Random Frame Drops While Playing ANY GAME

[TheZeroageTM]

At first I thought this was a streaming issue, but then i realized that no matter what game Im playing, the frame rate always drops from well over 80fps to about 7-20fps then slowly climbs back up to a higher frame rate, just to do it again about 30 seconds later. This happens when Im just playing a game, and it happens even more when im streaming. I have all drivers updated, and I have all of my cores unparked.

Specs:
Amd FX 8350 Black Edition
GTX 750 SuperClocked 2GB Edition
6GB DDR3 Ram
400W PSU
1.5TB WD Caviar Green
ASRock 960gm/us3s

AVG CPU Temps: 16C - 28C

 

[dansgas1000]

Check your GPU temps using MSI Afterburner or GPU-Z, check the Idle and Load temp

You could try resetting default settings in the BIOS.

 

[damric]

Time to clean out the dust.

 

[TheZeroageTM]

Check your GPU temps using MSI Afterburner or GPU-Z, check the Idle and Load temp

You could try resetting default settings in the BIOS.

In CPUID HWMonitor it tells me that my gpu temps is:

value- 29C
Min- 29C
Max - 30C

 

[TheZeroageTM]

Time to clean out the dust.

Nope. Just got done building this pc 3 weeks ago. I took it apart yesterday to reinstall a fan. No dust to be found.

 

[damric]

Try this while running a stability test so we can see if you are throttling due to overheating.

It's also possible that your FX-8350 is overloading the VRMs on that board, causing throttling.

 

[JackST]

I had an issue like this a few days ago and kept task manager and a gpu monitoring program open while I was playing a game (FIFA) and I noticed that my CPU (Core i5 3570k) was jumping to 90% and staying there for a few seconds then going back to about 40%.

On windows 8, task manager very kindly shows how much percentage of your processor a program is using!
For me it was AVG running antivirus scans on "High importance" , I just turned it off and I was back to constant 60FPS again.

Hope this helps

 

[TheZeroageTM]

Try this while running a stability test so we can see if you are throttling due to overheating.

It's also possible that your FX-8350 is overloading the VRMs on that board, causing throttling.

Yeah, the programs say the same temp as CPUID did.

 

[TheZeroageTM]

I had an issue like this a few days ago and kept task manager and a gpu monitoring program open while I was playing a game (FIFA) and I noticed that my CPU (Core i5 3570k) was jumping to 90% and staying there for a few seconds then going back to about 40%.

On windows 8, task manager very kindly shows how much percentage of your processor a program is using!
For me it was AVG running antivirus scans on "High importance" , I just turned it off and I was back to constant 60FPS again.

Hope this helps

I wish it was that easy... but i have no programs causing that.

 

[TheZeroageTM]

I dont think its a gpu issue, as when im streaming the random stuttering even made my music stutter. SO it's probably a cpu issue.

 

[damric]

Try this while running a stability test so we can see if you are throttling due to overheating.

It's also possible that your FX-8350 is overloading the VRMs on that board, causing throttling.

Yeah, the programs say the same temp as CPUID did.

Really? Because CPUID does not output "Thermal Margin"

 

[TheZeroageTM]

Try this while running a stability test so we can see if you are throttling due to overheating.

It's also possible that your FX-8350 is overloading the VRMs on that board, causing throttling.

Yeah, the programs say the same temp as CPUID did.

Really? Because CPUID does not output "Thermal Margin"

Oh Ok i dont think you wanted me to list the thermal margin. Well while idle, the thermal margin is about 41-50C and when playing a game such as bf4 it goes down to 28-30C

 

[damric]

Try this while running a stability test so we can see if you are throttling due to overheating.

It's also possible that your FX-8350 is overloading the VRMs on that board, causing throttling.

Yeah, the programs say the same temp as CPUID did.

Really? Because CPUID does not output "Thermal Margin"

Oh Ok i dont think you wanted me to list the thermal margin. Well while idle, the thermal margin is about 41-50C and when playing a game such as bf4 it goes down to 28-30C

Then it's not overheating.

 

[Powerbolt]

That's a cheap motherboard you've got there. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what has been holding you back, even though it officially supports the FX 8350. Have you tried updating your BIOS as well? Looking at the ASRock page for your specific motherboard, it looks like it doesn't officially support the FX 83XX chips until BIOS version P1.20.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/960GMU3S3%20FX/?cat=CPU

I also find it odd that you've got 6GB of RAM, even though they come in pairs (two sticks) of either 1, 2, 4, or 8GB. Do you have a 3x 2GB RAM sticks? If so, how different are they in terms of manufacturer and speed?

 

[damric]

Certainly that 400W PSU is starving that FX-8350.

 

[TheZeroageTM]

Certainly that 400W PSU is starving that FX-8350.

I thought that might be the issue, until I tried it with my brothers 500w Corsair psu, and its the same deal while playing games and streaming. :/

 

[TheZeroageTM]

That's a cheap motherboard you've got there. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what has been holding you back, even though it officially supports the FX 8350.

I also find it odd that you've got 6GB of RAM, even though they come in pairs (two sticks) of either 1, 2, 4, or 8GB. Do you have a 3x 2GB RAM sticks? If so, how different are they in terms of manufacturer and speed?

2GB of Samsung Ram, and 4GB of G.SKill ram. I tried it with just the G.skill ram though. I tried like everything, and nothing works. :/

 

[TheZeroageTM]

Is it bad if my thermal margin shrinks during load?

 

[Powerbolt]

That's a cheap motherboard you've got there. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what has been holding you back, even though it officially supports the FX 8350.

I also find it odd that you've got 6GB of RAM, even though they come in pairs (two sticks) of either 1, 2, 4, or 8GB. Do you have a 3x 2GB RAM sticks? If so, how different are they in terms of manufacturer and speed?

2GB of Samsung Ram, and 4GB of G.SKill ram. I tried it with just the G.skill ram though. I tried like everything, and nothing works. :/

How about updating the BIOS?

 

[TheZeroageTM]

That's a cheap motherboard you've got there. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what has been holding you back, even though it officially supports the FX 8350.

I also find it odd that you've got 6GB of RAM, even though they come in pairs (two sticks) of either 1, 2, 4, or 8GB. Do you have a 3x 2GB RAM sticks? If so, how different are they in terms of manufacturer and speed?

2GB of Samsung Ram, and 4GB of G.SKill ram. I tried it with just the G.skill ram though. I tried like everything, and nothing works. :/

How about updating the BIOS?

That's definitely something i need to get around to doing, but does the version of the bios effect the performance i get during playing games?

 

[Powerbolt]

How about updating the BIOS?

That's definitely something i need to get around to doing, but does the version of the bios effect the performance i get during playing games?

Well if you're running an ancient version of the BIOS that doesn't know how to handle the speed of a top of the line FX chip, it could resolve your stuttering issue. In any case, it certainly won't hurt your FPS in any shape or form. You've essentially got nowhere to go but up.

 

[TheZeroageTM]

How about updating the BIOS?

That's definitely something i need to get around to doing, but does the version of the bios effect the performance i get during playing games?

Well if you're running an ancient version of the BIOS that doesn't know how to handle the speed of a top of the line FX chip, it could resolve your stuttering issue. In any case, it certainly won't hurt your FPS in any shape or form. You've essentially got nowhere to go but up.

Here. Maybe this can give you guys some clues. This is all 8 processors on idle. Fans are running pretty high too like something vigorous is going on.

 

[dansgas1000]

Certainly that 400W PSU is starving that FX-8350.

As long as it's a quality PSU 400W can easily handle a GTX 750 SC and an AMD FX 8350.

 

[damric]

Is it bad if my thermal margin shrinks during load?

It should shrink some, but if it is getting close to zero then it will be throttling and causing poor peerformance.

 

[periman2]

The most commmon fix for that exact problem is using an antumalware software... You probably have a malware somewhere in your computer which uses the cpu power needed for your game to run at max performance from time to time. For me this https://www.malwarebytes.org/ took care of the problem when I had it. It's free and you can remove it after you're done. Hope this helps.