Constant Lag Spiking PC Issue

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Thomas2012

Thomas2012

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Hello,
Recently my custom computer has been lag spiking quite badly on pretty much everything and I have absolutely no clue what it is. From iRacing to YouTube at times it'll do it but the slight stutters are so suttle no frame counter will pick it up. On iRacing when it occurs frames will go from 700 to 480ish but I can definitely tell it drops to 0. I only noticed this recently and I don't download any programs and such so I assumed it was Nvidia Experience as I added that recently, uninstalled to no avail. It has to be a hardware issue? Or windows update... I have no idea. Some assistance would be greatly appreciated, if error logs and such are required please tell me to provide. Thank you!

My specs are:
Intel core i5 6500
Gigabyte GTX 1060
16gb Rip jaws ram DDR3?
1TB HDD
128GB SSD

This is what the issue looks like:
 
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I recently discovered my PC was locking up because of the wifi card, so it could be just about anything. A good thing to try would be to run MSI Afterburner to log your CPU, GPU, RAM and disk activity and see what happens when the frames drop. Also frame rate counters only calculate averages so brief problems don't get caught, Afterburner can show you the frame render times which is what you should be looking at.
 
neema_t
I recently discovered my PC was locking up because of the wifi card, so it could be just about anything. A good thing to try would be to run MSI Afterburner to log your CPU, GPU, RAM and disk activity and see what happens when the frames drop. Also frame rate counters only calculate averages so brief problems don't get caught, Afterburner can show you the frame render times which is what you should be looking at.
Click to expand...

I'll be sure to give that a try, I've checked the CPU usage and RAM usage in task manager then further on into resource monitor and all seems normal. CPU usage is quite high even hitting 100% at times which I assume is normal as it's not there for long. Also checked temperatures for the CPU while running Assetto Corsa for a while and it maxed out at around 52 degrees celsius.

ULTRAVIOLENZZ
1. Slow HDD. Some games does not load all the textures etc to the RAM so sometimes a game lag spikes due to the game reading directly on HDD.

2. Outdated Video Card Driver.

3. Not properly installing the Video Card Driver. Use this. http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

4. Background Programs.

5. GPU overheating.

6. Malfunctioning GPU due to botched overclocking.
Click to expand...

1. I will move a game to my SSD to see if that makes a difference

2. I did update them right after this issue popped up via Nvidia Experience but I will recheck over to see if that was done correctly which would lead to 3

4. Checked task manager, nothing out of the ordinary but again I will double check over this.

5. Could very well be a possibility as the the fans have control over themselves turning on when required although they do perform when you'd expect them to so shortly after a game is launched they will turn on and remain on until you are either stationary at a menu or have closed down the game.

6. Haven't touched the settings of my GPU at all so I don't think it'd be that but who knows at this rate

Thank you very much @ULTRAVIOLENZZ and @neema_t ! I will be sure to update this with more info once I'm available
 
1. I advise you to have a separate HDD for games because as the files accumulate on the HDD, the HDD becomes slower. You can defrag it to make it fast again. But if you keep writing on the HDD then there's no point to defrag it. Have an HDD or SSD that you will only "read" games on it so whenever you install a new game, defrag it then you'll always have a fast HDD for reading games. 1-2mb/s read speed for undefragged HDD. And up to 80-100mb/s read speed for defragged HDD. I'm using WD Blue 1TB.

2.You have to always "clean install" the Video Card Drivers. You need to use Display Driver Uninstaller http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html or you'll have problems with games and even youtube.

4. You said above that sometimes your CPU is hitting 100%. Does this happen on all of your games? You might to scan for virus and malwares etc. Last year when I was still playing Fallout 4. The game suddenly becomes unplayable. Lag spikes everywhere even pausing the game for 10 seconds. Long story short, I found out after testing that it was an undetectable virus of sort. The game is hitting 100% on the CPU, HDD and its downloading something from the internet when I looked at the resource manager, just after clicking the .exe. It turns out somebody loaded a "virus" in the mods that I just installed that day when the NexusMods got hacked. NexusMods said that they were compromised and some mods were altered and possibly loaded with viruses. I posted that story in the Fallout 4 Thread though I can't find it. I deleted the mod and it fixed the problem. i I think you should try to uninstall the mods of all your games to check if some of your mods are loaded with virus. Just delete the mods that's causing the trouble.

5. Some new GPUs fans now doesn't spin until its too hot or needed so I think its normal.

6. Just be careful when overclocking. Even if you don't touch the voltage it could shorten the life of your GPU or mess it up badly.
 
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Defrag the HDD, it will speed up load times

ULTRAVIOLENZZ
6. Just be careful when overclocking. Even if you don't touch the voltage it could shorten the life of your GPU or mess it up badly.
Click to expand...

Not really.

Worst thing that happens is the driver will crash.

Modern GPUs can overclock to a limit and that limit is dictated by voltage.
And voltage limit is dictated by the GPU bios.
(think of it as red lining in an automatic, cant be done unless you do some changes in the firmware)
 
Happened to me. But I think its a brand thing...I overclocked my HIS R9 290 way below the recommended settings. Just 3-5 fps gain. And in just 6 months its gone. The good thing is they gave me a GTX 970 as replacement. Because apparently, the company stopped making that model said the shop I bought it.

Edit: I didn't touch the voltage.
 
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ULTRAVIOLENZZ
1. I advise you to have a separate HDD for games because as the files accumulate on the HDD, the HDD becomes slower. You can defrag it to make it fast again. But if you keep writing on the HDD then there's no point to defrag it. Have an HDD or SSD that you will only "read" games on it so whenever you install a new game, defrag it then you'll always have a fast HDD for reading games. 1-2mb/s read speed for undefragged HDD. And up to 80-100mb/s read speed for defragged HDD. I'm using WD Blue 1TB.

2.You have to always "clean install" the Video Card Drivers. You need to use Display Driver Uninstaller http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html or you'll have problems with games and even youtube.

4. You said above that sometimes your CPU is hitting 100%. Does this happen on all of your games? You might to scan for virus and malwares etc. Last year when I was still playing Fallout 4. The game suddenly becomes unplayable. Lag spikes everywhere even pausing the game for 10 seconds. Long story short, I found out after testing that it was an undetectable virus of sort. The game is hitting 100% on the CPU, HDD and its downloading something from the internet when I looked at the resource manager, just after clicking the .exe. It turns out somebody loaded a "virus" in the mods that I just installed that day when the NexusMods got hacked. NexusMods said that they were compromised and some mods were altered and possibly loaded with viruses. I posted that story in the Fallout 4 Thread though I can't find it. I deleted the mod and it fixed the problem. i I think you should try to uninstall the mods of all your games to check if some of your mods are loaded with virus. Just delete the mods that's causing the trouble.

5. Some new GPUs fans now doesn't spin until its too hot or needed so I think its normal.

6. Just be careful when overclocking. Even if you don't touch the voltage it could shorten the life of your GPU or mess it up badly.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have only windows on my SSD and all other files, primarily games on my HDD. I have defragged it and it came up with prior to that came up with no % fragmented.

I'll have to go over the video card driver situation thank you!

as for 4. going over the CPU usage in MSI Afterburner there's a lot of 100% usage which seems odd, temps for both my CPU and GPU maxed out at around 50 degrees which is pretty good, at least something is. Only mods I have are for Assetto so I'll take a closer look at them too.

I have no intention of overclocking due to past experiences. haha

Grayfox
Defrag the HDD, it will speed up load times



Not really.

Worst thing that happens is the driver will crash.

Modern GPUs can overclock to a limit and that limit is dictated by voltage.
And voltage limit is dictated by the GPU bios.
(think of it as red lining in an automatic, cant be done unless you do some changes in the firmware)
Click to expand...

Defrag'd and no difference sadly.

So far after a look on MSI Afterburner thanks for the suggestion @neema_t I have seen on all cores usage of 100% when playing Borderlands Pre Sequel which was lag spiking. I have a feeling that it is that since everything else seemed like nothing was out of the ordinary... Still confused on this issue.

edit: It isn't too bad just 100% when opening a game which I think would be normal
 
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@Thomas2012 Is there a chance that you deleted the Borderlands game instead of properly uninstalling it then reinstalling it again? If yes, I have a similar experience but with Borderlands 2. I deleted the game because there's no uninstall option even with using 3rd party softwares. So I deleted it, then reinstalled it. And the lagging started. I fixed that by deleting all the trace of the game first then clean install.
 
ULTRAVIOLENZZ
@Thomas2012 Is there a chance that you deleted the Borderlands game instead of properly uninstalling it then reinstalling it again? If yes, I have a similar experience but with Borderlands 2. I deleted the game because there's no uninstall option even with using 3rd party softwares. So I deleted it, then reinstalled it. And the lagging started. I fixed that by deleting all the trace of the game first then clean install.
Click to expand...

Nope, tried with both and same result. This issue has spread to pretty much everything game annoyingly. Still have no clue what it is
 
@Thomas2012 All that's left is to scan for viruses and malwares and to update your GPU driver...Like the GPU, the CPU shouldn't be at 100% when playing. Maybe there's something in your installed games, a virus/malware that's messing with your PC. Have you checked your PC's power options? Maybe its in lowest settings. Is your video card driver updated? Use Display Driver Uninstaller before installing the GPU driver.

Edit: Stupid question...Maybe you set your games quality (textures) too high for your GPU's VRAM? It will really lag your games to almost unplayable.
 
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Have you checked your BIOS to make sure that you're using the dedicated GPU and not just the integrated?

Also, I had a problem with Virtu MVP. If you have it installed, try uninstalling it and check your framerates.
 
TB
Have you checked your BIOS to make sure that you're using the dedicated GPU and not just the integrated?
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I was under the impression that the onboard graphics were disabled when you plugged in a GPU?

Edit: Nvm misread your post. OP, have you tried doing a clean driver install without GeForce Experience?
 
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ULTRAVIOLENZZ
@Thomas2012 All that's left is to scan for viruses and malwares and to update your GPU driver...Like the GPU, the CPU shouldn't be at 100% when playing. Maybe there's something in your installed games, a virus/malware that's messing with your PC. Have you checked your PC's power options? Maybe its in lowest settings. Is your video card driver updated? Use Display Driver Uninstaller before installing the GPU driver.

Edit: Stupid question...Maybe you set your games quality (textures) too high for your GPU's VRAM? It will really lag your games to almost unplayable.
Click to expand...

Possibly something wrong with my Assetto mods? I looked into it and I can't find anything wrong so I'll have to get a proper anti virus software. My PC doesn't have power options so I assume that just means it runs normally all the time. I'll address the video card situation at the bottom of this post 👍

I don't think they'd be too high if the frames and all are fine, surely the 6GB Gigabyte GTX 1060 could handle the games I throw at it since none are really that new

TB
Have you checked your BIOS to make sure that you're using the dedicated GPU and not just the integrated?

Also, I had a problem with Virtu MVP. If you have it installed, try uninstalling it and check your framerates.
Click to expand...

Checked the BIOS just then and all seemed fine, my GPU was reading properly and was dedicated

TwinTurbo LM
I was under the impression that the onboard graphics were disabled when you plugged in a GPU?

Edit: Nvm misread your post. OP, have you tried doing a clean driver install without GeForce Experience?
Click to expand...

Going over what @ULTRAVIOLENZZ said with the Clean Driver Install, I'm about to attempt that now, But I better check how to first. I've got a driver ready I just need to work out how to put my computer into safe mode as pressing F(Which ever number is required) had no boot in safe mode option. Unless it's all fine to do without safe mode which I assume it isn't.

Thanks for all the help so far everyone!
 
TwinTurbo LM
@Thomas2012 Display Driver Uninstaller should handle booting into Safe Mode for you.
Click to expand...

ULTRAVIOLENZZ
Assuming you're using Windows 10. This is how to access Safe Mode. http://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10 Display Driver Uninstaller is very safe and very easy to use. You should not worry about anything. Sorry for the late reply.
Click to expand...

Got it into safe mode, uninstalled drivers with DDU then installed the latest 1060 drivers. Sadly no fix for across the board for this issue...
 
Try this. Connect your PC to the internet. But don't open any apps/software that use the internet (Chrome, Torrents, Steam etc). You said it happens in any game. Pick the game that has the worst lag. Block it from using the internet through your firewall. If its a Steam game, play it offline. Use Steam in offline mode. Open your Task Manager. Make sure that there's no activity on your WiFi/Ethernet (S: 0 R: 0) No uploads, no downloads. Play that game on windowed mode so you could check your Task Manager if there's an activity on your Ethernet. If there's an activity, downloading or uploading on the Task Manager then there might be a virus etc on your PC. That's how I caught the virus loaded mods from NexusMods. Whenever I play Fallout 4 with that mods, the Ethernet is receiving/downloading something from the internet. And my CPU is at 100%. So the game is lagging badly. Try that. Remember, connect your PC from the net but don't use apps that use internet.

Or try playing the game without blocking it from the firewall but in offline mode, single player etc. So you could catch what file in that game or in your PC is causing the problem.
 
ULTRAVIOLENZZ
Try this. Connect your PC to the internet. But don't open any apps/software that use the internet (Chrome, Torrents, Steam etc). You said it happens in any game. Pick the game that has the worst lag. Block it from using the internet through your firewall. If its a Steam game, play it offline. Use Steam in offline mode. Open your Task Manager. Make sure that there's no activity on your WiFi/Ethernet (S: 0 R: 0) No uploads, no downloads. Play that game on windowed mode so you could check your Task Manager if there's an activity on your Ethernet. If there's an activity, downloading or uploading on the Task Manager then there might be a virus etc on your PC. That's how I caught the virus loaded mods from NexusMods. Whenever I play Fallout 4 with that mods, the Ethernet is receiving/downloading something from the internet. And my CPU is at 100%. So the game is lagging badly. Try that. Remember, connect your PC from the net but don't use apps that use internet.

Or try playing the game without blocking it from the firewall but in offline mode, single player etc. So you could catch what file in that game or in your PC is causing the problem.
Click to expand...

Would another way of testing this be run Assetto with my wifi disconnected to see if it still lags? Although I wouldn't be able to spot any downloading it may give me an indicator of that? If not I'll just do as you said

edit: Seems as if this issue isn't so bad at times and worse at others, currently it's quite bad where I can even see it happening on the desktop with nothing but steam open. Meanwhile some times I can get in a good hour or so before I start noticing effects
 
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Of course you have to try that with Wifi on but no apps will use the net so you could catch the file that's connecting itself to the internet. Also try playing with WiFi turned off.

Other thing that might fix the problem is cleaning your registry using CCleaner.

Maybe your CPU and GPU are faulty.

Or consider reinstalling Windows.

Edit: Disable Use hardware acceleration when available in Chrome. Click those 3 dots. Settings>Advance Settings. Its in the lowest part. Back when my GTX 970 is still new, I keep having black screens and stutters on Youtube and games too.
 
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ULTRAVIOLENZZ
Of course you have to try that with Wifi on but no apps will use the net so you could catch the file that's connecting itself to the internet. Also try playing with WiFi turned off.

Other thing that might fix the problem is cleaning your registry using CCleaner.

Maybe your CPU and GPU are faulty.

Or consider reinstalling Windows.

Edit: Disable Use hardware acceleration when available in Chrome. Click those 3 dots. Settings>Advance Settings. Its in the lowest part. Back when my GTX 970 is still new, I keep having black screens and stutters on Youtube and games too.
Click to expand...

Tried it, no difference sadly.

Sounds reasonable but I'm no expert on them so I wouldn't be able to tell but from what I've seen so far seems like the CPU.

I'll try that out but I doubt that be an issue since this lag spiking craze has only popped up recently and chrome has been on my computer way before any problems.

TwinTurbo LM
@Thomas2012 Have you tried running games while looking at a hardware monitor like MSI Afterburner? Your card might be thermal throttling.
Click to expand...

Closest I get is driving for a solid 30mins to an hour then alt + tab'ing to check MSI Afterburner... Thermal Throttling? I'll quickly search that up but I guess that's when the part will throttle itself due to heat? Anyways I'll search it.

I was just playing Assetto did this quick recording as an example of my lag:

went back to assetto and the random spiking was gone for about an hour even though the temperatures had reached their highest ever at 70 degrees celsius... Very strange

Edit: Don't mind the sloppy driving, for example purposes only! :D
 
Are you using Win10 and the xbox app by chance ? If yes try to disable the dvr recording on it.

Also could be disk access, as it's doing this to my game when disk usage is reaching 100%. Did you check the HDD where you have install it, is there enough space on it left, does it work correctly ?

It wont thermal throttle at 70° it should start happening around 90°.

What 1060 do you have and what cpu cooler do you have ?
 
RX-7_FD3S
Are you using Win10 and the xbox app by chance ? If yes try to disable the dvr recording on it.

Also could be disk access, as it's doing this to my game when disk usage is reaching 100%. Did you check the HDD where you have install it, is there enough space on it left, does it work correctly ?

It wont thermal throttle at 70° it should start happening around 90°.

What 1060 do you have and what cpu cooler do you have ?
Click to expand...

I don't open the xbox app but I will open it and disable DVR recording if it makes a difference but again like chrome it's always been there and on before these issues occurred

HDD has 500gb+ free and usage on it never really gets high at all from what I've noticed on task manager

I have a Gigabyte GTX 1060 6GB and this just the standard CPU Cooler which has always done the trick even in summer now, maybe the heat is getting to it?

@FrzGT Check for it, I couldn't see it.. is it under just processes like most?

Again thank you everyone for trying to help me out here!
 
Yes I know about chrome beeing there but I think they change something lately. It had create artefact while watching video (on youtube) and I've heard it could cause trouble to your games as well. It's just a case to tick tho so it's not that hard to test ^^

You dont need to open it for it to work in the background as long as it's installed from what I understood (about xbox app dvr).

Then it's not your hard drive and no 70° shouldnt do anything to your gpu. GPU start to act funny around the 90°C mark.

Your last option could be to revert to an old version of the nvidia driver and see if it works. I dont know which game you are playing but the newest nvidia driver dont bring anything into racing games.

You could try this one : 375.70 Heard it's pretty good.

Or go even more back to 369.XX drivers. Worth a shot.

Everytime you install driver, use DDU that you can download here :

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

and make sure you delete the previous one on recovery mode. Also make sure windows doesnt install drivers automatically at start up.
 
That's a weird kind of lag. Almost like "blinking". Have you tried tinkering with Nvidia Control Panel? Manage 3D Settings> Program Settings> Vertical Sync. Try all except Adaptive (half refresh rate).

-Try using Process Lasso to maximize your CPU when gaming.

-Set Priority of the game .exe in the Task Manager to High.

-Try this. It helped me a lot. I have an FX 8350 and I found out 2 of my cores are not activated. This gave extra fps to my games.

-And this. This has no negative effect whatsoever after years that I used this. Its noticeable in some fps games or fast games. Run Command.exe as administrator. Copy and paste this:

bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes (hit enter button)

bcdedit /set useplatformclock true (hit ennter button)

This smoothens games.
 
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When this happened to me it was the wifi driver. Have you played wired to see if it persists?
 
Danoff
When this happened to me it was the wifi driver. Have you played wired to see if it persists?
Click to expand...

Well of all things it could of been, it appears this performance lag was all caused by my wireless internet driver... I really cannot believe that it'd be the issue but I saw instant fixes on Assetto. I put on a replay with the driver still going and it was lagging, Alt Tab'd and disabled it and instantly stopped and ran flawlessly. I have no idea how a driver that has been there from the start with no updates or changes suddenly began to do this.

So, to @neema_t @ULTRAVIOLENZZ @Grayfox @TB @TwinTurbo LM @RX-7_FD3S @FrzGT and of course @Danoff Thank you all very much for helping me solve this odd issue! every suggestion could of been the fix. I'm surprised an earlier test suggested by Ultra didn't work which was to disable all use of internet, I guess with the driver still active no matter what this would happen. Either way thank you all and happy holidays! :cheers:

I'll work a way around this and maybe reinstall the driver to see if that fixes it 100%

Edit: Did not fix it, maybe I should just buy a different wireless card
 
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