Stuttering & FPS Drops while gaming despite beefy PC specs

[doipyyy]

Before I even get into my problem I would like to first of all state my computer's specs:

Motherboard: ASRock z87 Extreme4
CPU: I7 4790 4th gen Haswell @ 3.6ghz
GPU: ASUS STRIX R9 390 Overclocked edition
Ram: 2x DDR3 8GBs 2133mhz Corsair Vengeance
Power Supply: 850W Rosewell Power Supply

Over the past six months I have had this constant problem with stuttering and fps drops in nearly every single aspect of my computer. These are most notable when gaming but still manage to shine through even when doing simple web browsing and video viewing, whether that be on Youtube or downloaded video files.

What I mean by Stuttering is that the images on screen, especially when gaming or video viewing, seem skiddish, they seem as if someone slowed down video footage that wasn't meant to be slowed down, much like the slow-mo scenes in the fist Lord of the Rings Movies. This usually happens in spurts or is a one second phenomenon but reoccurs constantly. Games and videos also hiccup, sometimes stopping (meaning the game or video gets stuck on one frame) for what seems like a full second and then they resume.

It is to be noted that stuttering even happens on a game as little demanding as Minecraft or Bully Scholarship edition. I have ran both of those games and they exhibit all of the symptoms mentioned, which absolutely should not be happening with my specs.

I downloaded Fraps just to follow my fps in various games, to help me diagnose, and it is evident that when these stutters and hiccups occur, the fps indeed seems to drop, sometimes by only a few frames per second, others by tens.

Things I have tried so far:
I have literally replaced every single part in my computer over the past 6 months except for my CPU and GPU. However, I sent out the GPU to ASUS after suspecting it might be the cause of my troubles, the test results proved the card was running extremely well, no problems found.
Reinstall Graphics Drivers
Reinstall motherboard Drivers and utilities
Updating all drivers (even network and audio drivers)
Numerous Virus Scans on both of my internal hard drives.
Disk Defragment of both hard drives
Reseated Ram
Reseated CPU
Reinstalled windows on main hard drive
Installed new CPU cooler (212 Evo Coolmaster)
Checked Temps, even under a heavy load, temps are very stable and cool.

At this point, I'm honestly at a dead end and am seriously considering throwing this machine out the window. If anyone has any possible solutions to this problem, please comment it below, anything that you think might help would be extremely appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Aeacus]

Might be a long-shot but 3 things to try.

1. Take out your GPU, connect your monitor to the MoBo and look if you still get stutter, even when using CPU's onboard graphics (Intel HD 4600).

2. If you still get stutters then your CPU might be dying.
Though, there's one thing to try with CPU. Here you need to underclock your CPU to see if your CPU works better by running slightly slower. Sometimes, underclocking does help when component is at it's end of life.
I take that your CPU is non-K version with locked multiplier, right? If so, only thing you can do to underclock your CPU is by lowering BCLK (baseclock) timings. That can be done from the BIOS on your Z-series MoBo.

3. If you don't get stutters with onboard graphics then your GPU might be dying.
Here, i have same suggestion as with CPU. Try to underclock your factory overclocked GPU. With GPU underclocking, things are easier and best program to use would be MSI Afterburner.
link: https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner

Just be careful when underclocking components. E.g don't lower the values by huge amount.

 

[doipyyy]

Might be a long-shot but 3 things to try.

1. Take out your GPU, connect your monitor to the MoBo and look if you still get stutter, even when using CPU's onboard graphics (Intel HD 4600).

2. If you still get stutters then your CPU might be dying.
Though, there's one thing to try with CPU. Here you need to underclock your CPU to see if your CPU works better by running slightly slower. Sometimes, underclocking does help when component is at it's end of life.
I take that your CPU is non-K version with locked multiplier, right? If so, only thing you can do to underclock your CPU is by lowering BCLK (baseclock) timings. That can be done from the BIOS on your Z-series MoBo.

3. If you don't get stutters with onboard graphics then your GPU might be dying.
Here, i have same suggestion as with CPU. Try to underclock your factory overclocked GPU. With GPU underclocking, things are easier and best program to use would be MSI Afterburner.
link: https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner

Just be careful when underclocking components. E.g don't lower the values by huge amount.

Omg Thank you so much Aecus! You have no idea how ecstatic I am right now! I disabled the turbo feature on my CPU after reading your message and slightly lowered the baseclock and the cpu is running better than ever! Thank you so much man!

 

[Aeacus]

You're welcome.

Now you know that your CPU is at it's life end. How much time you'll get out from it due to the underclocking, that i don't know. You might get few weeks or months out of your CPU before stutter begins again. Then you can further underclock your CPU but there is only so much where you can underclock your CPU. Eventually, CPU chip dies completely and your PC won't start at all.

I suggest you start saving money for new CPU. For a new CPU, i suggest K-series i7-4790K that you can overclock with your Z-series MoBo.
pcpp for i7-4790K (so you can learn it's price): http://pcpartpicker.com/product/WMJwrH/intel-cpu-cm8064601710501