The game becomes unstable repeatedly.
The game becomes unstable repeatedly.
Hi, your Starfield experience has been affected by several issues. The freezing and audio problems suggest potential GPU or driver conflicts. Your system is running at a low setting with high CPU and GPU usage, which could strain performance. Check for recent updates to the game and drivers, ensure your GPU cooler is functioning well, and verify that MSI Afterburner isn’t causing instability. Consider testing with a different GPU model if possible. If the problem persists, contact Starfield support or a tech specialist for further help.
That’s really helpful information to help you decide if it’s a CPU bottleneck... but it actually shows 70% CPU usage and 70% GPU activity. That usually means your processor is working hard. If you’re not convinced, share a video of all the CPU cores, GPU, RAM, VRAM, etc., while using Afterburner. The answer might be simpler: upgrade your CPU. A 5800X3D would be great if you want to optimize performance.
You adjusted the preset to default and achieved 97%-99% GPU utilization. All components—CPU, GPU, RAM, VRAM—were maximized with afterburner, resulting in 50-70% CPU usage per core during normal operation, rising to 80%-95% during combat or exploration. When the screen freezes, CPU usage drops to 2%-15%. Notably, CPU usage stays steady when audio cuts out, which is less disruptive. Regarding a new CPU, you’re considering the 5800x at around $180 (microcenter price), but only one is in stock. Would that be a worthwhile investment? Also, Newegg lists a 5700x for $180—worth checking?
Absolutely, the 5800x remains a significant upgrade compared to the 3600, roughly a 20% boost in performance.
The gap between 5700x and 5800x is minimal in this test. They appear to be quite similar CPUs, with the main distinction shown on the spec sheets: 5700X targets 65W, while 5800X targets 105W. The 5800X also features a 400MHz boost in base clock and a 100MHz boost in turbo clock compared to the 5700X.
I managed to capture a video showing the afterburner freezing at about 8-9 seconds and then restarting shortly after, with a significant reduction in CPU usage overall. Let me know if you believe this points to a CPU problem, since I don’t want to spend more than $150 on a fix that won’t help. Thanks!
It's tough to pinpoint exactly what's causing the drop, but it could involve hard drive performance, VRAM usage, network activity, etc. I mentioned showing everything if possible since we're not there yet to verify. The issue seems to be around 80% utilization, which should be noticeable in monitoring tools. I agree, it doesn't always look like a CPU problem—usually something near 100% usage indicates the problem. It's time to learn how to monitor your system; anything close to full capacity could signal an issue, and that's typically visible when something goes wrong. P.S.: try hwinfo64.