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Cannot stabilize framerate in any games

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So this has been going on for the past few months where none of my games (or any software with graphics) can keep a stable frame rate. Games that should run on 60fps constantly switches between 60fps and 0-10fps and back about twice per second. I've monitored my resource usage and when I run a game my GPU and CPU usage seem to fluctuate in the same fashion.

It doesn't seem to be a heating issue. My GPU goes up to 70C but according to Gigabyte it should run fine at 90C. I believe my pc specs are publicly visible. Any sort of input would be greatly appreciated, as I'm at the end of my wits.
 

manofthem

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I'm shocked... Your first post and you already have your System Specs filled in :respect: Very awesome:toast:

Start by making sure Windows is up to date, and a clean video driver install. Scan for virus/malware etc. Also, wouldn't hurt to mention if you've already done certain troubleshooting things, just to lay out more info.
 
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Thanks for the reply!

I reinstalled my video driver yesterday. Also, I'm still not sure if windows update can even be completely stopped. I also found some BIOS settings that seems to boost and slow the CPU performance output as they see fit. I disabled those. Hope that's not dangerous.

Lastly, the instability seems to intensify the longer I play. This leads me to temperature issues, but I've checked the resource monitors and checked my chassis physically an I don't think it gets very hot at all.
 

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I also found some BIOS settings that seems to boost and slow the CPU performance output as they see fit. I disabled those. Hope that's not dangerous.

Lastly, the instability seems to intensify the longer I play. This leads me to temperature issues,

What are your CPU temps while gaming? Perhaps it's throttling due to heat and slowing you down; maybe cooler is not securely set...
 
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CPU temps run at about 62C average. It does seem to have briefly gone up to 74C, though.
 
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Could be a PSU issue. I know when some PSUs are going bad or the capacitors are about to crap out you will get spikes and surges in voltages. This results in spikes and surges in applications that stress the system and require more power. I.E games.
 
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Please don't hate me for this, but another thing I should have mentioned is that two of the RAM slots on my mother board stopped functioning three weeks ago. When I plug a chip into them, my PC won't boot. The reason stated, according to the beeper, is a PSU failure. Now the reason I didn't mention this is that this was 3 weeks ago and the framerate issue started months ago. Also, I have since installed a different PSU to test it and I got the same performance results and issues across the board.
 
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I have similar build to yours..except I have a r9 280..
I've changed the memory, psu, SSD's and my heatsink...And I'm still having very similar issues...I have tried Windows 7, 8.1 and 10...
Problem remains...
And so are lots of people with 280, 280x, 380, 380x, 290, 290x and 390's...
Looking around the forums it's sickening to see how many people are having this issue...
I've come to the conclusion it's a driver issue and I cannot figure out with what..but so far it seems to be effecting cards with Hynix memory...that's all I've been able to connect so far...
So if you wouldn't mind post your gfx model so I can see if you have Hynix memory as well.
 
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It seriously sounds like something is hogging resources in the background. That, or something is not right with turbo boost on your CPU.

We've got very similar systems like @jmcslob - I've got a UD5H and 290x (and a hefty overclock on the CPU).

Here's a suggestion... use GPUz to monitor the clock frequency with different loads on the CPU... or go to task manager and watch performance (CPU use) it for a while with no loading and then loading.

Same might be true with your 290.
 
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What games specifically are you trying to play?
 
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Skyrim, Witcher 3, Slime Rancher, Sword Coast Legends... Heck I even tried The Sims 4. EVERY game has the same problem.
 
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A possible solution is to install a game in the ssd. If that solves the problem, then the cause for all that behaviour is the HDD being used over 70% or being crap (WD Green maybe?).
 
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I had a WD Green, and i can asure you, if it is in good health, it will perform good. I was able to get it to boot windows under 45 sec, so it is just clever work.
I would start with the CPU. Turning of Turbo, and try running it on full turbo clocks, and see if that helps.
Next would go to the GPU. I have a 280x and i did some tweeking around to make it perform well. Put power to + 10% and every time i open a game my fans go to 50%. My GPU gets stable temps at around 62-65C.
Next i would go to the games and set setting to be automatically set in the settings.
Then try as above suggested, instal games on ssd and see if it helps.
If all else fails, i would do a clean windows instal on your machine, due to maybe having a bitcoin mining virus or something else.
If that doesnt help, swaping a PSU would help rule out your PSU.
These are just things i would do.
Maybe someone would suggest something else.

Noticed cooling is standard, and psu is Huntkey 700w.
If you got stock cooler on your CPU, change that to something aftermarket, maybe a Hyper 212+ or Deep Cool Gammaxx 400.
Is PSU real 700w? Because if it is not, there may be our problem.
Try to monitor 12v rail on psu, and see if voltage drops below 11.7, then your psu cannot feed your gpu with constant power.
 
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Please don't hate me for this, but another thing I should have mentioned is that two of the RAM slots on my mother board stopped functioning three weeks ago. When I plug a chip into them, my PC won't boot. The reason stated, according to the beeper, is a PSU failure. Now the reason I didn't mention this is that this was 3 weeks ago and the framerate issue started months ago. Also, I have since installed a different PSU to test it and I got the same performance results and issues across the board.

Alarm bells should be going off if RAM *slots happily start dying on you. Don't game for a second more on that system, and test with a replacement PSU to see if the problem goes away. If it does, replace PSU directly. Everything, including make and model of PSU, points towards power issues. /// EDIT: NEVER MIND. Missed the post where you already swapped PSU ///

For future reference, with stability/crash issues on an existing system, always troubleshoot in this order:

Software
Temperatures
PSU
RAM
Storage access
Mobo
GPU/CPU

This is because it is very difficult to break a CPU, a broken GPU is generally VRAM which will result in signal loss or fancy colors on your screen and artifacts. Follow that order in a rigid fashion, don't fall into the trap of 'buying away problems' with new hardware right away. Always try to be 100% certain you have found the problem before you fix it :) Don't be like that other guy in this thread that still runs into issues after swapping all sorts of parts *wink*

I see way too many posters here jumping to conclusions and suggesting part swapping. Bad practices... If you think a driver update may have caused the issue, roll back to a stable driver. Crimson is rather new, so there is some likelihood.
 
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I did a fresh install of the latest AMD drivers yesterday. Made no difference. I've been using this PSU for almost 2 years now and It's always worked perfectly.
 
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I seem to have isolated the problem. Another thing I failed to mention is that I watch stuff on a second monitor while gaming. Usually this isn't an issue, but when I looked closer at my cpu usage, it seems that watching a video on my browser pushes CPU usage up by 40%!!! So I think the culprit is either Adobe Flash or some virus that Windows Defender failed to detect. I would appreciate it if anyone could advise me on how to proceed. Sorry for not sharing all the details.
 
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Looking around the forums it's sickening to see how many people are having this issue...
That's funny because I have no issues what so ever with my system. It has been rock solid.

It is probably a RAM issue not enough 4gb. If you have an 8gb stick I would try that and see if things improve. Although you said you only had slots working because of a psu issue. SO you may want to get a new psu and see if the other 2 slots comeback. Maybe.
 
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I seem to have isolated the problem. Another thing I failed to mention is that I watch stuff on a second monitor while gaming. Usually this isn't an issue, but when I looked closer at my cpu usage, it seems that watching a video on my browser pushes CPU usage up by 40%!!! So I think the culprit is either Adobe Flash or some virus that Windows Defender failed to detect. I would appreciate it if anyone could advise me on how to proceed. Sorry for not sharing all the details.
Unplug your 2nd monitor and try to play and check if the problem is still there. If not, if you clean your system using malwarebytes anti-malware (freeware) and problem exists, then it is a sw problem with flashplayer or something else eating cpu cycles.
 
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I'm using pc clients for youtube and twitch now instead of my browser. Way less CPU consumption and overall performance is better, but the framerate instability is still there. Also yesterday I changed the thermal paste on my CPU to be sure and when I reassembled everything, a third RAM slot started malfunctioning, which is why I'm down to 4GB memory. It's really odd, since I didn't come anywhere near my RAM slots. I'm down to only one functioning RAM slot on my MB and it feels like it's only a matter of time. Anyone have any ideas as to why it's happening?
 
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Pins from MB coulb be in bad condition I guess and some of them are used for the lanes that connect chipset to rams. A friend of mine had such an accident and from then on the mb had only 1 RAM slot usable. He was forced to change MB, CPU, RAM as it was old enough to find a good MB for his CPU. Or else, PSU doesn't regulate the power well enough and your MB is dying because of that.
 
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Anyone have any ideas as to why it's happening?
Just as @Sasqui suggested, run GPU-z while running your game, wait for when fps drop happen and monitor what happens to a gpu clock, gpu load and voltage. Then report back here.
 
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I'm using pc clients for youtube and twitch now instead of my browser. Way less CPU consumption and overall performance is better, but the framerate instability is still there. Also yesterday I changed the thermal paste on my CPU to be sure and when I reassembled everything, a third RAM slot started malfunctioning, which is why I'm down to 4GB memory. It's really odd, since I didn't come anywhere near my RAM slots. I'm down to only one functioning RAM slot on my MB and it feels like it's only a matter of time. Anyone have any ideas as to why it's happening?

Motherboard is on it's way out, nothing you can do about that apart from replace it, and if that is the case it could be causing some other odd behaviour explaining your erratic framerate. You have tried other sticks of RAM I assume?
 
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Just as @Sasqui suggested, run GPU-z while running your game, wait for when fps drop happen and monitor what happens to a gpu clock, gpu load and voltage. Then report back here.
GPU load and voltage stay more or less constant and gpu clock fluctuates between 800 and 1030 before and during instability.
 
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GPU load and voltage stay more or less constant and gpu clock fluctuates between 800 and 1030 before and during instability.
Hmm, ordinarily I'd suggest to increase voltage tiny bit to the gpu, if only the PSU were a good one.
Huntkey PSU-s are not considered very good, many users report they break within a year or two.
It's possible the dead ram slots on the mobo are due to the bad PSU, and possibly the inability for gpu to keep max clocks due to PSU not delivering power clean enough.
I'd say you either have 2 unrelated issues ... dying mobo and gpu that is not stable with max clock at default voltages ... or 3 related issues ... bad psu killing motherboard and gpu that is not stable with max clock at default voltages because of the bad PSU.
 
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RAM problems coming from a faulty mobo are more than enough to destroy gaming experience imho.
 
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