Win10 or Nvidia update killed overall PC performance

[control101]

I am stumped to what caused my huge fps loss for all games and even software (such as Sketchup and Photoshop)

I had done a low-lovel wipe on the free space of my hdd. Everything continued to work well, I was getting normal performance.
Then I noticed an Nvidia driver waiting to download - ok - but it failed when i tried to install it. Figured it was pending Windows updates stopping it I restarted and first hung on the spinning dots (though the OS was loaded in the background as I could access it via TeamViewer - it just wouldn't load the display from the gfx past that part)

I finally got it to complete the latest updates and pass the spinning dots by disconnecting all my USB devices are restarting - I believe the update was May 9th KB4016871? Logged in and installed the latest Nvidia drivers (382.05) and then noticed my fps went from 60+ in any game down to less than 10, even in the main menus and also other "graphic" or physics software. I couldn't do a restore/recovery as for some reason there were no backups even though the system should always have at least one that can't be removed (it is turned on).

I used a driver cleaner and even reinstalled the last driver I had (clean), reinstalled Battlefield 4 to test if it needed a clean config, set everything to low low low, even at a minimum res and still <10 fps (it goes up when I look up at the sky in game). I can even see the waves in the cpu and gpu and the mouse responsiveness is null using the games perfoverlay command. It's like they're bottlenecking each other - I used to have a Q6600 and BF4 was too much for it so I decided to upgrade to the i5 and it made a huge difference in the fps. I usually have such games set to max res (1920x1080), with settings at low for unimportant things like shadows, med. for textures and high for distance objects, AA and keeping it crisp. Worked great before then flop.

Windows 10 64-bit
Asrock H97 Anniv., mobo.
i5 4460 @ 3.2GHz
16GB DDR3 (1600MHz)
2GB eVGA GTX 560 (I know I need to upgrade but it holds up for the games I play)
1TB WD HDD (7200rpm)

I am suspicious that my gfx card might be pooched but also that it's the OS. I'll try removing this KB update and see what happens.
*Edit* Uninstalling the recent Windows updates did not help any.

 

[Carnaxus]

Sounds like that goofed up nVidia driver install is biting back hard. Run DDU to remove all previous driver information, and then reinstall only the latest driver. If that doesn't fix it, we'll try some other stuff, but I'm willing to bet that'll fix it immediately.

 

[control101]

Sadly it didn't work, I had used DDU first. I have now gone as far as resetting Windows (keeping my personal files) and reinstalling everything else from drivers to games. No change in performance. Running some stress tests shows the GPU is only hitting 5-7 fps at low res rates. CPU tests show everything is a pass and optimal.

It looks like this card may have been cooked - it is 6 years old (mfr. 2011, I purchased 2012). Just bad timing right now since one of our phones was bricked by a remote reset and I had to cough up $400 for a new one (I got the one I really wanted in the first place but still, lol) I can deal with not having games for a while but not being able to do CAD and graphics? That's a bummer.

 

[Carnaxus]

...Oh. Blarg.

Which games are you playing?

I found a GTX 780 that's currently only $199.99 at Newegg; all the other offerings are $600+ (which is insane considering that the 780 is now two generations old!).

 

[control101]

I play everything from Minecraft to Battlefield 1.

I will probably break down and toss $200 at a new one, I can find a 4GB 1050 Ti (128) for about the same price, or a 3GB 1060 (192) for another $60. I don't go for "top-level" stuff - as long as my gaming is smooth and looks good.
Summer has finally arrived where I am so I don't think I'll be rushing out on it. I'll sell some old crap to replace it. This past week though, its like one big crap fest in my life, one thing after another lol.
When I get it swapped I'll report back in with an update.

 

[Carnaxus]

I know the crapfest feeling, trust me. Snag that new card and have fun (we hope)!

 

[control101]

Rainy day, decided to play around more with it. Noticed that the voltage and load is not increasing on the GPU at all when under stress. I'm hoping that its my GPU that I've blown over it being my PSU not delivering the voltage any more (if only I could find my multimeter). It's a good 650W Corsair supply and the GPU really needs updated.

Here's a before (no load) and after (stress test) - as you can see I've cranked both clocks to the max and also the voltage is at its safe limit. This should have caused the system to fault and restart. Before all this happened I was seeing more and more black square artifacts while gaming and when hit with a flashbang in BF4 the whole screen would flash blue (a fraction of a second). So I have likely cooked this card and blown the vrm on it. Strange that it can still operate playing HD video.

Correction: Each image shows while under the stress test - displaying the max clocks and no change in load or voltage.

 

[control101]

It's been a while since I played around with this but after messing with so many things it came down to the latest Nvidia drivers. I hadn't updated for many months before starting this thread so I can't pick which version this started in (378 I believe as I was still using 372 beforehand).
I rolled back the drivers and everything was normal but of course this prevented me from playing some EA games like BF1.

3-4 months later, I've decided to give 384's a try and it's the same result. These drivers just don't like my GTX 560 - something is locking it into a low power/performance mode and there is no way to force it.

 

[Carnaxus]

With that bit of info, it could be that the new drivers don't support your 560 anymore. Try rolling it back to whatever 372 version you were using.