I've been playing Counter-Strike 2 on a PC with an Intel Core i7 running at 2.20 GHz, 16 GB of DDR4 memory, and an Nvidia RTX 3060. In some matches the game runs normally at around 60–80 FPS, but in the next match it can suddenly drop to roughly 15 FPS even though I haven't launched anything new or moved the computer. I wondered whether overheating or thermal throttling could be responsible, but sometimes the low-FPS match is immediately followed by a smooth one without giving the PC time to cool down. What should I check to find the cause?
1 Answer
Those specifications should generally handle the game better than 15 FPS, so the first step is to monitor CPU and GPU temperatures, clock speeds, and usage while the problem is happening. Also check whether the game is accidentally using the integrated graphics instead of the RTX 3060, and make sure the Nvidia driver is current. A sudden drop that comes and goes between matches could also be caused by a background process, power-saving mode, or another application using the CPU or GPU.
I’ll monitor the temperatures and GPU usage during both a normal match and a low-FPS match so I can compare them.