While playing several different games, my GPU occasionally shows a delay or usage spike that causes the frame rate to drop for a few seconds before recovering. The issue is frustrating because I have another computer with the same specifications that does not experience it. Temperatures stay around 66–67°C, so I do not think thermal throttling is the cause. The system uses an Intel Core i7, GeForce MX230, and 16 GB of RAM, with the NVIDIA drivers already updated. I have mainly noticed the stutters using Minecraft's performance profilers. What should I check next?
1 Answer
Since temperatures are normal, check the frame-time graph rather than only average FPS. Brief spikes can come from background programs, power-management settings, storage activity, shader compilation, or the game switching between integrated Intel graphics and the NVIDIA MX230. Make sure the game is set to use the high-performance NVIDIA GPU, use the same power mode and graphics settings as the other computer, and compare driver versions and BIOS settings between both systems. It is also worth testing with overlays and background utilities disabled, and checking whether the game is installed on a slow or busy drive.
The exact CPU model and whether the game is running from an SSD would help narrow it down. Also compare frametime graphs on both machines, because a short frametime spike can feel like a GPU problem even when the GPU temperature and average usage look normal.