# Random FPS drops and GPU usage



## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055t @ 2.8ghz / ASETEK 510LC 120MM WATERCOOLER 
MB: ASUS M4A77T/USB3
Memory: 4GB Corsair 1600mhz
HD:  1TB SATA II 3.0 GB 7200RPM HD & 30GB KINGSTON 2.5 IN SATA SSD
PSU: SIGMA SP-600AB 600 WATT ESP 80+ POWER 
GPU: XFX HD 6950, 11.3 Drivers CAP 3

Hi, I'm new to these forums, and be warned, I am not very tech savvy although I do know enough to get by. I got a computer made from CyberPower a couple months ago. I thought everything was fine with it until I decided to upgrade the video card from an ATI HD 5750 to an XFX HD 6950. That's when I noticed something was wrong, when playing RIFT: Planes of Telara I would notice my FPS drop out of nowhere almost like my GPU was throttling. This would happen while playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2. My friend told me to monitor it with MSI Afterburner and I noticed that whenever my FPS would tank so would GPU usage. 

At first I thought it was a GPU issue so I sent the card in to XFX for RMA. They sent me back another one with a different revision. Still this did nothing to fix my FPS issue so now I think this must have something to do with the rest of my system. All my drivers are up to date. I’m not quite sure what the problem is. My GPU isn’t overheating and I don’t believe my CPU is either. 

I’ve also tried replacing the power supply with a new one but that didn’t fix the issue either. Could it be my MB or CPU?

UPDATE: 4/16/11
So I went ahead and got a new motherboard. I decided to stick with ASUS and got the Crosshair IV Formula board. The problem has not come up at all so I have come to believe that my old board, the ASUS M4A77T/USB3, was the source of the problem. Just wanted to log it here so anybody else googling similar problems can see this thread. Thanks for all the help everyone!


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## erocker (Apr 7, 2011)

Have you tried different drivers?


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## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

I've tried most of the new drivers, even the 11.4 beta drivers. Should I try a lot older drivers?


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

While this isn't really related, I suggest you OC your CPU, it will yield better FPS in most games. Try to aim for at least 3.2~3.6Ghz


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## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

n-ster said:


> While this isn't really related, I suggest you OC your CPU, it will yield better FPS in most games. Try to aim for at least 3.2~3.6Ghz



I've thought about this but Heroes of Newerth ran pretty much without a hiccup on my previous computer which was only a Phenom dual core @ 2.8ghz also and sporting an Geforce 9600 GT. HoN shouldn't take very much CPU or GPU power so my new PC shouldn't be doing as bad as it is.


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

Do the fps drop like that when rendering particular scenes? I'm thinking of things like panning around a map and viewing something particularly detailed. Also, when the action gets going, this can happen quite noticeably.

Basically, the processing load can increase by 10 times or so, depending on what the game is doing, so drops like that are not so unusual. You have a powerful system there, but it can still happen.

Try lowering quality settings, such as resolution and turning off AA and see how it runs. Lowering texture resolution can help a lot, too. Frame rate should jump up significantly.

I wouldn't regard the GPU usage meter in Afterburner as 100% reliable, so it could be showing you a red herring.

www.fraps.com is a great tool for viewing instantaneous frame rate.


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

qubit said:


> Do the fps drop like that when rendering particular scenes? I'm thinking of things like panning around a map and viewing something particularly detailed. Also, when the action gets going, this can happen quite noticeably.
> 
> Basically, the processing load can increase by 10 times or so, depending on what the game is doing, so drops like that are not so unusual. You have a powerful system there, but it can still happen.
> 
> ...



He has a freaking 6950 with a hexacore... Maybe turn down AA, but else it should pretty much own it.

if you have anything forced in your CCC, make them application managed.  since when did you notice an FPS drop?


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

n-ster said:


> He has a freaking 6950 with a hexacore... Maybe turn down AA, but else it should pretty much own it.
> 
> if you have anything forced in your CCC, make them application managed.  since when did you notice an FPS drop?



Yes, I said he's got a powerful system. Yet, he's getting significant frame rate drops, so this is an appropriate troubleshooting measure.


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

qubit said:


> Yes, I said he's got a powerful system. Yet, he's getting significant frame rate drops, so this is an appropriate troubleshooting measure.



but you were hinting that it may be normal behavior, I just wanted to clarify it it isn't


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

n-ster said:


> but you were hinting that it may be normal behavior, I just wanted to clarify it it isn't



Yes, it can still happen even if the system is working normally. Depending on the game and the settings used, it's possible for certain scenes to show particularly crap frame rates. Think of the scenario where you're having a fast gunfight with lots of explosions and effects and in the background you've got that fps sapping detail. Then yes, even a high spec system can display low frame rates. The faster the system, the less time this effect is seen though. There's no black and white certainty here.


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

From the problems he is mentioning it is not the case at all. his GPU usage suddenly drops sometimes, which also leads to lower fps....


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

And do you trust Afterburner to be accurately reporting GPU usage? I'm not convinced it is and I've said so above. There could be any number of reasons why that number could be off.


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## Andrei23 (Apr 7, 2011)

try overclocking your gpu by 10 mhz


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

And what's that gonna do?


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

qubit said:


> And do you trust Afterburner to be accurately reporting GPU usage? I'm not convinced it is and I've said so above. There could be any number of reasons why that number could be off.



it's not 100% accurate but it does the job.... the fps drops are noticeable by his eye..... when he checks MSIa, he sees that when the FPS drops, his GU usage also, and MSI A is a good genera indicator of GPU usage, and does OK with FPS, though not very accurate, it can easily tell you when a massive FPS drop occurs


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## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

Well while playing RIFT, I could be doing anything, even sitting still in a low populated area and the FPS would still tank. Even using the lower quality render option in the game I would start out with 60+ FPS then all of a sudden it drops down to below 15 fps for a minute or so and then jump back up to normal. Maybe afterburner isn't trustworthy, but the same event happens in three separate games.

EDIT: RIFT has an in-game utility that shows your FPS and Ping.


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

Lpeezy said:


> Well while playing RIFT, I could be doing anything, even sitting still in a low populated area and the FPS would still tank. Even using the lower quality render option in the game I would start out with 60+ FPS then all of a sudden it drops down to below 15 fps for a minute or so and then jump back up to normal. Maybe afterburner isn't trustworthy, but the same event happens in three separate games.
> 
> EDIT: RIFT has an in-game utility that shows your FPS and Ping.



Hmmm... that certainly doesn't sound like normal performance, does it? Especially if it sits like that for a whole minute or so. Does the CPU usage perhaps spike due to other tasks when this happens? Try turning off your security software and see if it helps. If it decides to do a scan or update at the wrong moment, it could certainly cause this. Do you see lots of HD activity when the fps drops?


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

qubit said:


> Hmmm... that certainly doesn't sound like normal performance, does it? Especially if it sits like that for a whole minute or so. Does the CPU usage perhaps spike due to other tasks when this happens? Try turning off your security software and see if it helps. If it decides to do a scan or update at the wrong moment, it could certainly cause this. Do you see lots of HD activity when the fps drops?



I doubt it is an update...

but software conflict/ driver conflict is entirely possible


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## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

qubit said:


> Hmmm... that certainly doesn't sound like normal performance, does it? Especially if it sits like that for a whole minute or so. Does the CPU usage perhaps spike due to other tasks when this happens? Try turning off your security software and see if it helps. If it decides to do a scan or update at the wrong moment, it could certainly cause this. Do you see lots of HD activity when the fps drops?



I certainly hope its not normal performance. As far as I know, CPU usage never goes above 60ish %. I only have the Win7 security stuff, nothing else.


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## erocker (Apr 7, 2011)

Lpeezy said:


> I certainly hope its not normal performance. As far as I know, CPU usage never goes above 60ish %. I only have the Win7 security stuff, nothing else.



No, it's definitely not normal performance. Your card is switching to video 2d mode and you are getting the FPS drops. Are you playing in windowed mode? If so, that can cause it. Other programs running in the background can also cause it. 

All that being said and barring the FPS drops due to your GPU underclocking you really should put a slight overclock on your CPU. 3.2 - 3.4ghz at 1.35v should be easily done, safe and stable.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

erocker said:


> No, it's definitely not normal performance. Your card is switching to video 2d mode and you are getting the FPS drops. Are you playing in windowed mode? If so, that can cause it. Other programs running in the background can also cause it.
> 
> All that being said and barring the FPS drops due to your GPU underclocking you really should put a slight overclock on your CPU. 3.2 - 3.4ghz at 1.35v should be easily done, safe and stable.



To be honest, I don't think overclocking my CPU would solve the problem because like I said, BFBC2 and HoN both run fine on my old system at the same speed with four less cores. Although overclocking wouldn't hurt, now I just need to figure out how to do that . There was something in the BIOS that allowed me to up the % of each core by a set amount so I tried 12% but my CPU still read 2.81 GHz. I've never toyed with overclocking before so I apologize for my badness!

I play BFBC2 and HoN both in fullscreen, and I've tried RIFT in windowed, fullscreen, and windowed-fullscreen. The problem still persists.


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## n-ster (Apr 7, 2011)

Lpeezy said:


> To be honest, I don't think overclocking my CPU would solve the problem because like I said, BFBC2 and HoN both run fine on my old system at the same speed with four less cores. Although overclocking wouldn't hurt, now I just need to figure out how to do that . There was something in the BIOS that allowed me to up the % of each core by a set amount so I tried 12% my CPU still read 2.81 GHz.
> 
> I play BFBC2 and HoN both in fullscreen, and I've tried RIFT in windowed, fullscreen, and windowed-fullscreen. The problem still persists.



He said he knows this isn't the problem, but performance would be better with OCed CPU.

Only thing I can think of doing is a clean OS install


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## Lpeezy (Apr 7, 2011)

n-ster said:


> He said he knows this isn't the problem, but performance would be better with OCed CPU.
> 
> Only thing I can think of doing is a clean OS install



Ah, well sorry. I've tried doing a clean OS install. Previously, I had the OS installed on the SSD with RIFT on the 1TB HD. Then I tried installing the OS on the 1TB HD with RIFT also on the same HD. Currently, OS is installed on 1TB HD with RIFT on the SSD. Same problems with every set up.


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## qubit (Apr 7, 2011)

This might well be a driver problem. Any chance on you borrowing a similar performance nvidia card and trying that? If it fixes it, then it's definitely a driver problem.

Do you have Windows fully patched and the latest DirectX runtime installed? Do this first, if you haven't.


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## alexsubri (Apr 7, 2011)

Make sure that the 6pin's are connected correctly as well as the GPU card pushed all the way in the PCI-E Slot. This happen to me before when I first starting running Crossfire. I learnt from trail and error.

Edit: Get HW Manager and check out your temps, fan speeds, etc... because any slight variance that isn't normal can pin point your problems.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 8, 2011)

*Example*





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I don't know if this helps but here's a picture of MSIa during a session of RIFT. The dips in GPU usage are when my FPS also drops and as soon as GPU usage goes back up so does my FPS. What could this mean?


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## qubit (Apr 8, 2011)

qubit said:


> This might well be a driver problem. Any chance on you borrowing a similar performance nvidia card and trying that? If it fixes it, then it's definitely a driver problem.
> 
> Do you have Windows fully patched and the latest DirectX runtime installed? Do this first, if you haven't.





Lpeezy said:


> [url]http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5240/gpus.jpg[/URL]
> 
> Uploaded with ImageShack.us
> 
> I don't know if this helps but here's a picture of MSIa during a session of RIFT. The dips in GPU usage are when my FPS also drops and as soon as GPU usage goes back up so does my FPS. What could this mean?



The only thing I'm sure of is that it's definitely a software problem, not hardware. Have you tried doing the bit I've quoted myself on? Patch everything, you'll be surprised what weirdness it cures!


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## n-ster (Apr 8, 2011)

crank up the fan to 60% fixed, see if somehow there is a temp throttle that is too low. Also, set your core to 800 and mem to 1250mhz


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## Andrei23 (Apr 8, 2011)

have you tried overclocking your gpu by 10 mhz? I used to get the same problem as you with my 6950 and it went away after I oced it


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## 95Viper (Apr 8, 2011)

Make sure you are using High Performance power setting. 
Also, another thing you might want to check is under advanced power options.
You might try setting the PCI Express > Link Power State Management to Off.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 9, 2011)

I've tried everything that was mentioned, everything is up to date, I've had the GPU fans at 60%, and overclocking the GPU slightly like in the picture. the Link Power State Management was never on in the first place to turn off. So sorry to say, but none of these suggestions work.


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## n-ster (Apr 9, 2011)

did you try downclocking to stock 800/1250?

if that doesnt work, try to see if you downclock a lot.... 700/1100


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## Lpeezy (Apr 9, 2011)

Yes I have tried leaving it at stock 800/1250. I don't think downclocking it will do anything because I previously had a HD5750 in the same system and it still produced the same problems. Same with the geforce 9600gt I also tried.


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## Goodman (Apr 9, 2011)

It's a on line game?
Could this be your internet acting up?

What about other games?


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## n-ster (Apr 9, 2011)

Lpeezy said:


> Yes I have tried leaving it at stock 800/1250. I don't think downclocking it will do anything because I previously had a HD5750 in the same system and it still produced the same problems. Same with the geforce 9600gt I also tried.



ohhh.... hmm.... this is weird.... imana do some research


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## 95Viper (Apr 9, 2011)

I am curious, as to:

1. What chipset does that SSD use?
2. Are you using it as your OS drive?
3. Where is your swap/page file; is it on the SSD?
    Or, do you use one(a page file)?
4. How much free space is on the SSD, is it close to full?

It could be a case of the GPU and CPU having to wait for the data from the drive causing delays, maybe.
Older JMicron chipsets used in the first generation SSDs were known to be laggy and stutter... I have one.
If you are using the 30GIG SSD as the OS/pagefile drive and it getting low on space it will choke, sorta like using no pagefile and some programs do not like, not having a pagefile.

This all conjecture, as, I do not know how you have setup your system.
And, if, I throw enough darts, I'll hit the board and, possibly, a bull's eye, eventually.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 9, 2011)

I really appreciate all the help, I'm not quite sure how long this problem has persisted, but I started noticing it when I got the 6950. I'm not quite sure what kind of chipset my SSD uses but like I said before. I've tried both having the OS on the SSD and the HDD (not at the same time) but the problem persists in both scenarios. I've also tried having the game (RIFT) on each drive with no luck. Only RIFT is on the SSD and BFBC2 is on the HDD but I still have the same problems. The SSD still has 18.4gb free out of 27.8gb.


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## n-ster (Apr 9, 2011)

I've heard RIFT has problems... This happens in all your other games as well though right?


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## Lpeezy (Apr 9, 2011)

n-ster said:


> I've heard RIFT has problems... This happens in all your other games as well though right?



Yep, this happens with other games BFBC2 and HoN also. I'm already aware of the compatibility problems RIFT has with some cards (mainly ATI) but I've scanned the Tech forums for RIFT and the problems others have posted seem unrelated to mine.


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## n-ster (Apr 9, 2011)

try removing (back it up in another folder)

D3DCompiler_42.dll
D3DX9_42.dll
d3dx10_42.dll
d3dx11_42.dll

From your BFBC2 folder, and see if that fixes it in there

try this as well http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=322616

just googling to see what worked for others and sharing it with you



Also, some people have had this problem solved by OCing their CPU, even though their CPU was definitively not the bottleneck. So OC your CPU to 3.2Ghz or something and hope a miracle happens lol


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## Mathragh (Apr 9, 2011)

Are you doing anything in the background, like watching flash video's in some explorer?

Flash can cause the GFX to downclock randomly, even when a 3d application is running(atleast on a mobility 4650, mobility 5650, and a radeon 6870).

My brother has the same problem with rift and watching youtube on his second screen with his 1055t(overclocked) and a 6870.
He also has it playing WoW and CoD.


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## SpookyWillow (Apr 9, 2011)

whats your max temp the card is hitting? pretty sure your graph say 84c,   i had this exact same issue with my brothers 5850's just yesterday and the cards were throttling around the same temps,   your after burner graph looks identicle to his.

try putting fans to 100% and leaving the side panel of the case off and see if it still does it.


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## Funtoss (Apr 9, 2011)

Tell us your specs


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## 95Viper (Apr 9, 2011)

Funtoss said:


> Tell us your specs



Did you look at his first post, he gave some there...

I know he could post them in his user CP, but maybe these will help you help him.



Lpeezy said:


> CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055t @ 2.8ghz / ASETEK 510LC 120MM WATERCOOLER
> MB: ASUS M4A77T/USB3
> Memory: 4GB Corsair 1600mhz
> HD:  1TB SATA II 3.0 GB 7200RPM HD & 30GB KINGSTON 2.5 IN SATA SSD
> ...


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## Lpeezy (Apr 9, 2011)

Hmm, I guess heat could be an issue because when I first turn my PC on for the day, it doesn't seem that I will get FPS tanks for a few hours but I could be wrong. I will monitor GPU and CPU temp today and get back to you all. 

@Mathragh I am not running anything in the background that could be causing this sort of problem.


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## susim (Apr 10, 2011)

I've lurked on these forums for years, but i felt compelled to reply to this thread.

I had exactly the same issue as the OP, and I tried everything that has been suggested.

Specs:


Phenom B55
4gb DDR2 RAM
8800GT/MSI 5850/GTX 260 (Problem occurred with all these cards)
1TB F3
OCZ Modstream Pro 600W/Corsair CX430/NorthQ Pacific 2.
Asus M4A77T

FPS would plummet from 60-70 to 10-15 for no apparent reason, then jump back up. GPU usage followed a similar pattern to the OP. 

I spent weeks trying to solve the problem using several combinations of hardware, to no avail. I finally got some advice from a guy on another forum, who suggested that the Asus MB was to blame. I was sceptical, but I was at my wits end, so I followed his advice. Purchased a cheap Biostar board which solved the problem, and I've not looked back since. I've even put all the components back into the Asus board and the problem reoccurs. Asus didn't recognise the problem, so they were useless at trying to help.


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## HalfAHertz (Apr 10, 2011)

Mathragh said:


> Are you doing anything in the background, like watching flash video's in some explorer?
> 
> Flash can cause the GFX to downclock randomly, even when a 3d application is running(atleast on a mobility 4650, mobility 5650, and a radeon 6870).
> 
> ...



I second the browser suspicions. Even having a browser open in the background without flash can cause problems, because the latest versions of popular browsers come with some form of hardware acceleration that uses your GPU and can force it into 2d clocks...


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## n-ster (Apr 10, 2011)

HalfAHertz said:


> I second the browser suspicions. Even having a browser open in the background without flash can cause problems, because the latest versions of popular browsers come with some form of hardware acceleration that uses your GPU and can force it into 2d clocks...



Guys, look at the MSIa screenshot closely... the clocks DO NOT DROP, therefore it does not go into 2D clocks




susim said:


> I've lurked on these forums for years, but i felt compelled to reply to this thread.
> 
> I had exactly the same issue as the OP, and I tried everything that has been suggested.
> 
> ...




It could be that the PCI-E slots or bus or something is to blame


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## qubit (Apr 10, 2011)

susim said:


> I've lurked on these forums for years, but i felt compelled to reply to this thread.
> 
> I had exactly the same issue as the OP, and I tried everything that has been suggested.
> 
> ...



Sounds like a BIOS fix is required on that mobo. I'd be really pissed if I'd spent all that money on it, to have this stupid problem they won't fix.

I've had zero problems with my Gigabyte board (see specs) and my friends are pleased with theirs too.

And welcome to TPU.  Do take part in our forum!


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## Lpeezy (Apr 10, 2011)

Again, I appreciate all the responses. I had suspected my MB to be the problem but I had to make sure by asking you all before shelling out some cash for another one. I've already tried looking for new BIOS updates for the board but there aren't any new updates. I guess I will just have to pick up a new board. 

Can anyone recommend me a decent board that would fit my specs? Obviously, I'm not too good at picking them .


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## n-ster (Apr 10, 2011)

if under warranty, RMA it?


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## qubit (Apr 10, 2011)

n-ster said:


> if under warranty, RMA it?



You're right of course, but you know what the problem with that is, don't you?

Regardless of how much detail Lpeezy puts in the fault description, they're simply gonna do the standard functional tests on it and hand it back as "no fault found", possibly with a charge for services rendered.  And if it's a design fault, then killing the board and getting a new one won't help, either.

If you can think of a way to make Asus take liability for this one, I'd really like to know.


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## n-ster (Apr 10, 2011)

qubit said:


> You're right of course, but you know what the problem with that is, don't you?
> 
> Regardless of how much detail Lpeezy puts in the fault description, they're simply gonna do the standard functional tests on it and hand it back as "no fault found", possibly with a charge for services rendered.  And if it's a design fault, then killing the board and getting a new one won't help, either.
> 
> If you can think of a way to make Asus take liability for this one, I'd really like to know.



That's why you chat with them or call them to describe your problem. Once they accept your RMA concerning your problem, you should be fine


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## qubit (Apr 10, 2011)

n-ster said:


> That's why you chat with them or call them to describe your problem. Once they accept your RMA concerning your problem, you should be fine



Yeah perhaps. It all depends on how good their customer service is. Here's crossing fingers.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 11, 2011)

Well actually, I think I still have a warranty under CyberPowerPC since I only bought the computer from them under a year ago. The thing is, I don't know what they would do, give me the same board back but new yet still have the same problem?


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## qubit (Apr 11, 2011)

Is there a newer hardware revision of the board? Problems like this would tend to get fixed by these. If so, try to get this newer version. The way it's running right now it's not fit for purpose.


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## n-ster (Apr 11, 2011)

Lpeezy said:


> Well actually, I think I still have a warranty under CyberPowerPC since I only bought the computer from them under a year ago. The thing is, I don't know what they would do, give me the same board back but new yet still have the same problem?



You can ask them if they would consider/accept givng you a similar board from another brand... You could even settle for a less good board... or:

You RMA a last time and sell it unopened online


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## OmegaXXIII (Apr 14, 2011)

I have pretty much the same exact computer as the topic creator, and I am having the same issue with Rift, sometimes it runs fine and others at random times the fps just takes a dive. I think the differences between my computer and the topic creators is that I have a GeForce 470 GTX for my graphics card, I think 6-8 GB's of memory, and I think a little higher of a power supply, I can post my specs if necessary later since I am not currently at that computer at this time. I do not play all that many games on my PC as of late, but I did play Crisis recently and it would randomly crash on me, could this be the same issue? And, is there any way to know whether it is the Motherboard or not? I am not very tech savvy, so if it comes to having to replace the MB I am pretty much screwed. I just spent, for me, a lot of money on this machine and it kinda pisses me off to see that it might be the MB. Thanks for any help you guys can provide on this issue. 

Also I too just bought this computer within the year, and was wondering Lpeezy, what reply you got from CyberPower, as this is where I purchased my computer as well. Again, thanks for any help you guys can provide me with.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 18, 2011)

OmegaXXIII said:


> I have pretty much the same exact computer as the topic creator, and I am having the same issue with Rift, sometimes it runs fine and others at random times the fps just takes a dive. I think the differences between my computer and the topic creators is that I have a GeForce 470 GTX for my graphics card, I think 6-8 GB's of memory, and I think a little higher of a power supply, I can post my specs if necessary later since I am not currently at that computer at this time. I do not play all that many games on my PC as of late, but I did play Crisis recently and it would randomly crash on me, could this be the same issue? And, is there any way to know whether it is the Motherboard or not? I am not very tech savvy, so if it comes to having to replace the MB I am pretty much screwed. I just spent, for me, a lot of money on this machine and it kinda pisses me off to see that it might be the MB. Thanks for any help you guys can provide on this issue.
> 
> Also I too just bought this computer within the year, and was wondering Lpeezy, what reply you got from CyberPower, as this is where I purchased my computer as well. Again, thanks for any help you guys can provide me with.



Ah, that's a bummer man. I haven't actually bothered with calling up CyberPower but I have thought about it even though I purchased a new board. I spent a lot on my PC too so I guess I should go ahead and them up to see if they can actually do anything about it. I will get back to you within a few days.


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## gpost3 (Apr 18, 2011)

Pins, overclocking what on earth guys? OP open up task manager and then under performance section open up resource monitor. Check to see if any other processes are using up your CPU. Particularly, check to see if one of the core is being used more than others. Also trying using "Process Affinity" you can right click on a process (say a game) in Task Manager and set Process Affinity to use selected cores. Try and run it with 2 cores that aren't too busy and report back.


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## gpost3 (Apr 18, 2011)

I had an 8 core (Dual Xeon Quad) at work which had load balancing issue but it was all because of the software. You could have 100 cores but if the software tends to kick in using one of those cores which are already busy doing something, then the other cores don't matter. Windows isn't very intelligent at load balancing anyway although Win 7 has improved somewhat but Linux still remains superior.


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## ctrain (Apr 18, 2011)

gpost3 said:


> I had an 8 core (Dual Xeon Quad) at work which had load balancing issue but it was all because of the software. You could have 100 cores but if the software tends to kick in using one of those cores which are already busy doing something, then the other cores don't matter. Windows isn't very intelligent at load balancing anyway although Win 7 has improved somewhat but Linux still remains superior.



Er, doubtful that Windows would choose to schedule on an already busy core unless the application deliberately sets the affinity.

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/35679/Parallel-computing-and-processor-affinity-Never-un.aspx


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## OmegaXXIII (Apr 18, 2011)

I was waiting a couple days to see if it worked, but I reformatted my computer and made sure that windows did not install any background applications through the updates, and I haven't had a problem since. While having these problems, I had also just recently attached a Vizio 42' TV as my monitor using a mini HDMI-HDMI cable. I am not sure if the computer is running right now due to me reformatting my computer, or taking off the TV as my monitor, but it is running great again. Played RIFT for 3+ hours and never had a FPS drop once. So, even though I loved having the Vizio as my monitor, it seems I am going to have to live with my smaller screen because I am not sure what truly caused the FPS drops.


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## gpost3 (Apr 18, 2011)

> made sure that windows did not install any background applications through the updates, and I haven't had a problem since



See just as I said to check for any background processes. Lpeezy you should try this too.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 18, 2011)

gpost3 said:


> See just as I said to check for any background processes. Lpeezy you should try this too.



I've had no background programs running or anything. I also reformatted my computer too but the issue was still there. Like I said, my CPU never goes above 50% load while in resource monitor.


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## gpost3 (Apr 18, 2011)

> I've had no background programs running or anything. I also reformatted my computer too but the issue was still there. Like I said, my CPU never goes above 50% load while in resource monitor.



Things are done "concurrently" on a single core machine not simultaneously because the data that is being put onto the bus has one discrete ALU to perform arithmetic operations on it. I still think only one of your core is being heavily taxed. Post a log here that shows the % load on each core then we can give you a more definitive answer.


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## Lpeezy (Apr 18, 2011)

I updated my original post several days ago saying I had purchased a new motherboard and the problem is gone. I am sorry that I cannot provide the information; however, for RIFT, I followed some suggestion from RIFT players to edit some code for the game that allows RIFT to be able to use as many cores as it wants. That still didn't resolve the issue. Plus, the resource monitor lets me see all six of my cores and no one core is being heavily taxed during  game play.


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## Zaim (Jun 9, 2011)

Hi, I hope the OP doesn't mind me posting in this thread but i have exactly the same problem. I have tried all sorts, re-installed the os, even with just basic drives installed and no additional application it still happened, I tried the graphics card in another slot, tried about 4 different drivers, I've also tried oc'ing my graphics card to 850 core and 1100 on the memory, made no difference apart from a extra 5+fps. Sometimes games will be fine for a few minutes then the fps drop will start, I have also been monitoring my cpu clock speed and usage, when the drops happen the cpu usage isn't affected, so its not the cpu as i had originally thought. 

For example, i was playing GTAIV and the first few mins the game was fine, getting 60fps then it would randomly drop to 40, then down to 30 odd and back up again. 

Specs

AMD 1055T @ 3.5ghz 3.87ghz turbo
8GB RAM
Asus Crosshair 3
AMD 6850
Corsair TX 650w

Would appreciate if someone could help me with this issue.


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## Horrux (Jul 17, 2011)

I believe I am also experiencing this problem.

I am running a Phenom II X6 1100t @ stock (turbo doesn't seem to work right now?)
8GB DDR2 1066
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe
2 x MSI GTX 570 oc in SLI
Corsair 850w
Gaming at 1680x1050 (120hz)

You will note that my graphics hardware is way up there and should make pretty much any game run smoother than silk. It's also said how BFBC2 uses 6 cores effectively. Yet, my GPU utilization rarely touches 70% and often it goes down to the 20% - 30% range with framerate dropping down as low as 30s.  The image quality settings are cranked ALL the way up (32xAA, 16x Aniso, SSAO, etc) but that shouldn't be a problem, and normally isn't. There are times when the action is going strong and I get 90+ glorious FPS and others when little is happening and I get 40fps. Of course, that's not always the case, it can happen under any conditions whatsoever. Moreover, I checked my CPU utilization and it does not appear to get close to 90%, more like 75% most of the time...

So great, I have all this hardware and the CPU is running at 70% and my GPUs at 60%... What the heck?

I think we can all agree that we all have one thing in common: ASUS motherboards.


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