GTX 1080 Stuttering and FPS Drops!

[Jan3s]

Hello everyone,

So i have been testing this gpu for sometime now and im experiencing stuttering/fps drops in almost every game.
I tested Dota 2,Fortnite and Dying light.

I also noticed my benchmarks result of Heaven and Valley are little lower than the others,
Here are the results: https://imgur.com/a/vCvwMkg

As far as i have noticed my cpu being used more than the gpu in the games i tested which shouldnt be the case and i'm sure about that after checking this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlwrH2krtk

The stuttering almost goes away when i lock the frames at 60fps or use vsync.

So what is causing the fps drops? And why cpu usage is higher?

Specs:
i5 8400
Gigabyte b360 aorus gaming 3
8GB DDR4 HyperX 2133 x1
EVGA GTX 1080 Hybrid FTW
500GB HDD
Corsair RM650

 

[SkyNetRising]

Monitor GPU/CPU usage, temperatures, memory/ram/pagefile usage and FPS with MSI afterburner during gaming session.
Most likely your system would like more ram. Upgrade to 16GB.

 

[boju]

Always tricky trying to diagnose performance issues. Ill ask and suggest a few things and see how we go.

Questions;
1. Firstly (assuming you're on Win10) is it a clean install?, as in not swapped from different hardware and not continuing from an os upgrade?

2. Motherboard chipset drivers installed?

3. What speed is your HDD?

4. What monitor, resolution & Hz?

5. Have you checked usage numbers with Msi Afterburner? If not sure how to setup Afterburner osd (on screen display) stats, there are youtube videos showing how.

------

Suggestions;

*Power plans in both Windows and Nvidia are full performance.

*Game Bar / xbox dvr turned off

*Don't optimise games with Geforce Experience

*Updated to latest Geforce drivers from Geforce.com. Uninstall old drivers with DDU in safemode first.

https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

----

Hardware related;

*8GB ram isn't enough for GPUs with more than 4GB vram. 16GB is recommended and also dual channel is preferred (2x 8GB).

*High frame rates does require more CPU to feed the GPU so a slight bottleneck is expected from 8400.

-----

Specific game related issues;

*Dying light isn't optimised well for multi core CPUs. Four cores only is ok but the game does freak out with more cores and also Hyperthreading.

Try this trick,

https://www.reddit.com/r/dyinglight/comments/2u2x0d/dying_light_performance_fix_for_multicore_cpus/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=comment_list

----

Your issue may be a combination of things. Cpu, memory and particular games confusing the situation, Dying light for example. You do need more ram however and i do hope your hdd is not a slow one, as in 5400rpm.

 

[Jan3s]

Always tricky trying to diagnose performance issues. Ill ask and suggest a few things and see how we go.

Questions;
1. Firstly (assuming you're on Win10) is it a clean install?, as in not swapped from different hardware and not continuing from an os upgrade?

2. Motherboard chipset drivers installed?

3. What speed is your HDD?

4. What monitor, resolution & Hz?

5. Have you checked usage numbers with Msi Afterburner? If not sure how to setup Afterburner osd (on screen display) stats, there are youtube videos showing how.

------

Suggestions;

*Power plans in both Windows and Nvidia are full performance.

*Game Bar / xbox dvr turned off

*Don't optimise games with Geforce Experience

*Updated to latest Geforce drivers from Geforce.com. Uninstall old drivers with DDU in safemode first.

https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

----

Hardware related;

*8GB ram isn't enough for GPUs with more than 4GB vram. 16GB is recommended and also dual channel is preferred (2x 8GB).

*High frame rates does require more CPU to feed the GPU so a slight bottleneck is expected from 8400.

-----

Specific game related issues;

*Dying light isn't optimised well for multi core CPUs. Four cores only is ok but the game does freak out with more cores and also Hyperthreading.

Try this trick,

https://www.reddit.com/r/dyinglight/comments/2u2x0d/dying_light_performance_fix_for_multicore_cpus/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=comment_list

----

Your issue may be a combination of things. Cpu, memory and particular games confusing the situation, Dying light for example. You do need more ram however and i do hope your hdd is not a slow one, as in 5400rpm.

1) Im gonna clean install windows again now.
2) Will keep an eye on that.
3) 7200rpm around 100mb/s read and write speed.
4) HP z24i (1920x1080 @60hz)
5) Whole time i was monitoring them through afterburner.

*Both are set to performance
*DVR is off
*Setting them on my own
*Drivers updated

This hyper x ram comes paired with another 8gb stick i got this single stick in a cheap price from friend can this being on single channel causing an issue?

 

[boju]

This hyper x ram comes paired with another 8gb stick i got this single stick in a cheap price from friend can this being on single channel causing an issue?

Dual channel does increase CPU bandwidth to and from memory so that is a plus. Also 16GB ram to reduce pagefile activity keeping more game related data within memory rather than use the hdd.

Msi Afterburner also has a pagefile meter, see what it says gaming for 15minutes or so.

 

[SkyNetRising]

5) Whole time i was monitoring them through afterburner.

Can you show screenshot from MSI Afterburner hardware monitoring window with these graphs - GPU/CPU usage, temperatures, memory/ram/pagefile usage and FPS (after you encounter stutters during gaming session).

Spoiler

Hardware monitoring window looks like this:

 

[boju]

regarding your monitor being 60Hz, are you sure you're seeing hardware stutters and pauses and not screen being choppy because of frame rates clashing on a 60Hz screen? You'll certainly get a choppy look without the use of Vsync.

If don't like Vsync input lag, theres a trick i've tried that works. Cap fps to 59 using Afterburner, Nvidia Inspector or ingame command and with Vsync enabled you shouldn't get input lag or it's very minimal.

 

[Jan3s]

regarding your monitor being 60Hz, are you sure you're seeing hardware stutters and pauses and not screen being choppy because of frame rates clashing on a 60Hz screen? You'll certainly get a choppy look without the use of Vsync.

If don't like Vsync input lag, theres a trick i've tried that works. Cap fps to 59 using Afterburner, Nvidia Inspector or ingame command and with Vsync enabled you shouldn't get input lag or it's very minimal.

Im kinda sure about that, I dont think monitor being 60hz should cause massive fps drops.

 

[boju]

Thats true.

 

[Jan3s]

5) Whole time i was monitoring them through afterburner.

Can you show screenshot from MSI Afterburner hardware monitoring window with these graphs - GPU/CPU usage, temperatures, memory/ram/pagefile usage and FPS (after you encounter stutters during gaming session).

Spoiler

Hardware monitoring window looks like this:

https://imgur.com/a/6AZZxwe

Here are the results after 8-10 minutes of fortnite.

 

[Jan3s]

This hyper x ram comes paired with another 8gb stick i got this single stick in a cheap price from friend can this being on single channel causing an issue?

Dual channel does increase CPU bandwidth to and from memory so that is a plus. Also 16GB ram to reduce pagefile activity keeping more game related data within memory rather than use the hdd.

Msi Afterburner also has a pagefile meter, see what it says gaming for 15minutes or so.

https://imgur.com/a/6AZZxwe

Here it is.

 

[RememberThe5th]

I think the turbo issue, as UFD tech said, i5-8400 doesnt trubo propetly on budget boards.
https://youtu.be/CdeMZuQDIR8

 

[boju]

Spoiler

Looks like GPU usage isn't dropping because oh high CPU usage, they both seem to drop together. I think it's the hdd causing this.

After the first major drop where it plummets from 99% down to 0% can see where the pagefile meets after a flat line then steadily increases and fluctuates there after. 500GB i'd imagine it's an old HDD and my guess is when this hdd is in use is putting a hold on both GPU and CPU.

 

[Jan3s]

I think the turbo issue, as UFD tech said, i5-8400 doesnt trubo propetly on budget boards.
https://youtu.be/CdeMZuQDIR8

Read the first comment on his video.

 

[Jan3s]

Spoiler

Looks like GPU usage isn't dropping because oh high CPU usage, they both seem to drop together. I think it's the hdd causing this.

After the first major drop where it plummets from 99% down to 0% can see where the pagefile meets after a flat line then steadily increases and fluctuates there after. 500GB i'd imagine it's an old HDD and my guess is when this hdd is in use is putting a hold on both GPU and CPU.

Ill try get an ssd and will update you.

Also not changing the topic here but do let me know if these temps are fine.

idle temps: 36-37c (without sidepanel) .. 38-39c (with sidepanel)
load temps: 57-58c (without sidepanel) .. 59-60c (with sidepanel)
ambient temps:30c

What i have seen on internet temps are like: (keeping the ambient temps in mind)
idle: 26-28
load: 51-53

 

[boju]

I looked at your temps, they're fine. Wont reach throttle stage until mid 90s

 

[Jan3s]

I looked at your temps, they're fine. Wont reach throttle stage until mid 90s

Pairing an ssd with this hdd should solve the issue right? if it is because of hdd.

 

[RememberThe5th]

Whoop, usually i dont read comments...
Another post was similar to this one, he added by himself another 8gb, if i find it im going to link it..

 

[boju]

Pairing an ssd with this hdd should solve the issue right? if it is because of hdd.

Consider a good size SSD like 256GB or maybe 500GB and another 8GB ram. Mixing ram isn't ideal but if you keep to the same specs it might past mustard. Use your HDD for downloads/music and other stuff.

Like i said earlier, it is hard to diagnose performance stutters to the exact cause albeit a system like yours would complement nicely with an SSD and 16GB ram. I would be very surprised if it still stuttered.

 

[Jan3s]

Pairing an ssd with this hdd should solve the issue right? if it is because of hdd.

Consider a good size SSD like 256GB or maybe 500GB and another 8GB ram. Mixing ram isn't ideal but if you keep to the same specs it might past mustard. Use your HDD for downloads/music and other stuff.

Like i said earlier, it is hard to diagnose performance stutters to the exact cause albeit a system like yours would complement nicely with an SSD and 16GB ram. I would be very surprised if it still stuttered.

Well meanwhile i dont have budget to go for more ram and large ssd, so i went for 128gb will install the OS and tell you the results later when im done.

 

[Jan3s]

Pairing an ssd with this hdd should solve the issue right? if it is because of hdd.

Consider a good size SSD like 256GB or maybe 500GB and another 8GB ram. Mixing ram isn't ideal but if you keep to the same specs it might past mustard. Use your HDD for downloads/music and other stuff.

Like i said earlier, it is hard to diagnose performance stutters to the exact cause albeit a system like yours would complement nicely with an SSD and 16GB ram. I would be very surprised if it still stuttered.

Ok so good news after switching the OS to 128gb ssd, the results are same. What would you suggest now?

 

[SkyNetRising]

You can see in your screenshot, that pagefile usage (in reality that is committed memory value from task manager, not actual pagefile usage) goes beyond physically available amount of ram in your system - 10641 MB. Excess amount over physically available ram goes onto disk. Disk speed (SSD) is several magnitudes slower than ram (mechanical drive speed is even lower).

So - upgrade ram of your system to 16GB.

 

[Jan3s]

You can see in your screenshot, that pagefile usage (in reality that is committed memory value from task manager, not actual pagefile usage) goes beyond physically available amount of ram in your system - 10641 MB. Excess amount over physically available ram goes onto disk. Disk speed (SSD) is several magnitudes slower than ram (mechanical drive speed is even lower).

So - upgrade ram of your system to 16GB.

So would it be ok if I pair my hyper x with some other module?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Try to get same model ram module.
With different ram modules (not from same kit) you risk to run into ram compatibility issues.