I'm having a pretty frustrating issue with a PC we built for a friend. It worked fine for a few weeks, but now it randomly drops to 10 FPS during gaming sessions. This typically happens earlier in the day but can occur later too. I've checked monitoring tools and stress tests but haven't been able to replicate the drops. I've already updated the drivers, checked the temperatures, and even cleaned and re-pasted the GPU, which is an older 3070. I noted a CPU spike during lagging moments, but it was just a single spike, and afterward, the performance seemed normal again. The CPU temps are great, and I've got a Noctua NH-D15 cooler on a 10700K processor. I'm planning to check the BIOS again, as the last owner may have tampered with it. I'm hoping it's not a hardware issue with the CPU as that would be quite the hassle, but I guess it's better than a GPU replacement nowadays.
3 Answers
Have you thought about reinstalling Windows? That could sometimes clear up issues like this if BIOS doesn’t fix it. It's usually a last resort though.
This sounds a bit like the issue I faced after upgrading to a 4070 TiS. I would get erratic CPU/GPU spikes occasionally. The problem turned out to be that my GPU wasn’t seated properly. I fixed that, added a support bracket, and it solved everything after going through a bunch of drivers and even reinstalling Windows. If you can, maybe try re-seating all components (except the GPU) and see if that helps!
What does your full build look like? Are there any components that are overclocked or undervolted?
Here's the build:
- I7 10700k CPU
- 16GB Corsair Dominator RAM
- MSI 3070 GPU
- Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler
- 1TB WD Black M.2
- It's housed in a Fractal case with Arctic fans.
Nothing's overclocked or undervolted, and oddly enough, stability tests haven't shown any issues.
Yeah, I'm holding off on reinstalling Windows for now. I want to check the BIOS first; if that doesn't work, I might have to consider it.