Your GPU is working harder but running slower at the same time while you're powering through games.
Your GPU is working harder but running slower at the same time while you're powering through games.
I’m facing an issue where gaming causes my GPU usage to jump to 80%+ while reducing its clock speeds, leading to significant FPS drops and stuttering. My system is an Acer Nitro 5 i5 9300H with GTX 1650. I’ve tried various power plans, changed the GPU power settings, adjusted task manager priorities, but the problem persists. I’m unsure how to resolve it.
I've been checking and adjusting this, but now it only lowers the clock speed in Fortnite. It ends up running at 1395 MHz with 40-71 GPU usage, then switches to 300 MHz with 91-100 usage. The CPU stays around 40-60 MHz at 3.8 GHz, and RAM is 6-8 GB. The main change is the GPU, which is causing significant FPS drops. I'm unsure how to fix it.
Gpu usage at 90 and cpu at 91 across all games, with drivers kept current.
Acer lowers the Intel specified 100°C thermal throttling temperature on many of their laptops to 92°C. If the CPU is running steady at 91°C, it is likely thermal throttling and continuously bouncing off this limit. 90°C is also right around the thermal throttling temperature that many mobile Nvidia GPUs use. Try running GPU-Z to see what the GPU throttling temperature is set to. You can run ThrottleStop to see what your CPU PROCHOT (processor hot) thermal throttling temperature is set to. Open the ThrottleStop Options window and check the Nvidia GPU box. Turn on the Log File option on the main screen of ThrottleStop and go play a game for 15 minutes or so. Make sure you experience some FPS slow downs when testing. When finished, exit ThrottleStop so it can finalize your log file. The log will be in your ThrottleStop / Logs folder. Attach a log to your next post so I can have a look. You should not expect smooth game play if both the CPU and GPU are bouncing off the thermal throttling temperature limits. When was the last time you opened up your laptop and cleaned it out? Never? When the CPU or GPU start to throttle and slow down, the GPU has to work harder. A GPU at 500 MHz has to work twice as hard compared to the same GPU at 1000 MHz. An increase in GPU usage is a good sign that the GPU is overheating and throttling. It is a mobile GPU. It could also be power limit throttling. Run a GPU-Z log file and it might show the type of throttling your GPU is doing.