Frame Rates Issue

[DevilishBooster]

Hey guys, I'm having an issue with my frame rates in my new computer (my first build) and I cannot figure it out at all. I have an FX-6350 on an ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer mobo, with a Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC Edition. My primary drive is a WD Black^2 with the OS on the 120GB SSD and the games are installed on the 1TB HDD, and I have 8GB of Cruicial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1888. I'm using an Asus 60Hz monitor. My OS is Win 8.1 64bit. My PSU is a Rosewill 650W.

 

I will use COD Ghosts for my example:

I have CCC set to always use the program's video settings. I have Ghosts set to medium graphics with V-Sync turned off. At these settings the game runs at an average of 70-80 FPS according to Fraps. However, it will be a random intervals that the game will stutter or freeze for about 1 second, then the frame rates drop to 0 and then shoot back up to regular. This can happen every 5-10 seconds or only once or twice every couple minutes. I was actually just playing a match of Ghosts online where it was actually holding at high 80-low 90s FPS, but still doing it. It's so bad that it has caused my K/D to suffer drastically because all of the sudden my screen will freeze and then when it starts again I will be getting shot by a guy that magically pops up on my screen. I would blame it on Ghosts, but it happens in a ton of other games to: Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age: Origins, Diablo III, Doom 3, Rise of Nations, Empire Earth, and occasionally in Far Cry 3 as well (just to name some of the games.

 

Is this an issue with my graphics card or is this tied to read times on the HDD? I'm pretty sure it's not due to lack of RAM. I've tried Google'ing it and have come up empty, and I really want it to go away.

Please save my sanity. Thanks.

[OfficialJsP]

call of duty ghosts runs like crap on nearly every pc out there its super unoptimized and it doesnt run very smooth for me also

[DevilishBooster]

call of duty ghosts runs like crap on nearly every pc out there its super unoptimized 

As I said, I would blame it on Ghosts but it happens in a lot of games, so it's not just Ghosts. Ghosts is the worst with it though.

[OfficialJsP]

As I said, I would blame it on Ghosts but it happens in a lot of games, so it's not just Ghosts. Ghosts is the worst with it though.

 

what temps are you getting on your CPU and GPU

[DevilishBooster]

what temps are you getting on your CPU and GPU

According to Open Hardware Monitor, right now at idle, my CPU core temps are "Min 19C and Max 30C", and GPU is at 36C. I'm cooling the CPU with a Cooler Master Seidon 120V and the GPU is just air cooled. Let me run some tests to get some load temps, and I'll get back to you.

[OfficialJsP]

According to Open Hardware Monitor, right now at idle, my CPU core temps are "Min 19C and Max 30C", and GPU is at 36C. I'm cooling the CPU with a Cooler Master Seidon 120V and the GPU is just air cooled. Let me run some tests to get some load temps, and I'll get back to you.

 

ur temps are fine have u checked your drivers are up to date

[DevilishBooster]

what temps are you getting on your CPU and GPU

I just ran some tests. 

FurMark at 1080p: 3 tests - the GPU never got above 65C while the CPU never broke 36C

Catzilla at 720p (I haven't bought the 1080 yet): 3 tests - the GPU never got over 65C and the CPU never broke 36C

 

What I find interesting is that I didn't notice any of the stuttering/freezing during the benchmarks, and I never have before.

[DevilishBooster]

ur temps are fine have u checked your drivers are up to date

Yeah, I've checked multiple times and all the driver say that they are up to date.

[DevilishBooster]

I'm "updating" the drivers again just to see if maybe they didn't install correctly for some reason.

EDIT: I just reinstalled everything so I'm going to try some games again tonight and then I'll post an update later.

[Godlygamer23]

60MHz displays don't exist. It's 60Hz. What other titles does it occur on?

[DevilishBooster]

60MHz displays don't exist. It's 60Hz. What other titles does it occur on?

It was a typo. I meant 60Hz, and I already listed additional titles in the original post. Re-installing the drivers didn't fix it.

[tmlhalo]

What motherboard and what are the temps of the motherboard mosfets while gaming? Screen shot of HWMonitor should work.

[DevilishBooster]

What motherboard and what are the temps of the motherboard mosfets while gaming? Screen shot of HWMonitor should work.

It's an ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer. This is while running Dragon Age Origins. I've even gone as far to run AV scans and AM scans, and I'm still having the frame rate issue. As you can see, my Mobo temps are capping out at ~52C while my CPU is staying nice and cool. The GPU isn't breaking 57C.

[SkimmyMcG]

I see unstable frames, but only when recording, it matches what you've described perfectly. Granted I don't have a very good computer, ha.

[DevilishBooster]

I see unstable frames, but only when recording, it matches what you've described perfectly. Granted I don't have a very good computer, ha.

I would expect this a little if I was recording but I'm not recording yet. I'm trying to get everything setup for recording and streaming in the nearish future, but I have to do a couple upgrades before I start. That's why I'm confused on what is causing this because I cannot find any possible reasons.

[tmlhalo]

I would expect this a little if I was recording but I'm not recording yet. I'm trying to get everything setup for recording and streaming in the nearish future, but I have to do a couple upgrades before I start. That's why I'm confused on what is causing this because I cannot find any possible reasons.

I don't keep up with synthetic benchmarks much but for trouble shooting purposes running a cpu one and comparing your numbers to others with the same cpu would tell us if it is before or after the GPU where the problem lies.

[DevilishBooster]

I don't keep up with synthetic benchmarks much but for trouble shooting purposes running a cpu one and comparing your numbers to others with the same cpu would tell us if it is before or after the GPU where the problem lies.

According to PassMark, their average rating for an FX-6350 is 6999. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-6350+Six-Core

My CPU tests at 7077.

The last number at the bottom of the second pic for the Single Thread is 1455, so still close to the average reported by PassMark.

[tmlhalo]

According to PassMark, their average rating for an FX-6350 is 6999. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-6350+Six-Core

My CPU tests at 7077.

2015-01-01_1705.png

2015-01-01_1705_001.png

The last number at the bottom of the second pic for the Single Thread is 1455, so still close to the average reported by PassMark.

So we know everything in front of the GPU is running like it should. I guess we should start from the PCH and work our way to the monitor. Can you confirm that the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot you have your GPU in is running at PCIe 2.0 x16? GPU-Z will tell you the bus interface and have a "?" next to it to test the card. After you click the "?" it should display the correct bus interface the card is getting.

[DevilishBooster]

So we know everything in front of the GPU is running like it should. I guess we should start from the PCH and work our way to the monitor. Can you confirm that the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot you have your GPU in is running at PCIe 2.0 x16? GPU-Z will tell you the bus interface and have a "?" next to it to test the card. After you click the "?" it should display the correct bus interface the card is getting.

If I'm understanding this correctly (this is my first desktop/custom PC so I'm still learning a lot) the bus interface is working correctly.

[tmlhalo]

If I'm understanding this correctly (this is my first desktop/custom PC so I'm still learning a lot) the bus interface is working correctly.

2015-01-01_1818.png

Your understanding is correct, the card is on a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot so it is getting the full amount of bandwidth it should be getting from the PCIe. So onward to the card itself / its drivers. On the sensor tab is a bunch of information about what it is currently doing. If you can leave it running in the background while playing a game (Windowed mode). Once you hit a particularly bad hick up check it and grab a screen shot of what the sensors are showing. Also I don't remember if you already tried this but do the stutters disappear / diminish as you lower settings?

[DevilishBooster]

Your understanding is correct, the card is on a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot so it is getting the full amount of bandwidth it should be getting from the PCIe. So onward to the card itself / its drivers. On the sensor tab is a bunch of information about what it is currently doing. If you can leave it running in the background while playing a game (Windowed mode). Once you hit a particularly bad hick up check it and grab a screen shot of what the sensors are showing. Also I don't remember if you already tried this but do the stutters disappear / diminish as you lower settings?

I'll give that a try after I grab some chow. And yes, from what I can tell it happens in lower setting too. I just bought L4D2 and tried it today and it's doing the exact same thing as Ghosts. To get a better idea I'll try running L4D2 at Low, Med, and High and see if I can notice any difference in frequency/severity. I'll post and update in about and hour or so.

[DevilishBooster]

Your understanding is correct, the card is on a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot so it is getting the full amount of bandwidth it should be getting from the PCIe. So onward to the card itself / its drivers. On the sensor tab is a bunch of information about what it is currently doing. If you can leave it running in the background while playing a game (Windowed mode). Once you hit a particularly bad hick up check it and grab a screen shot of what the sensors are showing. Also I don't remember if you already tried this but do the stutters disappear / diminish as you lower settings?

Ok, so I ran L4D2 at various settings. The main thing is that it still occurred at the lowest graphical settings, but not as frequently as on the high settings. For the low setting that I ran: No AA at all, Filter Mode @ Bi-linear, V-Sync Disabled, Shader Detail Low, Effect Detail Low, Model/Texture Detail Low. For testing it at high settings I just Maxed everything out and turned on V-Sync. In about 5 minutes on everything set to low, I would say it happened 4 times with 2 of the occurrences significant enough that I took a screen shot of GPU-Z. On the Max settings it occurred well over 10 times and usually in groupings. 

This first one is a snap shot right after it happened on Low settings:

This second and third SC are when it happened while on high settings:

Obviously where it drops off is when I shrank down the game to take the screen capture.

Here is a SC taken with GPU-Z

[DevilishBooster]

I'm also going to try logging the numbers doing the same tests to see if it logs a difference.

[DevilishBooster]

So I logged the sensors with GPU-Z at one second intervals and I think I might have something, but I could be wrong. Comparing the logged results of the Min and Max settings, the only thing that I can find is this:

The VDDC Current and Power will be holding steady, and then for one second the VDDC Current will drop to ~6.7A and the VDDC Power will drop to ~8.2W, and then one second later they will be back up to normal. 

 

 

EX:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        VDDC (V)     Current (A)     Power (W)

2015-01-01 20:49:22 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1930   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         32.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:23 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1931   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.175   ,           27.5   ,         30.8   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:24 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               57.0   ,              41   ,                1957   ,         88   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.206   ,            6.6   ,          8.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:25 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1964   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.163   ,           29.1   ,         34.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:26 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1968   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         32.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:27 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1969   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.163   ,           27.0   ,         31.4   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:28 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1972   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         31.7   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:29 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1972   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           27.3   ,         31.8   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:30 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1968   ,         93   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           28.1   ,         32.7   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:31 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               60.0   ,              41   ,                1970   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           26.6   ,         30.6   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:32 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               60.0   ,              41   ,                1968   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           26.0   ,         30.2   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:33 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1972   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         31.2   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:34 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               60.0   ,              41   ,                1974   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        26   ,  1.175   ,           26.8   ,         31.3   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:35 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               58.0   ,              41   ,                1977   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        26   ,  1.206   ,            6.8   ,          8.2   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:36 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1975   ,         81   ,                         952   ,                        39   ,  1.181   ,           21.9   ,         24.1   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:37 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1976   ,         77   ,                         952   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           24.0   ,         28.5   ,

 

These results where while playing in-game on Max settings. Could this be a power circuit/supply issue?

[tmlhalo]

 

So I logged the sensors with GPU-Z at one second intervals and I think I might have something, but I could be wrong. Comparing the logged results of the Min and Max settings, the only thing that I can find is this:

The VDDC Current and Power will be holding steady, and then for one second the VDDC Current will drop to ~6.7A and the VDDC Power will drop to ~8.2W, and then one second later they will be back up to normal. 

 

 

EX:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        VDDC (V)     Current (A)     Power (W)

2015-01-01 20:49:22 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1930   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         32.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:23 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1931   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.175   ,           27.5   ,         30.8   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:24 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               57.0   ,              41   ,                1957   ,         88   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.206   ,            6.6   ,          8.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:25 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1964   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.163   ,           29.1   ,         34.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:26 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1968   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         32.0   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:27 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1969   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        38   ,  1.163   ,           27.0   ,         31.4   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:28 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1972   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         31.7   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:29 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1972   ,         82   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           27.3   ,         31.8   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:30 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1968   ,         93   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           28.1   ,         32.7   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:31 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               60.0   ,              41   ,                1970   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           26.6   ,         30.6   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:32 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               60.0   ,              41   ,                1968   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           26.0   ,         30.2   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:33 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1972   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           27.5   ,         31.2   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:34 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               60.0   ,              41   ,                1974   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        26   ,  1.175   ,           26.8   ,         31.3   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:35 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               58.0   ,              41   ,                1977   ,         99   ,                         941   ,                        26   ,  1.206   ,            6.8   ,          8.2   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:36 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1975   ,         81   ,                         952   ,                        39   ,  1.181   ,           21.9   ,         24.1   ,

 

2015-01-01 20:49:37 ,              940.0   ,               1250.0   ,               59.0   ,              41   ,                1976   ,         77   ,                         952   ,                        39   ,  1.169   ,           24.0   ,         28.5   ,

 

These results where while playing in-game on Max settings. Could this be a power circuit/supply issue?

 

I can't say for 100% certainty yet but yes that has caught my eye as well. Modern processors have a power saving function that keeps power dynamic based on clock. I don't have and AMD GPU so I'll need to do a little digging on how to turn that feature off. With it off, we would know if the voltage is because of a psu / voltage regulators on the gpu issue. It is getting a bit late here so I'll get back to you tomorrow on what I find about AMD voltages.