Question Trouble maintaining a consistent 144 FPS with a capable setup?

[GoobyFruit]

Primarily playing OW2 and haven't had this issue in the past.

GPU: RTX 3060 TI

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz

RAM: 24 GB

1920 x 1080


I’ve:

-Reinstalled drivers/updated them. Uninstalled in safe mode/Fresh installed from NVidia’s website

-Disabled all startup programs/Tried messing with turning certain services off temporarily that I suspected.

-Malware/Virus scans.

-Monitored CPU/GPU usage and they seem within normal ranges.

-Checking/Repairing Overwatch 2 files via Battlenet launcher

-My motherboard apparently doesn't allow me to enable XMP so I'm stuck at ~2400 MHz

Here’s a screenshot — that includes both GPU/CPU + a framerate graph that shows the fluctuation of me playing a match. For this particular match, I capped frames at 170 just to see how they’d fluctuate. This same thing happens at 144 FPS, albeit to a lesser extent. Instead of dropping from 170 to sub-130 like in the screenshot, I’ll MOSTLY maintain 144 but still get dips down to ~130-ish occasionally.
This is all on very modest/medium-low settings and a render scale of 75%, so I’m out of ideas for what the problem could be and would appreciate any help or insight.

 

[boju]

I don't play this game but searching around looks like rendering scale performs better at 150%? Try that. Also try an older Geforce driver by doing manual search and try several versions back.

24GB is made up of how many sticks? The whole lot wouldn't be running in dual channel and would have an impact on frame consistency.

 

[geofelt]

What may be different from when all was well?

Part of your problem may be mismatched ram sticks.

 

[GoobyFruit]

I don't play this game but searching around looks like rendering scale performs better at 150%? Try that. Also try an older Geforce driver by doing manual search and try several versions back.

24GB is made up of how many sticks? The whole lot wouldn't be running in dual channel and would have an impact on frame consistency.

I've tried 150% to no avail. Just makes my GPU run hotter and the game look a bit better, but frame problems still persist.

I also downgraded back to a driver from November-ish. I have recordings from back then where my FPS was perfect 144 FPS with no drops. Still no luck with the driver, though it might be be performing minimally better.

I have two RAM Sticks right now. The other commenter was right about mismatching RAMsticks—but I have a matching one that I plan on replacing with the non-matching one ASAP.

However, I had these same problems before switching RAM. In fact, it's one of the reasons I even upgraded my RAM.

 

[Zerk2012]

They had a new patch on May 14 that could of affected performance. During part of the match the low of 130FPS might be all your CPU can do.
Could also be overheating throttling.

 

[GoobyFruit]

Is a i5-11400 really so outdated that it would be performing that badly? I know Overwatch mostly uses CPU rather than GPU, but I was under the presumption that my setup is good enough to easily handle constant 144 FPS on medium-low settings w/ OW. My CPU is probably getting a little hotter than 'standard' because my case and cooling aren't the best, but even then, it doesn't seem like it's in the danger zone.

 

[geofelt]

Again, look to what you had when all was well.
If the problems started when you upgraded ram, that is likely your cause.

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.
Ram must be matched for proper operation.

To run at advertised speeds, the ram must come from a single matched kit.
What is the make/model of your motherboard?
Does the bios support ram settings?
If you need more than 16gb , buy a 2 x 16gb replacement ram kit assuming your mobo/cpu combo supports it.
Ram speed is not so important.

 

[GoobyFruit]

Okay, RAM has been updated. 2 x 16, same type/manufacturer. My motherboard doesn't support any settings in the BIOs to activate XMP, so I'm stuck at 2400 MHz regardless. The MOBO is an HP 8860

I haven't drastically changed anything AFAIK. Maybe a few lightweight programs that I can disable easily for testing purposes.

I've rolled back NVidia Drivers to around the date when things were good - I still had the same problems and any changes were incremental. I've done clean installs of the drivers via DDU/Safe Mode. I've monitored my CPU's cores and temp to assure that none of them are maxing out or getting too hot.

At this point I'm just trying to figure out whether or not this setup should be having these problems. That way I have something to work towards. I don't know why I'm barely able to get 200 FPS on relatively low in-game settings. Everything I've read says I should be getting much better performance but I'm not sure what else the problem might be

 

[kira-faye]

You're running bone stock RAM speed and timings, and I bet everything you're comparing to is running XMP with fairly fast kits. That board is starving the CPU.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

RAM has been updated. 2 x 16, same type/manufacturer

this can still lead to performance issues if these modules were not from the same packaged kit.

MOBO is an HP 8860

this could lead to multiple issues itself;
PCIe data speeds,
VRM overheating, etc...

i haven't seen any mention of your power supply here.
if this unit is also salvaged from wherever the motherboard came from it is likely not providing proper power for this GPU.

 

[GoobyFruit]

this can still lead to performance issues if these modules were not from the same packaged kit.

this could lead to multiple issues itself;
PCIe data speeds,
VRM overheating, etc...

i haven't seen any mention of your power supply here.
if this unit is also salvaged from wherever the motherboard came from it is likely not providing proper power for this GPU.

They're from the same kit. Sorry, no idea what you're referring to about VRM/PCIe speeds. I'm dumb with this stuff. I didn't even know the PSU could be a factor 🤦‍♂️ 🤦‍♂️. I'll check it out later when I have more time. Any other proactive steps I can take beyond a new MOBO/Case? (And the PSU.)

 

[Zerk2012]

The MOBO is an HP 8860

That can be a lot of the problem, locked BIOS to keep you from making changes, slow basic memory only, probably has the CPU power limited also.

This is from a HP post also going on right now his settings.
PL1= 65 watts (28 second limit.)
PL2= ONLY 2ms time limit.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-hp-throttling-my-cpu.3846109/#post-23273497

 

[35below0]

You're running bone stock RAM speed and timings, and I bet everything you're comparing to is running XMP with fairly fast kits. That board is starving the CPU.

This is the correct answer. The motherboard is limiting the CPU + RAM.

On paper your CPU/GPU/RAM/etc are good enough, but you're actually lucky to be getting 144fps at all.

 

[GoobyFruit]

Hi, I posted here back around June. I got some good responses but ran into a roadblock / got distracted by life and never followed up. I tried posting in the old thread, but I noticed that the two people who might've solved my issue haven't posted in a few months. So I'm making a new thread to see if anyone can follow-up with their thoughts.

Original thread: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...s-with-a-capable-setup.3845693/#post-23273549

The conclusion that they came to was that my motherboard is starving my CPU and other capable components. I guess my main question would be: Is this solely a motherboard issue? Would getting compatible RAM that the motherboard supports 3200mhz speeds for actually do anything for my problem? Or do I just straight-up need a new Motherboard? Because I don't really have the confidence to change one out already — and I don't have another case. MOBO is custom fit to mine.

Just trying to see if I'm screwed for now or if there is anything else I can do, minus replacing the MOBO.