I recently moved my PC, and ever since then every game has been running much slower than before. My FPS has dropped dramatically, and something demanding like Spider-Man 2 is now barely playable. I'm not sure whether I caused a hardware or connection issue while moving it. What should I check first?
3 Answers
If the cable is already connected to the GPU, shut the PC down completely and reseat the graphics card and RAM. Moving the case can sometimes loosen a component just enough to cause problems. Also check that the GPU power cables are firmly attached and that the card is sitting evenly in its slot.
If you’re using wireless game streaming or cloud gaming rather than running the games locally, moving the PC could have changed the Wi-Fi signal. Check your connection and try Ethernet if possible. For games installed and running directly on the PC, though, the monitor being plugged into the wrong video output is the more likely cause.
First, check whether your monitor cable is plugged into the graphics card rather than the motherboard. If it’s connected to the motherboard, the system may be using the integrated graphics instead of the dedicated GPU. You can also confirm this in Task Manager or MSI Afterburner by checking which GPU the game is using.
This is especially easy to miss after moving a PC. Make sure the HDMI or DisplayPort cable is connected to the ports lower down on the graphics card, not the motherboard’s video outputs.