[SOLVED] Incredibly low fps for seemingly no reason

[dvdw]

Hi,
For a while now my pc has been running incredibly poorly (in games that used to run fine) for seemingly no reason.

My current specs are:
i7-3770 CPU @ 3.4GHz
Nvidia GTX 1050-Ti
2x8GB DDR3 ram
1TB SSD
ECS H61H2-MV mobo

Attempted fixes:

• Full windows reset
• Updated all drivers to latest version
• Checked CPU and GPU temps for thermal throttling (under heavy load cpu and gpu ~80 C, high but not 1 fps high)
• Checked task manager for utilisation (all well below max)
• Made sure games are using all cores, correct gpu, etc.

When playing a specific game (Risk of Rain 2), fps will sometimes drop down to 1 or 2 for extended periods of time with the average fps probably being around 10. Sometimes though, fps will jump to 60 in the middle of gameplay for 10 or so seconds before dropping back down (this game used to average 60fps). I assume this means there's a software issue but I can't find what's wrong. I've run multiple benchmarks, all of which return standard results which also lead me to believe the hardware isn't the problem.

• How is it possible that a benchmark can return average results while games run poorly?
• Is it possible windows reset missed something that's messing with my pc?
• At this point I'm reasonably confident my cpu, gpu, ram, and storage are functioning fine. Could another component cause this issue?

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[JWNoctis]

Are other games showing similar problems, or is it just RoR2?

Get HWiNFO and make a performance log. Anything hardware related should show up there, whether power- or thermal-related.

 

[dvdw]

Are other games showing similar problems, or is it just RoR2?

Get HWiNFO and make a performance log. Anything hardware related should show up there, whether power- or thermal-related.

RoR2 is one of the more demanding games I play regularly so it's the only one I've seen drop to 1fps. I have had poorer than expected performance in other games such as Heroes of the Storm, Skyrim, Overwatch. I don't think the issue is exclusively with ror2.
I've made a log using HWiNFO. What should I be looking for?

 

[JWNoctis]

RoR2 is one of the more demanding games I play regularly so it's the only one I've seen drop to 1fps. I have had poorer than expected performance in other games such as Heroes of the Storm, Skyrim, Overwatch. I don't think the issue is exclusively with ror2.
I've made a log using HWiNFO. What should I be looking for?

Mark when the FPS drops happen, check CPU frequency and throttle status, as well as GPU and VRAM frequency and performance limit reason.

 

[dvdw]

Mark when the FPS drops happen, check CPU frequency and throttle status, as well as GPU and VRAM frequency and performance limit reason.

Log reported no thermal throttling of CPU or GPU.
These graphs are from the end of a ror2 game. Performance generally got worse as the game progressed (as you'd expect since more enemies spawn). One point of significance was at around 1 minute where I had almost a full 60 seconds of 60fps gameplay even though the number of enemies was at its highest. At 13 minutes performance was at its worst at around 10fps. This is all new to me so I'm not sure what values to expect, especially the performance limit graphs. Do these look standard?

Edit: I should clarify that fps drops aren't exactly the issue. The problem that fps is significantly lower than expected, even on the lowest settings. I might assume this was just hardware degradation if not for the occasional random fps spikes into ~60 that occur mid gameplay. For example, I will be playing at 8fps and then for seemingly no reason I will get 60fps for 60 or so seconds before it drops back to 8.

 

[JWNoctis]

Log reported no thermal throttling of CPU or GPU.
These graphs are from the end of a ror2 game. Performance generally got worse as the game progressed (as you'd expect since more enemies spawn). One point of significance was at around 1 minute where I had almost a full 60 seconds of 60fps gameplay even though the number of enemies was at its highest. At 13 minutes performance was at its worst at around 10fps. This is all new to me so I'm not sure what values to expect, especially the performance limit graphs. Do these look standard?

Edit: I should clarify that fps drops aren't exactly the issue. The problem that fps is significantly lower than expected, even on the lowest settings. I might assume this was just hardware degradation if not for the occasional random fps spikes into ~60 that occur mid gameplay. For example, I will be playing at 8fps and then for seemingly no reason I will get 60fps for 60 or so seconds before it drops back to 8.

Can't see images on this connection, but if it's not thermal, it might either be voltage which would show up as performance limit reason for your GPU, or - if the frequency for your CPU and GPU looked good without abnormal drops - something software-related that was stealing cycles from your game, like a cryptominer virus.

 

[dvdw]

Can't see images on this connection, but if it's not thermal, it might either be voltage which would show up as performance limit reason for your GPU, or - if the frequency for your CPU and GPU looked good without abnormal drops - something software-related that was stealing cycles from your game, like a cryptominer virus.

Several times the performance limit reason went from utilization to reliability voltage. What does this mean and how can I go about fixing it?
The cpu clock graph alternates between ~1600MHz and ~3400MHz in roughly 1 minute intervals. Is this expected?
Can I assume that windows reset would've caught any cryptominer-esque viruses meaning that's not the issue?

 

[JWNoctis]

Several times the performance limit reason went from utilization to reliability voltage. What does this mean and how can I go about fixing it?
The cpu clock graph alternates between ~1600MHz and ~3400MHz in roughly 1 minute intervals. Is this expected?
Can I assume that windows reset would've caught any cryptominer-esque viruses meaning that's not the issue?

Reliability voltage...Sounds like either graphic card VRM or power supply going bad, but others here would know more. Probably the power supply, given the other symptoms and the system's age.

And no, your CPU should not be doing that without thermal throttling or power instability.

Look into getting a replacement power supply.

 

[dvdw]

Reliability voltage...Sounds like either graphic card VRM or power supply going bad, but others here would know more. Probably the power supply, given the other symptoms and the system's age.

And no, your CPU should not be doing that without thermal throttling or power instability.

Look into getting a replacement power supply.

I'll do some more digging and consider replacing my psu then.
Thank you so much for all the feedback, you've been a great help