Question Mystery problem -- intermittent FPS drops while gaming that occurs every few days

[djhz2001]

Hello,

I have been experiencing intermittent FPS drops for months, and I was hoping I could get some help figuring out what the problem is.

My system:

CPU: i7-6700K
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR HYDRO Series H115i PRO RGB (280mm)
GPU: GTX 1070 Founder's Edition
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000
PSU: Corsair RMx 750 W 80+ Gold
Storage: Samsung NVMe SSD 960 EVO 500 GB (OS installed here), Samsung SATA SSD 850 EVO 1 TB (games installed here), and WD HHD Black 2 TB.
Monitor: HP 2311x (basic 60 FPS monitor; I use VSYNC)

I proceed to explain the problem. With this system, I normally play The Witcher 3 on ultra settings at 60 FPS no problem. However, some days, when I start the game, it does not reach 60 FPS, rather, FPS fluctuate between 39 and 55. These FPS fluctuations occurs even if I don't move the mouse or do anything, and they also occur even in the main game menu, which is not graphically demanding. When this happens, it often stays like this for hours. However, FPS often return to normal the next day. A few days later, the same problem occurs, and so on, for months now. Today, I used MSI Afterburner to look at the performance numbers shown. Everything was as it should be except the power percentage, which fluctuated between 60 and 73% while it normally should be at 100%. However, Using CPU ID's Hardware Monitor, CPU performance was completely normal. Everything else is working optimally. According to what I have read, this cannot be caused by insufficient power from the PSU because the PC would shut down if insufficient power were being provided by the PSU, yet my PC has never shut down on its own.

Thinking that this issue may be hardware related, I uninstalled the graphics drivers using DDU, manually deleted any leftover folders, then I reinstalled the drivers, but this had no effect on the issue. Next, since I sometimes experienced sluggish gaming when Steam was installing something in the background in the past, I closed Steam (The Witcher 3 was installed using GOG), but this had no effect. Similarly, I closed GOG and opened Fallout 4 (installed with Steam), and it was the same issue. I also closed all cloud services one by one, but this had no effect. Finally, since Norton (my antivirus) is known for being heavy for some computer (I never have had any issues), I disconnected from internet, then proceeded to close Norton entirely, then tested the Witcher 3. Same as everything else I tried, this had no effect on the FPS drop.

More recently, I tried something different. I shut down the PC, turned off the PSU and waited 30 seconds. Then I turned on the PC and opened the Witcher 3, and the problem was gone. However, I am not sure that turning off my PSU did anything since I tried this today again at least 3 times, yet it did nothing to fix the FPS drop.

Given that I am unable to figure out the problem, I don't know whether I need to replace a component, and which one, or if the problem is software-related. I was hoping someone else may have some experience with something like this and what the cause could be. Thank you much for your time and help.

 

[Xbox And Windows gamer]

probs bottleneck, pretty sure most people use i7 or i9 with rtx, gtx 1070 with an i7 sounds like a big bottleneck. get a better gpu.

 

[djhz2001]

probs bottleneck, pretty sure most people use i7 or i9 with rtx, gtx 1070 with an i7 sounds like a big bottleneck. get a better gpu.

A bottleneck is not the problem. I already mentioned that I normally get 60 FPS in any place or circumstance within the game, except when this FPS drop occurs on some days (I should mention that this problem may show up regardless of whether it is a hot or cold day, night or day). In addition, I did mention that I can't even get 60 FPS in the main menu whenever this FPS drop occurs. Main menus for games are not graphically intensive, so even a small graphics card should give you 60 FPS. I could accept your hypothesis that the card is malfunctioning if I knew what kind of malfunction would cause the card to perform poorly on some days then go back to normal in some hours (no signs of overheating, just lower and fluctuating power draw). I would replace the card if I knew the malfunction. Thank you for your input though.

 

[Xbox And Windows gamer]

Cool. Also, if it does FPS drop it may not be a bottleneck. Have you updated your GPU drivers? They will likely include bug fixes and FPS improvements to prevent stuff like this. I'd recommend you always update drivers, not just graphics drivers but all which should fix any problems.

 

[djhz2001]

Cool. Also, if it does FPS drop it may not be a bottleneck. Have you updated your GPU drivers? They will likely include bug fixes and FPS improvements to prevent stuff like this. I'd recommend you always update drivers, not just graphics drivers but all which should fix any problems.

Hello,

I found the cause. I never thought of this, but I installed FRAPS and disabled the GeForce Experience FPS counter, and now the performance is back to normal. I even reinstalled GeForce Experience yesterday together with the driver in a clean installation, and it had no effect. For now, it appears that GeForce Experience overlay causes issues with some games. Thank you for your help and input. I will keep observing the game over the next few days to see if the problem repeats while using FRAPS instead of GeForce Experience. I will post an update in about week.

 

[djhz2001]

Cool. Also, if it does FPS drop it may not be a bottleneck. Have you updated your GPU drivers? They will likely include bug fixes and FPS improvements to prevent stuff like this. I'd recommend you always update drivers, not just graphics drivers but all which should fix any problems.

Hello,

Sorry for taking some time posting an update. I have not had a single FPS drop problem since I changed to FRAPS. Only one time I had an issue, and it was when I opened FRAPS after launching the game. After that, I closed the game, opened FRAPS, and then the game, and I had no issues. I updated the tags in the post so that people having this same issue may be able to find it. Thank you for your time and help.