[SOLVED] i7 8700k stuttering in games

[Erik91]

Hey guys.

I've been having this problem with my CPU.
When I'm playing Overwatch for a few hours, the CPU starts to get hot at some point, by hot I mean occasional spikes at 70C. Which I don't think it's an alarming temperature for this model.
But when it's temperature spikes and hits 70C, the game just freezes for a moment, sometimes even for a few seconds (FPS goes to 0, then goes back to normal).
I'm no expert but I don't think that's a normal behaviour for a CPU like this.
What could be going on? Is some kind of threshold kicking in?

I use Afterburner to monitor my temps.
Just one more thing that I've noticed since I've built the computer, is that my CPU temps spikes like crazy on games or at idle.
The readings of the temps are not "stable", they always change like crazy, like 44 56 48 62 55 50 60 45 and so on.
So maybe my coolers go a little crazy over those readings because they always changing drastically.

-The cooler is a Noctua d15.
-My motherboard is a Asus z370-E Gaming.
-The CPU is not overclocked.
-Room temperature was around 26-28C (I live in a hot country).

Thanks in advance!

 

[13thmonkey]

They won't be 'stable' that's not a concern.
70C shouldn't cause throttle and therefore stutter
The problem is elsewhere, is there some other software that is spiking, causing the temp spike and consuming resources?

 

[SkyNetRising]

What pc enclosure are you using (model name, product link, photo) ?
How many intake/exhaust fans?

You may want to improve airflow in your pc enclosure and adjust cpu fan profile.

 

[13thmonkey]

70C with a 20-28 ambient is great to be honest.

 

[Erik91]

@13thmonkey

Thanks for the fast reply.

Not that I'm aware of.

It's the usual stuff running on background.
Stuff like Steam, Spotify, Blizzard App, Anti-virus etc...
Nothing that could cause an abnormal spike.

 

[BringerOfTea]

how much ram, single or dual and what speed?

Where do you have the game installed, ssd or harddrive?

 

[Erik91]

What pc enclosure are you using (model name, product link, photo) ?
How many intake/exhaust fans?

You may want to improve airflow in your pc enclosure and adjust cpu fan profile.

My PC Case is a NZXT Noctis 450.
I have a total of 4 be quiet BL071 140mm fans: 2 front intake, 1 rear exhaust, 1 top exhaust.
My CPU Fan Profile is set on PWM, being at 100% on 63C.

I can provide pictures when I get home from work.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Erik91]

how much ram, single or dual and what speed?

Where do you have the game installed, ssd or harddrive?

I have a total of 16GB of ram on dual channel. Speeds of 3200MHz.
The model is Corsair Vengeance LPX C16.

The game is installed on HDD. I've only installed Windows on SSD.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[13thmonkey]

If you have a second screen watch task manager, sorted by CPU what for something popping up, watch the performance screen and look for spikes in drive usage, CPU usage etc. Check the clockspeed, watch it closely, does it blip down (which would drive utilisation up and may effect temp in the short term. Check the event log, is something trying to happen on a regular basis and failing to happen, this can often consume more resource than expected (I've had this happen, itunes was the culprit for me).

Structurally there is nothing wrong with your PC, cooling looks good etc. so it must be software, the question is what software, for that you need to watch your system like a hawk.

 

[SkyNetRising]

My PC Case is a NZXT Noctis 450.
I have a total of 4 be quiet BL071 140mm fans: 2 front intake, 1 rear exhaust, 1 top exhaust.

Not the greatest case regarding air flow.
Frontal air intake is obstructed. Mesh front panel would significantly improve air flow.
Try running it with front panel removed and see, how that changes temperatures.

 

[BringerOfTea]

could the old spin drive that's the issue... if you can fit the game on your SSD, see if that improves the performance... I do not know the game size for Overwatch, but 30-40 gigs should fit alongside your OS... if your SSD isn't minute.

 

[Erik91]

If you have a second screen watch task manager, sorted by CPU what for something popping up, watch the performance screen and look for spikes in drive usage, CPU usage etc. Check the clockspeed, watch it closely, does it blip down (which would drive utilisation up and may effect temp in the short term. Check the event log, is something trying to happen on a regular basis and failing to happen, this can often consume more resource than expected (I've had this happen, itunes was the culprit for me).

Structurally there is nothing wrong with your PC, cooling looks good etc. so it must be software, the question is what software, for that you need to watch your system like a hawk.

Got you. I will keep an eye on the task manager for anything unusual.
I'm just worried about the throtlle, because 70C is not that hot for this CPU.

 

[Erik91]

My PC Case is a NZXT Noctis 450.
I have a total of 4 be quiet BL071 140mm fans: 2 front intake, 1 rear exhaust, 1 top exhaust.

Not the greatest case regarding air flow.
Frontal air intake is obstructed. Mesh front panel would significantly improve air flow.
Try running it with front panel removed and see, how that changes temperatures.

I appreciate your help. But I don't think the problem is on the airflow, or the temperature itself.
Because this CPU model shouldn't be struggling/throtthling at 70C.
Just wondering if there is some kind of threshold on MOBO that I should disable or something.

Thanks anyways!

 

[13thmonkey]

If you have a second screen watch task manager, sorted by CPU what for something popping up, watch the performance screen and look for spikes in drive usage, CPU usage etc. Check the clockspeed, watch it closely, does it blip down (which would drive utilisation up and may effect temp in the short term. Check the event log, is something trying to happen on a regular basis and failing to happen, this can often consume more resource than expected (I've had this happen, itunes was the culprit for me).

Structurally there is nothing wrong with your PC, cooling looks good etc. so it must be software, the question is what software, for that you need to watch your system like a hawk.

Got you. I will keep an eye on the task manager for anything unusual.
I'm just worried about the throtlle, because 70C is not that hot for this CPU.

I doubt it is throttling, BringerofTea's point about the HDD (or indeed the SSD) is very valid, watch them too, I had a HDD that was timing out and causing similar issues, but it could be 1 of 100 things.

 

[Erik91]

If you have a second screen watch task manager, sorted by CPU what for something popping up, watch the performance screen and look for spikes in drive usage, CPU usage etc. Check the clockspeed, watch it closely, does it blip down (which would drive utilisation up and may effect temp in the short term. Check the event log, is something trying to happen on a regular basis and failing to happen, this can often consume more resource than expected (I've had this happen, itunes was the culprit for me).

Structurally there is nothing wrong with your PC, cooling looks good etc. so it must be software, the question is what software, for that you need to watch your system like a hawk.

Got you. I will keep an eye on the task manager for anything unusual.
I'm just worried about the throtlle, because 70C is not that hot for this CPU.

I doubt it is throttling, BringerofTea's point about the HDD (or indeed the SSD) is very valid, watch them too, I had a HDD that was timing out and causing similar issues, but it could be 1 of 100 things.

Understood!
I will install it on SSD to see what happens.
But do you think the temperature is linked with the HDD timing out?
Because, coincidentally the throttle happens when the CPU hits exacts 70C.

 

[SkyNetRising]

But I don't think the problem is on the airflow, or the temperature itself.
Because this CPU model shouldn't be struggling/throtthling at 70C.

Probably. But I'd still try with removed front panel just as an experiment.

 

[Erik91]

But I don't think the problem is on the airflow, or the temperature itself.
Because this CPU model shouldn't be struggling/throtthling at 70C.

Probably. But I'd still try with removed front panel just as an experiment.

Understood. I will give it a try then!

 

[boju]

Whats your full system specs?

If you can, post a screenshot saved as jpeg of your startup items in msconfig. Use something like imgur.com.

Seeing you can play for quite sometime before a lag spike happens perhaps there is something running in the background slowly consuming more and more memory. Maybe Spotify? Or discord embedded streaming with Firefox or Chrome?

 

[Erik91]

Whats your full system specs?

If you can, post a screenshot saved as jpeg of your startup items in msconfig. Use something like imgur.com.

Seeing you can play for quite sometime before a lag spike happens perhaps there is something running in the background slowly consuming more and more memory. Maybe Spotify? Or discord embedded streaming with Firefox or Chrome?

I'm not at home right now.
But I can give you the specs from my head.

MOBO Asus Rog Strix z370-E Gaming
Intel i7 8700k on stock
Zotac 1080ti Amp Extreme
Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 Dual Channel
PSU EVGA SuperNova G2 850W
Windows 10 on SSD

If I remember correctly, Google Chrome was opened at the time. Is it a big factor?
Spotify is always on background, but not playing.
Discord is always opened as well.
I don't stream.
Even if those programs are opened and running, should a i7 8700k throttle from that? Or is this a memory thing?

 

[13thmonkey]

Whats your full system specs?

If you can, post a screenshot saved as jpeg of your startup items in msconfig. Use something like imgur.com.

Seeing you can play for quite sometime before a lag spike happens perhaps there is something running in the background slowly consuming more and more memory. Maybe Spotify? Or discord embedded streaming with Firefox or Chrome?

I'm not at home right now.
But I can give you the specs from my head.

MOBO Asus Rog Strix z370-E Gaming
Intel i7 8700k on stock
Zotac 1080ti Amp Extreme
Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 Dual Channel
PSU EVGA SuperNova G2 850W
Windows 10 on SSD

If I remember correctly, Google Chrome was opened at the time. Is it a big factor?
Spotify is always on background, but not playing.
Discord is always opened as well.
I don't stream.
Even if those programs are opened and running, should a i7 8700k throttle from that? Or is this a memory thing?

I doubt it's throttle, it might just be one of those calling for resource and windows saying 'sure you look important here have it' leading to a lack of resources for the game temporarily.

 

[Erik91]

Whats your full system specs?

If you can, post a screenshot saved as jpeg of your startup items in msconfig. Use something like imgur.com.

Seeing you can play for quite sometime before a lag spike happens perhaps there is something running in the background slowly consuming more and more memory. Maybe Spotify? Or discord embedded streaming with Firefox or Chrome?

I'm not at home right now.
But I can give you the specs from my head.

MOBO Asus Rog Strix z370-E Gaming
Intel i7 8700k on stock
Zotac 1080ti Amp Extreme
Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 Dual Channel
PSU EVGA SuperNova G2 850W
Windows 10 on SSD

If I remember correctly, Google Chrome was opened at the time. Is it a big factor?
Spotify is always on background, but not playing.
Discord is always opened as well.
I don't stream.
Even if those programs are opened and running, should a i7 8700k throttle from that? Or is this a memory thing?

I doubt it's throttle, it might just be one of those calling for resource and windows saying 'sure you look important here have it' leading to a lack of resources for the game temporarily.

I understand.. Maybe it's just Windows.
I will have to take a look at the task manager as you said.
Thank you! I will update this post when I find out anything unusual.

 

[boju]

Chrome can also be a resource hog. Keep an eye on it when ya get the chance.

Easiest way to find out when system is feeling sluggish is open task manager processes tab and assort cpu highest to lowest usages so those using the most are brought to top. Do the same for memory. To assort, click the column header.