Question Utilization and frequency drops during gaming

Sep 1, 2022
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Ryzen 5 2600
Asus Tuf X570 plus
16GB Crucial ballistix @3000mhz
Sapphire Radeon 5700XT
EVGA Supernova G2 850w psu
2x NVME M.2 drives
2x Sata SSD's
1x mechanical drive for media storage
Windows 10 64bit
LG 1440p monitor

Hey everyone, having some trouble figuring out a strange issue. During gaming, I'll get random hangups where the FPS will drop to single digits, then it will pop back up. Eventually, it'll reach a point where it will stay in the single digits and becomes unresponsive. During this time, the following will happen:

First, CPU frequency drops to about 6-800mhz, utilization is also very low
Then the GPU utilization drops to rock bottom, as does frequency and everything else
Occasionally, my Xbox controller will lose its sync with Bluetooth while this is happening
Nothing ever actually crashes and if I go back to the desktop, everything is responsive. It's almost like it forgets it's supposed to be running a game lol

I had issues with my last motherboard (ASRock X370 Professional gaming) stability wise, as well as some issues with the rear I/O (some USB ports were dead, etc.). I decided to replace the motherboard with an X570 Tuf gaming, both to maybe solve the issue and ready myself for a cpu upgrade. The issues have persisted.

I thought it may have also been an issue with one of my m.2 drives as it doesn't have a heat sink on it. But it never goes above 47° c. My CPU never goes above 56° c. The GPU never goes above 89° c junction temp. Temps in general seem good. ram usage only goes as high as 11 to 12 GB at most. GPU memory usage is just about maxed but I think that's normal depending on the game?

I swapped in a different GPU (1660ti) after wiping my existing GPU drivers. The issue actually got worse, it wouldn't go above single digits for any length of time, even when I lowered the resolution to 1080p. Anyway, I'd appreciate some direction on this so I know where to continue my diagnosis. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Last edited:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

EVGA Supernova G2 850w psu
How old is the PSU in your build?

I decided to replace the motherboard with an X570 Tuf gaming,
Did you reinstall the OS after the migration? BIOS version for your motherboard?

I swapped in a different GPU (1660ti) after wiping my existing GPU drivers.
using DDU?
 
Sep 1, 2022
6
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10
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

EVGA Supernova G2 850w psu
How old is the PSU in your build?

I decided to replace the motherboard with an X570 Tuf gaming,
Did you reinstall the OS after the migration? BIOS version for your motherboard?

I swapped in a different GPU (1660ti) after wiping my existing GPU drivers.
using DDU?
The PSU is quite old, maybe 8-9 years at this point. I didn't reinstall windows after the board install, not sure why I would have to afterwards? Never had issues with that before. I'll have to look at the bios version when I'm home but I believe it was the latest version when I referenced it last night. But I had the exact same issue with the old board just yesterday. And I used AMD's driver wiper tool.
 
Sep 1, 2022
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I started experiencing this issue well before I changed any sort of hardware on a fresh install, so maybe I'm just confused as to why this is. I'll definitely give it a shot though
 
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Sep 1, 2022
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Okay, I've reinstalled Windows. Installed all chipset drivers, graphics drivers, etc. Launched a game and now there are random stutters similar to before. Not quite hanging up yet. I looked up when I purchased my PSU, and it was June of 2014. Definitely could be the problem, it's seen overclocking on several different systems. Not sure why I didn't think of it before 😅
 
Sep 1, 2022
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I figured it out. Unfortunately at the cost of a new power supply (and motherboard) when it wasn't needed (though with how old my psu was, I'm not salty). Issues were still present.

IT WAS FREAKING BLUETOOTH. I had plugged my controller in since the wireless pack was dying, started going through and connecting each drive one by one. I had tested each drive's health before but was at a complete loss. Wasn't having any issues so far during testing. After charging the controller for a bit, I unplugged it, it went back to bluetooth, then bam. Utilization went to rock bottom and frames tanked. Controller started to lose it's sync and the game became unresponsive. 🤦‍♂️ Turns out the controller losing connection wasn't a symptom but the problem. I'd say there's a problem with windows' support for xbox one controllers via bluetooth. What in the actually eff though, why would it cause such extreme performance loss... I suppose this also explains why there were no actual system or game crashes.

Hopefully this helps someone out. What a mindbogglingly strange issue.
 

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