Experiencing stuttering during an unexpectedly high number of games, not due to frame drops.
Experiencing stuttering during an unexpectedly high number of games, not due to frame drops.
I'm not sure if it's just that I'm catching it more often or if it's actually becoming more frequent. I've observed many games stuttering and freezing a lot. This issue appears consistently across all the titles I play. I find it hard to locate a fix for any of them. Stuttering in games is really bothersome, especially since it happens with every game. Can you assist me in determining if the problem lies with the games themselves or with my system? My setup includes an SSD except for Forza Horizon 4, which is large but I still install it regularly because I don’t want to remove it. Here are my specs: CPU i5-10400F, GPU 1660 SUPER 6GB (drivers 466.77), RAM 12GB (8GB+4GB), Storage 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD, Monitor MSI Optix G241 at 1080p 144Hz with gsync enabled (though it doesn't officially support it), PSU 380W. Games that often freeze: Steam, 141fps lock with NVTF; Fallout NV (engine-related, many players report issues); PC Game Pass, 60fps lock; Crackdown 3 (stuttered even on hardest difficulty); The Outer Worlds (engine issue); Forza Motorsport 7 (stuttered despite fixes); No Man's Sky (light stutters until reinstall); Assassin's Creed II (hard to find solutions); Night in the Woods (minimal issues); Forza Horizon 4 (occasional frame drops, not persistent); Skyrim Special Edition (runs smoothly except Horizon 4); BeamNG.drive (small menus only). I use a keyboard for most games, except New Vegas. My RAM usage rarely exceeds 70%, so it seems manageable. Any advice would be appreciated, as this has been quite frustrating. Please let me know if you need more details.
Initially, here are my thoughts:
1 - The PSU looks really good. As long as the total draw stays under 280W, getting at least 450W from a solid mid-range GPU is essential.
2 - The GPU gets quite hot. Most reviews I've seen show it reaching around 70°C. This suggests the case lacks proper airflow, which could cause other parts to overheat—chipset, RAM, VRMs, or even the SSD.
3 - The RAM setup seems unnecessary. You might actually improve performance by swapping out the 4GB stick for just the 8GB.
4 - I’m curious about the motherboard inside.
5 - Don’t forget to mention the HDD and SSD brands and models.
Well since it's a prebuilt they don't tell you jack shit about most things, but I'll tell you what I know. 1. I'm not even gonna try to disagree, but I don't know if I can even upgrade the PSU in a prebuilt, because of OEM form factor sorcery. Can I? 2. The case does have terrible airflow, but it's not throttling anything and to get it to 85C I have to launch an empty roblox baseplate with unlocked framerate and then it'll hit like 700fps and make it really hot. In normal gameplay, it usually is around 75C, a little higher than that peak you were talking about, assuming because of the awful airflow. 3. I'm actually kinda confident I might be able to upgrade the RAM in this computer, if I can't upgrade anything else. CPU-Z says my RAM speed is 1330MHz, which from what I've heard means it's probably 2666MHz, because from what I've seen around the internet, it usually displays half of your RAM speed. Unless it's actually running at 1330MHz, which would probably be more funny than anything. 4. System info says my motherboard is a lenovo 370a. Not sure if it's actually some piece of chinese plastic, but I trust system info. 5. The HDD is a 7200RPM Seagate Barracuda, and the SSD is some random samsung thing called MZALQ256HAJD-000L1. The only thing holding me back from dropping cash on a new SSD or PSU is that this is a prebuilt so it probably can't be upgraded. Am I wrong about that? **CORRECTION: My RAM is actually 2933 MHz, I was looking in the wrong window** **CORRECTION OF THE CORRECTION: Task manager says my RAM is 2667MHz, CPUID says my RAM is 1330MHz in one place, and says it's 2933MHz in another. ??????**
DDR stands for Double Data Rate, meaning the real speed is half what’s advertised. It’s likely one side is rated at 2666MHz and the other at 2933MHz, but when combined, the faster DIMM will always downclock to match the slower one. You should find a product or model with a barcode on the case for verification. Check if it supports a standard ATX power supply. It probably has those bulky shield-style front panels—if so, it’s unlikely to have good power delivery. The SSD model MZALQ256 seems like an older NVMe drive from 2017; while not terrible, it’s not ideal either. The main concerns are likely the PSU and RAM speeds. Mismatched speeds or capacities can cause serious problems. The PSU might even lack an 8-pin PCIe port for GPU power—look for a compatible adapter cable if needed.
I'm considering a RAM upgrade. These problems seem to appear mainly in open-world games and adjusting graphics settings doesn't help much. I opened Task Manager during a playthrough of Crackdown 3 and noticed high CPU usage when stutters occurred. It looks like the issue might be related to loading small chunks. I also confirmed that in CPU-Z, my DRAM frequency is 1330 and my RAM frequency is listed as DDR4-2933. The speeds don't seem off, though the sizes are. Could this still cause trouble? My RAM usage stays around 70% at most.
I've tested afterburner and checked all monitoring tools to see if stuttering relates to CPU or RAM load. It seems the issue is likely due to sudden spikes, not frame rate drops—my frame rate stayed steady around 72 throughout the game. I haven't been able to identify the exact cause yet. Would you like me to send the graphs for your analysis?
From the menu select options, navigate to monitoring. For each item you wish to track, enable "Display in On-Screen Display." Include GPU usage, CPU usage (CPU1,2,3,4,5 etc.), and RAM. At the bottom, set average, minimum, and maximum FPS values, plus a graph showing frame times. The polling interval determines how often data is refreshed—1000 milliseconds equals one second. You can choose 500 or 200 for finer CPU and GPU monitoring.
Sorry, I didn't realize it would matter. I hadn't come across any issues related to stuttering with the Game Pass on PC before.