Windows 7: Games suddenly lagging

JaidynM · 02 Jul 2012

I've been playing NBA 2K12 and Assassin's Creed Revelations for a while now and have until recently been able to play both games on high settings with no lag. The games ran flawlessly until about two or so days ago.

I tried installing the latest graphics driver for my GTX 560 and it made the game 'playable'. There was still a bit of lag but I could tell what was going on. After a reboot however the games started lagging once again. I've run CCleaner and full system scans with both MSE and Mbam.

I've also just recently cleaned the inside of my case. My PSU by the way isn't the best but it does have enough voltage to run my system (it's been checked).

I've run out of ideas, does anyone know what to do?

EDIT: The games run at about 10-15FPS.

solarmystic · 02 Jul 2012

Hello JaidenM!

I know that you're pretty much a guru round these parts (heck, you analyze BSOD reports like a champ) but it doesn't hurt to cover the basics...

Tried using any monitoring software for CPU/GPU temps when the problem occurs? (GPUz, Coretemp, the usual suspects).

I know you've mentioned you've cleaned out your case, but it could still be a heat issue arising from fans not working as they should or the thermal paste requiring replacement etc.

Try running GPUz and your game in windowed mode simultaneously to observe the whether or not your GPU is reaching the appropriate clock speeds (3D mode clocks not idle clocks) when running the game; this also allows you to monitor the vital stats of your card while gaming...

Does the problem affect any other game and/or 3D Applications besides the ones you've mentioned?
(Trying to exclude software issues)

It could be a case of CPU and/or GPU downlocking when gaming due to heat...

M1GU31 · 02 Jul 2012

You could try running driver sweeper to get rid of any traces of nvdia drivers then reboot and re-install your nvdia drivers.Could be a heat issue because of lack of thermal paste on the cpu and/or the video card.Make sure the fan is working probably also.Usually when the video card over heats it throttles its clocks down to keep it from overheating and that could be a cause of the lag.Like solarmystic said I think it might be a heating issue personally but would try driver sweeper to make sure it's not a driver issue.I would advice checking your temperatures while in game.

In driver sweeper check the box next to were it says Nvdia display and clean the drivers out after uninstalling your nvdia drivers to not leave any traces and reboot and re-install your nvdia display drivers.
Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

JaidynM · 02 Jul 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by solarmystic

Hello JaidenM!

I know that you're pretty much a guru round these parts (heck, you analyze BSOD reports like a champ) but it doesn't hurt to cover the basics...

Tried using any monitoring software for CPU/GPU temps when the problem occurs? (GPUz, Coretemp, the usual suspects).

I know you've mentioned you've cleaned out your case, but it could still be a heat issue arising from fans not working as they should or the thermal paste requiring replacement etc.

Try running GPUz and your game in windowed mode simultaneously to observe the whether or not your GPU is reaching the appropriate clock speeds (3D mode clocks not idle clocks) when running the game; this also allows you to monitor the vital stats of your card while gaming...

Does the problem affect any other game and/or 3D Applications besides the ones you've mentioned?
(Trying to exclude software issues)

It could be a case of CPU and/or GPU downlocking when gaming due to heat...

The game is running at 5-10FPS. The GPU temp is 34C and fan speed is at 40%. Core clock is at 202.5, memory clock at 324 and shader is at 405.

This problem affects all games, it's just that these two games are the only ones I'm playing at the moment. The odd thing is that when there is a cutscene (for example in Skyrim and 2K12) the game works fine and runs at the normal 60FPS. When I'm actually playing the game however it drops to 5 or 6FPS.

JaidynM · 02 Jul 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by M1GU31

You could try running driver sweeper to get rid of any traces of nvdia drivers then reboot and re-install your nvdia drivers.Could be a heat issue because of lack of thermal paste on the cpu and/or the video card.Make sure the fan is working probably also.Usually when the video card over heats it throttles its clocks down to keep it from overheating and that could be a cause of the lag.Like solarmystic said I think it might be a heating issue personally but would try driver sweeper to make sure it's not a driver issue.I would advice checking your temperatures while in game.

In driver sweeper check the box next to were it says Nvdia display and clean the drivers out after uninstalling your nvdia drivers to not leave any traces and reboot and re-install your nvdia display drivers.
Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

I'll try this and come back to you, thanks for the info.

solarmystic · 02 Jul 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by JaidynM

The game is running at 5-10FPS. The GPU temp is 34C and fan speed is at 40%. Core clock is at 202.5, memory clock at 324 and shader is at 405.

This problem affects all games, it's just that these two games are the only ones I'm playing at the moment. The odd thing is that when there is a cutscene (for example in Skyrim and 2K12) the game works fine and runs at the normal 60FPS. When I'm actually playing the game however it drops to 5 or 6FPS.

Well there's your problem JaidynM!

Your GPU is stuck in low power mode (idle mode clocks) and not clocking up to the correct clocks when running those games!

According to the NVIDIA website (GeForce GTX 560 | Specifications | GeForce) the GTX 560 is supposed to operate at

Core Clock @ 810 MHz, Memory Clock @ 1001 MHz and shaders 1620 Mhz during 3D Mode/Active operations

It seems that an application or something or another is preventing your GPU from upclocking itself when running a 3D application.

I've read that some cards could get stuck in such a mode if the user was watching Flash videos on youtube or any other form of videos requiring h264 compression on media players...

Have you tried playing your games straight from a fresh boot without any other background applications?

M1GU31 · 02 Jul 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by solarmystic

Quote: Originally Posted by JaidynM

The game is running at 5-10FPS. The GPU temp is 34C and fan speed is at 40%. Core clock is at 202.5, memory clock at 324 and shader is at 405.

This problem affects all games, it's just that these two games are the only ones I'm playing at the moment. The odd thing is that when there is a cutscene (for example in Skyrim and 2K12) the game works fine and runs at the normal 60FPS. When I'm actually playing the game however it drops to 5 or 6FPS.

Well there's your problem JaidynM!

Your GPU is stuck in low power mode (idle mode clocks) and not clocking up to the correct clocks when running those games!

According to the NVIDIA website (GeForce GTX 560 | Specifications | GeForce) the GTX 560 is supposed to operate at

Core Clock @ 810 MHz, Memory Clock @ 1001 MHz and shaders 1620 Mhz during 3D Mode/Active operations

It seems that an application or something or another is preventing your GPU from upclocking itself when running a 3D application.

I've read that some cards could get stuck in such a mode if the user was watching Flash videos on youtube or any other form of videos requiring h264 compression on media players...

Have you tried playing your games straight from a fresh boot without any other background applications?

He could try putting windows in high performance mode in the power options.

solarmystic · 02 Jul 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by M1GU31

He could try putting windows in high performance mode in the power options.

AFAIK, high performance mode in the power options only affects CPU clocks (upclocking and downclocking).

GPU clocks are handled by the Powermizer functions in the NVIDIA control panel, if I rememeber correctly from all those years ago when i used NVIDIA hardware...

JaidynM · 03 Jul 2012

It looks like you were right. For some reason the settings were set to Quality rather than Performance or Balanced.

Thanks for all your help, it's appreciated.

solarmystic · 03 Jul 2012

Glad to have been of help, Jaidyn!

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