Your project has been causing issues from the start. I'm here to assist you.
Your project has been causing issues from the start. I'm here to assist you.
Back in October, I assembled a PC that performed exceptionally well at first. It handled all my requirements, but eventually, the tasks I aimed for surpassed its capabilities. Two months later, I managed to purchase a 3070ti at a reasonable price and decided it was the ideal moment to upgrade other components. About a month prior, everything arrived, and I started building the system. Here are my specifications: Monitor: 2560x1080/75hz FreeSync Premium (from a prior build) OS: Windows 11 CPU: i7 12700k (non-AVX 512) AIO: Enermax LIQMAX III 120 (from a prior build) RAM: 2x 16GB 5600MHz DDR5 Kingston Fury Beast (XMP enabled) GPU: MSI RTX 3070ti 8GB (tested in a previous build and then carried over) M.2: Samsung 980 500gb (from a prior build) SATA: Samsung 870 QVO 2TB (from a prior build) SATA: 2x Random 256GB SSD free from Micro Center (from a prior build) PSU: EVGA 850W 80plus Gold Unfortunately, after assembly, I had to leave town and couldn't access the PC at all, so I didn't have a chance to thoroughly test it. About two weeks later, I was ready and began ensuring everything functioned properly. Immediately, I encountered an issue: I couldn't log into my account on Windows because of a security update. I needed to connect to the internet to resolve this and then authenticate. The issue stemmed from my motherboard failing to install network drivers, preventing any internet access. I spent a day trying various workarounds, but nothing resolved it. Eventually, I used an Ubuntu boot drive to transfer essential files to an external drive and wiped the C drive, then reinstalled Windows 11. I thought this would solve everything. Unfortunately, it didn't. After installing all drivers and updates, the network port finally worked, and I used the PC for basic tasks. It seemed stable until it crashed repeatedly, triggering a BSOD. At this stage, I hadn't performed any intensive benchmarking yet. This issue persisted for a few days. Eventually, I realized I had overlooked updating the BIOS. Once I did, everything functioned smoothly. This has been my main concern over the past two weeks. I reached a point where I was benchmarking the system for tasks like video editing, 3D modeling, and gaming. I tested with two games: Cyberpunk 2077 (known for inconsistencies) and RDR2 (reputed for stability). My tolerance for FPS isn't high—around 30fps feels awkward, but I can handle 60fps comfortably. However, any drop below about 5 fps is problematic for me. On my previous system, I achieved around 45fps with medium settings in Cyberpunk 2077 and close to 60fps in RDR2 when using DLSS off. The main drawback was inconsistent frame rates and motion blur, which affected my experience. Now, with the 3070ti running at low settings, I averaged about 58fps, which was erratic—dropping to as low as 18fps and spiking up to 134fps. This instability was unsettling. I initially suspected a GPU issue, but after an RMA and a return of my 980ti, the performance didn't improve. I then tried running benchmarks with the 3070ti on low settings, but results were disappointing. This led me to consider other components: my CPU and motherboard might be the culprits, or perhaps I missed a critical setting. SSD performance also lagged compared to previous systems, though they remain faster than traditional HDDs. I haven't attempted overclocking beyond enabling XMP, and my temperatures are within normal ranges. Fans behave erratically during idle. I'm still trying to figure out the root cause and need advice on next steps. Thanks in advance for your help, and sorry for the lengthy update. Edit: added PSU. I realized I had overlooked something. Also, wiping the SSD and reinstalling Windows helped temporarily—maybe a defective installation? Edited August 3, 2022 by emandude777 Added clarification and more details.**
Simplifying things: remove the mainboard, reset CMOS fully, skip the GPU (since Intel includes its own graphics), and use just one RAM stick. If this setup functions, your power supply might be struggling. The type of PSU matters because both CPU and GPU consume a lot of energy—upgrading could be necessary.
Besides the PSU problem mentioned earlier, I hadn't performed any Windows reinstall or fresh installation. As you're aware, drivers can leave behind remnants after updates or removals, leading to instability or malfunctions. Therefore, I recommend a complete Windows reinstall, especially since your hardware has changed. This would be logical given the performance issues I experienced, where the system would slow down and become less efficient. A fresh setup typically resolved those problems for me.
In my previous setup I had a 550w unit, and now I'm using an 850w one from EVGA, both are 80 plug gold.
Between each GPU update I relied on DDU, but you're likely correct—fresh installation could be beneficial.
I don’t see any signs of thermal throttling in the benchmarks like Furmark. The small 120mm radiator appears to be a design detail rather than an indicator of overheating.
UPDATE: I ended up getting an RMA for the 12700k as well as a new Dual Fan larger radiator. I also reinstalled windows. Thank you all for your suggestions as now everything seems to work as it should. I don't think it was throttling, since I'm still getting the same temps, but it doesn't hurt to have better cooling anyway. I suspect it was just a bad windows install. Now if I test CP2077 with low settings, I get 150fps! So I tried low RT settings and I'm getting 75fps which is my refresh rate! This is awesome!