GPU 100% Usage with Terrible FPS Drop

J.L. · January 1, 2021

Hey all,

Need some help with a recurring problem on my laptop.

I use an HP Pavilion 15 with:

i7-1065G7 processor

16gb RAM

1 TB SSD

Nvidia MX250 graphics card

The MX250 is a low end card, but suits my gaming needs, and can run most games on low settings with around 50-60 fps. Around this November, I began experiencing an issue with sudden, seemingly random performance loss while playing R6 Siege. I would be playing at a steady 60+ fps, when suddenly the game would freeze for a sec, then drop to 10-20 fps for the remainder of the session. This problem began to occur more frequently, and with every game I tried to run with my GPU. It became clear the issue was with my hardware and not the games themselves.

I am not very computer savvy, but did my best to troubleshoot. I found that when I was experiencing these issues, my GPU was still running at 100%, while maintaining normal temps around 60 degrees C. This baffled me, as I was capable of running these same games at far higher FPS earlier this year. So theoretically, if my GPU was firing at 100%, it should be running just fine. This seemed to rule out throttling as the culprit.

I have tried several things, like: resetting the settings in the Nvidia control panel back to their defaults, turning on performance mode, updating to the newest version of windows, updating my drivers.

Nothing has worked, and the problem has gotten even more frequent. Essentially, any games that require my GPU and not my intel integrated graphics (so pretty much anything worth playing) is essentially unplayable, hovering at 20ish fps.

Could really use any advice/troubleshooting tips.

Thanks.

GorujoCY · January 1, 2021

i was gonna say whenever it is because you haven't plugged the AC Adapter on your laptop in order to power the GPU but I know the answer to it already from experience but it is good to check, so if yes.

I would say use some tools like Hwinfo, see if there is anything abnormal with the behavior of any of the hardware (or maybe taks manager first before hwinfo), I would try testing the GPU using Unigine heavenmark (I would use it windowed mode but that's up to you) and then monitor using Hwinfo to see if i can find anything abnormal