Question Game started stuttering, dropping frames and sound is also affected?

Jul 20, 2025
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Preface with, I am not an expert, which is why I'm here. Not even sure I'm in the right place.

At a loss here.
Here's my system, it's old, the graphics card is older, however it was working almost perfectly fine until recently.

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700F CPU @ 2.90GHz, 2901 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

It's Call of Duty Black Ops6, both Multiplayer and CoD Warzone, the game will seemingly 'lag' in frames, so I could be diving out the sky, skip a few frames, miss my cue to deply parachute and end up dead on the floor. I don't know how to describe it, but it's not network lag, the game stutters, drops frames and the sound goes crunchy. I used to be able to record my games via Steam background record and now it records the visuals but the sound sounds like it's being piped through static and tinfoil.

My GPU drivers are up to date. I've tried swapping to NVIDIA's studio driver, that didn't help. I temporarily rolled back to a different driver I knew as stable from a previous driver-based issue, wasn't that. I've messed with lots of ingame settings, nothing I try is helping.
I've put 800 hours into this stupid game, and I really don't want to have to stop playing but it's becoming terrible to play.

It could very well be my ten year old card, but it was working fine until not to long ago - I am certain it has happened after a recent update to the game. I have had some back and forth with Activision, but nothing that's helped yet. Can provide some footage of the issue if need be, can't seem to capture it on screen, I feel like the video capture doesn't see the game lag.
Let me know if I can provide you with any other info that might help!

Note: I was going to see if I was getting a similiar issue in Battlefield 2042, as I have that installed but that's now telling me SecureBoot isn't enabled out of nowhere. So I don't have a way to test it. That's a whole other thing to fix.
 
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700F CPU @ 2.90GHz, 2901 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

My GPU drivers are up to date. I've tried swapping to NVIDIA's studio driver, that didn't help. I temporarily rolled back to a different driver I knew as stable from a previous driver-based issue, wasn't that.
Use DDU to remove all GPU drivers(intel, AMD and Nvidia) in Safe Mode, then manually install the latest GPU driver sourced from Nvidia's support site in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator. To add, Studio Drivers were meant for professionals who use their Nvidia GPU for productivity reasons. In your instance, you're using the card for gaming, not productivity so Game Ready drivers would've sufficed.
 
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700F CPU @ 2.90GHz, 2901 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

My GPU drivers are up to date. I've tried swapping to NVIDIA's studio driver, that didn't help. I temporarily rolled back to a different driver I knew as stable from a previous driver-based issue, wasn't that.
Use DDU to remove all GPU drivers(intel, AMD and Nvidia) in Safe Mode, then manually install the latest GPU driver sourced from Nvidia's support site in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator. To add, Studio Drivers were meant for professionals who use their Nvidia GPU for productivity reasons. In your instance, you're using the card for gaming, not productivity so Game Ready drivers would've sufficed.
Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i7-10700F - 8-Core 2.90GHz, 4.80GHz Turbo - 16MB Cache (No On-board Graphics)
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Masterliquid Lite 240 Liquid Cooling System w/ 240mm Radiator, Extreme OC Compatible
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI: ATX w/ RGB, Wi-Fi 6, USB 3.2, 2x M.2
Ram: 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4/3000mhz Dual Channel Memory
SSD/HDD: 250GB Seagate Barracuda 120 2.5" SSD - 560MB/s Read / 540MB/s Write (OS installed here) game installed here: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB Internal Hard Drive HDD
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 6gb
PSU: Cooler Master MWE 550W 80+ Certified Gaming Power Supply
Chassis: Cooler Master MasterBox Q500L Mid-Tower Gaming Case
OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
Monitor: AOC, older, 27 inches, unsure of exact model
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Items were purchased new from CyberPower PC in 2021. BOIS SMBIOSBIOSVersion 1.20

I will see if I can run DDU and not mess up my machine - my biggest fear when I try to fix antyhing is breaking it worse.
 
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