The majority of my games experience lag or micro stuttering; could an SSD improve this?
The majority of my games experience lag or micro stuttering; could an SSD improve this?
Many games I play experience lag or stuttering, especially at lower frame rates. Some titles, like Genshin Impact, show micro stutters dropping from 60 to 57 FPS, but they still lag during transitions. Apex Legends has noticeable stutters jumping from 144 to 120 FPS, causing delays in gameplay. In Far Cry 5, I notice stuttering when picking up items. If these problems are hardware-related, my main concern is that my games run on a 1TB HDD rather than an SSD. I did move CS:GO to a 120GB SSD with Windows installed, but it didn’t resolve the issue. Before making any decisions about upgrading, would this help?
Additionally, I’ve played Apex, CS:GO, and Genshin Impact at the lowest possible settings, yet the improvements were minimal. My system specs are: RTX 2060, I7-10700k, 32 GB RAM, 144Hz at 1080p, running Windows 10. Temperatures range from 60 to 85°C, and despite the GPU showing a thermal limit on HWINFO64, lag persists even when it doesn’t. Please assist!
EDIT: I own an EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G5, 80 Plus Gold 650W, fully modular with Eco Mode, FDB fan, 10-year warranty, includes Power ON self-tester. It’s compact at 150mm, powered by a 220-G5-0650-X1 PSU, and I purchased it in 2020.
The PSU is an essential part of the computer and it makes sense that even a fresh PSU could start struggling shortly after installation...
Like many other components, PSUs lose performance over time—not due to age. If you've used it intensely for gaming, video editing, or mining, then problems are more likely. Particularly during high power usage moments like gameplay.
With games running on a 1 TB HDD, the spikes in performance won’t be clearly visible on the graphs. Capturing such spikes probably won’t provide much useful information. Still, keep in mind that everything happens in milliseconds or less, and in bits—so it’s worth noting...
Update your post with complete hardware details and operating system information.
Power Supply Unit: make, model, wattage, age, condition?
= = = =
Consider the 120 GB SSD size in context.
How much space is currently occupied by that SSD?
You might want to check Resource Monitor to see system performance trends.
Keep the window open and monitor usage while you play, work, or browse.
Task Manager can also be useful here.
Open both Task Manager and Resource Monitor sequentially.
I prefer to keep each drive operating at roughly 70-80% capacity. This is my personal preference, though others may have different ideas.
Regarding Resource Monitor and Task Manager, their goal is to identify which processes are consuming system resources and causing performance issues.
For instance, if the disk becomes full, Windows might spend time attempting to read or write data to it while running applications, games, or utilities.
Examine the graphs to spot periods of high usage and pinpoint which resource is being affected.
The installed power supply unit could range from 20 to 9 months old. If it's heavily used for gaming, it may begin to struggle and occasionally fail during peak power demands.
Check the Performance graphs in Task Manager to see if any drops occur when the system becomes unresponsive.
I received the PSU in June or July 2020, and it's actually strange that the issues only appeared after a year of use :/
I checked Task Manager and didn't notice any significant spikes in performance drops during lag events. The graphs fluctuated, but if I shared them with you, it would be hard to pinpoint exactly where the lag occurred. Additionally, I adjusted my GPU fan curve to 100% using MSI Afterburner, which only increased the noise level of my GPU by twofold and made it 5-10 degrees cooler, but the lag spikes still persisted.
The PSU is an essential part of the computer and it makes sense that even a fresh PSU could fail immediately upon use...
Like many other components, PSUs lose performance over time—not due to age. If the PSU has been used intensely for gaming, video editing, or mining, it’s more likely to encounter issues. This is especially true during high power usage moments like gameplay.
With games running on a 1 TB HDD, you probably won’t notice much difference when spikes happen. Capturing these spikes won’t be very informative either.
Keep in mind that everything happens in milliseconds or less, and the data transferred is minimal. This can easily cause noticeable lag or stuttering.
Can you find another reliable PSU to test with?
You might also consider using a larger SSD for the boot drive.
unfortunately i can't get another psu, are there other options available?
If you possess a multi-meter and understand its operation (or have someone with expertise), you can perform some checks on the PSU.
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually...er-2626158
This isn't a complete test since the PSU isn’t operating under load. Any voltages that fall outside acceptable ranges would indicate potential issues with the PSU.
If everything seems normal, try lowering the system’s load—aiming for a point where the stuttering ceases. Gradually reintroduce devices in various combinations to see if any specific component triggers the problem again.
Also:
Power off, unplug, and open the case.
Remove dust and debris.
Verify that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are securely positioned.
Check for damage signs: exposed conductors, melted insulation, discolored or blackened spots, swollen parts, twisted or pinched wires.
The goal is to find certain conditions or settings where you can induce the stuttering, thereby pinpointing the cause.
about the whole load thing, I played Minecraft (albeit with AA enabled on Maximum through Optifine) and Genshin Impact on low settings but the lag was still there, how much lower than that can I go? I'm even playing CS:GO on low with VSYNC enabled! there isn't much more reducing to do. Although I have to mention that after taking a deeper look at my MSI Afterburner graph I can see that sometimes when stutters occur GPU Usage can drop a bit. sometimes other graphs also drop a bit, sometimes none drop at all.