New Build Issue - Slow CPU while in game

[Drizzt5]

Hello!

First of all, this is my first time logging onto this account since looks like 2011, so hi again! I've been out of the PC building game for a while.

Second, I just bought new parts and put them together and have had performance problems I didn't expect. So let me get into it and perhaps someone can help!

Parts: Ryzen 5 3600, ASRock B550m Steel legend, 2x8GB DDR4 3600, GTX 1660 Super
Problem: I am trying to play Counter Strike: Global Offensive on low settings at 1920x1080 with at least 144 FPS, which should be very easy with these specs. My CPU temperature is relatively low and I keep an eye on it in my second screen along with the other metrics shown in Ryzen Master. Shortly after starting the game, my CPU cores downclock to around 1200 to 2000 mhz instead of running at 3600 or higher mhz that I would like them to be at. My FPS suffers quite a bit.

I've tried a few things. I've tried using Ryzen Master to set it to the gamer profile. I've tried changing the Windows power management profile to the Ryzen Performance mode. I looked in the bios for any power saving feature but didn't see anything yet. I've tried restarting a few times and I've tried some tweaks and game settings in Counter Strike and also running the game at stock. Nothing.

I've also tried running Prime 95 or the Ryzen Master stress test, which pushes the core clock rate up to where I would expect with no temperature issues.

My best guess is it seems like the game is causing the CPU to go into a power saving mode.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Toothless]

Force a high power profile or lock the clocks to just under max turbo and see if that helps.

 

[Drizzt5]

Force a high power profile or lock the clocks to just under max turbo and see if that helps.

In Ryzen Master? Do I do this under the Manual option?

 

[biffzinker]

In Ryzen Master?

In Windows 10 go to Settings, System, Power & sleep. Move the slider over to best performance.

 

[Drizzt5]

In Windows 10 go to Settings, System, Power & sleep. Move the slider over to best performance.
View attachment 160670

This is what mine looks like:

However, as I mentioned in the first post I did change the power plan here:

And these are the details relating to the processor in the power plan:

So I don't think that is the issue here. Does anyone have advice for a Ryzen Master profile that may assist with this? I'll keep playing with it and see if I can get the cores to just get stuck at 3.6Ghz or something.

 

[Caring1]

Make sure your game priority is set to high and do -high on launch options

 

[Drizzt5]

Make sure your game priority is set to high and do -high on launch options

Okay, do you mean in task manager set the process to 'high' priority? Just did that.

Is there anyway to just make the cores run at a stable clock rate when playing CS:GO? I want the performance to be as stable as possible.

This is what the clock rate looks like in a simple test server now with all the changes. It's good that core 1 is at least running at 3.5Ghz now (although I'll test in Deathmatch now). All other cores are 3 or below. Is this normal behavior? Also about to test in another game besides CS:GO.

 

[Caring1]

Okay, do you mean in task manager set the process to 'high' priority? Just did that.

Game launch settings.

 

[Drizzt5]

Game launch settings.

Added to game launch options and don't see a difference.


Maybe related, but is it normal for the Ryzen 5 3600 to have such low clock speeds while browsing on Chrome?

I feel as if when I scroll I am occasionally experiencing stuttering as well... not ideal.

 

[biffzinker]

Maybe related, but is it normal for the Ryzen 5 3600 to have such low clock speeds while browsing on Chrome?

It’s the power management controller downclocking the cores, and lowering the voltage. There is no way to shut it off, I tried in the BIOS as a test when I first got my Ryzen 5 3600.

It should be ramping the clock speed up to 4.2 GHz give or take some load from Windows on the other cores causing the clock speed to drop a little bit.

This is what mine looks like:

I’m on the recent May 2020 update of Windows 10 Professional that maybe the difference your seeing?

 

[Drizzt5]

It’s the power management controller downclocking the cores, and lowering the voltage. There is no way to shut it off, I tried in the BIOS as a test when I first got my Ryzen 5 3600.

It should be ramping the clock speed up to 4.2 GHz give or take some load from Windows on the other cores causing the clock speed to drop a little bit.


I’m on the recent May 2020 update of Windows 10 Professional that maybe the difference your seeing?

So, in a game shouldn't I expect to see 4.2 GHz on at least a few of the cores? Otherwise it is just leaving performance on the table. In a game like CS:GO, the CPU performance is very important (GPU less so) and it seems like it is only using a small amount. But even worse than the performance not being stellar, the inconsistency of the core clock is causing the FPS to not be stable. I would rather have a stable 144 FPS than rapid changes between 150 and 600 (with or without the occasional drops to ~40-80 fps).


I am on Windows 10 Pro v. 2004 which I believe came out in May 2020.

 

[biffzinker]

So, in a game shouldn't I expect to see 4.2 GHz on at least a few of the cores?

I’ve only seen it on 1-2 cores with the built in benchmark in 7Zip. I don’t watch the clock speed in games. You could try out changing the thread count to the cores in 7Zip as a test for the clock speed down clocking under load from light to heavy.

7-Zip

 

[Vya Domus]

You are getting 300fps+ from that screenshot that you posted. The CPU is clocking up just fine, CS:GO is not a demanding game, you're trying to fix an issue that doesn't exist.

 

[Chomiq]

B550M so you never know, might be an early bios issue or so. Have you installed the latest chipset driver from AMD?

 

[Vayra86]

would rather have a stable 144 FPS than rapid changes between 150 and 600.

Common sense would dictate you stop running the game with uncapped FPS then.

CPU is fine. Have a look on blurbusters.com for some sweet settings to smoothen out your FPS and play with low input lag and no tearing.

If you do want to keep tweaking on the CPU, keep in mind that its just that, and that stock settings already get you pretty far, provided you have up to date AGESA and stuff.

 

[kayjay010101]

Your var is 0.2ms. That's very good frametimes. Your FPS is high too. I don't see the problem. A frame at 60FPS is 16.6ms. 120FPS is 8.3ms. So since the var (variation between frames) is less than 8.3ms (by far), you can't possibly notice it. If the var was something like 10ms, it would absolutely be a problem.

The CPU only boosts one core (CS:GO uses only one core iirc) and it won't boost to the max as the game clearly doesn't need it.
Ryzen is very active in downclocking and boosting. If nothing's being done, it will happily sit at 0.7GHz to reduce power draw. If something pings the CPU, it'll choose the fastest cores to deal with the higher priority stuff.

You can avoid this by setting an all-core overclock but at that point you lose all of the advantages of boosting: single core performance and idle power draw suffers.
With boosting you can have the maximum possible all-core while also having the best single core. If your CPU can do 4.0GHz all-core and 4.2GHz single, setting an all-core overclock means you lose 200MHz singlecore. If you let it be stock, it's effectively better than an overclock. That's why people don't recommend manually overclocking Ryzen, as most of the time it just hurts performance nad increases idle power draw/idle voltage/idle temps.

I think the 'stutters' you're experiencing is your own brain psyching you out. You see an unexpected result (low clocks at the desktop) and your brain automatically thinks 'everything's wrong'. As a result you think you experience stutters that otherwise wouldn't be there. But that's pure speculation on my part, but without any form of evidence of stutter (latencymon, or even a video of you scrolling) there's no other conclusion I can really draw.

 

[jaiq]

The stuttering could be caused by a driver issue/conflict. See LatencyMon https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon and check which component freaks out.
For example, If you were to produce music on this PC, you would hear pops and clicks no matter how high the CPU clock when latency spikes at times. This would be a big issue.
For many (myself included), Nvidia and networking drivers are causing havoc on DAW playback/recording. Disabling those or removing the GPU irons out the issue.

 

[Drizzt5]

I’ve only seen it on 1-2 cores with the built in benchmark in 7Zip. I don’t watch the clock speed in games. You could try out changing the thread count to the cores in 7Zip as a test for the clock speed down clocking under load from light to heavy.

7-Zip

I ran Prime95 and it had no issue at 4.2ghz for ten mins with good temps.

I'm only watching the clock speed in game AFTER experiencing very low drops, sometimes as low as ~40 FPS (usually with smokes involved).

You are getting 300fps+ from that screenshot that you posted. The CPU is clocking up just fine, CS:GO is not a demanding game, you're trying to fix an issue that doesn't exist.

Perhaps the screenshot is misleading, but it's in a stripped down aim map where the FPS would be expected to be fine. Later today I can post another one with smokes and other issues that bring the FPS further down than when I played on my 2016 MacBook Pro (sub ~40 FPS). Meanwhile, I can see the clock rate is sometimes 2ghz or lower.

B550M so you never know, might be an early bios issue or so. Have you installed the latest chipset driver from AMD?

I was worried about that too, I updated to the latest firmware when it came. The firmware was released during the time between ordering the motherboard and receiving it. Very new, so hopefully if it is software it gets resolved soon.
Yes, as of 6/24/2020.

Common sense would dictate you stop running the game with uncapped FPS then.

CPU is fine. Have a look on blurbusters.com for some sweet settings to smoothen out your FPS and play with low input lag and no tearing.

If you do want to keep tweaking on the CPU, keep in mind that its just that, and that stock settings already get you pretty far, provided you have up to date AGESA and stuff.

Uncapped FPS is an option for smoothing out FPS, but doesn't help with the really low drops.
I will check out that website, thanks.
I don't really want to tweak the CPU, I thought I could drop in solid 2020 hardware and dominate a game from 2012, but here we are. Browsing Chrome on my MacBook Pro or Windows work machine doesn't produce any noticeable Chrome stuttering, yet on my new gaming PC it lags scrolling through a reddit thread.

Your var is 0.2ms. That's very good frametimes. Your FPS is high too. I don't see the problem. A frame at 60FPS is 16.6ms. 120FPS is 8.3ms. So since the var (variation between frames) is less than 8.3ms (by far), you can't possibly notice it. If the var was something like 10ms, it would absolutely be a problem.

The CPU only boosts one core (CS:GO uses only one core iirc) and it won't boost to the max as the game clearly doesn't need it.
Ryzen is very active in downclocking and boosting. If nothing's being done, it will happily sit at 0.7GHz to reduce power draw. If something pings the CPU, it'll choose the fastest cores to deal with the higher priority stuff.

You can avoid this by setting an all-core overclock but at that point you lose all of the advantages of boosting: single core performance and idle power draw suffers.
With boosting you can have the maximum possible all-core while also having the best single core. If your CPU can do 4.0GHz all-core and 4.2GHz single, setting an all-core overclock means you lose 200MHz singlecore. If you let it be stock, it's effectively better than an overclock. That's why people don't recommend manually overclocking Ryzen, as most of the time it just hurts performance nad increases idle power draw/idle voltage/idle temps.

I think the 'stutters' you're experiencing is your own brain psyching you out. You see an unexpected result (low clocks at the desktop) and your brain automatically thinks 'everything's wrong'. As a result you think you experience stutters that otherwise wouldn't be there. But that's pure speculation on my part, but without any form of evidence of stutter (latencymon, or even a video of you scrolling) there's no other conclusion I can really draw.

I was just providing one screenshot as an example of what the cores are doing. It's on a very lightly textured aim map, but I can take a screenshot on a map with smokes and textures.

Is there an easy way to set a profile to do an all-core overclock or main core overclock for one application?

Thanks for your post, but I am not psyching myself out. I didn't start looking at the clock rate or any of this until noticing severe performance issues while playing the game. And the Chrome issue is a very obvious lag where the mouse doesn't move and then it starts scrolling again.

I'll check out latencymon.

The stuttering could be caused by a driver issue/conflict. See LatencyMon https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon and check which component freaks out.
For example, If you were to produce music on this PC, you would hear pops and clicks no matter how high the CPU clock when latency spikes at times. This would be a big issue.
For many (myself included), Nvidia and networking drivers are causing havoc on DAW playback/recording. Disabling those or removing the GPU irons out the issue.

Thanks I will check out latencymon soon.
What do you mean exactly by removing the GPU?

 

[Vayra86]

Uncapped FPS is an option for smoothing out FPS, but doesn't help with the really low drops.
I will check out that website, thanks.
I don't really want to tweak the CPU, I thought I could drop in solid 2020 hardware and dominate a game from 2012, but here we are. Browsing Chrome on my MacBook Pro or Windows work machine doesn't produce any noticeable Chrome stuttering, yet on my new gaming PC it lags scrolling through a reddit thread.

All of this points at software and not hardware issues. Can also be application specific but since stutter manifests in and outside of games, I'd look into AGESA versions first, then chipset drivers, and then GPU / Network / Audio / Storage.

This is a separate problem from the framedrops in CS GO; if you push uncapped FPS, you will not have a smooth ride, because the gap between peak and low FPS is massive and that shows as stuttery behaviour at these framerates. But, you're checking out blurbusters for that already. Do treat them as separate issues though, to keep sane

Stutter is a nasty one to really get a grip on, especially on high refresh gaming rigs. Virtually anything can screw with your latency when you push that many frames.

 

[Drizzt5]

All of this points at software and not hardware issues. Can also be application specific but since stutter manifests in and outside of games, I'd look into AGESA versions first, then chipset drivers, and then GPU / Network / Audio / Storage.

This is a separate problem from the framedrops in CS GO; if you push uncapped FPS, you will not have a smooth ride, because the gap between peak and low FPS is massive and that shows as stuttery behaviour at these framerates. But, you're checking out blurbusters for that already. Do treat them as separate issues though, to keep sane

When you say AGESA, is this the bios firmware?

Thanks for your advice. How would you suggest I go about methodically checking these drivers again? I'd like to avoid yet another clean windows reboot if possible, it's something I've already tried.

I'll need to check all these websites after work. Hopefully they point to the issue.

 

[Vayra86]

AGESA is the bios firmware for Ryzen CPUs yes. I'll be honest, its probably the same search for me as it is for you, I don't run an AMD rig myself over here. Probably Motherboard/vendor specific method to get updated.

Chipset stuff is also motherboard related, most recent versions should be under downloads for your specific board. That will also likely cover the network and audio chip onboard.

Storage is more a case of access times. If you run high performance applications off slow storage or the storage is otherwise being used rigorously, it can manifest as stutter.

When all those things are in stock/preferred state, you could also look further into RAM. I do believe RAM timings and speeds influence Ryzen CPUs a good deal. But again, for the details, I'd refer to those who have more practical experience. You can also look around on TPU, especially for RAM I think this is your place to be:

Ryzen DRAM Calculator by 1usmus

Hi guys, I created a calculator that will make it easier to overclock the memory. It works with all kinds of memory and all zen processors. Ryzen DRAM Calculator 1.5.1 Last update : May 13th 2019 >> Download latest version >AMD Ryzen Memory Tweaking & Overclocking Guide

www.techpowerup.com

Lots of ppl in there who have more hands on XP than me

When it comes to the blurbusters part/gaming part of stutter killing, I can be of assistance though.

 

[Drizzt5]

I opened a chrome tab and got this:

A few min later:

So, this points to the NVIDIA drivers. Should I go to an earlier driver version perhaps? These are freshly installed.

Installed the previous version (446.14) and still appears to be an issue. I've only loaded google chrome so far.

Perhaps related, ASRock has released a new Beta BIOS for my motherboard today.
ASRock Beta BIOS

If I can't figure out the problem, I suppose Beta BIOS would be the next thing to try? Is it likely it is causing the High DPC execution time in LatencyMon?

 

[biffzinker]

So, this points to the NVIDIA drivers. Should I go to an earlier driver version perhaps? These are freshly installed.

I'm not having an issue with high latency from the Nvidia driver version 451.48. All I've been doing is general browsing in Firefox, and playing a Youtube video.

Running Skyrim SE with Vsync turned off:

 

[Drizzt5]

I'm not having an issue with high latency from the Nvidia driver version 451.48.
View attachment 160776

Not really sure what to do next, my guess now is it is the BIOS. Not really excited to flash a Beta BIOS though. Any other suggestions?

 

[Lionheart]

Probably unrelated but have you turned off Xbox Game Bar & Game Mode?