Troubleshooting FPS Drops with a 1080 Ti and Ryzen 9 9800X3D: Seeking Solutions
Recently, I acquired a used EVGA 1080 Ti SC graphics card to complement my Ryzen 9 9800X3D processor, and I was eager to dive into some gaming. My primary game of choice has been Dead by Daylight, but there’s a frustrating issue I’ve encountered. After an extended gaming session, my frames per second (FPS) unexpectedly plummet to around 30 and remain there until I completely exit the game. Lowering the graphics settings yields no improvement; in fact, it occasionally exacerbates the problem.
Interestingly, this FPS drop isn’t limited to just gaming; I’ve noticed that even during video calls on Discord, my friends’ cameras appear to be running at about 20 FPS. This leads me to suspect a broader issue with the GPU’s performance, as it seems to be throttling globally rather than just in-game.
What I’ve Investigated
To identify the cause of this performance downturn, I’ve conducted several checks and tests:
- Temperatures: CPU and GPU temperatures remain normal, hovering between 50°C and 60°C under load.
- VRAM Utilization: I’m observing low VRAM usage, approximately 3 to 5 GB, which should not be a bottleneck.
- FurMark Stress Test: The GPU performs admirably in synthetic tests, reaching solid frame rates of 130 to 140 FPS.
- Voltage Stability: Voltage levels appear stable and are within the expected range.
- No Thermal Throttling: Despite extended use, the GPU isn’t showing signs of thermal throttling.
- Power Supply Analysis: My Corsair 750W PSU has previously powered a 980 Ti without any issues, ruling it out as the culprit.
- Overlay Disabling: I disabled all overlays from applications like Discord, Steam, and GeForce.
- Driver Management: I uninstalled GeForce Experience, retaining only the essential drivers, and established NVIDIA Control Panel settings to “Prefer Maximum Performance.”
- NVIDIA Driver Reinstall: I fully uninstalled and reinstalled the NVIDIA drivers (multiple reboots were performed, though I haven’t used DDU yet).
- Dead by Daylight Configuration: I attempted to tweak the game’s configuration files, but to no avail.
Interestingly, my initial FPS even before experiencing
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Thank you for providing such a detailed overview of your troubleshooting steps. Based on your description, since your GPU performs well during synthetic stress tests and temperatures are normal, it suggests that thermal or power issues are unlikely. The fact that your system’s performance throttles across multiple applications indicates a potential driver or system configuration problem.
Here are some additional steps that might help resolve the FPS drop issue: