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Question

The Low FPS Curse

May 5, 2017 1:04PM PDT

So I've been having this extremely frustrating problem for like 5 years now, I've been on countless forums and no one seems to know a thing. Long story short, I built my first gaming pc in 2012 and it worked great for a year, no lag, everything was silky smooth, then it started lagging out of nowhere. By lag I don't mean random lag spikes, every single game just ran at a lower fps than before (around 10-15 lower) constantly. After a windows reinstall and multiple hardware replacements, I just decided to buy a new pc. I know how unlikely this sounds but it had the exact same problem, so I returned it and got another one. Same issue again. After returning it I got a PS4, because that made sense to me for some reason. You can probably tell where this is going. I know that consoles are locked at 30 fps but mine was running at freaking 20. Oh, I forgot to mention that the pc's I returned were more than decent and I was only trying to run games from 2010 or 2011.

Right now I'm using my 2012 computer, here are the specs:

-AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2 ghz
- Seasonic S12II-520
-Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-S2
-Onboard graphics
-A 500 gb WD
-6 gb of kingston ram

So naturally I started looking into the things that came in contact with all these 4 systems, the ethernet cable and the power cable respectively. I think it's safe to rule out the ethernet cable so we're left with the power cord or better said the electrical current. Now, the apartment building I live in is really old and so is the wiring. A few weeks ago I ran prime95 and some other cpu stress tester and had HWmonitor and cpu-z opened to look at the cpu voltages. They were fluctuating like crazy, between 1.125 v and 1.475 in full load and so was the core speed, between 800 mhz and 3.2 ghz. It's doing the same thing during browsing but less frequently. I don't know that much about hardware besides the common sense stuff but that can't be normal right? I've never overlocked anything or even messed with the bios settings by the way. Another thing I should mention is that back in 2012, 7 months or so after the lag started manifesting, the onboard audio and lan got fried (or at least that's what I think). I had a quality PSU that I had just bought, so that couldn't have been the cause. Also, the temps are fine.

The reason I'm making this post after all this time is because I'm in the middle of building another pc and it would be great if I somehow managed to solve this issue before finishing it.

Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
My view on this.
May 5, 2017 2:07PM PDT

Is it's very dated hardware and any change to drivers or configuration and blammo, it tanks. You could spend a lot of time finding Elmo (the cause) or toss a GPU in there to make it fly.

In short, reinstall the OS to the state where ti worked and NEVER EVER allow driver updates.

That machine's time has passed and can really upset those that want to spend their time on this (or get others into the tar pit.) What would I build?

Something from https://www.reddit.com/r/PCMasterRace/wiki/builds

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Response
May 5, 2017 3:01PM PDT

Yes, I am fully aware that my current hardware is dated. I never said that I have any expectations from it when it comes to gaming, nowadays I only use it for browsing and movies. I mentioned that I am in the process of building a new PC. The point of my post was that the brand new PCs that I had bought had the same problem and those were high-end systems for their time. Not to mention that I was trying to run games that were 3-4 years old.

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My reply
May 5, 2017 3:22PM PDT

Is to deal with the issue by a reload to exactly when it worked. Then never allow changes. There are thousands of prior posts about "driver version 10 is slower, I went back to 9" and so on. But I do not own your PC so I can't duplicate ti and find Waldo. But I know the cures. It can be cheap.

Post was last edited on May 5, 2017 3:23 PM PDT

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ok
May 5, 2017 4:13PM PDT

Ok, I'm sorry but what are you talking about? I even mentioned that I fully reinstalled windows. No, scratch that, I mentioned that I had bought and returned two brand new gaming PCs because of the same problem.

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Then the news is grim.
May 5, 2017 5:12PM PDT

You lost the recipe so you can't recreate what worked. If the hardware is the same then you get the same result with the same load.

I'm talking about a few things. Some folk want to get others to enter the tar pit issue this is. Here I keep it simple. Recreate the same setup and unless there is a hardware issue, it's going to work the same.

If the drivers are newer, you often find them slower. This is well discussed so I head to the fix. Install a better GPU. Or if too old and you are moving on, leave it and move on.

All free advice and yes folk do flame on when they didn't find a cure besides the fixes I use.

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Voltage fluctuation. And the usual.
May 6, 2017 6:35AM PDT

Fluctuation in the app you noted is in prior discussions. If you think that's it then replace the board that supplies, makes that voltage. That is a hardware issue so there is a fix.

But I don't use that as the final say. The final say is the Volt meter or oscilloscope.

Normally I would chat about doing the usual million mile work about cleaning, heatsink compound replacement and fans. But the direction you took and the problems since long ago sounds like a machine that barely delivered and any OS or driver change and it's game over. I've seen such and like a tar pit know it's nothing you can do much about (don't enter the tar pit, but fix, address what it takes.)

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Answer
A test
May 5, 2017 5:29PM PDT
http://beta.speedtest.net/

Run it a few times at different times of the day.
Are you getting numbers close to what your paying for?
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Response
May 6, 2017 4:29AM PDT

The games I was trying to run were all singleplayer, so there was no internet involved.

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Answer
Taking a step back...
May 6, 2017 4:06AM PDT

...for a wider view, I'm a bit confused about your timing. You say "frustrating problem for like 5 years now", "I built my first gaming pc in 2012 and it worked great for a year," "that back in 2012, 7 months or so after the lag started manifesting" - those statements don't seem to add up, unless you actually built the machine in 2011. Anyway, no matter, that's not what I want to mention.

Taking a broader view of what you told us, you have the machine you built 5 or 6 years ago and have tried already restoring it to its original build state, two new PCs and a games console all exhibiting the same problem. That is indeed, strange. What I think you need to look at are the points of commonality, rather than the internals of the home build, since clearly, its internals are of no consequence in the other three failing machines. So, you have on the input side, the electrical power to your building, of which you have reservations, an Internet link of some sort, I assume and your keyboard and mouse, although the new PCs probably came with their own. On the output side, you have the monitor and the cable connecting it to the PC and I suppose speakers but you didn't comment on those and it's hard to imagine how they might affect the frame rate of the console. Anyway, you can just unplug them and see if that makes any difference, unless they are integrated in the monitor. You have recognised this, although your list was a bit shorter.

I think you need to work though all of these to eliminate what's working and as Sherlock Holmes says, "Whatever remains, however unlikely, must be the solution". The cables are all easy and cheap to checkout by replacement. If you have or can borrow a spare keyboard and mouse, they too are easy to eliminate. Which leaves you with the monitor and the mains power supply. If you can borrow a spare monitor from a friend or take yours round to his or her computer, you may be able to confirm or eliminate that as the culprit. If it is sound, then all you are left with is the mains power.

Do NOT mess with the mains electricity but maybe you (or your landlord if you rent) could get a qualified electrician to measure what's actually coming out of your wall socket. Your PC PSU should be capable of ironing out minor variations within the local specification but may not be capable of doing so on out of range items. If that is the problem, that's a whole new ballpark.

The point is, if your problem is related to some external issue, I fear your new build may suffer the same issues, as did the commercial PCs and the Console.

Good Luck!

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Response
May 6, 2017 4:44AM PDT

My bad, I meant late 2012.

I checked everything except for the mains power, considering my voltages were fluctuating in full load, that has to be it right? Would you recommend getting an automatic voltage regulator?

Thanks for the reply.

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Input power
May 6, 2017 6:54AM PDT
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Re
May 6, 2017 7:27AM PDT

Ok, thank you.

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Answer
Considerations for the Old PC and the New One
May 6, 2017 6:06PM PDT

Possible causes and consequences:
1. Bad electrical supply; surging or sagging voltage could cause the symptoms you described on one or all gaming machines you've tried.
Possible consequence - frequent sag or surge could gradually damage your computer's power supply, motherboard, etc.
Possible troubleshooting: Use the Kill-a-watt meter suggested by Bob_B. Also, try plugging the PC into another electrical outlet, preferably in a different room. Maybe use a long extension cord if you can't move the PC and monitor.
2. Bad power supply. Maybe the power supply began to have problems after that first year. Could have been caused by the fluctuating electrical supply in your home, or by a big surge during a storm, etc.
Possible consequence - same as above.
Possible troubleshooting - If you prove that the electrical supply in your home is OK (not fluctuating) it may be time to replace the power supply. The Corsair CS series (not CX) or a Seasonic may prove useful. At home we had a Corsair CX-430 go bad and ruin our motherboard. But, a Corsair CS-450M has worked great for about 3 years now.
3. Inadequate graphics chip. Try a better separate graphics card!
4. PC's BIOS and/or Windows Power Options are set to allow the cpu to "idle" at lower frequencies (like 800MHz?) to save power. Choose High Performance, not Balanced or Power Saver. Do the same in BIOS, if possible.