Upgraded to GTX 1060 6gb, Games Are Choppier

[Luriden]

Hello,

I was once a heavy PC gamer, turned heavy console gamer, and on the fence about getting back into PC games. My system is decent, I can run nearly every newer game at ~45fps with ultra settings at least, and I love everything about PC gaming.

Except for when things happen like deciding to upgrade my 750ti to a 1060 6gb and suddenly all my games run worse.

My specs:

A prebuilt PC (yes, scoff at me), a Dell XPS 8500 with most of the same insides:

Dell 460W PSU
i5-3350P 3.10ghz CPU
8gb DDR3 RAM
7200rpm 3TB internal drive (fairly new)
latest Nvidia drivers

I play all my games in 1080p. It's a HTPC hooked up to a 60hz 1080p LCD TV with HDMI, so 60fps 1080p is good enough for me.

The 750ti performed well, but I spoiled myself with the 1060 6gb, thinking "Well, everything I have now at least will be guaranteed 60fps solid, and it'll futureproof me for a few years" but the only game I've tested that runs flawlessly is Skryim Remastered on Ultra (which is funny because I hear it's fairly resource heavy). Most of my other games either hit points where they run slowly, or they freeze for a few seconds, mostly when "something happens" like an explosion.

Saints Row 4 runs at 60fps now, but has random points where it freezes for several seconds, and I get frequent drops to 55fps. Sonic Racing Transformed runs smoothly, but the audio drops out randomly, which never happened on my 750ti. All Source games lock up for several seconds when clicking a menu button, but the games run smoothly (honestly I think my 750ti was the same way with the Source games though.) Even Just Cause 2 has moments where it will freeze and hang for a couple of seconds, then resume again at full speed, with mini FPS drops here and there. Super Mario Galaxy on the Dolphin emulator is pretty much unplayable due to the hangs when loading new areas, and that's on 1080p with AA and all other settings turned off.

I've tried downgrading the drivers. Tried running LatencyMon, which says I have a DPC of ~1500 when playing games, and recommends I disable CPU throttling, so I changed all of that in my power settings and set it to High Performance. Set the Nvidia settings in Control Panel to High Performance and disabled Vsync. Upgraded my BIOS and checked all my BIOS settings to make sure nothing is bottlenecked. I tried overclocking the GPU. Tried using DDU to do a clean uninstall of all previous video drivers. I think the only thing I haven't tried is reinstalling Windows, because that's a huge leap of faith just to see if it fixes it, when I'm sure it won't.

When I'm playing games, both my CPU and RAM loads hover around 60-65% usage but never seem to exceed 70%, with the CPU jumping down to about 30% when the game hangs.

I'm at a loss at this point. I have the card boxed up and ready to go back to Best Buy to return, along with my dreams. I posted on the Nvidia forums about it and got three responses:

- Dude, that card is crap, why did you buy it? Take it back.

- Your whole rig is garbage. Just junk it all and start from scratch (which I refuse to believe if I'm still able to run literally any game I throw at it with my 750ti at 40fps at the very least)

- Need more RAM and don't run your games from your OS hard drive (which, the RAM suggestion I can believe, except for the fact that all research I did before buying the card said 8GB DDR3 was sufficient, and things that ran fine with the 750ti don't anymore, unless the 1060 requires more RAM to just function and do things I used to do with minimal RAM)

Any suggestions would be welcome, and please be kind. The rude suggestion of the dude telling me to junk my trash system was kind of an example of why I went back to console gaming in the first place, I always seem to get to deal with PC snobs who shun me for playing CS:GO with a controller.

 

[deathcall666]

That's because most guys you got replies from are good for nothing .Only trolls
-gtx1060 is a great card and 6gb won't bottleneck its performance (as the 3gb might have done)
-CPU intel 3.1ghz might be a bottleneck , but it doesn't explain the freezing issues
-you do not need more than 8gb ram.
-HDD&Ram can be the issue , but since it worked fine till now we assume they are OK. It wouldn't be bad to check them for errors.
-the last part is PSU. You see one of the things when buying OEMS generally is that you that they are stuffing a lot of garbage in your case. And PSU are usually some no name Chinese cr@p. 750 ti is not a very demanding card , but 1060 well here things change , you need stable PSU.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sJh9TW/fsp-group-power-supply-aurums400w
These is a gold rated PSU , 400w (you don't need more for this setup) that has a 6+2pin rail @28ampers. It isn't meant for high OC.
Also another thing you could do is grab a 240-256gb(best GB/$ right now) for better fluidity.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gf98TW/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3240gmc

 

[deathcall666]

Also how can you play a shooter with a controller. Especially an MMO. I mean I played Gears of War on Xbox and I couldn't complain , but in a MMO I'd choose a mouse over a controller any time. Better aiming at things. Although I miss the side buttons functionality.

 

[Luriden]

Sorry for the late reply.

I thought about the PSU as a possibility. My research I've done shows my PSU is powerful enough to power the GPU, but it's hard to judge whether or not it's powerful enough for the GPU and everything else under strenuous games.

I'm likely going to take the card back for now anyway, and revisit the upgrade option in the future. I'm sure there's no way out of spending more money to have this functioning properly and I could use the extra cash at the moment instead of spending more. I held onto my 750ti and that's sufficient enough for now.

And I have my PC hooked up to my TV, and lounging in my recliner is just easier with a controller. I have a lapdesk thing for a mouse and keyboard that I break out occasionally, and I perform better at shooting games with it obviously, but I'll take the hit in accuracy if it means I get to lounge back with a controller after spending 10 hours at work in front of a mouse and keyboard already.

 

[deathcall666]

Sorry for late reply also.
Yes the PSU has enough power. Or does it. It may have 500-600-700w , but its meaningless if the 12V rail simply doesn't offer the amperage needed. Can you tell me what PSU you have or check it at this sites:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/
The card is great , taking it back will not solve your problem. To be certain about it , monitor the frequency of the card when you are gaming. Its very possible it will run underclocked (because it is constrained) and those freezing issues are most likely from the PSU simply reaching its max.

 

[deathcall666]

And yes I agree its way more comfortable to sit on the couch playing.

 

[Luriden]

Sorry for late reply also.
Yes the PSU has enough power. Or does it. It may have 500-600-700w , but its meaningless if the 12V rail simply doesn't offer the amperage needed. Can you tell me what PSU you have or check it at this sites:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/
The card is great , taking it back will not solve your problem. To be certain about it , monitor the frequency of the card when you are gaming. Its very possible it will run underclocked (because it is constrained) and those freezing issues are most likely from the PSU simply reaching its max.

I wish I had seen your post sooner. I chalked it up to "this card has latency issues" and exchanged it for an RX 480 8gb, which has higher power requirements, and the card is twice as bad as the 1060 was. Everything is practically unplayable. The nice thing about Best Buy's return policy is I can take this back too, but even their most expensive PSU is still Tier 4 according to that list. I'll have to order a PSU online when I have more money and cross my fingers and hope that'll be the fix.

 

[Luriden]

So. I thought I narrowed it down to the PSU. I picked up what I thought was the best one I could get at Best Buy, so I can at least easily return it if it's not the problem, without shipping it back with UPS and dealing with restocking fees online.

Got this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/thermaltake-smart-series-650w-bronze-power-supply-black/8733872.p?skuId=8733872

Same problems. To a T. Not even the slightest improvement. I know it's pretty low on the tiers, but at least it's more powerful, newer, and actually has an 8-pin connector without needing an adapter like my old one. But there's nothing different at all, so I get to make an ass of myself and go back to Best Buy's customer service to make another return and try something else. I did get my GTX 1060 back. I figured between that and the 480, I'd rather have the 1060 when all is fixed anyway.

LatencyMon is still giving me high DCP latency errors, all pointing at the Nvidia drivers. They were pointing at the Radeon drivers when I had that card installed.

 

[deathcall666]

Well you didn't wrong. That's a tier 4 PSU (and it costs 70$).
"Built down to a low price. Not exactly the most stable units ever created. Very basic safety circuitry or even thin gauge wiring used. Not for gaming rigs or overclocking systems of any kind. Avoid unless your budget dictates your choice."
This is a 42$ PSU in tier 2.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4Vzv6h/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii430b
Stick to the list , its made for a reason. The easiest way to know for sure is to borrow a psu one of your friends (that have a decent PSU ) for like half a day and see how it works.
If you have time reinstall drivers , windows if required and if it works its PSUs fault (-buy one in at least tier 2 , they are less expensive than what you bough for 70$ and for your needs) , if not I'll have to squeeze my headbasking what else could it be.