Is it possible to experience low frame rates on a high-end system?
Is it possible to experience low frame rates on a high-end system?
Computer specifications were gathered for evaluation. The processor is an Intel i9-11900K with 61% overclocking. The motherboard is ASUS ROG Maximus XIII. RAM capacity is 64GB (four 16GB modules) using DDR4 at 3200MHz. Graphics support the EVGA RTX 3080Ti FTW3. Storage includes a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB drive, a Sabrent Rocket Plus 4TB secondary drive, and a Samsung QVO 8TB tertiary drive. Power supply is a Corsair HXi 1600W unit. Cooling system is a custom EKWB water cooler for the CPU only. Operating system is Windows 10 Professional. The games tested are Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution (the latter noted as particularly troublesome due to its age).
Having worked with computers for nearly two decades, I usually have a general understanding of system performance. Yet, I seem to overlook certain aspects of my setup. My high-end gaming rig previously ran smoothly, but now struggles with several titles. Performance drops occurred across the board, even when running at minimum settings or without mods. Some games improved with basic configurations, while others remained problematic.
Process and testing steps included updating OS, drivers, and firmware. GPU stress tests by Furmark showed no problems. CPU benchmarks via Furmark and Cinebench also reported no issues. BurninTest confirmed stability under general load. Memtest86 verified data integrity without XMP activation. All drives functioned normally, showing no bad sectors or errors. SFC scans passed without warnings. Background applications were disabled during testing.
Settings were adjusted to the lowest level initially and gradually increased. The recent overclock appears aimed at resolving ongoing performance concerns. I installed active cooling on storage drives due to overheating risks, with temperatures staying below 45°C.
I suspect software-related problems rather than hardware faults. This is largely because I played all games at their default settings without noticeable lag. I’m frustrated that pinpointing the exact cause has been elusive. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
What BIOS version do you have installed for your motherboard? Which Windows 10 edition are you using? Did the problem appear after an update? If yes, attempt a system restore before the update. Have you used DDU in Safe Mode to eliminate all GPU drivers (Intel, AMD, Nvidia) and then reinstalled manually with the newest driver from Nvidia's support site, using an elevated command such as Right-click installer > Run as Administrator?
I value the prompt reply, though this was among my initial efforts. The BIOS was merely outdated and didn’t fix the problem. I only obtain drivers from official brand pages — Nvidia, ASUS, etc.
At first, I thought the issue stemmed from NVMe temperatures. I set up a custom loop using a vertical GPU model — Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL. After the initial configuration, I noticed high temperatures on both the top and bottom, with a fresh air vent on the side. This led to hot spots over the NVMe slots, reaching around 60 degrees. These aren’t strictly dangerous, but they raised my concerns. I removed the loop, replaced the bottom cover, and added active coolers to the NVMe units. The overall system temps decreased, and the NVMe devices stopped running at around 30 degrees. Still, there was no noticeable improvement.
Regarding the Windows update... It’s unfortunate there was a considerable gap between my last attempts and this one. During that time, I updated Windows multiple times. There are sufficient updates in between, making it just as easy to revert as reinstalling. But if a Windows update triggered the problem, then it’s definitely a separate concern.
Do you have a spare drive to test a fresh Windows reinstall? So that you don't waste your time if nothing changes but if something does change, either still continuing the same or not doing the same thing, would narrow your efforts towards a more narrowed path, be it software or hardware.
And if you do a Windows reinstall, the very first thing you do once you get into Windows is disable automatic device driver installation.