Question I have a high-end PC but I get consistent stutters and frame drops periodically

naivettv

Commendable
Sep 14, 2019
11
0
1,510
As the title says I have a very good PC and it performs at incredible levels when I test it on Userbenchmark. I get great consistent frames on every game I play on low or high graphics, but I always get weird FPS drops every few minutes. These spikes usually last only about a second but they seem inevitable. My i9 is also overclocked to 5GHz and I do not have any issues with overheating or airflow. My guess was that I don't have enough ram, but whenever I monitor my ram usage through task manager it seems to be stable (around 60% on most games, maybe spikes up to 80% here and there). It's not a huge issue but I would like to fix it if possible. Any and all help is appreciated, thanks.

Here is my list of parts on pcpartpicker - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zGXPVw
UserBenchmarks as of 7/31/22 : Game 175%, Desk 98%, Work 179%
CPU: Intel Core i9-9900KF - 105.1%
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070-Ti - 172.9%
SSD: Sabrent Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 256GB - 166.7%
HDD: Microsoft Storage Space Device 999GB - 81.5%
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB - 41.1% (This drive is not used for any of my programs, just a backup storage for worst case scenario)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB - 92.9%
MBD: Asrock Z390 Phantom Gaming SLI/ac
 
As the title says I have a very good PC and it performs at incredible levels when I test it on Userbenchmark. I get great consistent frames on every game I play on low or high graphics, but I always get weird FPS drops every few minutes. These spikes usually last only about a second but they seem inevitable. My i9 is also overclocked to 5GHz and I do not have any issues with overheating or airflow. My guess was that I don't have enough ram, but whenever I monitor my ram usage through task manager it seems to be stable (around 60% on most games, maybe spikes up to 80% here and there). It's not a huge issue but I would like to fix it if possible. Any and all help is appreciated, thanks.

Here is my list of parts on pcpartpicker - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zGXPVw
UserBenchmarks as of 7/31/22 : Game 175%, Desk 98%, Work 179%
CPU: Intel Core i9-9900KF - 105.1%
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070-Ti - 172.9%
SSD: Sabrent Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 256GB - 166.7%
HDD: Microsoft Storage Space Device 999GB - 81.5%
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB - 41.1% (This drive is not used for any of my programs, just a backup storage for worst case scenario)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB - 92.9%
MBD: Asrock Z390 Phantom Gaming SLI/ac
Reboot.
Wait a few mins.
Run userbenchmark with the browser closed.
Post a LINK to the results page.

You might want to unplug the seagate and see if it has any affect on the fps drop.
 
Unless you are also multitasking, 16gb of ram is likely ok.
To check, go to task manager/resource monitor/memory/ and look at the hard fault rate.
If it is more than zero, there is some impact from lack of ram.

If the game is on the HDD, and there is some other competition for the HDD resources, you could get small delays.
Look for a task that starts up every few minutes.
Perhaps some update checker or such.

Do you have external backup?
If not, I suggest you replace the HDD with a ssd and relegate the HDD to be used for external backup.
 

naivettv

Commendable
Sep 14, 2019
11
0
1,510
Unless you are also multitasking, 16gb of ram is likely ok.
To check, go to task manager/resource monitor/memory/ and look at the hard fault rate.
If it is more than zero, there is some impact from lack of ram.

If the game is on the HDD, and there is some other competition for the HDD resources, you could get small delays.
Look for a task that starts up every few minutes.
Perhaps some update checker or such.

Do you have external backup?
If not, I suggest you replace the HDD with a ssd and relegate the HDD to be used for external backup.
I do see spikes on the hard fault counter, I'll monitor it to see if the lag spikes are linked to it. I do plan on getting a 2tb Sabrent Rocket SSD in the near future so when I do that I will surely move the 1tb to a backup drive.
 

PsychoPsyops

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2014
589
66
19,090
Go into your Nvidia control panel settings and make sure power management is set to maximum performance, rather than adaptive. Then go into your Windows power settings and make sure that is the same. Adaptive power settings have been known to cause lag spikes/hitching when fps seems stable. Adaptive settings for vsync may also be the culprit, if the power settings aren't.
 

Alan Alan

Prominent
Aug 9, 2022
216
9
595
I have the rtx 3070, on occasion it studders terrible bad. I shut the game off and restart it, then it's fine. As far as studders go, it might be a background service . Goto msconfig and hide all microsoft services, Then disable everything else, shut down and restart your games. It may have to install somethings necessary for the games, but thats ok, antivirus always should come back, but you can also disable security stuff during game play. If the video options are too high causing studdering, well turn down the settings. Soon you'll find it runs perfectly fine.