DX12 Games significant FPS reductions occur on top-tier PCs?
DX12 Games significant FPS reductions occur on top-tier PCs?
Hi all,
I'm new to posting questions on forums so hopefully I did this correctly.
I have what I believe to be a very unique issue where when I launch some of the newer DX12 games after a few minutes in most, I am met with a huge fps drop down to between 1-15fps. During this state my entire computer freezes and the severity of the freeze depends on the game I launched. After about a minute the fps goes back to normal and I can continue playing my games, however my microphone bugs out as a result of this freeze, sometimes disconnecting, other times distorting in discord calls, in which I have to unplug/replug the microphone. This while also paired with my ISP resetting my network in the middle of the night, dc'ing me from my matches, in most cases having to restart the game to connect faster proves to be quite a headache if I am playing a competitive game. I have troubleshooted this many times and searched all over the internet but could not find a solution. I have lived with this issue for over a year and a half now. So I am writing a full report of everything I've tried and recorded.
Specs:
GPU: Zotac 4090 Trinity OC.
CPU: Ryzen 9 7900X.
MOBO: Asus ROG Crosshair X670E HERO.
RAM: DDR5 32GB (don't know the brand but I know the ram works fine).
PSU: Corsair HX850W.
Storage: 2TB M.2. , 256GB M.2. , 2TB Hard drive (The storage is also okay).
Windows 10 and 11.
Monitor: Samsung Odyssey G9
Microphone setup:
Shure SM7B.
Chained to a DBX286s.
Chained to a Scarlett Solo interface.
Games I play this happens in:
The Finals.
Crossout.
Fragpunk.
Dying Light 2.
Meet your maker.
More that I haven't tested yet.
State of computer:
No malware.
All drivers up to date.
Windows up to date.
Bios up to date.
Monitor firmware up to date.
No background programs running whatsoever.
I tried:
Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
Turning off the Nvidia app overlay.
Turning off DLSS.
Many different Graphics drivers Studio/Gaming.
Lowest settings for each game.
Enabling or disabling Hardware acceleration in Windows settings.
Disabling Control Flow Guard in Windows Exploit Protection for each program. (Known to create hitching in dx12 games)
Resetting the computer.
Deep cleaning the computer.
Changing thermal paste.
Undervolting the CPU.
Thermal throttle limits on CPU.
Underclocking the GPU.
Custom fan curves on GPU.
Unplugging everything but the keyboard and mouse.
Changing the Nvidia Octopus adapter to a dedicated Corsair double 6 pin.
To note:
Upon building the PC it ran smoothly, I thought a driver/software update caused this at the time.
The APU is not enabled.
This doesn't happen in every DX12 game. For example Marvel Rivals and Once Human, which share the same developers as Fragpunk.
This doesn't happen in Unreal engine directly, which Fragpunk and The Finals is built on.
This doesn't happen in any game that is DX12 but doesn't have the newest nvidia technology such as ray tracing or frame generation.
This doesn't happen in any game that is not DX12 or software like Adobe products.
I never use Frame Generation.
Sometimes I use ray tracing but turned off during testing.
Fragpunk didn't freeze when I first installed it and multiple sessions
Observations:
Temperatures are stable
HWInfo suggests all the power rails are stable.
CPU usage stays at normal values.
Upon launching any game but Fragpunk, in task manager I can see the GPU Copy graph spike up to 100% during the freeze while the 3D graph decreases, following both values going back to normal once the freeze is gone.
When I launch Fragpunk however, the freeze happens instantly and the values stay the same.
Speculations:
I have researched the GPU copy graph and while it may suggest it is a memory leak. I find it unplausible because the RAM and storage usage stays at relatively the same values.
While it may also suggest that there is PSU issue it wouldn't make sense how the games go back to normal at 3840x1080 200 fps + stable.
I don't have any other parts to test with outside of my GTX 1080ti which wouldn't do any justice.
But yea I'm losing my mind just thinking about it if you have any questions I would be more than happy to resolve.
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
MOBO: Asus ROG Crosshair X670E HERO.
What BIOS version do you have installed on your motherboard?
PSU: Corsair HX850W.
How long has your PSU been in use?
GPU: Zotac 4090 Trinity OC.
Users with an RTX 4090 are recommended to install a power supply rated at least 1KW for stable performance.
Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
If you upgraded via the internal upgrade method in Windows 10, it's suggested to reinstall your operating system. Rebuild the bootable USB installer for Windows 11, disconnect all drives except the one you want to install, set up the OS in offline mode, then manually install drivers with the latest versions using an elevated command—Right click installer > Run as Administrator.
All drivers are current.
Except for driver version 566.36;
View: https://youtu.be/NTXoUsdSAnA
Hi
Lutfij, thank you very much for your reply.
I’ve been working all day, so my answer isn’t the quickest.
The motherboard model I’m using is 2904, which is the newest version. The one before that was 2124, and that was the one that came with the motherboard. The problem existed in all of them.
My power supply is five years old; I don’t have the exact receipt, but I recall purchasing it for my previous build with a B450-F ROG Strix motherboard, with an order date of 17/06/20 on Amazon.
I’ve heard that some manufacturers recommend 1000 watts for this card, and Zotac also suggested that. However, other companies recommended 850 watts, which led me to decide against buying a new PSU at the time. I don’t remember the precise figures, but while checking HWInfo and pushing the build to its limits, the card never drew more power than expected—though it might be near its maximum. I was curious whether upgrading to an ATX 3.0/3.1 PSU could improve performance.
Right now, I won’t be able to purchase a new power supply, but I’m worried it might be the reason for the lag. I’m still trying to figure out what happens after a minute of waiting.
I’ll try the 566.36 driver and will share my results soon.
Thanks again.
I've completed most of today's testing. It does take some time because this freeze occurs only once every boot in certain games. After it passes, the games are "primed," which is quite unusual.
I've checked Fragpunk, The Finals, and Crossout several times. The main point is that Fragpunk still struggles as soon as I open it, though I had a smoother stop motion experience before it would completely freeze my system. On the 566.36 driver, I managed to get a few more frames even during the lag.
Crossout behaves similarly; I can let the game run for a while, but it still lags and returns to normal.
In The Finals, I've tried launching it six times, and none of them caused a freeze. Overall, I think the performance has improved slightly but remains inconsistent. I hope with more time, The Finals won't freeze again. Until then, someone of my friends has a nearly identical setup except they use AMD graphics. He lives far away, but I'm hoping to test his power supply with my system sometime.
Any suggestions you have? I can share a video if needed.
Thanks again.