

[whitegarden]

any guides for a noob you could share for how to optimize my cpu? would overclocking help this problem? are there any other factors that could cause fps drops besides my cpu and gpu?

I assume you have already updated your drivers?
Have you tried turning on v-sync? I know that will introduce input lag, but you can turn on vsync on slower paced games.
Turn off unnecessary background programs?
If you're currently running high performance power plan, then i'd switch to balanced.
Check/verify game integrity/cache? Reinstall games?
Have you tried refreshing or better yet doing a clean install of Windows 10?
Your gpu is still decent when playing those games you listed at lower settings.

remember to backup personal files when do a clean install of windows 10
good luck

yea i just installed windows 10 a few days ago. formatted drives and everything. did everything else as well. not sure what could be causing these drops. i just wanna believe it's a power supply issue at this point just because that's the oldest component in my computer

 

[omegadoom13]

any guides for a noob you could share for how to optimize my cpu? would overclocking help this problem? are there any other factors that could cause fps drops besides my cpu and gpu?

I assume you have already updated your drivers?
Have you tried turning on v-sync? I know that will introduce input lag, but you can turn on vsync on slower paced games.
Turn off unnecessary background programs?
If you're currently running high performance power plan, then i'd switch to balanced.
Check/verify game integrity/cache? Reinstall games?
Have you tried refreshing or better yet doing a clean install of Windows 10?
Your gpu is still decent when playing those games you listed at lower settings.

remember to backup personal files when do a clean install of windows 10
good luck

yea i just installed windows 10 a few days ago. formatted drives and everything. did everything else as well. not sure what could be causing these drops. i just wanna believe it's a power supply issue at this point just because that's the oldest component in my computer

If you live near a Fry's, Micro Center, or Best Buy, you can buy a new psu from one of those stores and test if the issue is with your old psu. Read up on return/refund policies before you buy. Good luck!