Please Help, Major PC Issues!

[OahuGrown808]

Hey guys, new to this forum/website, going to start out with kind of a long post, so I apologize in advance (Just started watching on YouTube btw, appreciate the content!).
I've been having a lot of trouble w/ my PC for awhile. I've been getting a lot of stuttering and FPS drops. At first I thought it was a GPU issue, then PSU, then RAM, then now I'm thinking CPU or Motherboard (LOL, although it's past funny for me ).

Specs: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming, i5-6600K, GTX 970 FTW+, 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM (8x2 GB), 2 SSDs (SanDisk and PNY), Corsair H80i GT and Corsair CX750M 750 Watt PSU.

So I've been doing a lot of monitoring (w/ software, I know not very accurate # wise w/ voltages, but the changes should still be applicable right?), and when playing Fallout 4 the gameplay is fairly smooth, but I notice the voltages on my PSU are fluctuating up and down a lot (they are small fluctuations, but it goes up and down up and down up and down, read somewhere they should be stable).

Fluctuations are as follows: +3.3V 3.268V-3.248V, +5V 5.040V-5.000V, +12V 12.096-12.000. Voltages seem good, but the constant fluctuation under load, as in up and down several times within 10 seconds, worries me. Could a PSU throw voltages within spec and still be faulty? Can a PSU even cause FPS drops?

So I go to Fallout New Vegas, which is old and my Hardware should handle no problem, and I keep getting these FPS drops (60-50, and it seems progressive, today 60-20, which never happened before). Drops happen when outdoors loading distant textures (read somewhere this could mean a RAM problem, but not sure. Or could it be GPU VRAM?). GPU doesn't even need to boost in this game (45C on my GPU in this game, high 60'sC in FO4), and CPU usage is very low, though when these FPS drops happen, sometimes my CPU temp will spike up from 38C to 50C, then go back down, although that doesn't happen every time it stutters (50C max for CPU).

Now I'm thinking it's possibly a CPU issue? Or CPU cooler? Or RAM issue? I had CPU OC'ed and RAM on XMP, so I went back to stock everything and the problem is still there. I tried w/ each RAM stick removed, so one and then the other, same thing.

Things I've tried: Memtest86+ (swapped RAM, too) no errors, deletion and reinstallation of drivers, fresh installs of windows, updated BIOS, hardware checks (reseating, cables). Also, seems if I stay in the BIOS for awhile, it will freeze up and I have to do a hard power off and then back on.

System seems to be slow and hang a lot as of late as well. DPC latency w/ latencymon shows dxgkrnl, dvlddkm and ndis.sys spikes very high. It suggested CPU power issue and to disable EIST and power saving options, though these were already off in BIOS and Windows.

If it matters CPU was 24/7 @ 4.5 Ghz. Could my CPU be degrading already? I really don't have the money atm to be buying this and that, so any help in saving my BADLY NEEDED PC would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thanks guys!!

 

[tinytomlogan]

You need to add paragraphs or some kind of order to that post....

I keep getting annoyed just trying to read it

 

[AlienALX]

You need to add paragraphs or some kind of order to that post....

I keep getting annoyed just trying to read it

I started it but my eyes went "WTF"

 

[Davva2004]

Do your FPS drops roughly coincide with the frequency of your PSU output drops? If so, you've found your culprit. Didn't read all of your post though.

 

[OahuGrown808]

No they don't coincide, PSU voltage fluctuates fairly rapidly, every second or two it changes.

And I apologize, I'm just frustrated af and typed w/ no thought to anything else

 

[SPS]

Hmm as you've reinstalled windows this must be a hardware issue. Have you tried a different drive? Usually I find that when you can't narrow it down to a component, it's a weird mobo fault and RMA'ing it solves it.

 

[Damien c]

What resolution and detail setting are you using in the games?

Have you monitored CPU/GPU/Ram/Vram usage whilst playing the games?

The reason I ask is that you whole post is about voltages and temps but nothing about hardware utilisation or settings within the games.


Now for me when I notice in some games that I get FPS Drops, because I nearly always have something open on my 2nd monitor monitoring temps and hardware usage, I nearly always see either a spike in CPU usage or I see a massive drop in GPU usage.

For example The Division at 1080p Ultra on average I get over lately 120fps to 160fps however I get quite dramatic frame drops at times, and my CPU usage goes from around 60% to 100% and my GPU usage goes from 80% & 70% to 10% and 5% and what that does is, it drops from FPS down in to the low 40's or high 60's.

In Elite Dangerous I would notice the same thing at 4K, GPU usage 99% on both Vram usage 100%, CPU usage 50% and when the FPS dropped in that it went from over 100 to below 20 and the whole utilisation of the hardware on my pc dropped to below 10% and then shot back up again.

Now I recently updated my GPU drivers and have noticed alot more stuttering/FPS drops so at some point I am going to drop back to the previous drivers and see what happens.

Might be worth checking on the hardware usage.

 

[Avet]

Could be a drive problem. Have you tried putting your drives in different SATA ports? I taught my dive is dying (again) but it was faulty SATA port on motherboard.

But on the other side BIOS freezing suggests motherboard problem.

Have you tried pulling your GPU and booting from IGPU?

 

[smogsy]

test at stock. over-wise your just wasting your time

 

[Wraith]

PSU fluctuations are normal and yours are well within tolerances, just out of curiosity are you running with the Windows 10 Creators update?? As that is known for causing terrible gaming performance including stutters and freezes.

 

[Excalabur50]

PSU fluctuations are normal and yours are well within tolerances, just out of curiosity are you running with the Windows 10 Creators update?? As that is known for causing terrible gaming performance including stutters and freezes.

I agree about the creators edition if i dont turn off all the gaming settings within windows MWO flickers badly and is totally unplayable. Turn it off and try again.