[SOLVED] Slowdown/Low FPS but with great test numbers...

constar

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Feb 1, 2019
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Basic information:

System (CyberPower custom build) bought in March 2018
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950x
MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon
Twin AMD RX 580 graphics cards
Samsung 1TB SSD main drive
A total of 15 fans and a bunch of other high-end stuff

After months of gaming (typically three games -- WoW, OOTP20 Baseball and Madden, I suddenly have problems. On WoW, I went from having 100 FPS or more to suddenly 9-15 FPS even with the graphics settings dialed back to 5. It's acting like thermal throttling but test results say otherwise. I get about 5-10 minutes of gameplay at 100 FPS and then it quickly shuts down to 15 FPS or so and won't come back unless I cut the computer off and let everything settle down for a few hours.

Or, all I have to do is spend an hour or two surfing the internet, watching videos, etc., and it will do the same thing. Once the slowdown starts, it's not just the gaming FPS that slows down. The entire computer starts creeping. Web pages take too long to load. Sites with a lot of pictures don't populate correctly.

This problem happened once before, about a year ago, and at my wit's end I finally replaced one of the graphics cards and it fixed the problem. I'd rather not throw parts at the problem again unless I have a good idea of what to replace.

I ran a bunch of tests last night after the computer had crawled to a halt. Here's a sample...

  • All graphics drivers up to date
  • Windows up to date
  • Two FurMark tests passed with no errors
  • SpeedFan settings turned up to 65%, which kept graphics card temps down at around 40C
  • HWInfo tests showed no errors
  • CPUTdie: 68.1C, CPUTctl 95.0C
  • Average CPU temp: 68.0C (the night before, it was 76.8C)
  • Nothing overclocked that I can tell (although my skills are limited and I'm already suffering from a bit of information overload with all these monitoring programs)
  • AMD Ryzen Master in use, but all setting set to default
  • Regardless, I have made no changes manually to the system in a year and yet performance has nosedived.

I use this computer for work as well as gaming and it's starting to affect work (desktop publishing). Does anyone have any suggestions, or any questions I can answer by running specific tests? I am about to pull my hair out here.
 
Solution
We installed a Cooler Master CPU air cooler and that seemed to fix the problem. CPU temps are down in the low 50s with spikes into the low 60s when the graphics are taxed. The previous cooler was an Enermax liquid cooler that I have since read several complaints about regarding failures.

constar

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Feb 1, 2019
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make and model of the psu?
ram usage?
malware scan?

PSU is an EVGA 1000GQ. I specifically bought more than I needed when I built the computer but whether it's good or bad, like everything else, I'm not sure. Ask me for some numbers and I'll try to run them for you.

Did an onboard RAM check overnight that found no errors. In real time with WoW running, max RAM usage is holding flat at around 12-20%. Same for CPU usage.

Malware scan (Malwarebytes) and virus scan (AVG) both produced clean bills of health.

The one thing I found weird, running a resources check, was that my graphics card that is in use for WoW (WoW does not use both cards) was spiking at 100% usage every 10-20 seconds or so. Then it would drop back into the 30s, then spike again. I couldn't discern any direct correlation to lag or low FPS in the game during the spikes, though.
 

constar

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Feb 1, 2019
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Also, updating my update...

Slowdowns are now happening much faster than before. I don't even have to get into a game. Web browsers will cause a general slowdown after about 3-5 minutes.
 

constar

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Feb 1, 2019
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Also the situation has worsened. The computer has shut itself off several times now and seems to be getting unstable. I haven't even had time to run an event report or a temp monitoring program before it shut off. I have decided to not chance it again until someone has a chance to look at it, for fear of damaging the two hard drives and losing their data. Something is either spiking temp-wise and tripping a failsafe or I have a voltage/short issue. But i can't get the system running long enough to know.
 

constar

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Feb 1, 2019
12
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510
Now we have a dead computer.

Reading 106c at the CPU with a six-fan Enermax liquid cooler. Took that off and put a huge fan on the CPU instead and temps reached 114. In both cases, computer shut off after 2-3 min.

Given its been a slow decline and now it's basically a brick, I'm thinking bad CPU or motherboard. Opinions?
 

constar

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Feb 1, 2019
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Not yet but we haven't installed the water cooler again, either. We had it open to the air for the second test with as much air blowing on it as possible.

I would find it hard to believe I'd have to coat the CPU with the grease to keep it stable for 2 minutes running no programs and idling at the desktop, but I guess i could be wrong about that.

I mean, it went from ambient to 114 in 2 minutes while idle, with the case open and fans directly aimed at it. That just strikes me as weird .
 

constar

Prominent
Feb 1, 2019
12
0
510
We installed a Cooler Master CPU air cooler and that seemed to fix the problem. CPU temps are down in the low 50s with spikes into the low 60s when the graphics are taxed. The previous cooler was an Enermax liquid cooler that I have since read several complaints about regarding failures.
 
Solution