Micro stuttering Strix 3080 with strong PC performance
Micro stuttering Strix 3080 with strong PC performance
Hey there, so I’ve upgraded to an ASUS Strix 3080 OC from a GTX 1080 OC and I’m unfortunately dealing with micro stuttering, plus the coil whine is quite noticeable… but that’s not the biggest issue for me. The micro stuttering isn’t too severe, I wouldn’t say it ruins gameplay, but it really irritates you to the point where you just want to hit something. My system handles power well, which makes this seem odd, and it doesn’t always stutter during games, which is pretty unusual.
My rig includes an Intel i9 10900K @3.7GHz, 32GB Corsair RAM @3600MHz (with XMP enabled), an 850W Corsair power supply, an ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E gaming motherboard, a 1TB Western Digital SSD, and of course the RTX 3080 OC. I’m completely puzzled because I didn’t have any problems with my 1080, and when you pay for such a powerful GPU, you expect smooth performance in games. It works fine in Red Dead Redemption 2 (story mode), GTA V (story and online), the new game Super People, Outer Worlds, and Jedi Fallen Order.
I’ve tried many fixes—uninstalled drivers with DDU, used a custom install with NVID drivers, adjusted Prefer Max Power in NVID settings, which sometimes caused crashes. I’ve also checked frame time, frame rate, temperatures, and CPU usage. Everything looks normal except for the annoying stuttering and frame rate dips.
Sometimes when I get a micro stutter or general lag, the GPU usage drops while CPU spikes briefly, then it returns. That’s weird. I’m not sure if it’s just a faulty card, maybe there’s an issue with the GPU memory, or perhaps my RGB settings are too high. I should mention I use MSI After Burner to keep track of everything.
The FPS is great in most games, but this stuttering is really bothering me. I’m considering sending it in for repair at ASUS or asking for a replacement, but honestly, it’s strange. My monitor is a 1920x1080p model with 1ms refresh rate and 144Hz, which is probably 5 or 4 years old and lacks G-SYNC or adaptive sync. Could this be the problem?
I’d really appreciate any advice or help you can offer. Sorry for the long post—I just wanted to share everything.
Run your PC using completely stock configurations. Default BIOS settings are applied, along with basic Windows power options (balanced). You can attempt to update your GPU drivers via DDU. As mentioned earlier, this is typically a software or configuration problem, and fixing it usually resolves the issue.
Experienced with comparable problems when upgrading from a 980ti to a 3080ti. Fix involved switching Power management to maximum performance in the NVIDIA control panel, but the card kept boosting until shutdown. After some adjustments in both the NVIDIA Control Panel and Windows settings, it worked. About three months ago I recall, here’s what I did: disable Link State Power Management in advanced Windows Power settings, turned off Game Mode and hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling in Windows, set threaded optimization and low latency mode to off, left Power management at normal, changed the PCIe mode in BIOS to x16 3.0 manually, and activated ReBAR (update BIOS if missing).
I hadn’t anticipated such quick replies, so thanks everyone! I’ll definitely give these a shot and observe the results. I’ve already used DDU but will try again just to be sure. I’m curious about clearing the CMOS—based on what I know, it just resets the BIOS to its default setting. There was also an unusual issue with stuttering, especially in super people during a new BR game. The frame time would jump to 70ms every ten seconds regardless of activity, even when using the menu. I checked in GTA V story mode and it matched the problem there too. I got frustrated and logged off for the night. Today the issue disappeared after launching the game, which is the second time this has happened with the 3080 installed. No settings changed, just a sudden fix. I have recordings of the frame times being erratic before and then normal again. Tomorrow I’ll share those to illustrate what’s going on. Thanks again for your help!
It might be related to background Windows updates, though it's hard to pinpoint. Resetting the CMOS, applying default settings (which usually happens automatically after a reset), and then rebooting in Safe Mode could help. Try loading everything as close to the original configuration as possible—just aim for a clean setup. No issues with games on a 3080, unless there are hidden settings or third-party software interfering. It doesn’t seem like a major defect, just something unusual.
I'll ensure this clip is attached to demonstrate the frame time spikes in FarCry5. I just wanted to share a video of me playing to illustrate what these spikes look like across different games. It's quite unusual how they behave—sometimes it happens in GTA V, other times not at all.
DDU usually suggests using the latest fix. Also run it in safe mode. Download drivers ahead of time and restart once they’re removed. Reinstall drivers in safe mode only. Ensure no networking is enabled, or Windows might attempt to install the Game Ready Driver from Windows Update, which is often outdated.
Hey there! Glad you came across this discussion. I own a 3080 Strix, just moved from a 1070 model and upgraded my CPU to a 5800X from a 2700X. I’m experiencing the same problem here—tiny microstutters that don’t affect gameplay but definitely shouldn’t be there. Sometimes I walk by objects and they seem to shift slightly. It’s not consistent across all games, but it happens in some. Restarting my PC seems to reduce the stutter in certain titles, which gives me hope this isn’t a GPU issue. I totally get what you’re going through on the forum. I’m leaning toward hardware damage or a faulty card because of these small glitches, even though they don’t appear in every game. My RGB setup is huge, but I haven’t noticed these issues with my older 1070 and 2700X models. Everything ran smoothly back then, but now it’s not the same with this new card. I was told it might be related to Intel XMP RAM on a Ryzen board, but I’m using Corsair Vengeance Pro 3600MZ on a non-Ryzen motherboard. The specs say my RAM should work, yet it doesn’t. I’m hoping it’s a RAM problem, but I’ve spent a lot of time trying to fix this over the winter.