Lag spikes in game.

[boey]

Hello, I currently have a relatively high-ish end desktop(prebuilt from Alienware) and I am noticing fps drops in many games, such as CS:GO, Minecraft, GTA 5 and Fortnite. 

In game, I monitored my hardware usage and my CPU does not exceed 65C, my GPU does not exceed 75C and usage seems reasonable for the game I'm playing. RAM usage is highest in GTA 5, Minecraft and Fortnite at around 7000-7600MB out of 7800MB. Here are my specs(Some parts are designed for Alienware only so I chose the parts closest to it):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor	$204.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI - Z370M GAMING PRO AC Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$160.48 @ Amazon
Memory	Kingston - ValueRAM 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$74.99 @ SuperBiiz
Storage	Hitachi - Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$40.95 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card	$419.99 @ B&H
Case	NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ B&H
Power Supply	Corsair - VS 450W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$34.99 @ Amazon
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$94.89 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Samsung - C32HG70 31.5" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor	$499.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1611.26
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$1601.26
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-22 04:35 EDT-0400

GTA 5: Running at 1440p Medium to High settings, constant 80-100fps with drops to 40-60, ram stays consistent at 7.4-7.6 / 7.8GB usage

Minecraft: Running at 1440p Highest settings, fps at 140-150 with drops to 40-50, ram is at 7/7.8gb usage

Fortnite: Running at 1440p Lowest settings(epic render distance), fps at 80fps with drops to 25-30, ram is usually at 7.6/7.8GB

CS:GO: Running at 1920x1440 Lowest settings, fps usually around 300-500 with occasional drops to 100fps, ram usage is quite low at max 5GB/7.8GB

 

 

 

 

[vanished]

A single 8GB stick of RAM?  Kind of an unusual config... generally there would be two sticks so you get the benefit of dual channel.  I wonder if you might be running out and that's the cause of the lag.  You say usage is in the 7+ GB range... and how much is also paged to disk?  I assume a fair bit.  Generally you won't manage to push the RAM that close to the limit without it paging something.

[Spotty]

13 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

RAM usage is highest in GTA 5, Minecraft and Fortnite at around 7000-7600MB.

You'll probably need more RAM. If it's hitting 7.6GB of usage then that's probably the max for the system once hardware reserved and other such is taken in to consideration.

GTA V definitely stutters with only 8GB of RAM, especially when driving or entering new areas on the map.

[boey]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

A single 8GB stick of RAM?  Kind of an unusual config... generally there would be two sticks so you get the benefit of dual channel.  I wonder if you might be running out and that's the cause of the lag.  You say usage is in the 7+ GB range... and how much is also paged to disk?  I assume a fair bit.  Generally you won't manage to push the RAM that close to the limit without it paging something.

What about games like CSGO? I don't know why I'm dropping fps to the 100 range, only uses up 4-5GB of RAM.

I'm upgrading to 16GB soon, do you think this will solve most of the problems?

 

[boey]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

 Kind of an unusual config

Also they gave me a z370 with an i5-8400, and the power supply covers the cpu such that only low profile cpu coolers can fit, and it has ~20 tiny holes for an exhaust. Uses a shitty dell optiplex 70mm fan as well.

[vanished]

5 hours ago, _d0nut said:

What about games like CSGO? I don't know why I'm dropping fps to the 100 range, only uses up 4-5GB of RAM.

I'm upgrading to 16GB soon, do you think this will solve most of the problems?

 

I don't know that for sure but it would be my first guess.  There might be something else going on though, perhaps something entirely software-related.

5 hours ago, _d0nut said:

Also they gave me a z370 with an i5-8400, and the power supply covers the cpu such that only low profile cpu coolers can fit, and it has ~20 tiny holes for an exhaust. Uses a shitty dell optiplex 70mm fan as well.

Yeah it's also not a very good power supply and I just realized there's no SSD which immediately and completely prevents this being considered anything more than midrange at best imo, despite the good CPU and GPU

[boey]

13 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I don't know that for sure but it would be my first guess.  There might be something else going on though, perhaps something entirely software-related.

Yeah it's also not a very good power supply and I just realized there's no SSD which immediately and completely prevents this being considered anything more than midrange at best imo, despite the good CPU and GPU

On paper it looked pretty good, USD$1150 for i5-8400, 1070 and z370 board. I plan to get a 1TB Samsung 860 Evo + 16GB RAM so hopefully the PC will perform better.

[vanished]

Just now, _d0nut said:

On paper it looked pretty good, USD$1150 for i5-8400, 1070 and z370 board. I plan to get a 1TB Samsung 860 Evo + 16GB RAM so hopefully the PC will perform better.

You'll be amazed just how significant of a difference that makes, particularly in a year or two when it still runs like new instead of having ground to a halt

[boey]

8 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

You'll be amazed just how significant of a difference that makes, particularly in a year or two when it still runs like new instead of having ground to a halt

I plan to, by next June, change the horrible casing which has close to 0 airflow, the motherboard which honestly just ugly and the cooler which performs worse than the stock Intel one for coffee lake