what are things that cause fps drops?

[dietrichdoh]

First off, id like to say i know the gpu and cpu can bottle neck. Also to keep your drivers up to date and have low temps. anything but besides that? I get fps drops in games (example overwatch) when my cpu is less than 40% used, my gpu is only using half its core clock(not locked, just not on full load), drivers are up to date, and my gpu and cpu temps are sub 60C and . what else could i try? I should be able to run these games easy with my specs.
Specs:
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor
Video Card: MSI r9 390x 8g
RAM: 8.1 GB
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 (build 10586), 64-bit
PSU: EVGA 850w
Some old cd drive
Hyper 212 evo cpu cooler
MOBO: Asus M5 A99FX PRO R2.0

 

[joex444]

Literally anything can cause it. If it's infrequent then it's probably related to loading files which means your disk that the game is on. If you don't have an SSD, which it sounds like is the case, it's a good idea to install one. Another possibility is RAM is being fully utilized so 16GB may help there too. Do note AMD CPUs don't get as much memory bandwidth as Intel CPUs, though the 8350 shouldn't be having trouble with this.

If your GPU is really running at half speed during the game then that's an obvious concern. They do underclock themselves in 2D / non-gaming, and say its only using half its core clock is different than saying utilization is 50%.

Lastly... what resolution and settings are you using and what games are you running? You shouldn't have trouble with most titles at 1080p, but beyond that I could see some issues.

 

[dietrichdoh]

Literally anything can cause it. If it's infrequent then it's probably related to loading files which means your disk that the game is on. If you don't have an SSD, which it sounds like is the case, it's a good idea to install one. Another possibility is RAM is being fully utilized so 16GB may help there too. Do note AMD CPUs don't get as much memory bandwidth as Intel CPUs, though the 8350 shouldn't be having trouble with this.

If your GPU is really running at half speed during the game then that's an obvious concern. They do underclock themselves in 2D / non-gaming, and say its only using half its core clock is different than saying utilization is 50%.

Lastly... what resolution and settings are you using and what games are you running? You shouldn't have trouble with most titles at 1080p, but beyond that I could see some issues.

The fps drops tend to happen when there is alot going on in the game, So do you still think its worth trying an ssd? when it does drop and i look at msi afterburner my core clock is around 614, and its set to run at 1080. Afterburner also says the gpu utilization is at 100% I am also running the game in 1080p on high settings(Lower than ultimate and epic) and yet i still get drops. my friend can run the game at these same settings with no drops and he only has a r9 280x 3gb. I have replaced the ram, and afterburner also says its only using 4010 memory usage.(out of 8000). any other suggestions? i really appreciate the help (this is all on overwatch by the way, not the hardest game to run)

 

[maxalge]

Literally anything can cause it. If it's infrequent then it's probably related to loading files which means your disk that the game is on. If you don't have an SSD, which it sounds like is the case, it's a good idea to install one. Another possibility is RAM is being fully utilized so 16GB may help there too. Do note AMD CPUs don't get as much memory bandwidth as Intel CPUs, though the 8350 shouldn't be having trouble with this.

If your GPU is really running at half speed during the game then that's an obvious concern. They do underclock themselves in 2D / non-gaming, and say its only using half its core clock is different than saying utilization is 50%.

Lastly... what resolution and settings are you using and what games are you running? You shouldn't have trouble with most titles at 1080p, but beyond that I could see some issues.

The fps drops tend to happen when there is alot going on in the game, So do you still think its worth trying an ssd? when it does drop and i look at msi afterburner my core clock is around 614, and its set to run at 1080. Afterburner also says the gpu utilization is at 100% I am also running the game in 1080p on high settings(Lower than ultimate and epic) and yet i still get drops. my friend can run the game at these same settings with no drops and he only has a r9 280x 3gb. I have replaced the ram, and afterburner also says its only using 4010 memory usage.(out of 8000). any other suggestions? i really appreciate the help (this is all on overwatch by the way, not the hardest game to run)

go into the bios and disable any kind of power savings features

cool n' quiet, everything

then go into windows and set to high performance under power options




you might never get rid of fps drops, just because online games don't do well with amd cpu's and their weak per core performance.


On top of the fact that most of them only use 1 - 2 cores which means you will never see 100% cpu usage

 

[TerryLaze]

On top of the fact that most of them only use 1 - 2 cores which means you will never see 100% cpu usage

^This!
Look at the running threads and notice the difference in usage between the one with the highest usage and the rest of them,game needs high IPC to run fast.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD6u2XclX14"][/video]