[SOLVED] Lag spikes in games around every 45 seconds

[lagspikethrowaway]

Have kind of a weird half-old-half-new build.

AMD FX-8350
Nvidia 1060 3gb
Western Digital Blue 500 gb SSD
Corsair 16 gb DDR3

I'm not very tech savvy, but I read in another thread that it would be helpful to post this info, so here it is while I was playing the Witcher 3

https://imgur.com/a/PIdDxsh

View: https://imgur.com/a/PIdDxsh


It happens in every game I play though. The lag is both video and audio and they last about 5-8 seconds.

 

[Phaaze88]

You need to post the cpu temps with AMD Overdrive - a portion of the info in the above image is useless otherwise.

Make and model of the motherboard?
Cpu cooler?

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

You need to post the cpu temps with AMD Overdrive - a portion of the info in the above image is useless otherwise.

Make and model of the motherboard?
Cpu cooler?

No idea what the cooler is, but the mobo is an ASRock 970 Extreme4.

https://imgur.com/a/gBORpuZ

View: https://imgur.com/a/gBORpuZ


Sorry about the white border, I just alt-tabbed out of witcher 3 and print screened quickly lol.

 

[Phaaze88]

Cpu is thermal throttling - in the screenshot you took, it's borderline throttling.
AMD Overdrive calculates distance to the critical temp; it counts down. 0C or negative numbers are bad.

Motherboard with a 4+1 power phase like that cannot handle that cpu long term - the VRMs will eventually burn out.

No idea what the cpu cooler is? Is it the stock boxed cooler?

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

Cpu is thermal throttling - in the screenshot you took, it's borderline throttling.
AMD Overdrive calculates distance to the critical temp; it counts down. 0C or negative numbers are bad.

Motherboard with a 4+1 power phase like that cannot handle that cpu long term - the VRMs will eventually burn out.

No idea what the cpu cooler is? Is it the stock boxed cooler?

I believe it is the stock. I just checked and saw the AMD overdrive logo on the front.

Any way to remedy any of this or is it just because the pc is old now? The motherboard and everything on it haven't been replaced since 2014 I want to say. Only new stuff is GPU and SSD.

 

[Phaaze88]

Underclock and undervolt the cpu. Like, 3.5ghz at 1.25-1.28vcore - you might need to add a little more.

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

Underclock and undervolt the cpu. Like, 3.5ghz at 1.25-1.28vcore - you might need to add a little more.

So sorry to ask this, but is there any guidance you can give on how to do that within the program? Or a tutorial you can point me to? I've searched but can't really find a good one, and I'm paranoid because I've never really done anything to over/underclock.

I assume it would be on this screen?

https://imgur.com/a/cVO8pDS

View: https://imgur.com/a/cVO8pDS

 

[Phaaze88]

That took a bit, sorry. I had to re-refresh myself on that app.
Click on 'Turbo Core Control' button like in your screenshot. It'll open a new window.
'Select All Cores' should already be checked. Slide the Core Multiplier to 35x, and the Cpu VID to 1.35v. Click Ok, and then go to the built-in Stability Test.
Set the duration slider to 1 min, click on 'Select All', and start the test. Go back and monitor cpu thermal margin while this is going on. We want it to at least stay over 10C.

If it passes, go back and lower the VID in 0.025v increments, and test again. Repeat until it fails the test or crashes, then use and Apply the settings from the last successful run.
If it failed at 1.35v from the start, then raise the voltage by those same 0.025v stages until it is stable - it should still be thermally stable though!
If you are still having issues with temps after all that, then perhaps it's time to remove the cooler, clean it, and reapply thermal paste... Perhaps that should be done first if you haven't done so in awhile!

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

That took a bit, sorry. I had to re-refresh myself on that app.
Click on 'Turbo Core Control' button like in your screenshot. It'll open a new window.
'Select All Cores' should already be checked. Slide the Core Multiplier to 35x, and the Cpu VID to 1.35v. Click Ok, and then go to the built-in Stability Test.
Set the duration slider to 1 min, click on 'Select All', and start the test. Go back and monitor cpu thermal margin while this is going on. We want it to at least stay over 10C.

If it passes, go back and lower the VID in 0.025v increments, and test again. Repeat until it fails the test or crashes, then use and Apply the settings from the last successful run.
If it failed at 1.35v from the start, then raise the voltage by those same 0.025v stages until it is stable - it should still be thermally stable though!
If you are still having issues with temps after all that, then perhaps it's time to remove the cooler, clean it, and reapply thermal paste... Perhaps that should be done first if you haven't done so in awhile!

No worries! I appreciate your help and your patience a ton as you're dealing with someone who doesn't have it all together yet tech-wise, lol.

When I slide the core multiplier, it only goes up to 21x. Do you know what the problem is?

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

That took a bit, sorry. I had to re-refresh myself on that app.
Click on 'Turbo Core Control' button like in your screenshot. It'll open a new window.
'Select All Cores' should already be checked. Slide the Core Multiplier to 35x, and the Cpu VID to 1.35v. Click Ok, and then go to the built-in Stability Test.
Set the duration slider to 1 min, click on 'Select All', and start the test. Go back and monitor cpu thermal margin while this is going on. We want it to at least stay over 10C.

If it passes, go back and lower the VID in 0.025v increments, and test again. Repeat until it fails the test or crashes, then use and Apply the settings from the last successful run.
If it failed at 1.35v from the start, then raise the voltage by those same 0.025v stages until it is stable - it should still be thermally stable though!
If you are still having issues with temps after all that, then perhaps it's time to remove the cooler, clean it, and reapply thermal paste... Perhaps that should be done first if you haven't done so in awhile!

https://imgur.com/a/1tk92RJ

View: https://imgur.com/a/1tk92RJ


Here is the screen, if this helps.

 

[Phaaze88]

Slide it down to 17.5x instead and test it.

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

Slide it down to 17.5x instead and test it.

As far as the temperature, are you referring to the thermal margin? Cuz almost every time it's around 1 degree celsius.

 

[Phaaze88]

As far as the temperature, are you referring to the thermal margin? Cuz almost every time it's around 1 degree celsius.

Did you also lower the Cpu VID?

 

[lagspikethrowaway]

Did you also lower the Cpu VID?

I did. I lowered it to 1.25 in increments. Every time it went to a sub-one-degree margin. When I actually got to 1.25 my computer started slowing intensely and my mouse stuttered. Am I just kinda doomed here?

 

[Phaaze88]

When's the last time you cleaned the PC and the cooler?
The thermal paste does dry out after a few years and would need replacing.