Periodic FPS Drops & Micro-Stuttering in Games

[Prawwiin]

Hello  Community,

I'm reaching out for help diagnosing persistent performance issues I'm experiencing while gaming on my laptop:

System Specifications:

• Laptop: HP Victus 15-fb0147ax
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600H
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6500M (4GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: KIOXIA XG80ZNV512G NVMe SSD
• OS: Windows 11
• BIOS Version: AMI F.24 (April 2025)

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🎮 Issue Summary:

I've been experiencing periodic frame rate drops and micro-stuttering across multiple games including Halo Infinite and Need for Speed Unbound , even at lowest settings .

• FPS regularly drops from ~60 to ~35–45 every few seconds.
• Frame times increase from ~16.6 ms to ~27 ms during these drops.
• There is a noticeable "micro-freeze" or hitch during each drop.
• These issues are not caused by thermal throttling , as temperatures remain within normal range:
  • CPU: ~67–72°C
  • GPU: ~66–70°C

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📊 Observed Behavior:

From hardware and FPS logs:

• The issue correlates many times (although not everytime) when  SmartShift Max percentage changes .
• When SmartShift Max is at 0% , performance is mostly stable.
• When it increases (e.g., to 52.84% ), FPS dips occur.
• Disk usage and memory usage appear healthy (NVMe SSD performing well, RAM not maxed).
• Temperatures and clocks are consistent — no signs of thermal throttling.

I’ve already tried:

• Clean driver install using DDU
• Switching to DirectX 11 mode
• Disabling overlays (Xbox Game Bar, Steam)
• Adjusting power plan to High Performance
• Optimizing virtual memory
• Reapplying thermal paste

Despite all troubleshooting, the problem persists.

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📁 Attached Logs:  https://1drv.ms/f/c/abd4a9ab1d0a113a/EgYPCPRZI2dPryx-3U3gg24BNauBfxhpwHbbXr5NpRQmkg?e=hHjFOx 

I've attached the link to download the following logs captured during gameplay:

• FPS.Latency.20250519-103045.CSV – Shows FPS drops and stutter metrics
• Hardware.20250519-103045.CSV – Captures hardware utilization including GPU, CPU, and SmartShift data

I will also be  sharing framtime file that got generated while performing a log throudh AMD Adernaline software.

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🧪 Request:

Could you please help investigate whether this is related to:

• SmartShift behavior
• Driver-level scheduling issues
• Frame pacing instability
• Or any known bugs affecting the RX 6500M with DX11/DX12

Any guidance on how to get rid of this really annoying problem would be really appriciated.

Thank you for your time and support!

[Garp_senchau]

@Prawwiin, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

To address the performance issues, consider implementing the following steps:

Disable SmartShift Max:

Access the BIOS settings during startup.

Navigate to the SmartShift or Performance tab.

Set SmartShift Max to 0% or "Disabled".

Adjust Power Management Settings:

Open the Control Panel and go to Power Options.

Select your active power plan and click on "Change plan settings".

Click on "Change advanced power settings".

Expand the "Processor power management" section.

Set both "Maximum processor state" and "Processor performance boost mode" to 99% or "Disabled".Reddit+1Reddit+1

Let me know how it goes.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

[Prawwiin]

Thank you for your response and the suggestions.

However, I’ve already tried navigating through the BIOS and power settings, but my HP Victus 15-fb0147ax has a very limited BIOS , and there is no option related to SmartShift Max or disabling it .
Also, in the Power Options > Advanced settings , I couldn’t find any setting labeled as "Processor performance boost mode" — this option doesn't appear to be available on my system.

I’m experiencing periodic FPS drops and micro-stuttering across multiple games , even at lowest settings, and from what I've observed, these dips correlate with SmartShift Max activity many times , which I'm unable to control due to hardware/driver limitations.

Is there anything else I can do on my end to mitigate this issue? Any alternative methods or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your time and help.

Best regards,

Prawin Kumar

[Garp_senchau]

Hey @Prawwiin, 

Thanks for reaching out! Since the issue remains unresolved, I suggest contacting our phone/chat support team for personalized assistance. They can provide one-on-one help and may even be able to work their remote assistance magic to fix the problem.

Note: There might be a nominal charge for the service they provide.

Regards,

[Prawwiin]

Hi @Garp_Senchau,

Thank you for your response.

I want to share that I have already contacted HP phone and chat support multiple times while my laptop was under warranty. Each time, I spent several hours—sometimes up to three hours per session—going through repetitive troubleshooting steps, including lengthy system resets. Initially, I was told the issue was due to having only 8GB of RAM, but after upgrading to 16GB, the problem persisted. Despite following all instructions, the support process always ended with a suggestion to visit a service center, where I was then redirected to file an online complaint, creating a frustrating and time-consuming loop.

After countless hours and numerous attempts, my warranty has now expired, and I am still facing the same unresolved issue. Out of necessity, I turned to online communities and technical resources. Through extensive research and discussions with other Victus users, it is clear this is a widespread problem related to the motherboard’s inability to supply consistent power to both the CPU and GPU under load. This results in throttling and stuttering, even when temperatures are normal. While some suggested replacing the thermal paste, this only provided minor improvements for a few; for most, it did not address the core issue.

The only workaround that has provided stable, playable performance is using the "Ryzen Controller" app to set CPU TDP, Long Boost TDP, and Short Boost TDP to 40W. However, this comes at the cost of significantly reduced CPU power and much lower frame rates than what this hardware should deliver. Any higher values result in stutters and lag. I have tested a wide range of configurations, and 40W is the only setting that consistently avoids severe performance drops.

It is disheartening that after investing so much time and effort with HP support, I had to find a workaround on my own—one that only partially solves the issue by sacrificing expected performance. Now, being advised to contact support again (with possible additional charges) after my warranty has expired, despite having documented this problem for months, is extremely disappointing.

I sincerely hope HP will acknowledge this issue and work on a permanent solution for affected users, rather than continuing to direct customers through the same unhelpful support cycle.

Thank you for your attention.

Best regards,
Prawin Kumar