Hey everyone! I'm experiencing a strange issue with my PC where everything stutters for about 5 seconds and then goes back to normal. This has happened while playing games like Marvel Rivals and Apex Legends, but also when I'm just using my PC without any demanding applications running. For instance, during gameplay, I'll see my FPS drop dramatically from around 200 to 5-10 FPS, and my ping fluctuates a bit too, sometimes jumping from 30 to 50, and even hitting 100 occasionally. On top of that, everything on my second monitor, like YouTube videos or Spotify, stutters as well. My friends even say I lag on Discord while gaming.
When I checked the game replay, I noticed I was teleporting back and forth during gameplay, especially when enemies were shooting at me. The temperatures seem fine—my GPU is around 60°C and my CPU is at 75°C. I built this PC using a mix of old and new parts, and the most recent change was a new GPU that I got around a month ago. This stuttering issue has only started in the last few days.
I've already tried updating the GPU drivers, but that didn't help. My internet connection is wired and should be fast enough at 1 Gbit.
Here's a quick rundown of my specs:
- Ryzen 5600x
- Asus Strix RTX 3070
- Crucial Ballistix 16GB RAM running at about 3100 MHz (without XMP)
- Asrock A520M-HVS
I've also shared a link showing my PC resource usage during one of the stutters: https://imgur.com/a/OKWGm59
3 Answers
What's your PSU like? A good quality 650W should be enough for your setup, but sometimes power issues can cause stuttering. If you’re running the GPU at 70% power usage without issues, then it doesn’t seem like the PSU, but it’s worth checking if everything is connected properly.
This sounds like it could be storage-related. Are your OS and games on an SSD? If your CPU and GPU usage drops while that stuttering happens and you're not hitting RAM limits, it could be I/O issues or some software conflicts. Try disabling unnecessary startup items and keep your drivers updated to see if that helps.
Yes, make sure everything is as updated as possible! I've had issues with background apps causing stuttering, so definitely check that too.
It sounds like your RAM might be part of the issue. Running without XMP at 3100 MHz can lead to performance drops in certain situations. Have you considered enabling XMP again? Just make sure you're on stable settings to avoid crashes. Sometimes playing with those settings could help stabilize performance!
I had a similar situation. I tried enabling XMP and my games crashed too, but I found that tuning down the speed slightly helped. It’s worth playing around with if safe settings are found!
I agree. If your stutter happens even at 100% GPU usage, it might not be the PSU. It could still be worth testing with a different PSU or checking the connections.