I've been having some serious issues with my PC over the past eight months. I built my rig about ten months ago, and while I initially had no problems, things started to go downhill. My PC started crashing when playing NFS Heat, but interestingly, it runs games like Hot Pursuit, Rivals, and Roblox just fine. Recently, I've been playing Forza Horizon 4, and it crashes about 10 minutes into gameplay.
But that's not even the main issue right now. I'm currently playing Delta Force, an FPS game, and when I check the settings, it shows that the game is using 6 GB of VRAM— which is fine since everything is on max settings. However, there's also a mysterious "Other" category that says something is taking up 5 GB of VRAM! That means my card is using 11 GB out of the 12 GB available on my 4070 Super.
I got pretty frustrated and decided to check my GPU usage without any programs running. To my surprise, the usage fluctuated wildly, jumping from 0% to 11% to 100% in seconds. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on! My specs include a 4070 Super, Ryzen 7 7700, 32 GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. Power shouldn't be a concern as I have a NZXT 1200 watt PSU that's platinum rated.
3 Answers
Don’t forget to check your Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) to see if there are any odd processes using a lot of GPU resources. Sometimes, background applications can cause strange behavior like you're seeing. Also, running a complete antivirus and anti-malware scan could help rule out any malicious software affecting performance.
It’s also worth considering that you might have a faulty GPU. Rare, but it can happen even with new cards. Contact the seller or manufacturer to check on warranty options. Nvidia offers a 3-year warranty, so if it's defective, they might replace it. Just be sure to check your rights regarding returns and warranty terms.
Before doing anything drastic, though, you might want to test your system with a different graphics card if that's possible. That way you can see if the issues persist.
It sounds like your VRAM usage is being affected by something that's possibly faulty or just needs troubleshooting. VRAM can often show high or inconsistent usage due to preloading or caching, and that's not always a problem. However, if you're noticing frequent crashes or freezes, it might be an indicator of issues with your GPU.
You could run a GPU stress test using tools like FurMark or Unigine Heaven to check for temperature spikes and stability. Also, make sure to reinstall your GPU drivers using a tool like DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to ensure there are no conflicts. Don't forget to check for malware—run a full scan just to be safe!
That makes sense, but my GPU is practically new, barely 11 months old! I really hope it's not dying.