Games a little laggy occasionally

[kg648]

Hi all,

I don't play games that often due to time however, I'm running an OCUK build from a year or so ago, all my drivers are updated including graphics and all windows updates.

My issue is that games appear a little laggy every now and again, maybe every 30 seconds or so it goes from fluid to a little slow for a split second which is really frustrating me. I've tried using the "optimized" options using the NVIDIA app for games, I've also tried the games suggested settings too.

I'm running Win 11, I've tried a new install as it's been a while since I've used my PC. I'm a little out of ideas and I'd appreciate any help, is it I need to upgrade something already? I'm running games at 3840x2160 which I assume is 4k.

I should add I'm trying to play the new Mafia - Old Country and COD Black Ops and MW, Battlefield - all have similar experiences.

I've got the following specs:

RTX 4070
I7-11700K
32GB memory
870 Evo's

Any help would be fantastic.

Cheers!

 

[Kelt]

Are you running any monitoring s/w to highlight any slowdowns?

I run a mix of Afterburner and HWINFO myself.

 

[kg648]

Are you running any monitoring s/w to highlight any slowdowns?

I run a mix of Afterburner and HWINFO myself.

I didn’t know they existed. Thank you I’ll go and check them out now.

 

[Tetras]

I'm a little out of ideas and I'd appreciate any help, is it I need to upgrade something already? I'm running games at 3840x2160 which I assume is 4k.

It depends on the game/settings and if you're using upscaling (DLSS), but the 4070 was not really intended for 4K in AAA games. It CAN do it (would be fine in older games, for example), but you do risk choppy gameplay.

Are the slow downs happening randomly, or in particular scenes/places?

What is the FPS like generally?

870 Evo

When did you buy this?

 

[kg648]

It depends on the game/settings and if you're using upscaling (DLSS), but the 4070 was not really intended for 4K in AAA games. It CAN do it (would be fine in older games, for example), but you do risk choppy gameplay.

Are the slow downs happening randomly, or in particular scenes/places?

What is the FPS like generally?


When did you buy this?

Thanks for that, I actually didn’t know. The intention of this build was to play games such as these. I’m “happy” to change, what card would you suggest?

I’ve tried with DLSS which does work “better” it fixes 90% of the choppiness but still seeing some slowness for example during cutscenes etc and going to new areas, however it’s a little funky such as detail in the distance just “appears” rather than slowly creeps into vision and faces look very grainy unnaturally when moving around close.

I’m terms of the evo it was mid 2023, is there something “funky” about these?it’s random in higher fps scenes and if for example I move the mouse faster, it’s not as smooth as I feel it should be.

I’ll check on the fps I just need to figure out how

 

[kg648]

It depends on the game/settings and if you're using upscaling (DLSS), but the 4070 was not really intended for 4K in AAA games. It CAN do it (would be fine in older games, for example), but you do risk choppy gameplay.

Are the slow downs happening randomly, or in particular scenes/places?

What is the FPS like generally?


When did you buy this?

Sorry, realising half my post was cut off somehow whilst attempting to poorly reply from my mobile. I’ve edited the post now.

 

[Tetras]

I’ll check on the fps I just need to figure out how

You can use overlay with something like afterburner.

Thanks for that, I actually didn’t know. The intention of this build was to play games such as these. I’m “happy” to change, what card would you suggest?

Nothing at this stage, because it isn't clear that the problem is that the card doesn't have enough grunt.

I’ve tried with DLSS which does work “better” it fixes 90% of the choppiness but still seeing some slowness for example during cutscenes etc and going to new areas, however it’s a little funky such as detail in the distance just “appears” rather than slowly creeps into vision and faces look very grainy unnaturally when moving around close.

Hmm, to some extent that's probably normal, but it would depend on the game.

You can get weird things like that with upscaling and if you're running out of VRAM, for example.

It does suggest (that it fixes 9f0% of the choppiness) that the problem is grunt, but we really need the FPS numbers to say.

I’m terms of the evo it was mid 2023, is there something “funky” about these?

Yeah, there was, but (so far as I know) 2023 is fine. CrystalDiskInfo can show if there's a problem, because you'll be using reserved blocks and getting ECC errors.

it’s random in higher fps scenes and if for example I move the mouse faster, it’s not as smooth as I feel it should be.

Is possible that's a config problem, to do with frame caps/vsync, refresh and VRR.

 

[kg648]

You can use overlay with something like afterburner.


Nothing at this stage, because it isn't clear that the problem is that the card doesn't have enough grunt.


Hmm, to some extent that's probably normal, but it would depend on the game.

You can get weird things like that with upscaling and if you're running out of VRAM, for example.

It does suggest (that it fixes 9f0% of the choppiness) that the problem is grunt, but we really need the FPS numbers to say.


Yeah, there was, but (so far as I know) 2023 is fine. CrystalDiskInfo can show if there's a problem, because you'll be using reserved blocks and getting ECC errors.


Is possible that's a config problem, to do with frame caps/vsync, refresh and VRR.

Thanks. Appreciate that.

I’m getting between 45-55 FPS seems to be the range. When it stutters a little it drops low teens then goes straight back up.

 

[Tetras]

I’m getting between 45-55 FPS seems to be the range. When it stutters a little it drops low teens then goes straight back up.

Ahh, that's pretty low average FPS, it could just be a "lack of grunt" problem then. Have you checked if you're running too high on VRAM usage? Some games actually show you in the settings window (like an estimate).

 

[kg648]

Ahh, that's pretty low average FPS, it could just be a "lack of grunt" problem then. Have you checked if you're running too high on VRAM usage? Some games actually show you in the settings window (like an estimate).

It seems low, although not sure if this is at the point of being in the game menu or not

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[Tetras]

It seems low, although not sure if this is at the point of being in the game menu or not

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Not a VRAM issue then.

Does it help much if you lower the settings to achieve a more consistently high FPS? E.g. in the 70-90 range? If it drops, but not so low, it seems clear that you have a grunt issue. If it drops to exactly the same low FPS, it could be due to the CPU bottlenecking, but would need to check utilisation for that. Not highly likely at 4K, though some games are a lot more demanding than others.

 

[kg648]

Not a VRAM issue then.

Does it help much if you lower the settings to achieve a more consistently high FPS? E.g. in the 70-90 range? If it drops, but not so low, it seems clear that you have a grunt issue. If it drops to exactly the same low FPS, it could be due to the CPU bottlenecking, but would need to check utilisation for that. Not highly likely at 4K, though some games are a lot more demanding than others.

I’ve just been playing with some of the overlay tools and seeing what happens.

I’ve taken a video, focused on the stats whilst moving. It seems the cpu does occasionally go to 99% I’ve noticed, the gpu seems to be idle around 98% and increases frequently to 100% even standing still. This is the Nvidia exp overlay app.

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I have also tried lowering the settings it’s still similar, slightly better frames rates but the detail is missing, still not perfect and the gpu/cpu stays similar %.