Frame Stutter's/FPS Drops

[melonsarecool]

Yeah I can see its 1 and 3 thanks for the help, will post results after updates....

 

[melonsarecool]

Okay, restarted, no fps drops, however im now only running crysis 3 at 30-40fps when I was running it at 70+

 

[melonsarecool]

Spoke too soon, fps dropped after framerate came back. However I have noticed the 'noise' of my PC changes when the drop happens if that means anything, it sounds like a fan slowing down as the pitch gets lower.

 

[chugot9218]

Have you been running any GPU monitoring software? Can you post your exact RAM models, HWMonitor or CPU-Z may give you this.

 

[jkhoward]

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!

It doesn't seem that anyone is really helping your out here. I had an issue with FPS drop on my old motherboard while I was using the AMD 1100T and that was caused by the PCIE lanes being maxed out. What is the exact model of your motherboard? Is it an OEM board? Do you have any other devices plugged into your board? Sound card? USB card? Anything? Please give me your FULL system specifications.

 

[melonsarecool]

I have no idea what you are asking me to do sorry, I have CPU-Z.

 

[hubbardt]

Export your system information to a text file and paste here
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-vista/what-is-system-information

 

[swifty_morgan]

did you disable the Hybrid graphics in the BIOS?

 

[melonsarecool]

It doesn't seem that anyone is really helping your out here. I had an issue with FPS drop on my old motherboard while I was using the AMD 1100T and that was caused by the PCIE lanes being maxed out. What is the exact model of your motherboard? Is it an OEM board? Do you have any other devices plugged into your board? Sound card? USB card? Anything? Please give me your FULL system specifications.

Okay, Case open, What I have inside.

2 x DDR3 Corsair XMS3 clocked at factory clock which I believe is 1333mhz
1 x Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Vapor Z Edition
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition
Cooler Master 700W (I know its below the reccomended for the card but it runs fine ((besides the frame drops)) and I also had the problem with my old 6850 so I know it isnt that.

1 500gb HDD not sure what make or speed
ASUS M5A78L
1 DVD Reader/Writer Drive
and 1 Wi-Fi card which isnt pushed all the way in because the motherboard is sunk into the case too far for it to fit and come out the end of my case (Like I said I had this problem before hand so it isnt that)

 

[Onus]

[strike]What is the brand and model (not just wattage) of your PSU?[/strike]
Check your BIOS message to make sure you're running in dual-channel mode. On my Asus boards, RAM must be in adjacent slots, not alternate ones, for dual channel. Still, that should only make a 5%-7% difference.
Do you have plenty of disk space? When you get the lag spikes, is your hard drive light solid? Your swap file could have a bad spot in it. Delete the swap file. Reboot. Recreate the swap file.
I know you said you have the latest drivers; does that include your graphics card? The ones on AMD's site will be newer than what came with your card. Months ago, my own HD7870 would arbitrarily drop back down to 2D clocks sometimes, causing horrible lags and jitters. Fortunately, the most recent couple of driver updates seem to have fixed that problem.
Edit: Saw your message about the PSU. While this doesn't seem like a power problem (there'd be other symptoms, likely including crashes) that CM is unlikely to be good for any more than 500W, and that may not be too clean. Monitor the temperature of air coming out of it, and if it's really warm (or if its fan is really screaming), replace it sooner rather than later.

 

[melonsarecool]

did you disable the Hybrid graphics in the BIOS?

Disable what?

 

[jkhoward]

I have no idea what you are asking me to do sorry, I have CPU-Z.

Did you build your computer yourself?

Can your provide me information like this?

http://12tronics.com/index.php?/topic/5-phantom/

I need to know every single component that you have in your computer. Your exact motherboard model . . . for instance I have the Asus Sabertooth Z77 and the Asrock H77M and so much more . . .

 

[melonsarecool]

Did you build your computer yourself?

Can your provide me information like this?

http://12tronics.com/index.php?/topic/5-phantom/

I need to know every single component that you have in your computer. Your exact motherboard model . . . for instance I have the Asus Sabertooth Z77 and the Asrock H77M and so much more . . .

I just replied with that information

 

[melonsarecool]

[strike]What is the brand and model (not just wattage) of your PSU?[/strike]
Check your BIOS message to make sure you're running in dual-channel mode. On my Asus boards, RAM must be in adjacent slots, not alternate ones, for dual channel. Still, that should only make a 5%-7% difference.
Do you have plenty of disk space? When you get the lag spikes, is your hard drive light solid? Your swap file could have a bad spot in it. Delete the swap file. Reboot. Recreate the swap file.
I know you said you have the latest drivers; does that include your graphics card? The ones on AMD's site will be newer than what came with your card. Months ago, my own HD7870 would arbitrarily drop back down to 2D clocks sometimes, causing horrible lags and jitters. Fortunately, the most recent couple of driver updates seem to have fixed that problem.
Edit: Saw your message about the PSU. While this doesn't seem like a power problem (there'd be other symptoms, likely including crashes) that CM is unlikely to be good for any more than 500W, and that may not be too clean. Monitor the temperature of air coming out of it, and if it's really warm (or if its fan is really screaming), replace it sooner rather than later.

No idea about dual channel mode, will look when I start my computer up tomorrow, got plenty of disk space 400+gb. Once again,computer noob, no idea what swap file is. GFX drivers are up to date . Temperatures out of my PSu seem to be lower tha that of my hand because they seem cool to the touch.

 

[melonsarecool]

did you disable the Hybrid graphics in the BIOS?

Just found what you were talking about and yes it is disabled. I take it it should be?

 

[melonsarecool]

[strike]What is the brand and model (not just wattage) of your PSU?[/strike]
Check your BIOS message to make sure you're running in dual-channel mode. On my Asus boards, RAM must be in adjacent slots, not alternate ones, for dual channel. Still, that should only make a 5%-7% difference.
Do you have plenty of disk space? When you get the lag spikes, is your hard drive light solid? Your swap file could have a bad spot in it. Delete the swap file. Reboot. Recreate the swap file.
I know you said you have the latest drivers; does that include your graphics card? The ones on AMD's site will be newer than what came with your card. Months ago, my own HD7870 would arbitrarily drop back down to 2D clocks sometimes, causing horrible lags and jitters. Fortunately, the most recent couple of driver updates seem to have fixed that problem.
Edit: Saw your message about the PSU. While this doesn't seem like a power problem (there'd be other symptoms, likely including crashes) that CM is unlikely to be good for any more than 500W, and that may not be too clean. Monitor the temperature of air coming out of it, and if it's really warm (or if its fan is really screaming), replace it sooner rather than later.

Okay here is a link to the picture I snapped at my computer startup, (

) I take it unganged mode isn't good, I moved the RAM around and it won't change.

P.S I know it goes off the creen that's an issue with my monitor and it has to be scaled up from 1080p a little bit even though the screen is 1080p 😛

 

[swifty_morgan]

Just found what you were talking about and yes it is disabled. I take it it should be?

yes, it should be.

is it possible to try another processor on that board?

 

[jkhoward]

Okay, Case open, What I have inside.

2 x DDR3 Corsair XMS3 clocked at factory clock which I believe is 1333mhz
1 x Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Vapor Z Edition
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition
Cooler Master 700W (I know its below the reccomended for the card but it runs fine ((besides the frame drops)) and I also had the problem with my old 6850 so I know it isnt that.

1 500gb HDD not sure what make or speed
ASUS M5A78L
1 DVD Reader/Writer Drive
and 1 Wi-Fi card which isnt pushed all the way in because the motherboard is sunk into the case too far for it to fit and come out the end of my case (Like I said I had this problem before hand so it isnt that)

Sorry about that. I must of have posted that without refreshing the page or you posted it just as I posted mine.

The Sapphire 7970 GHZ Edition is a PCIE 3.0 card and your motherboard is PCIE 2.0. I actually did some testing on my motherboard with my 7970 and found out that running the PCIE lanes in PCIE 2.0 does actually bottleneck the 7970 and my motherboard was designed for gaming. Your motherboard on the other hand is most likely your bottleneck other than your hard drive. You may want to replace the motherboard and because it probably isn't supplying the AMD 1100T with enough power because of the 4-pin cpu power connector. Also, you need to get a new case or new components. Having any PCI/PCIE cards lose while the system is running is a horrible idea and it can cause electrical issues that will destroy your computer. Get a new motherboard for cheap that offers the latest 990 north bridge and is more geared towards gaming. AMD does not yet offer support for PCIE 3.0 unfortunately.

 

[jkhoward]

Also, if you have two sticks of memory in your computer you are running in dual channel mode regardless of which slot the ram is in.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Also, if you have two sticks of memory in your computer you are running in dual channel mode regardless of which slot the ram is in.

and you read that where?

 

[jkhoward]

and you read that where?

I am not here to argue with someone other than the creator of this topic. On 99% of today's motherboards they support dual channel memory. Very few motherboards offer BIOS options to disable Dual Channel Memory. If the board has two slots then 99% of the time it will be in Dual Channel Memory. If you have four slots we are talking about a different story. If you were bright enough to look at the motherboard model listed by melons you would see that it only has two RAM slots.

Thanks.

 

[swifty_morgan]

I am not here to argue with someone other than the creator of this topic. On 99% of today's motherboards they support dual channel memory. Very few motherboards offer BIOS options to disable Dual Channel Memory. If the board has two slots then 99% of the time it will be in Dual Channel Memory. If you have four slots we are talking about a different story. If you were bright enough to look at the motherboard model listed by melons you would see that it only has two RAM slots.


I read this........
"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 found this....
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asus.com%2FMotherboard%2FM4N68T_V2%2F&ei=ueovUZThELKM0QHnkYDYDw&usg=AFQjCNEYg0QB9cx5AyOxDXINpW5tmcJgFg&bvm=bv.43148975,d.dmQ&cad=rja
Thanks.

and I read this...........

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

and read this reply........

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

and when is the last time ANY board manual didn't list what slots the memory had to be in to work in dual channel mode?

I don't want to accuse anybody of not reading but...................... up yours!

 

[swifty_morgan]

now OP............ can you put an older processor on that board?

 

[Onus]

A loose card in a board is indeed a danger to the system, but it also begs the question, is the mobo mounted on standoffs? There MUST be either a standoff OR a built-in raised bump on the mobo tray at EVERY point there is a mounting hole, and NO standoff where there is no hole.

 

[wolfram23]

Okay, Case open, What I have inside.

2 x DDR3 Corsair XMS3 clocked at factory clock which I believe is 1333mhz
1 x Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Vapor Z Edition
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition
Cooler Master 700W (I know its below the reccomended for the card but it runs fine ((besides the frame drops)) and I also had the problem with my old 6850 so I know it isnt that.

1 500gb HDD not sure what make or speed
ASUS M5A78L
1 DVD Reader/Writer Drive
and 1 Wi-Fi card which isnt pushed all the way in because the motherboard is sunk into the case too far for it to fit and come out the end of my case (Like I said I had this problem before hand so it isnt that)

Sounds like the RAM thing was one part of the issue.

Now, there can be issues I don't know about... but first, I think you should definitely get into your BIOS and check the RAM settings. I've heard that anything faster than 1333mhz can be problematic.

From there, I think it would be smart to do a clean AMD driver install, especially since you upgraded. Completely uninstall Catalyst drivers, then run Driver Fusion http://treexy.com/products/driver-fusion to 100% remove AMD Display Drivers (be careful which one you select!). After that, reboot and install the newest CCC drivers: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonaiw_vista64.aspx