Troubleshooting Frame Rate Dips: A Gamer’s Dilemma

As a dedicated gamer, there’s nothing quite as frustrating as watching your once-smooth frame rates nosedive. Not long ago, I was relishing in the exhilaration of running games at an impressive 150-160 FPS. Fast forward a few months, and now I’m struggling to maintain even 100 FPS. Today, I want to share my experience with my HP gaming laptop, equipped with an Intel i5-8300H processor and an Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics card, and seek your insights on improving performance.

I connect my gaming rig to a 24-inch monitor boasting a 144Hz refresh rate, which I have set to 1920×1080 in Windows 10. This setup allowed me to multitask effortlessly—streaming while keeping Chrome open, all while maintaining frame rates that rarely dipped below 130 FPS. The external monitor enhances my gaming experience and supports my dual-monitor setup for streaming purposes.

However, as of late, I have noticed a significant drop in performance. Nowadays, even with applications like Discord and Chrome closed, I can barely reach 100 FPS, occasionally peaking at around 110 FPS. This decline isn’t limited to just one game; it seems pervasive across most of my titles. Even popular games like Terraria have not escaped this trend, despite recent updates promising better optimization.

During gameplay, I’ve observed that my CPU usage typically hits the 95%-100% mark, so it shouldn’t be excessive thermal throttling at play. I’ve been using Task Manager for monitoring, but it only provides a snapshot of performance without much detail in real time.

To get to the bottom of this issue, I’m on the lookout for reliable monitoring Software that can track CPU and GPU temperatures and usage as I game. Additionally, I’d love to hear your recommendations on steps I can take to restore my frame rates to their former glory. My system has ample storage, with 78.6 GB free on my SSD and 370 GB available on my HDD, and I recently scanned for malware, so I don’t suspect that’s the culprit.

I’m open to making significant changes, including uninstalling programs if necessary, to reclaim my gaming experience. Any advice or suggestions from fellow gamers and tech enthusiasts would be immensely appreciated.

Thank you for your support!