GPU usage drops that cause fps drops - GTX 460 768mb

[Evroz621]

Hello, I've finally had enough with getting fps drops every 1min or so in all games so Im coming to make a forum post.

 

Basicly what happens is periodically the gpu usage of my 460 drops to 10-15% usage for 5-10 seconds.

This causes my fps to drop drastically as well. 

As you can see in the screenshot of MSI afterburner's hardware monitor, the rec circles I have highlighted in the GPU usage graph show where the fps drops occur. 

 

Then the other circles are highlighting what I have a feeling might be the issue. It seems as though at the same time the usage drops, my core clock and shader clock also get downclocked.

 

I have the latest recommended driver version and beforehand I have tried every other recent version but this issue still occurs. My Nvidia 3d power setting is preferred max.

 

Any help appreciated. :)

 

 

[Elven]

Heya,

 

Looking at the pic you attached. The card you are using has a vRAM size of "768MB" and in the picture you're using roughly 700MB. My guess is your vRAM is maxed out. If the card is requiring to draw an image that requires more vRAM than you have available. The GPU will throttle as to recover space on the vRAM to continue to draw the image.

 

Try turning down the details and texture settings of your game. Freeing up memory on the GPU will allow for a smoother experience.

 

Elven

[Evroz621]

Im not sure if it is vRAM related. It seems to happen in any game that requires 3d rendering, even a 2d indiegame gives me the issue.

[rustikles]

Even with 2D indie games, you might run into problems considering how little vRAM is on the card. Can you maybe post some similar data for a low graphically intensive game like that?

[Elven]

 

Im not sure if it is vRAM related. It seems to happen in any game that requires 3d rendering, even a 2d indiegame gives me the issue.

How strange. What game were you running when you took this screenshot? If it isn't one of the indie games. Give that a go and see what the vRAM status is. Just so we can rule out the possibility of vRAM being the issue  ^_^

 

Elven

[Evroz621]

How strange. What game were you running when you took this screenshot? If it isn't one of the indie games. Give that a go and see what the vRAM status is. Just so we can rule out the possibility of vRAM being the issue  ^_^

 

Elven

I took the screenshot running Arma 2 oa. I just tested the same indie game and my vram usage capped at around 520mb. 

 

Thank you both for the assistance so far.

[Elven]

I took the screenshot running Arma 2 oa. I just tested the same indie game and my vram usage capped at around 520mb. 

 

Thank you both for the assistance so far.

 

 

 

hmm, the only feasible thing I can think of now. Is there could be a problem with your PSU  :wacko:

 

Elven

[rustikles]

hmm, the only feasible thing I can think of now. Is there could be a problem with your PSU   :wacko:

 

Elven

 

 

I agree, if it isn't some kind of memory issue, then it may be something hardware related. How old is the PSU? Quality? Possibly either one of those factors could lead to inconsistent power flow to the graphics cards and the results you're seeing.

 

Is there any other kind of pattern to when the FPS drops? It is like every 2 minutes exactly, under extra heavy load, etc?

[Evroz621]

Good News,

 

I just played 15 min of Arma 3 and had no issues. 

 

This is what the usage looked like throughout the playing. I also received some assistance from geforce forum and a fellow suggested I put "-forcePState:0,0"

in the Target for a NVIDIA inspector overclock shortcut. It seems to have worked so far, but tomorrow when I have more time I can play for a longer session.

 

To answer my PSU, I have a Cougar CMX 700w. It is 80plus Bronze and around 2 years old.

 

I will be back in 8 or so hours. My bed calls me.  :P

[rustikles]

Glad you found a fix dude!

[Evroz621]

Making a clarification post for anyone in the future to get a fix. 

 

I was able to play Arma 3 for 2 hours with no hiccups  :D

 

 

What seemed to stop the downclocking and usage drops was:

1. Downloading NVIDIA inspector.

2. Creating overclock shortcut
3. In the properties of the shortcut, edit the Target deleting everything after Nvidiainspector.exe"

4. Adding  -forcePState:0,0 to the end of the Target.

 

It would look like this: 

 

Thank you everyone for all your help and input  :)