Problem in some games with low framerate and low GPU usage.

[Blethigg]

My PC:
HP Omen 880-072na (desktop)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz
32 GB 2400MHz memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

My problem - my PC works fine for most purposes, but some 3d games have started running extremely slowly. I first noticed this with Elite Dangerous, but it is not the only game affected. Weirdly, some 3d games run fine, so it's not just the card failing (at least not completely). The games which don't run properly mostly have the same problem; the framerate is between 3 and 7, with occasional spikes to 15, but the GPU usage is between 0 and 10%. The GPU temperature is between 45 and 65oc for the most part.

The games I've tried:

GAME:                                     Runs okay?:         DX ver:
ED Odyssey                           No                          11
Mad Max                                No                           11
Borderlands 2                      Yes                          9
Shadow of Mordor              Yes                          11
Death Stranding                  Yes                          12
Cyberpunk 2077                 Yes                          12
Batman Arkham Knight    No                           10
Cities Skylines                     No                           11
Doom 2016                        No*                          OpenGL/Vulkan
Fallout NV                            Yes                          9
Max Payne 3                      Mixed                      11
AC Odyssey                         Yes                          11
SW Jedi Fallen Order        Crashes                  11
NierAutomata                    No                           11
Bioshock Infinite              Crashes                  11
*Doom was a weird one. Unplayable low framerate (when it was fine before), but GPU usage is high - up to 79%. However this doesn't seem to be related to activity on screen (but that's hard to test when you get slaughtered in five seconds because you can't move properly).

I listed the DX version because I was trying to work out if a particular version was causing me problems, but it seems there's no clear answer there (although 12 seems fine, I only have two to compare). I should also point out that in those games I've marked as running okay, they are fully utilising the GPU, some taking it to 100%.

These are all games which used to run fine. I have not made any changes to my PC, and I'm not aware of any components failing. I do keep my drivers up to date, but as I said above I often go for a week or more without playing anything, so I can't trace this problem to any particular update. Unfortunately as I'm usually busy with work and other things, I don't get much time to play, so I can't be exact about when this started.

I've googled a lot for solutions, and have done the obvious things like ensuring that Geoforce control panel is set to force use of the GPU, that power saving is turned off and everything set to performance which can be. I've clean reinstalled drivers and games.

Grateful for any advice.

[old_geekster]

@Blethigg , welcome to the Community.

I have been gaming for 30+ years on many different performance level computers.  The one thing that is consistent with all of them is, as they age things don't work as well as they once did.  This is due to degradation of the components and remnants of apps remaining on the computer from installing and deleting them.  Here is an app that will tell you the system requirements for each of your games.  If your computer doesn't meet the "Recommended Requirements" they may not work very well.

I suggest that you do a complete system reset if you haven't done it recently.  I do this at least once per year if I see that my games are not running the way they once ran.  The reset returns your system to its original configuration and removes all of the remnants of the apps that I mentioned.

Please click the "Yes" button if my reply was helpful and "Accept as Solution" if your problem is Solved!!

[Blethigg]

Thanks for your help Old Geekster

Sounds like you've been doing this as long as I have. My first PC was a 486-DX2 50, Doom and UFO convinced me to give up my Amiga!

I've never had an issue quite like this one though. I have used Can you run it before, though it didn't occur to me to try it here (as everything I'm having problems with worked fine before, and the highest spec games are not the ones causing me problems), but nothing ventured and all that, so I did. I checked all of the games that I was having problems with (ED Odyssey, Mad Max, Arkham Knight, CS and Doom). All passed, telling me I exceeded recommended specs with the sole exception of ED, for which I recommended an upgrade to the CPU to meet recommended specs, but it did at least exceed the minimum specs.

By a complete system reset, do you mean reinstall windows? I'll try that, though it'll need to wait until I can spare a few hours to babysit it. Might be able to find the time this weekend. I'll report back.

[old_geekster]

Thank you for the additional information, @Blethigg!  When I reply to a problem I have to begin with the basics because I don't know the members level of computer savvy.  Since your problem began recently I recommended a complete system reset to clean it up.  I like the feel of my computer when a reset is complete.  It normally runs like a new computer.  I would appreciate hearing the results of your reset.