Sudden drop in PC performance.

[ArashitheCat]

So Just about two weeks ago, I was running a computer with the following specs:

Spoiler

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 3
Processor: Intel Core i5-4690k CPU @ 3.50GHz (4 CPUs)
RAM: 8GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX970 3.6GB
Monitor: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
PSU: Corsair 750W

My games would run smoothly at a solid 60fps+ although games like Doom 2016 had to run with VSync. Any other game had no problems running 60 fps or higher with VSync disabled, and I would never encouter any FPS drops below 59 fps whilst plaing them. The day before Christmas, I had made no changes to my system or my hardware at all, but my games had all of a sudden begun to run at between 30 fps and below, occasionally going up to 60 for a few seconds at best. This happened in any game regardless of how graphically demanding they were, and would even be happening on the lowest settings of games with heavily outdated graphics. I brushed this off and the next day, on Christmas, I recieved a 1TB SSHD and replaced my old 500GB HDD after transfering some stuff over and installing a fresh copy of Windows 7. I can only say that the problem has stayed the same. I noticed that my Desktop appears to run on 3GB when my PC is first logged in and stays that way, I constantly have to disable Windows Update and Superfetch in my services to bring it down to 1GB like it used to be, yet disabling these services doesn't seem to even slightly change the fps of my games. I will also note that when I run video games, my CPU fan spins really fast and loudly, which it never used to do before.

 

[herrwizo]

From the symptoms you described, the most likely cause is CPU overheating. Clean the CPU cooler from dust. If needed, replace thermal paste. If you are using stock cooler with that K series CPU, consider getting a better air cooler, stock simply cannot keep up, sometimes even without overclocking if airflow within the case is not OK.

Monitor your in-game temps and report the results - if you are getting in excess of 90C for the CPU temps, it is overheating and needs to be reduced to stay below 80 at all times if possible.

 

[ArashitheCat]

From the symptoms you described, the most likely cause is CPU overheating. Clean the CPU cooler from dust. If needed, replace thermal paste. If you are using stock cooler with that K series CPU, consider getting a better air cooler, stock simply cannot keep up, sometimes even without overclocking if airflow within the case is not OK.

Monitor your in-game temps and report the results - if you are getting in excess of 90C for the CPU temps, it is overheating and needs to be reduced to stay below 80 at all times if possible.

After running one of my least demanding games, I noticed that my CPU would run at around 90-100C, I'll look into changing from the stock CPU fan and getting a fresh load of thermal paste. Thank you for the suggestions.

 

[herrwizo]

No problem, keep us posted!

 

[ArashitheCat]

No problem, keep us posted!

So I ended up ordering a Corsair H80i Liquid Cooler and a Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition Case. I launched the same game as I launched to test the core temperatures last time and the cores were running at 30C. This includes a load of mods installed on the game. This completely annihilated all FPS lag from the game. When I first launched the game after rebuilding my PC, there were one or two noticeable drops in FPS, after that the FPS was extremely stable and the CPU temperature was pretty consistant, running between 20-37C. Honestly, thank you so much! All the FPS lag had started getting to me, and no matter how much money I spent on new parts I couldn't solve it, and you helped me clear the problem up pretty quickly, so thanks!

 

[herrwizo]

No problem at all, I am always glad to help!