Improve performance under stress.
Improve performance under stress.
Hello everyone, I’m reaching out for your assistance with a problem I encountered yesterday. I recently upgraded my motherboard, CPU, and RAM, and the new system worked flawlessly for about three and a half days until last night. My CPU usage stays around 20% when idle, but it jumps to 100% when launching Fortnite, fluctuating between 20 and 100, which leads to significant frame drops, stutters, and crashes during gameplay or loading screens. Temperatures hover near 57°C, reaching about 89°C during spikes.
Now days later, the CPU no longer spikes, but under load the GPU rail drops to 11.3–11.5 V, which looks very low and matches the frame drop and power issues noted in HWiNFO. I’ve tried several solutions: using DDU, reinstalling NVIDIA drivers, running Prime95 tests, performing MemTest86 (passed), reinstalling chipset drivers from AMD Windows memory test, resetting BIOS, booting with minimal settings (1drive 1ram). Files are attached for reference. I also swapped the PSU and reset the BIOS.
Other graphics cards have been tested—some showed less rail drop but still experienced stuttering. I attached a 3DMark time spy log highlighting these voltage changes during transitions.
Could this be related to a faulty PCIe slot? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
System details:
CPU – Ryzen 5 7600X (new)
Motherboard – ASRock B650M Pro RS Wi-Fi (new)
RAM – Corsair VENGANCE DDR5 6000MHz 2x16 (new)
GPU – GeForce 3060 ASUS dual PSU-CX650M (new)
Cooler – Thermalright Peerless Assassin
OS – Windows 10
Case – Cooler Master PEARLS ASSASSIN
Test files: FORTNITE_TEST_GPU_POWER.xlsx, TIMESPYLOG.CSV
I faced comparable problems following a Windows update; a clean installation would be wise.
Sure, I see. It looks like you were managing quite a few applications open. Right now, you have 13 Google tabs, Spotify, and Discord active, keeping you around 3 to 5 minutes.
It's clear that many products have been available for over two decades without significant improvement.
I believe we're just touching the surface of the issue. OP, I recommend beginning with a system cleanup. Navigate through Settings to Apps and sift through everything you truly don't need—don't install Norton. Next, open Task Manager and switch to the Startup tab, turning off any programs that launch automatically when the computer starts. Restart. Make sure your BIOS is up to date, and refresh your chipset driver. Confirm you're using the Balanced power plan in Windows. Re-test everything.