[SOLVED] Serious FPS Drops

[Tom Bombtongue]

I have a GTX 1080 with i7-7700 and while playing games, it sometimes chokes (like, stops at the current frame and continues 1 seconds thereafter) and sometimes the FPS drops heavily. I mean, today I was playing Dragon Quest XI, highest settings @1080p and the FPS would drop as low as 30 at times. I checked the web and it should actually be like 140-150 fps with my GPU. What could be the problem? I am not hardware-savvy so please tell me if I should include more information. Thanks!

 

[SierraArgo]

Before doing any major work, I would first check thermals to make sure you aren't throttling, and ensure that you have the latest drivers installed from NVIDIA.

 

[The_tech_guy]

What are your HDD and RAM models?
When I built my setup I went cheap on hdd and that came back and bit me in the butt. I believe this could be what you are experiencing.

 

[Tom Bombtongue]

Before doing any major work, I would first check thermals to make sure you aren't throttling, and ensure that you have the latest drivers installed from NVIDIA.

When the game runs, the CPU temp goes as high as 90-95 Celsius. Can this be the problem? Btw GPU temp is only 40-45. I do have the latest drivers.

What are your HDD and RAM models?
When I built my setup I went cheap on hdd and that came back and bit me in the butt. I believe this could be what you are experiencing.

I just bought a cheap 1TB HDD myself, too. How can I find HDD and RAM models? RAM is 2*8, again I don't know the model.

 

[The_tech_guy]

When the game runs, the CPU temp goes as high as 90-95 Celsius. Can this be the problem? Btw GPU temp is only 40-45. I do have the latest drivers.
I just bought a cheap 1TB HDD myself, too. How can I find HDD and RAM models? RAM is 2*8, again I don't know the model.

If your CPU is that hot that is the issue. It should be around 40-70C not 90. You are probably experiencing thermal throttling. What is your cooler?

 

[Ketchup79]

Have you had the CPU a while? May be time for a dusting.
What speed is it hitting under load? It is rated to hit 4.2 at turbo. It yours is higher, take it back to stock speed. If 4.2, take it down to 4.0 and see if it does better (assuming dusting doesn't help enough).

 

[Tom Bombtongue]

If your CPU is that hot that is the issue. It should be around 40-70C not 90. You are probably experiencing thermal throttling. What is your cooler?

I am using the stock cooler. Do you think I should swap it?

Have you had the CPU a while? May be time for a dusting.
What speed is it hitting under load? It is rated to hit 4.2 at turbo. It yours is higher, take it back to stock speed. If 4.2, take it down to 4.0 and see if it does better (assuming dusting doesn't help enough).

You mean overclocking? I don't think my CPU supports overclocking anyway.


Oh and an important thing I forgot to mention in the OP... When the PC is booting, it is stuck at the boot screen of the motherboard, for a good 3 or 4 minutes. What could be the cause and would it have to do with the FPS issue?

 

[Ketchup79]

Is possible but hard to say. What is on this screen? First thing to do would be is to take care of those temps. If the stock processor is clean and the fan is spinning, you may want to try replacing the thermal compound. I use arctic silver, but there are others out there.

 

[Tom Bombtongue]

On the first screen it shows the motherboard producer (Gigabyte) and waits there for like 3 or 4 minutes. The rest of the boot process has no problems. What could be the culprit? I doubt it can be the CPU because this all happens before the OS can even boot.

Also, should I replace the cooler or is it just overkill on a non-overclocking setup?

 

[Ketchup79]

Go into the BIOS and turn off the logo. That would be the best way to see what it is waiting on. While in the BIOS, before you save and exit, go ahead and see what your temps show there for the CPU, before the OS loads.

Also, as stated, your temps are too high. There is nothing inherently wrong with replacing the stock cooler, even if you are not overclocking, but you will at least want to re-install the stock cooler and re-apply the cooler with new thermal compound because your temps look way too high.

 

[Tom Bombtongue]

I have turned off the logo and now, instead of Gigabyte, it says American Megatrends.

When I try to run CPU-Z, while loading, it shows "Storage" for more than a few seconds. Can the HDD be faulty? Would it affect the FPS? And how do I make sure whether it is faulty or not? I read some articles but they didn't help my case.

 

[Tom Bombtongue]

Guys, can anyone help?

 

[Ketchup79]

With what? We have told you several times what you need to do here. If your are unable to reset/replace the cooler, take it to a repair shop.

 

[Tom Bombtongue]

OK I will clear the dust and order a thermal paste tomorrow. Hope it works.