GPU unstable core clocks, causes annoying stuttering

[bluecew]

I know I have posted about this stuttering problem before but now I have figured out that the issue was with the GPU's core clocks.

I just bought and installed a new RX 5600XT into my system using display driver uninstaller (DDU) beforehand in safe mode. After I did that I installed the latest recommended graphics drivers from AMD's website. I also knew that the RX 5600XT has a newer vBIOS to increase performance so I installed that properly from the manufacturer's website. AMD's graphics drivers came with the Radeon Adrenaline 2020 software, all the settings were default and no fancy settings were turned on.

The issue that I'm having is that I stutter at random times in any game I play. After turning on some monitoring for MSI Afterburner and GPU-z, I found out that the fps dips were caused by unstable core clocks. The normal core clock in RDR2 for example would be about 1500-1700MHz and those core clocks would guarantee me 60fps. But at the exact moment when the core clock would drop down to as low as 800MHz the fps would also drop resulting in the game stuttering for a split second. Very annoying.

 

I have a video showing this: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vfSstuKliVxYCngDJoRwnr_4hdBMmMgh?usp=sharing

Set the video speed lower and look at the core clock in GPU-z and the spikes in the graph since they are directly correlated.

 

My specific ASUS model: https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/TUF-3-RX5600XT-O6G-EVO-GAMING/

The same exact thing also happens in other games like GTA V and COD and basically every game. The stuttering is so random. Anyone know how to fix this and keep core clocks high at all times?

Specs: Intel Core i7-6700 (non-K) 3.4GHz | 32GB 2133MHz DDR4 RAM

[narrdarr]

do you have a z170 motherboard?

[xAcid9]

I love how people blaming the GPU for FPS drop but sometime the real reason was because of their CPU choking. 

[bluecew]

Just now, xAcid9 said:

I love how people blaming the GPU for FPS drop but sometime the real reason was because of their CPU choking. 

Wait, so the problem was because my CPU was bottlenecking the GPU?

[bluecew]

8 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

do you have a z170 motherboard?

No, I have an H.

[xAcid9]

Just now, bluecew said:

Wait, so the problem was because my CPU was bottlenecking the GPU?

You can use MSI Afterburner graph and check your CPU usage and clock speed when the drop happen.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Use DX12 ....THAT game run poo poo with Vulcan.

[bluecew]

Just now, i_build_nanosuits said:

Use DX12 ....THAT game run poo poo with Vulcan.

No, it depends on your graphics card. RDR2 runs worse for me on DX12.

[i_build_nanosuits]

1 minute ago, bluecew said:

No, it depends on your graphics card. RDR2 runs worse for me on DX12.

Highly doubt it son ...have you tried it in DX12? At least the performance is consitent.

[bluecew]

Just now, i_build_nanosuits said:

Highly doubt it son ...have you tried it in DX12? At least the performance is consitent.

Of course I've tried it why wouldn't I? This is off-topic, at least answer the question.

[narrdarr]

4 minutes ago, bluecew said:

Wait, so the problem was because my CPU was bottlenecking the GPU?

this is what im thinking. I use to run a i5 -6500. Yes i know it didn't have hyper threading, but still it was bottle-necking a  970 in some games at the time. was a able to OC the non-k CPU with a z170 board. But thats not an option here

[i_build_nanosuits]

Just now, bluecew said:

Of course I've tried it why wouldn't I? This is off-topic, at least answer the question.

There is a reason for your clocks to drop....it can be the cpu that gets in the way....it can be power limit on your card or temperature.

 

Also please AT LEAST be nice I'm trying to help you. And YES using the right API instead of the one that has been butchered on at the last second is a GOOD step in the right direction.

[bluecew]

1 minute ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

There is a reason for your clocks to drop....it can be the cpu that gets in the way....it can be power limit on your card or temperature.

 

Also please AT LEAST be nice I'm trying to help you. And YES using the right API instead of the one that has been butchered on at the last second is a GOOD step in the right direction.

I know about switching the API but this stuttering happens in every game I play not just RDR2, RDR2 was just an example used in the video.

[i_build_nanosuits]

1 minute ago, bluecew said:

I know about switching the API but this stuttering happens in every game I play not just RDR2, RDR2 was just an example used in the video.

I see you've taken proper steps to get a clean install of your driver's which is good...sometimes tho when you can't find whats wrong it's good to do a full format of your main os drive and start fresh with a fresh install of windows and everything.

[bluecew]

Ok, I'm going to add additional monitoring for CPU usage and CPU clocks and see if my CPU is actually the problem. My old GPU paired with the same CPU had no issues so idk what's happening.

[narrdarr]

what motherboard do you have?

[bluecew]

1 minute ago, narrdarr said:

what motherboard do you have?

MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS

[narrdarr]

6 minutes ago, bluecew said:

MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS

ok just checking as asrock h/b boards can OC the CPU via BLCK, but sorry not MSI

[bluecew]

Just now, narrdarr said:

ok just checking as asrock h/b boards can OC the CPU via BLCK, but sorry not MSI

Thanks for trying.

[bluecew]

1 hour ago, xAcid9 said:

You can use MSI Afterburner graph and check your CPU usage and clock speed when the drop happen.

 

1 hour ago, narrdarr said:

this is what im thinking. I use to run a i5 -6500. Yes i know it didn't have hyper threading, but still it was bottle-necking a  970 in some games at the time. was a able to OC the non-k CPU with a z170 board. But thats not an option here

 

1 hour ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

There is a reason for your clocks to drop....it can be the cpu that gets in the way....it can be power limit on your card or temperature.

 

Also please AT LEAST be nice I'm trying to help you. And YES using the right API instead of the one that has been butchered on at the last second is a GOOD step in the right direction.

New video with CPU monitoring included: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s4Uu0-AlNZ7v_skoeAFZnq9WMZYA9VjX/view?usp=sharing thanks

After looking at the video for some reason the stuttering didn't show on video idk why

[bluecew]

CPU doesn't seem to be the issue since the clock stays the same, it's only the GPU clock that's fluctuating causing stuttering. CPU/GPU usage also seems normal. Might just be the specific card that I got was faulty. I will return it soon if this issue doesn't get fixed. I did not have any issues with the same CPU with my old NVIDIA GTX 1060.

[narrdarr]

actually that confirms the issue. your cpu is pegged which is you bottleneck. might be able to offset this with a change of graphics settings.

what are your graphics setting?

[bluecew]

5 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

actually that confirms the issue. your cpu is pegged which is you bottleneck. might be able to offset this with a change of graphics settings.

what are your graphics setting?

Aw man. I don't want to lower settings if I can hit 60fps easily. What if I returned the card and got something like the GTX 1660ti which can lessen the bottleneck? And I can't upgrade my CPU since my shitty motherboard doesn't support anything higher than a 6th gen.

[narrdarr]

its about balance. need to raise setting that can hit the gpu more and maybe lower setting that hit the cpu.

[bluecew]

1 minute ago, narrdarr said:

its about balance. need to raise setting that can hit the gpu more and maybe lower setting that hit the cpu.

So I gotta play a graphics setting game now.... lol. What if I don't want to deal with this anymore and just buy another GPU that lessens the bottleneck?