FPS drops
FPS drops
Hello everyone,
I'm facing problems with FPS fluctuations. Could you help me understand when and how this happens? In a typical situation, while playing CS2, my FPS drops from 400 to 200 or even lower, depending on the map—sometimes randomly, sometimes based on events like smoke or grenades. It's quite annoying. I also experienced this with League of Legends, where it starts at 400FPS and gradually decreases, eventually dropping to 60FPS for longer periods, making the game difficult to play. Similar issues have occurred with Hogwarts Legacy. It seems this problem isn't specific to any particular game.
My setup:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
- RAM: Kingston FURY 32 GB KIT DDR4 3600 MHz CL18
- Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO Red
- Disk: Samsung 980 1 TB NVMe M.2
- Power: EVGA 850 GQ
I've tried several solutions:
- Updated BIOS to the latest version
- Uninstalled and reinstalled the latest drivers for CPU and GPU
- Reinstalled Windows (clean installation)
- Installed new drivers
Unfortunately, nothing resolved the issue. Do you have any suggestions on what else I should try?
I've recorded my CPU temperatures before and during stress tests.
Thank you for your help and advice.
I'm not sure if AMD's chipset drivers are meant to assist with this issue, but a challenge with gaming and Ryzen 9s is that any data exchange between cores results in penalties similar to accessing RAM. To avoid this, a typical approach is to restrict the game's affinity to just one chiplet. You might consider limiting the game to the first 12 threads, which would correspond to 6 cores on a single chiplet plus SMT threads, and observe if this resolves the problem.
Does that relate to the issue?
I'm swamped today, so my reply will come later. Thanks for the tip—I'll give it a shot— Steam allows setting it through properties, lunch options, but what about games outside of Steam? I'd like to explore it beyond that. Could you share a tutorial on configuring it?
Start the game
Open Task Manager
Navigate to the "Details" section
Click on the game and choose "Set Affinity"
Disable either CPU0-CPU11 or CPU12-CPU24
Alternatively, you might use an application such as Process Lasso
It will perform the same action, allowing you to automate this for frequently played games.
Ensure vsync is enabled to align with your monitor's refresh rate. Adjust the game settings to 280 frames per second if necessary. Otherwise, it will force the CPU to generate frames that you won't see. For example, if the game is rendering 400 frames, the CPU will be overworked unnecessarily, wasting resources with no real improvement. This likely explains why the game is aggressively reducing frames. It can also lead to screen tearing during gameplay. Only disable vsync or frame limits when the game consistently operates below 280 frames per second.
Keep in mind that many games don't force the CPU to operate near its maximum capacity, even during higher frame rates. I conducted some tests on my i5-14600K (rated at 125W) and even when games reached 400-500FPS, the highest it reached was around 90W for Doom Eternal. I also played Unreal Tournament 3 and Counter Strike 2, which stayed closer to 70W. Additionally, the less demanding titles kept around 3-4 cores active at most. So thermals don't seem to be an issue here. The CPU is unlikely to reach its 142W PPT.
I've been quiet for a few days now.
I purchased water cooling to prevent overheating and follow the guidance you provided. Sadly, something went wrong and my motherboard failed. The board lights up, showing it's getting power, but when I try to start it, the power supply just clicks. Removing the graphics card, RAM, and disks (except the NVMe drive) still doesn't get it up—only the power supply clicks. I think there might be a short circuit somewhere. Visually, the board seems okay. Do you know what could be causing this? Or would you suggest something else? Should I consider buying a new motherboard for this processor, or should I upgrade to a newer generation? If I do, what would be the best pairing for this processor? Also, just to note, I bought the NZXT Kraken 360 water cooling. That’s fine.
Thank you in advance for your advice.
when you set up the cooler did you take out the board? carefully inspect the area around it to confirm all connections are correct. check behind the board for any unnecessary extra spacing that might be present in some setups. ensure the AIO isn’t leaking near the pump or tubes, or the radiator. it won’t boot without RAM, so make sure there’s at least one stick in slot 2. reset the CMOS and remove the battery if needed. if everything fails, pull the power cable out of the wall and make sure the PSU is off. press the power button and hold for 30 seconds; if the PC briefly powers on, it’s normal. what you’re doing is discharging the board of power. then reinsert the cable into the PSU and wall, and turn on the PC. if you’re using the adapter for 4080, replace it with a proper cable. https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cablemod...-evga-psus. another option if all else fails is to use a PSU tester.