[SOLVED] Recently changed PC parts, now getting random lag spikes?

Jan 12, 2023
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Hey all, I have been getting the occasional random lag spike that affects everything on my PC including the audio (starts sounding super glitchy) that lasts about ~3 seconds. Can't figure out what is causing it for the life of me
For reference, I do not play anything in 4K or overclock anything. I don't know how, and I do not plan on learning lol. I have Windows 10.
I play Final Fantasy XIV on my HD G-Sync Monitor. My main monitor is a 2K BenQ specifically for designers. I use Adobe CC and occasionally apps like Figma. Have not used any of my 3D programs in a very long time, so nothing intensive going on in terms of apps outside of games. However, this means I have my fair share of background processes running since they need to be connected to servers constantly to update or whatever. I usually have Chrome and Discord on in the bg as well.
During the past Black Friday I switched out some pc parts, but not the GPU as I was waiting for a price drop. Here's how my build went in November (bolded text is what I have now/kept:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 --> AMD Ryzen 5 5600
Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI --> ASRock B550M Pro4
G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Inland Premium 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME SSD
EVGA SC ULTRA GAMING GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB Video Card

EVGA 450 BR 450 W 80+ Bronze --> Corsair RM750 750 W 80+ Gold
Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Also added, for my new board--> Intel AX200 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax M.2 Wi-Fi Adapter

My old system ran totally fine, but after switching the parts, I started getting the occasional random lag spikes. I thought it only happened while I was playing a game, but then I got a spike while watching Netflix.
After conferring with Reddit, someone told me it's quite likely that my GPU is bottlenecking my other parts that are now way stronger. Made sense to me!

This week I was lucky enough to get a really great price on a white GPU for my white build. Here is my entire build as of today:

AMD Ryzen 5 5600
ASRock B550M Pro4
G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Inland Premium 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME SSD
Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card

Corsair RM750 750 W 80+ Gold
Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Intel AX200 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax M.2 Wi-Fi Adapter


As my luck would have it, my random lag spikes have not stopped with the new GPU :(
So far I have done a memory diagnosis on my RAM which came back with no faults, disabling most bg processes, a clean boot, and updating all my drivers. I have no idea what to do here! And the spikes are so random-- sometimes it could be just 10 minutes after turning on my pc and watching youtube, and sometimes it's been an hour or two and I'm in the middle of a raid. Please help!
 
Solution
Well, don't worry about Bottlenecks, you have a 3060 and a 5600.

It is not that. I would start to think about a bottleneck with a 6900XT. Even there, the 5600 is a capable CPU.

No, I suspect just windows doing its thing after a couple of years of install. I would just fresh install and see what it does.

The way you are describing it, it seems to be your video drivers, but some GPUs that are not perfect could produce similar issues. My RX 560 is doing a similar pattern. It spikes just by browsing at 2160p. I had to fresh install for really seeing a difference.

So it is either software related, or it is your new GPU hardware.

I would also add, now that I think about it, that I have the same motherboard model. It is a piece of garbage...
Well, don't worry about Bottlenecks, you have a 3060 and a 5600.

It is not that. I would start to think about a bottleneck with a 6900XT. Even there, the 5600 is a capable CPU.

No, I suspect just windows doing its thing after a couple of years of install. I would just fresh install and see what it does.

The way you are describing it, it seems to be your video drivers, but some GPUs that are not perfect could produce similar issues. My RX 560 is doing a similar pattern. It spikes just by browsing at 2160p. I had to fresh install for really seeing a difference.

So it is either software related, or it is your new GPU hardware.

I would also add, now that I think about it, that I have the same motherboard model. It is a piece of garbage and it might also be the root cause since I am having a similar pattern. I use the motherboard in my NAS, so I really don't care much, but I would not endure the behavior on my main system.

So... what you should do in that order...

  1. Fresh Install (see if this is not software)
  2. Test your GPU into another computer (see if it is not the GPU)
  3. If it is not your GPU, buy another motherboard (get an MSI B550 Tomahawk)
 
Solution
Jan 12, 2023
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Thanks so much for your quick response-- I only got around to doing a fresh install yesterday (after a 24hr backup lol) and have been running games and such on my pc since then to see if anything happens.
My lag spikes seem to have stopped, so it may have been a software problem after all! However, if they come back in the future, I'm betting it'll be because of the motherboard... and in that case, I will update this thread for anyone else having the same problem.
Thank you so much again!