Question GPU Usage drops to 0% during play sessions

[SgtSlade]

Hi! I've encountered an issue while playing games (and also out of them rarely) where my application freezes for a solid 2-3 seconds and then continues running after speeding back up for a split second.
I've used MSI afterburner and deteremined that during those drops the GPU Usage drops to nearly 0 (alongside a big drop in power draw which i assume is due to the load drop itself)

I've tried determining the issue and here are the vital things i've done and checked:

• Measured the temperature of all vital components and none of them are even near thermal throttling, hovering around 60-70C during heavy loads.
• Fully updated my Windows 10 and drivers, the GPUs even being reinstalled with DDU.
• Checked all of my power settings in the NVIDIA control panel and Windows so they're set to maximum performance
• Performed the Windows Memory Diagnostic with "mdsched.exe" application
• Checked for any malware or applications that may clog performance
• I do not have any form of overclocking on

Here are my full PC specs:

• Motherboard - ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming
• CPU - Ryzen 7 5800X
• GPU - EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 LHR
• RAM - 2x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z 3200MHz
• Memory - Samsung 980 500GB M.2
• PSU - Corsair RM750X

If anyone has any ideas of what else can i do to try and get rid of this annoying issue, i would be extremely grateful

 

[SkyNetRising]

• GPU - EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 LHR

Which model? Factory overclocked model?
Reduce overclock to Nvidia reference clocks.

https://www.evga.com/products/Produ...ily=GeForce+30+Series+Family&chipset=RTX+3080

 

[SkyNetRising]

• RAM - 2x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z 3600MHz

At what speed is your ram running?
Can you show screenshots from CPU-Z memory and spd sections?

 

[SgtSlade]

Which model? Factory overclocked model?
Reduce overclock to Nvidia reference clocks.

https://www.evga.com/products/Produ...ily=GeForce+30+Series+Family&chipset=RTX+3080

It's one of the FTW models. I'll try reducing the clock and see if the problem persists.

At what speed is your ram running?
Can you show screenshots from CPU-Z memory and spd sections?

Here you go. For convinience i'll only post the Slot #1 since it's information is the same as Slot #3. I'll also add the fact that i've NOT screenshot this during any heavy loads

 

[SkyNetRising]

Here you go. For convinience i'll only post the Slot #1 since it's information is the same as Slot #3. I'll also add the fact that i've NOT screenshot this during any heavy loads

Your ram is not 3600mhz.
It is 3200mhz ram. And currently running at 2133mhz.
Go into BIOS and enable A-XMP.

 

[SgtSlade]

Your ram is not 3600mhz.
It is 3200mhz ram. And currently running at 2133mhz.
Go into BIOS and enable A-XMP.

Much obliged. I've edited the post since i didn't spot my own mistake. I've now enabled D.O.C.P and i'll see if the problem persists

 

[SgtSlade]

Your ram is not 3600mhz.
It is 3200mhz ram. And currently running at 2133mhz.
Go into BIOS and enable A-XMP.

After further testing, enabling D.O.C.P didn't seem to help in any way shape or form. I'm still getting the same type of fluidity drops.

 

[SkyNetRising]

After further testing, enabling D.O.C.P didn't seem to help in any way shape or form. I'm still getting the same type of fluidity drops.

Did you try reducing gpu clock to Nvidia reference values (as suggested above) ?

 

[SgtSlade]

Did you try reducing gpu clock to Nvidia reference values (as suggested above) ?

I did, reduced it by 100MHz. But it's still the same. I've come to the conclusion my PC is somehow reaching 10GB of VRAM usage and clocks down, but how? I don't know. Even in highest demanding games it's hovering around 70% memory usage, only sometimes it spikes up to 100%

 

[SkyNetRising]

I did, reduced it by 100MHz. But it's still the same.

Reduce more.
Nvidia reference clocks for RTX 3080 are 1440mhz base, 1710mhz boost.

 

[SgtSlade]

Reduce more.
Nvidia reference clocks for RTX 3080 are 1440mhz base, 1710mhz boost.

It's worth pointing out that during my tests i've established the fact that rebooting my PC makes the spikes just disappear. Sometimes they come back and sometimes they don't during the use cycle. But a reboot almost always makes them just straight up disappear which makes me think it might be some sort of memory issue