[SOLVED] GPU usage and watt-age drops that result in massive fps drop

[CrazyKaktuss]

Okay... So I've had this problem ever since I've built my first PC...

I've noticed it in most of the games I've played, tried almost everything, read every forum, watched every YouTube video, asked every friend i know... And still, no solution...

My PC specs: Ryzen 7 3700x
Asus RX5600XT DualTop 6gb
Corsair 2x16gb ram (32gb total; speed: 3200Mhz)
Asus rog strix B450f-gaming
Thermaltake Berlin 630W ATX
Crucial BX500 SSD 480GB (windows 10 only)
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB (games i play)
WD Blue HDD - 2TB (pictures, music, random stuff...)
ASUS VG249Q (24") FHD 144hz

The problem:
My GPU wattage and GPU % usage drop at the same time which results in a massive fps drop, and sometimes makes the game unplayable...
I could game for 5 hours with no problem, but tommorow the same game will be unplayable because of the wattage drops...
I have recorded MSI afterburner while playing, and the wattage is the first thing that drops, then the GPU usage, because it obviously doesn't have the power to run at 100% anymore...
Than, I get hit with a massive fps drop... As bad as from 200 to 30... It drops for a second and then works normally again for abou 20-30 seconds, then does the same thing again...

More information about my PC:

Temperatures:
GPU temperatures all stay below 65 °C
CPU temperatures stay below 70 °C


What i tried:
-Reinstalling windows 10
-Updating BIOS
-Updating GPU drivers
-Updating chipset drivers
-Overclocking my components and going back to default/stable clocks
-Reading other forums/ watching youtube videos about the problem i have (no one had a solution)
-Obvious stuff like windows optimisation, changing power plans, searching for viruses...
-Changing the drive where the games are stored
-Vsync off/on
-Stress tests for all components = always resulting in perfect score


What i think the problem is: The power supply... I want to buy a new one, but i don't want to spend the money, and still have the same problem I have had before...


If you need any other deatails please say so, because this has been bothering me for a couple of months... I have a strong PC, but my friends with an old laptop have a more stable experience...

I seriously need all the help you can offer... Its getting annoying...

 

[dotas1]

To be honest, even without the PSU being the root of the problem (although fairly possible) you are far better replacing it, safeguarding your system, without compromising your hardware anymore with that atrocious "PSU".

The PSU is what powers your system, what makes everything tick, exactly like a heart in your body. What happens if you have a bad heart? Everything fails. With a good one? Something might fail but it's not the heart to blame.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Okay... So I've had this problem ever since I've built my first PC...

I've noticed it in most of the games I've played, tried almost everything, read every forum, watched every YouTube video, asked every friend i know... And still, no solution...

My PC specs: Ryzen 7 3700x
Asus RX5600XT DualTop 6gb
Corsair 2x16gb ram (32gb total; speed: 3200Mhz)
Asus rog strix B450f-gaming
Thermaltake Berlin 630W ATX
Crucial BX500 SSD 480GB (windows 10 only)
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB (games i play)
WD Blue HDD - 2TB (pictures, music, random stuff...)
ASUS VG249Q (24") FHD 144hz

The problem:
My GPU wattage and GPU % usage drop at the same time which results in a massive fps drop, and sometimes makes the game unplayable...
I could game for 5 hours with no problem, but tommorow the same game will be unplayable because of the wattage drops...
I have recorded MSI afterburner while playing, and the wattage is the first thing that drops, then the GPU usage, because it obviously doesn't have the power to run at 100% anymore...
Than, I get hit with a massive fps drop... As bad as from 200 to 30... It drops for a second and then works normally again for abou 20-30 seconds, then does the same thing again...

More information about my PC:

Temperatures:
GPU temperatures all stay below 65 °C
CPU temperatures stay below 70 °C


What i tried:
-Reinstalling windows 10
-Updating BIOS
-Updating GPU drivers
-Updating chipset drivers
-Overclocking my components and going back to default/stable clocks
-Reading other forums/ watching youtube videos about the problem i have (no one had a solution)
-Obvious stuff like windows optimisation, changing power plans, searching for viruses...
-Changing the drive where the games are stored
-Vsync off/on
-Stress tests for all components = always resulting in perfect score


What i think the problem is: The power supply... I want to buy a new one, but i don't want to spend the money, and still have the same problem I have had before...


If you need any other deatails please say so, because this has been bothering me for a couple of months... I have a strong PC, but my friends with an old laptop have a more stable experience...

I seriously need all the help you can offer... Its getting annoying...

Common misperception that the power supply is somehow tied to the issue to frame drops. The GPU doesn't know a thing about what the PSU is capable of. It doesn't know it's running over 100%. The GPU itself has multiple filtering stages to deal with temporary dips in clean power delivery. The first signs of power problems is the graphics card crashing hard during a high demand. While it may seem counter intuitive, try lowering the memory clock 200 MHz. If memory errors are popping up, this will cause the seen issues. Lower clocks will lower memory errors on borderline memory. It's also possible a bad motherboard connection. Up to 75W can be pulled from the motherboard and sometimes this is used to power memory subsystems.

Does the same pattern repeat on all games? What does your GPU usage and compute graph look like on task manager? When your system is acting up, did you run a benchmark like the latest "gears of war" which measures CPU time AND GPU time. (This tells you if you are CPU limited or GPU limited) If the GPU is waiting on the CPU, it will lower usage and thereby power use.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

Common misperception that the power supply is the issue to frame drops. The GPU doesn't know a thing about what the PSU is capable of. It doesn't know it's running over 100%. The first signs of problem is the graphics card crashing hard during a high demand.

Does the same pattern repeat on all games? What does your GPU usage and compute graph look like on task manager? When your system is acting up, did you run a benchmark like the latest "gears of war" which measures CPU time AND GPU time. (This tells you if you are CPU limited or GPU limited) If the GPU is waiting on the CPU, it will lower usage and thereby power use.

It happens in most games, not all of them... In some games like Cod (Warzone, Cold war), Forza horizon, Pubg, Pes etc. it only happens like 3 times per hour.
On the other hand in a game like Fortnite, it happens quite a lot... Like every 2 minutes or so, maybe even less...

I have also had one more problem that makes me think its the power supply... My PC started randomly restarting... Turns off, and imidiatelly turns on... No error message, no nothing, boots up to windows noramally... The only message i get is in the amd software, that the watt settings have been restored to default because of an unexpected system failure...

That has happened 2 times this week, and it usually happens when i alt+tab from gta 5 to another aplication... Its very weird...

 

[digitalgriffin]

It happens in most games, not all of them... In some games like Cod (Warzone, Cold war), Forza horizon, Pubg, Pes etc. it only happens like 3 times per hour.
On the other hand in a game like Fortnite, it happens quite a lot... Like every 2 minutes or so, maybe even less...

I have also had one more problem that makes me think its the power supply... My PC started randomly restarting... Turns off, and imidiatelly turns on... No error message, no nothing, boots up to windows noramally... The only message i get is in the amd software, that the watt settings have been restored to default because of an unexpected system failure...

That has happened 2 times this week, and it usually happens when i alt+tab from gta 5 to another aplication... Its very weird...

The system restarting is a clue the PSU is failing. But the fact it's failing while mostly idle is baffling. That's more a symptom of the system failing as power supplies tend to fail first under load.

Run everything in AMD drivers section at default. If you don't know what that those settings were, run DDUninstall. Reinstall AMD driver package. Run at default.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

The system restarting is a clue the PSU is failing. But the fact it's failing while mostly idle is baffling. That's more a symptom of the system failing as power supplies tend to fail first under load.

Run everything in AMD drivers section at default. If you don't know what that those settings were, run DDUninstall. Reinstall AMD driver package. Run at default.

So I got myself thhat new survival game callled "Icarus", one of the most hardware hungry games out there right now, tried playing it, and had stable 65-70 fps, all the time, no lag no stutters... But when i play a game that i can easily run, like Fortnite, then I lag... If you want, i can record my gameplay while having MSI afterburner turned on, and send you 2 screenshots, one while its normal, 1 when it drops...

The wattage seems to drop when i hit the certain amount of it, it feels like there is a wattage limit set on either my PSU, GPU, or BIOS... But I don't think there is because I have never done that myself...

Also, 1 more thing i noticed, my gpu VRAM clock speed is always maxed out... Even when idle... I have found a way to fix this, and its lowering my hz from 144 to 141... That's the only thing that worked...

As said, if you are willing to see the screenshots and help me, say so.

Thanks

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

The system restarting is a clue the PSU is failing. But the fact it's failing while mostly idle is baffling. That's more a symptom of the system failing as power supplies tend to fail first under load.

Run everything in AMD drivers section at default. If you don't know what that those settings were, run DDUninstall. Reinstall AMD driver package. Run at default.

Any chance you could get your gmail so i can send you 2 screenshots... I really need help mate... Sorry to bother you

 

[InvalidError]

The system restarting is a clue the PSU is failing. But the fact it's failing while mostly idle is baffling.

Not baffling at all. Under light loads, output capacitors are responsible for maintaining voltage and handling transients between transformer pulses. Under constant heavy load, most of the smoothing is done by inductors which have nearly infinite lifespan.

PSUs with under-sized or worn-out output capacitors will most frequently fail under light load because they cannot handle sharp transients from the CPU/GPU coming out of low-power idle/sleep state directly to a full-power state and back. That is part of the reason why Haswell (and now Nvidia's RTX3000 series) are breaking so many PSUs.

My GPU wattage and GPU % usage drop at the same time which results in a massive fps drop, and sometimes makes the game unplayable...

GPU power and usage% are not a cause, they are symptoms. GPU usage and power will only be as high as they need to be to keep up with whatever they receive from the CPU unless the GPU is maxed out in one way or another.

If performance is fine in some games but not others, there may be compatibility issues between the problematic games and something else installed on your system.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

Not baffling at all. Under light loads, output capacitors are responsible for maintaining voltage and handling transients between transformer pulses. Under constant heavy load, most of the smoothing is done by inductors which have nearly infinite lifespan.

PSUs with under-sized or worn-out output capacitors will most frequently fail under light load because they cannot handle sharp transients from the CPU/GPU coming out of low-power idle/sleep state directly to a full-power state and back. That is part of the reason why Haswell (and now Nvidia's RTX3000 series) are breaking so many PSUs.


GPU power and usage% are not a cause, they are symptoms. GPU usage and power will only be as high as they need to be to keep up with whatever they receive from the CPU unless the GPU is maxed out in one way or another.

If performance is fine in some games but not others, there may be compatibility issues between the problematic games and something else installed on your system.

It seems like the problem I have cannot be solved... i tried everything I could and it didn't improve a single bit... The CPU usage stays pretty much the same when the fps drops... The only diffrences are wattage dropping from 128.0W to 46.0W, and the GPU usage dropping from 99% to 76% and going back up to the normal/before values...
That's the only thing I can see... I am no PCD expert, but I can see something is very wrong, and gaming on my PC isn't enjoyable... I switched from console to PC to have worse performance, which is very annoying...

 

[InvalidError]

It seems like the problem I have cannot be solved... i tried everything I could and it didn't improve a single bit... The CPU usage stays pretty much the same when the fps drops... The only diffrences are wattage dropping from 128.0W to 46.0W, and the GPU usage dropping from 99% to 76% and going back up to the normal/before values...

Open Task Manager on a separate monitor (or use something like SpaceDesk to use a tablet/phone as an external monitor) and look for other processes climbing the CPU usage list when the dips happen. You may also want to add the VRAM allocation column and keep an eye on which programs are using it.

If you use Firefox with hardware acceleration enabled and a bunch of tabs left open in the background, I wouldn't be surprised if your dips were caused by FF using 2-3GB of VRAM - I've seen it use up to 1.7GB of my GTX1050's 2GB before I disabled hardware acceleration to prevent that from happening again. Now I'm running Firefox and Chrome on IGP acceleration.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

Open Task Manager on a separate monitor (or use something like SpaceDesk to use a tablet/phone as an external monitor) and look for other processes climbing the CPU usage list when the dips happen. You may also want to add the VRAM allocation column and keep an eye on which programs are using it.

If you use Firefox with hardware acceleration enabled and a bunch of tabs left open in the background, I wouldn't be surprised if your dips were caused by FF using 2-3GB of VRAM - I've seen it use up to 1.7GB of my GTX1050's 2GB before I disabled hardware acceleration to prevent that from happening again. Now I'm running Firefox and Chrome on IGP acceleration.

I use google chrome, but i do have Firefox installed... Altough i dont't have them open while playing... I have used task manager as well, and nothing seems suspicious there...
The game is for some reason using only 3gb of vram, while i have 6, and its using only 13gb of ram, which is half of what i got... But that is the only game that does that, i have lag in some games that are using more so its probably not that...

The game seems to lag/stutter for the first 15 minutes of playing it, and seems to stabilaze as the time goes on... Weird... I have tried low specs games like roblox, minecraft, and some random 2d games and the stutters happen a lot in these games, while Icarus works perfectly fine...

 

[InvalidError]

The game seems to lag/stutter for the first 15 minutes of playing it, and seems to stabilaze as the time goes on... Weird... I have tried low specs games like roblox, minecraft, and some random 2d games and the stutters happen a lot in these games, while Icarus works perfectly fine...

Stutters in the first minutes of playing a game sound like asset loading lag, possibly made worse by anti-virus software.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

Stutters in the first minutes of playing a game sound like asset loading lag, possibly made worse by anti-virus software.

Should i try disabling it? I only have the classic windows defender...

 

[InvalidError]

Should i try disabling it? I only have the classic windows defender...

You could set an exemption for live-scanning or whatever it is called. There was at least one game I played many years ago where Defender's live-scanning was a nonsense, consuming 75+% of CPU time much of the time.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

You could set an exemption for live-scanning or whatever it is called. There was at least one game I played many years ago where Defender's live-scanning was a nonsense, consuming 75+% of CPU time much of the time.

My CPU is never above 50%

 

[InvalidError]

My CPU is never above 50%

If Defender live-scanning is the issue, it can only hog so much CPU-time scanning stuff the game is attempting to load before the game stalls waiting for the stuff it is trying to load to arrive.

 

[CrazyKaktuss]

If Defender live-scanning is the issue, it can only hog so much CPU-time scanning stuff the game is attempting to load before the game stalls waiting for the stuff it is trying to load to arrive.

Nah, whatever I do... My CPU usage is 40%-45% and my GPU usage is 99% most of the time, but it randomly drops to like 70% and the fps drops...
My fps drops, my game lags, I'm losing my mind...