Low gpu usage = noticeable frame rate drops

[McBain]

Hi guys,

Not really sure where to turn on this now. In virtually all the games I play; TF2, BF3, Skyrim, Arkham City I get these sudden frame rate drops that although don't take me below an acceptable frame rate (in some cases still 100+) it feels unbelievably noticable to me and is pretty much ruining any game experience.

In Arkham City, Skyrim and TF2 the GPU usage isn't even that high, yet these sudden drops still occur randomly. I've checked performance monitor and I don't appear to be hitting any CPU limit.

Spec:

i5-2500K @ 4.6
Winforce GTX670 (Default)
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Samsung 830
Thermaltake Toughpower 775W
8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Benq XL2420T

Things i've tried;

Running everything at stock
Complete reinstall of Windows
Motherboard settings at default
Disabled high precision event timer
A 7970
A different SSD
A different mobo
V Sync on, off
Check to ensure all drivers up to date
Ensured performance management at maximum
A FPS limiter (This does help somewhat, but it still doesn't feel smooth)
Monitored Temps: CPU and GPU both mid 60s under maximum load

Only element I can think of could be the PSU, I ran some OCCT tests and they passed although it did seem to stutter pretty badly once the CPU hit 100% usage. I've attached an image of the 10 minute run. Not sure whether this is normal?



Anyone have any ideas what else I can try please?

Cheers

 

[McBain]

Hi mate

Thanks for the response.

I do indeed have the BETA drivers installed unfortunately I don't think it's the card that's faulty though, as over the weekend I went out and bought another 670 to test and it's doing the exact same thing

I guess this points towards the PSU then, I have no idea if that graph for the PSU test looks normal or not, whether you would expect the FPS to drop so dramatically when the CPU is under 100% load....or whether the FPS should be pretty much constant.

 

[McBain]

Thanks guys, although those charts are from the GPU run unless i'm mistaken? Don't suppose someone could try running the PSU test and post up their results please?

The tests are different in that the power supply test will load the CPU @ 100% as well i think?

 

[McBain]

last time i ran that psu test it blew mine up so wont be me im afraid

 

[McBain]

Thanks Sadbuttrue. Pretty much confirms I have an issue somewhere for there to be such drastic FPS dips

I'm going to try and get hold of a multi meter to test the PSU, in the mean time i'll play around with the power saving settings and make sure everything is set to run at a specific speed (GPU/CPU)

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[McBain]

I don't know if you missed my post or just chose to ignore me but, have you tried at stock speeds?

Sorry mate, I didn't see it, must've got lost in all the images there.

However yes, i've had the CPU at stock speed, along with the GPU at stock speed, exactly the same stuttering issue

 

[McBain]

Will have a gander when I get home mate.

Does your GPU load stay around 100% during this test?

 

[McBain]

Something wrong here somewhere ... i've locked the CPU @ 3.7, GPU @ Default and look at these FPS dips. It literally crawls to 0% GPU usage.

+12v - reporting very low for some reason (What's going on with that crazy curve towards the end?!)

+ 3.3v

CPU

CPU Vcore (Again dips towards the end) - I've tried locking this to default voltage but still seems to fluctuate.

@ ljt - I see you're using the same motherboard, I wonder if this is CPU vcore related in someway. Does your CPU Vcore graph look similar to mine or is it constant? Maybe we need to look at a way of forcing the vcore to be constant, as mine is clearly fluctuating (They do seem to coincide with the FPS drops - look at the curve!!)

 

[McBain]

The cpu vcore drop is due to load increasing, which matches the fps dropping as it should. Different LLC values will affect the change.

It may well be an Nvidia driver issue. If you're willing, there is a way to force a fixed clockspeed. My complete guide is here:

www.overclock.net/t/1267918/guide-n...-disable-boost-fixed-clock-speed-undervolting

However, a shortened version for you:

1. Download http://downloads.guru3d.com/NVIDIA-Inspector-1.9.6.6-download-2612.html

2. Goto command line/Make a batch file to run:
nvidiaInspector.exe -forcepstate:0,2

3. You are now running in a fixed P2 power state. Kepler boost and all dynamic clock adjustments will be disabled. The clock will be running at 700mhz. This will be sufficient for testing.

4. Run your OCCT test again.

5. Return to default by rebooting or issuing this command:
nvidiaInspector.exe -forcepstate:0,16

Just done that, GPU was locked @ 700mhz, FPS graph:

The Furmark element virtually grinds to a halt, literally REAL bad stutter. Im experiencing similar in game, just not as drastic.

 

[McBain]

Hi McBain

My 12V looks like this;]

Thanks mate.

Quick Q, have you got the IGP enabled in BIOS? I've just disabled the HD3000 (yours would be a HD4000 I believe?), and it's looking a hell of a lot healthier than the last graph.

 

[McBain]

Hi McBain, nah I don't have the IGP enabled. (Just out of interest, what was the setting you changed?) Looks like you're onto something with yours though. Looks a lot healthier than the first graph you posted!

I set LLC to high to prevent vcore dropping below what I manually have set in the BIOS and disabled the IGP that's all. It seems better in games, although still not perfect by the look of it.

 

[McBain]

I've just done the same and my FPS graph is a damn sight better, no more large dips in FPS. The IGP option in the BIOS was defaulted to "Auto" so I set it to disabled, is this the option you changed too?

Whatever it was, its got rid of the stutter in the Witcher 2 and Max Payne 3 I was having (well in the 5 mins I spent on each to test).

Yes mate, I set it to disabled. I was running a secondary monitor off it, but just hooked that up to my 670 as well now.

So far, TF2 is vastly improved and so is Skyim, which is now actually butter smooth *touch wood* - I wonder if having the IGP enabled was using up the CPU? I know the GPU is integrated, but I don't know enough about the architecture or how they work together.... but it does certainly seem improved.

Batman Arkham City however is still a stuttering mess, but I put that down to he fact it's always had problems!

Thanks for the info on the voltage, i'll have to sort that tomorrow when I have a bit more time. Is it always recommended to manually set the Turbo clock speed for each core? Mine as default is showing something like 37, 36, 35, 34 even though my multiplier is set to 46.

 

[McBain]

I think Batman is just a mess lol (especially in DX11 mode) it was stuttery on my last PC which has no common parts with this one.

The way the turbo settings work seems to be determined by how many of the cores are being used, i.e. the default settings like you said are something like 38,37,36,35 which means if one of the cores is being used it will boost to 38 multi (3.8ghz) if 2 cores are in use it will only boost to 3.7ghz etc etc, so by setting boosts to the same it will boost to that no matter how many cores are under load.

Thanks mate.

So I managed to get my hands on a multi meter, PSU is kicking out a rock solid 12.1v on the 12v cable, and 5.04 on the 5v rail! Looks pretty solid to me.

I then set all cores to 45 in the BIOS for Turbo settings, and this is the latest, should be even smoother i'm hoping when I get to give it a blast tonight

So in effect, it looks like my issue was a combination of CPU BIOS settings and having the IGP enabled.

 

[McBain]

Thanks ljt.

Everything seems much smoother now, the only game i'm having a problem with is TF2. Which is very frustrating as it's probably the least demanding!

CPU and GPU usage are both low, mid 40s, yet on 32 player servers i'm seeing FPS fluctuate wildly from 300 to down to 90 when a lot of action is on the screen, which is incredibly noticeable.

I'm guessing that could be some sort of network latency, or poor optimisation though as opposed to a system issue.

Perhaps i'll give adaptive V Sync a try to keep the FPS lower so that the dips aren't as obvious.

 

[McBain]

I did a search for your problem McBain and it appears TF2 is still bugged and is not the fault of any card (lots of users with either card having probs).

Hi Gregster,

Thanks for that, are these reports on the Steam forums, or just generally?

Thanks