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

 

[Gregster]

If you have the latest Beta's installed:

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win8-win7-winvista-64bit-304.79-beta-driver-uk.html

and it is still doing it, it could be a faulty card. I have seen other threads on this also. Some the new drivers fixed it and others had to RMA the card.

Hopefully it is just a case of newer drivers needed..

 

[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.

 

[F1aw1ess]

no idea about the graph but there is only the psu or processor left to test!

 

[PiKe]

Tried at stock speed?

 

[sadbuttrue]

Are you running the cpu at a fixed speed and voltage? When aiming for such high and more importantly stable fps values, I've learned over the years that anything with the word "dynamic" in is counterproductive.

Here is a quick go with my system:

i5 750 @ 3.4ghz fixed voltage, fixed clock speed, speedstep/all power features off

Gigabyte GTX670 Windforce @ 1300mhz using Nvidia Inspector to force a fixed clock speed, bypassing all Kepler dynamic clock adjustments due to load

The drop at end was my screensaver kicking in.

 

[F1aw1ess]

what are the voltage .png 's like when you've run the gpu test? do you see any dip at the same time as the fps dip?

 

[F1aw1ess]

here's mine on a couple minute run to compare, I do have all the power saving features turned on.

 

[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?

 

[F1aw1ess]

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

 

[McBain]

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

 

[PiKe]

Well no software should be able to kill hardware, your PSU was obviously sub-par.

 

[sadbuttrue]

I have faith in my Seasonic

 

[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.

 

[PiKe]

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.

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

 

[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

 

[sadbuttrue]

What does your CPU frequency chart look like? Mine is obviously at a fixed speed so is rather boring to look at:

 

[McBain]

Will have a gander when I get home mate.

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

 

[sadbuttrue]

Nope. GPU load naturally drops when the CPU is being stressed. The load pretty much matches the fps.

 

[ljt]

I don't think its just you McBain.

I've noticed stuttering in games on my system and I've just run that OCCT and my FPS graph looks very similar to yours;

I have a similar spec too with a MSI GTX670. That furry circle thing kept stuttering too, like somebody pressing a pause button for a split second every now and then