Freezing spikes and brief FPS drops are common in games.
Freezing spikes and brief FPS drops are common in games.
Hi,
Recently, like 1 month ago, I noticed that I have been started to experience freeze spikes/fps drops during gaming.
I've been monitoring these problems since. Nothing has changed with GPU nor CPU temperatures.
These fps drops happen usually when I'm moving in-game, from location to another, change camera angle OR
when something specific happens, although it's still random. Let's say, if someone hits me in game like Dead by Daylight, freeze spike
is most likely to occur. My PC is like 3-4 years old.
Here is my PC
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
CPU cooler: -
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B450-PLUS (BIOS version 4402)
Ram: Corsair 16GB (2 x 8GB) Vengeance (CMK16GX4M2B3200C16)
SSD/HDD: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB (and KINGSTON SA2000M8500G)
GPU: ASUS DUAL RTX 2060 SUPER EVO V2 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super)
PSU: -
Chassis: -
OS: Windows 10 Home
Monitor: HP X24ih
Age of my PSU is same as other components, been actively used for 3-4 years. I bought this PC as brand new, assembled by company which sells PCs in my country.
BIOS version is latest available.
I have not used DDU, but I have used it before, so I am familiar with it. I started to solve the problem in different way.
So if anyone have any idea how could I dig even deeper into this problem or monitor even more my problem, any help would be appreciated!
If any questions, please ask.
So, what I did and how I began addressing the issue:
- I began tracking my FPS, GPU temperature, CPU temperature, RAM usage, and CPU activity using MSI Afterburner and RTSS.
- I cleared all dust from the coolers, but temperatures remained unaffected. No change observed.
- My BIOS was outdated (around 3 years old), but I updated it to the latest version without any impact.
- I performed a RAM stress test with y-cruncher and encountered no errors.
- Lastly, I tested my second SSD to check if the problem continued there, and it did.
Edit: It seems freeze spikes might happen outside gaming too, randomly. They often occur when launching software or loading a website page. For example, opening Spotify’s artist page in a browser and then the same action in my Spotify app could trigger a freeze. I hadn’t considered this before, but yesterday my mouse cursor and screen froze for a brief moment. It probably isn’t a random occurrence—something needs to be done, like launching software or loading content. Could be a CPU or GPU issue?
Run "sfc /scannow" in the command prompt
Swap monitor cables
Enable or disable XMP profile in BIOS
Disable or enable Turbo Core in BIOS
Reinstall PC parts such as GPU and RAM
I perform sfc /scannow occasionally. I don't think it's a case, I can try once more.
Reconnected the monitor cable, I'll attempt again.
XMP feature is enabled, but it hasn't changed since I purchased the PC. (no update)
I'm not sure what turbo core means.
What does reseating the GPU and RAM mean?
I'm a beginner (mostly).
Turbo Core automatically changes the AMD CPU's clock speed, much like Intel's Turbo Boost. Your CPU's starting frequency is 3.6MHz, but Turbo Core can increase it to 4.4MHz when more performance is needed. In short, it's dynamic overclocking. By reseating means taking it out and putting it back in again.
Sure, I can help with that.
I need to verify the Turbo Core settings.
GPU and RAM have already been reseated, which was necessary due to the significant spikes. (especially GPU).
Thanks for your assistance. I continue to monitor this issue. I will let you know if I find a solution.
Actually, I'm not certain about this Turbo Core setting in my BIOS. I don't see it listed. Or at least it doesn't have a specific name. My PC isn't a laptop, if that's the case. All I noticed were AMD Overclocking (there was a warning when trying to enable it) and OC Tuner, but that's about it. OC Tuner was interesting, though, but I didn't use it since it alters my settings.
I switched the PC's power plan from Windows settings, although it used to be AMD Ryzen High Performance for a long time. Now I'm sticking with Windows' Balanced (Recommended) plan because I wanted to try something new. Nothing significant changed, unfortunately, but I'm planning to stick with Balanced for now.
I also played a game for several hours, switching between HDMI and DP cables, to check if the issue was related to the cable. However, there weren't any major differences. Moreover, the results aren't very reliable since I can't constantly watch for freeze/lag/stutter spikes (I kept monitoring graphs from Afterburner+RTSS while playing), but it's definitely possible that the cables are affecting performance.
It might be referred to as "Core Performance Boost," but really, switching to a "High Performance" power plan is mostly just a myth. Even if it offers some improvement, it's only a temporary fix. Your freeze-ups usually occur when something new loads or renders for the first time—like being hit in DbD. I’ll experiment by swapping RAM and disconnecting my old SSD to see if that helps with my issue, and I’ll let you know what happens.