I've got some decent specs on my PC: Intel Core i7-4510U @ 2.00GHz (up to 2.60GHz boost), NVIDIA GeForce 820M, and 8 GB of RAM. I used to get easily around 100-140 FPS when playing games like Valorant and Minecraft, but now I've hit a wall at exactly 40 FPS and it won't budge from there. I haven't changed anything significant aside from taking a break from gaming for exams. What could be causing this issue?
3 Answers
It sounds like a performance issue for sure. When you mention being back in gaming after a break, newer updates or patches might have changed how games run on your setup. You should check your CPU and GPU temperatures using HWMonitor, and see how healthy your HDD/SSD is with CrystalDiskInfo. If everything checks out, your Windows installation could be corrupted, or other applications might be hogging your RAM in the background. Sometimes, a Windows update can also bloat performance on older systems. Keep an eye on those!
Yeah, also don't forget that game performance can drop if you don’t use any performance mods, especially if your CPU struggles when loading new chunks in games like Minecraft.
One thing to check is whether you accidentally enabled VSync. It can limit your FPS to match your monitor's refresh rate and might be causing that constant 40 FPS. Look for any settings in your game or GPU driver that could be capping the frames. That might fix the problem!
Also, consider your monitor's refresh rate. How much FPS can it actually display? If your monitor has a lower refresh rate, it can limit the frame rate output from your games. Just a thought!
Gotcha! I’ll definitely check those things out. It’s frustrating seeing it locked at 40 FPS when I used to hit 140. Thanks for the advice!