Experiencing drastically reduced gaming quality with high-fidelity titles, and I’ve attempted all possible solutions.
Experiencing drastically reduced gaming quality with high-fidelity titles, and I’ve attempted all possible solutions.
I’m hoping this is the appropriate place to ask for help – I was debating between posting here and contacting Windows 10 support.
Recently, about three weeks ago, I played Outer Worlds on my laptop and consistently achieved approximately 60 frames per second with medium-to-high settings. However, when I attempted to launch it yesterday, the maximum frame rate dropped to around 20, even with the lowest settings enabled. While I don’t frequently play newer AAA titles, I experienced a similar issue with Doom 4, leading me to believe the problem isn't specific to Outer Worlds. I still maintain good performance on older or independent games like Renegade Ops. I haven’t made any major changes to my hardware or software that I’m aware of. The following troubleshooting steps have been taken:
* Restarting the computer
* Verifying the laptop is connected to an external power source
* Updating Windows
* Reinstalling Outer Worlds
* Disabling the network connection, utilizing Display Driver Uninstaller in safe mode, and reinstalling the NVIDIA driver package
* Running Rkill, MalwareBytes, ADWCleaner, HitmanPro, and Windows Defender’s deep/offline scans (no significant findings)
* Monitoring Task Manager for resource-intensive processes
* Confirming that the game utilizes the NVIDIA GPU instead of integrated graphics
* Performing a complete Windows 10 reset/reinstallation
My system specifications are listed below. I've also included my UserBenchmark score and an OHM screenshot taken during the benchmark (as requested by r/pcgamingtechsupport). Temperatures appear normal, and I can still achieve high frame rates on loading screens, indicating it’s not overheating or a false FPS reading.
I recognize that UBM isn’t the most current benchmark, but my GTX1070 is yielding very low scores. I'm concerned about potential GPU damage, although I haven't encountered instances of this type where performance drastically declines without unexpected crashes. Is this possible? Are there alternative benchmarks that could help determine if the GPU is the issue?
It seems as though the game has entered a power-saving state, but I’m unable to identify how it persisted after all my attempts to resolve it. I've exhausted my troubleshooting options and require any suggestions you may have.
Did you modify the Windows power settings lately? Verify they are configured for maximum performance. Re-test.
I verified that it was configured for optimal performance, both prior to and following the reinstallation. Thank you.