Question PC instability and issues

[roNic]

Hi guys,

I've bought a PC a few years ago. This was primarily for CS:GO use. Spend about 2000 euro on it back then. I'm a pretty competitive player that wants the best possible gear/settings and performance while playing. For many years this wasn't a problem. I played CS:GO at 300fps+ and never ever had issues in 5v5 games, but since a few months something is off... The game itself feels really jittery. I can feel it in my mouse most of the time. Also my FPS drops from 300 to 150 on a 18 man Deathmatch server, retake server, of just a Faceit game with some smokes grenades deployed. I can clearly feel the drops in FPS. Sometimes my fans start spinning pretty fast (I can hear that) and than my FPS drops all the way to 60 and the game starts lagging for 3 seconds. This happens about once a day.

I don't play many other games, but I haven't seen an issue with other games.
I do see mini freezes when launching or closing certain apps after starting my PC. For a split second (0.5 seconds) my mouse freezes and than the app launches and everything is fine.
I think I'm pretty decent with optimizing my PC, but I hope someone thinks of something I haven't thought about. The following things I've checked / tried that I recall:

PC:

1. Reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch
2. Played with my CPU overclocked
3. Played without my CPU overclocked
4. Cleaned entire inside of my PC (Dust free).
5. Checked temps
6. Played with 1 monitor instead of 2
7. Lowered refresh rate on 2nd monitor
8. Checked for RAM issues
9. Checked for SSD issues
10. Checked for CPU issues
11. Removed 2nd SSD

Windows:

1. Disable all startup items
2. Unparked all CPU cores
3. Disable Core 0
4. Set CS:GO to high prio
5. Enable AHCI Link Power Management - HIPM/DIPM and set to "Active" in Powerplan
6. Disable harddrive turn off in Powerplan

Steam / CS:

1. Deleted all launch options / Tried different ones
2. Played without Steam Cloud sync
3. Removed some Steam inventory items
4. Disabled all skins for both teams
5. Verified game cache
6. Disable Fullscreen optimizations
7. Override High DPI scaling
8. Changed all settings to lowest
9. Tried several different resolutions and aspect ratios
10. Delete my config file and autoexec and play with the default one

I've probably tested a lot more, but this is what I can think of right now. If anyone has a possible solution, I would love to hear from you!

PC specs:

• OS: Windows 10 Pro (x64)
• CPU: Intel core i7 6700K
• GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX1080
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM @ 3200mhz (XMP enabled)
• Storage: Samsung EVO 850 (500GB) and Samsung EVO 850 (250GB)
• Motherboard: MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon
• PSU: Corsair RM650x
• CPU Cooler: Dark Rock Pro 3
• Monitors: 2x Zowie XL2411P (Both connected with DP)

 

[RARRAF]

Do not know but you fail to mention PSU specs in your list and what your describing sounds like it could be the problem so what is the make and model of PSU and a rough age would really help.

 

[roNic]

Do not know but you fail to mention PSU specs in your list and what your describing sounds like it could be the problem so what is the make and model of PSU and a rough age would really help.

You are right! I totally forgot. I'll update the post.

It's a Corsair RM650x.

 

[iPeekYou]

You are right! I totally forgot. I'll update the post.

It's a Corsair RM650x.

I see in your starting post that the fans spin up quickly right before a sharp fps drop. I wonder if you're overheating your CPU? Fans spinning fast followed by a sharp performance drop sounds like a thermal throttling case to me.

What are your CPU temps during gaming? I'd take a look at the peak temps, and if you can set up the graph perhaps we can see if the peak temp occurs for a second or so, or more.

What CPU cooler are you using? Also is the thermal paste alright under the cooler?

 

[roNic]

I see in your starting post that the fans spin up quickly right before a sharp fps drop. I wonder if you're overheating your CPU? Fans spinning fast followed by a sharp performance drop sounds like a thermal throttling case to me.

What are your CPU temps during gaming? I'd take a look at the peak temps, and if you can set up the graph perhaps we can see if the peak temp occurs for a second or so, or more.

What CPU cooler are you using? Also is the thermal paste alright under the cooler?

I'll update my CPU cooler as well in the PC specs. It's a Dark Rock Pro 3.
It's a huge pain in the ass to remove the cooler, so I didn't check the termal paste sadly. I was thinking about it, but than I remembered it took me 2 hours to get it in my case.
So I started to check temps, but to me they seem fine to be honest.

At the moment I'm running an OC of 4.4Ghz @1.3V and have the following temps in Celsius:

Idle CPU: 27-29
Idle GPU: 40-41
Idle Motherboard: 37-38
Idle Storage: 34-35

Load (CS:GO) CPU: 40-50
Load (CS:GO) GPU: 53-55
Load (CS:GO) Motherboard: 40
Load (CS:GO) Storage: 34-35

 

[iPeekYou]

I'll update my CPU cooler as well in the PC specs. It's a Dark Rock Pro 3.
It's a huge pain in the ass to remove the cooler, so I didn't check the termal paste sadly. I was thinking about it, but than I remembered it took me 2 hours to get it in my case.
So I started to check temps, but to me they seem fine to be honest.

At the moment I'm running an OC of 4.4Ghz @1.3V and have the following temps in Celsius:

Idle CPU: 27-29
Idle GPU: 40-41
Idle Motherboard: 37-38
Idle Storage: 34-35

Load (CS:GO) CPU: 40-50
Load (CS:GO) GPU: 53-55
Load (CS:GO) Motherboard: 40
Load (CS:GO) Storage: 34-35

You've got ice cold temps....other than the fact your fans ramp up before the sharp fps drop to 60 it might sound like power issue.

A sharp vdroop then a spike perhaps? Causing major spike in temps and throttling for a few seconds until the CPU stabilizes. Clear the BIOS if you haven't already. Not familiar with Intel OC, but my Ryzen OC sometimes do something stupid with the BIOS and require me to set optimized defaults.

If nothing else, it seems to me the CPU is the culprit, or otherwise its power delivery. What I still don't get is how you lost 150 fps in the first place (300 to 150).

 

[roNic]

You've got ice cold temps....other than the fact your fans ramp up before the sharp fps drop to 60 it might sound like power issue.

A sharp vdroop then a spike perhaps? Causing major spike in temps and throttling for a few seconds until the CPU stabilizes. Clear the BIOS if you haven't already. Not familiar with Intel OC, but my Ryzen OC sometimes do something stupid with the BIOS and require me to set optimized defaults.

If nothing else, it seems to me the CPU is the culprit, or otherwise its power delivery. What I still don't get is how you lost 150 fps in the first place (300 to 150).

I'm pretty happy with my temps as well! I try to maintain my PC in optimal shape by cleaning it regularly and always only install the stuff I really need.
I've received a old, but brand new PSU from a friend to give that a try. I'll have a look into it this weekend probably.

Somehow those weird fps drops only happen in CS:GO. The game is notorious for horrible performance and weird colaboration with high end PC's.
I'm really scared it has something to do with the game as well. Is there any way I can test my system stability some other way then playing games?
I've ran Prime95 which passed all tests.

 

[iPeekYou]

I'm pretty happy with my temps as well! I try to maintain my PC in optimal shape by cleaning it regularly and always only install the stuff I really need.
I've received a old, but brand new PSU from a friend to give that a try. I'll have a look into it this weekend probably.

Somehow those weird fps drops only happen in CS:GO. The game is notorious for horrible performance and weird colaboration with high end PC's.
I'm really scared it has something to do with the game as well. Is there any way I can test my system stability some other way then playing games?
I've ran Prime95 which passed all tests.

Fingers crossed man, personally I wouldn't blame the PSU just now (assuming other games run about the same before the fps drop in CSGO), but since it's a free diagnostic why not.

The game being the culprit is a new thing for me, I played CSGO but that was years ago, never had a strange issue like yours. Maybe a new update from either W10 or the game borked the performance somehow. That's why even with a clean install of everything you still face the same issue.

This sounds stupid, but have you tried using older Nvidia drivers? I've experienced slight issues with a recent stable release from Nvidia, and solved (somewhat) with the newest stable release. (FWIW, my display flickers when logging in, like a hiccup when the driver is loaded). No performance issues, though. Specific GPU is in my sig.

Testing in-game stability is only valid by running games, unfortunately. My last OC was stable under OCCT and Prime95 (10, 15, 30 mins, and then 6 hours) but crashed within minutes on AC:Odyssey. To be fair, that's a buggy game to begin with, but the point remains.

 

[roNic]

Fingers crossed man, personally I wouldn't blame the PSU just now (assuming other games run about the same before the fps drop in CSGO), but since it's a free diagnostic why not.

The game being the culprit is a new thing for me, I played CSGO but that was years ago, never had a strange issue like yours. Maybe a new update from either W10 or the game borked the performance somehow. That's why even with a clean install of everything you still face the same issue.

This sounds stupid, but have you tried using older Nvidia drivers? I've experienced slight issues with a recent stable release from Nvidia, and solved (somewhat) with the newest stable release. (FWIW, my display flickers when logging in, like a hiccup when the driver is loaded). No performance issues, though. Specific GPU is in my sig.

Testing in-game stability is only valid by running games, unfortunately. My last OC was stable under OCCT and Prime95 (10, 15, 30 mins, and then 6 hours) but crashed within minutes on AC:Odyssey. To be fair, that's a buggy game to begin with, but the point remains.

I haven't tried older Nvidia drivers yet. I can give that a shot for sure! good idea. Any recommendations on what version is really solid?
I do update my Nvidia driver asap when they release new drivers, so since the issue started, I did try 3 or 4 different drivers already, but obviously all brand new ones.

 

[iPeekYou]

I haven't tried older Nvidia drivers yet. I can give that a shot for sure! good idea. Any recommendations on what version is really solid?
I do update my Nvidia driver asap when they release new drivers, so since the issue started, I did try 3 or 4 different drivers already, but obviously all brand new ones.

I'm not sure actually, I didn't pay much attention to the release number but I believe I last updated mine last December...so whatever stable release at the time.
As always, driver compatibility is always hit or miss. Some system might be stable with one but others might have problems.
If I had to guess, you might want to try drivers from about a year after the release of 1080 Ti, and preferably before the launch of 1600 series. I figure that's the best shot for compatibility since Nvidia would be working their asses off polishing the new flagship and not concerned about adapting newer cards.

 

[roNic]

I've tried several older drivers now. I also tried the following today:

- Install W10 Pro on a different SSD and after completing the basic install, I only installed CS:GO. The result was the my FPS was even worse. Probably because of my config file and several tweaks I've done in the past.

- Tried a different PSU. Nothing changed.

I feel like in the past I never noticed when I dropped from 300 fps to 200 for example, but when I'm at 200 now it feels so horrible. It almost feels like I have sceentearing or play on 60hz again. I really feel like the issue is within the game... I also didn't have an extreme FPS drops anymore. Just the horrible feeling 200 fps on average.