Whenever I launch most games on my laptop, they run normally at first but then stutter every 10–15 seconds. During each stutter, MSI Afterburner shows the dedicated GPU usage dropping, and the game feels as if it has switched to the integrated GPU for about five seconds before recovering. This behavior continues for roughly 5–10 minutes, after which the game runs consistently on the dedicated GPU. My temperatures look normal, the battery is usually well charged, and I've already updated my drivers. What could be causing these temporary GPU performance drops?
2 Answers
Check your laptop’s power-management settings. Some systems reduce CPU or GPU performance when Windows detects a battery or power-limit condition, even if the battery is mostly charged. Look at the Windows power mode, manufacturer performance utility, and BIOS settings for CPU or GPU throttling options. The issue may be related to the laptop briefly applying a low-power profile during startup.
Since the problem eventually clears up and temperatures are normal, it may be a power-management or initialization issue rather than overheating or permanent hardware failure. Make sure the charger is firmly connected and recognized as the high-performance adapter, then set Windows and the laptop control software to a performance mode before launching the game.
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