Small FPS Drops Causing Mini Stutters.

BeadyRoller · 23 Jul 2018 at 14:13

Hi! I have had this problem in what seems forever and cannot seem to find a fix anywhere.

The problem I have is on most games I get these dips in FPS, lets say I'm getting 90fps and then I'll get a quick drop to 50fps which results in a small stutter/lag spike/hitch, whatever you want to call it. It lasts no more than a second but it really ruins the flow and immersion for me! I'd say it happens on average once every 2 minutes, although sometimes it can be worse and sometimes I might only get one in 10 minutes, it varies.

What I find odd is I used to get this exact same problem on my old system and since have had to upgrade as my motherboard packed in. I upgraded my CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Graphics Card, the only parts remaining from my old build were the Power Supply, HDD and SSD. I thought upgrading would have fixed the issue but it still remains and it's so frustrating.

I have tried installing games on the SSD to help but it doesn't help really, I get stutters on games whether they are installed on the SSD or HDD. I even bought a GSYNC monitor in hope it might help smooth everything out but still no luck.

I will say not all games have this problem though, Rainbow Six Siege and Fifa 18 for example run smooth.
Games that have had the issue are PUBG, GTA V, Bioshock Infinite, Fortnite, Dying Light, Arkham Origins, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, I'm sure there are others but as you can see, most games it happens.

I've watched multiple YouTube videos and guides but nothing works, can anyone here give me any insight to fixing this problem?

My Specs:

Ryzen 1700 with Stock Fan ran at Stock speed.
GTX 1080
16GB Corsair RAM at 3000mhz
GIGABYTE AB350 Gaming 3 Motherboard
250GB Samsung SSD
XFX 550W PSU
1TB Seagate HDD

Cheers guys.

BeadyRoller · 24 Jul 2018 at 13:14

Any ideas?

Webzta · 24 Jul 2018 at 13:21

Ran health checks on both HDDs? If so then perhaps it's your PSU?

Have you ran hwmonitor to check all temps ok, gfx not throttling etc?

BeadyRoller · 24 Jul 2018 at 14:23

What program is best to run health checks on HDDs?

I am thinking it must be something to do either with the PSU or the HDD/SSD because they are the only surviving parts from my old build and it's still occurring.

Moley · 24 Jul 2018 at 14:33

Two things spring to mind - CPU bottlenecking and graphics cards throttling due to excessive temperatures. Actually there's a third - crappy GFX drivers.
In my experience, intermittent stutters like this are really annoying, a pain to diagnose and usually down to the GFX card drivers or settings. Do you get the stutters if you drop the graphics quality? If you do that's often a driver issue, if you don't it's often a thermal throttle.

NOTE: I'm by no means an expert, these are just my opinions based on similar experience.

BeadyRoller · 24 Jul 2018 at 14:48

Top one is SSD, Bottom is HDD. Anything of note there?

BeadyRoller · 24 Jul 2018 at 14:50

Moley said:
Two things spring to mind - CPU bottlenecking and graphics cards throttling due to excessive temperatures. Actually there's a third - crappy GFX drivers.
In my experience, intermittent stutters like this are really annoying, a pain to diagnose and usually down to the GFX card drivers or settings. Do you get the stutters if you drop the graphics quality? If you do that's often a driver issue, if you don't it's often a thermal throttle.

NOTE: I'm by no means an expert, these are just my opinions based on similar experience.

I just can't see it being that though as I have a completely new system now apart from the HDD/SSD and Power Supply so that would have to be very unlucky no? I have had the issue on all drivers, I always make sure I'm on the newest one. I'm going to log some temps now and see if anyone can spot anything wrong.

BeadyRoller · 24 Jul 2018 at 15:07

Here is a 20 minute session on GTA online where I got loads of stutters. Anyone see anything of note?

Cheers.

Webzta · 24 Jul 2018 at 19:05

Nothing stands out to me - is this a clean windows install?

Windows 10? Game mode off etc?

Do you have access to another PSU to try?

BeadyRoller · 25 Jul 2018 at 10:44

I did a clean install of Windows 10 when I upgraded yes. Game Mode is switched off. I do have another one I can use but it's only a 500w one, would that be enough for my system?

BeadyRoller · 25 Jul 2018 at 10:44

Also, does it matter if it isn't plugged in to the main wall socket at all? Could that be a factor.

fastboy · 26 Jul 2018 at 11:23

try turning off superfetch/prefetch in windows.reboot and see if that helps.