Extreme FPS drop - Hardware & Software

I have given up. I have been trying to solve this on my own for the past couple of weeks or so now, and I have found NO solutions what so ever. So I bring my question to facepunch and maybe, just maybe, this can be solved. Here's the problem. I start playing a game. The game will be running fine, then all of a sudden my fps drops horribly. I'll use Bad Company 2 as an example. I have that game run at maxed. The fps ranges from 60-100ish. When I start playing, it will run fine for about 10-15 minutes. The fps then dips to 10-17ish for several seconds then it goes back up to 60-100ish every couple of minutes. It DOESN'T matter what graphics setting I have it on, the fps still dips. I have second monitor, so I ran the task manager AND core temp while playing BC2. During the lag spikes the cpu spikes to 100%. When that happens though, I noticed on core temp that the temperature goes down. I have done the following [quote] [b]Checked CPU and GPU temps.[/b] -The highest I ever saw my cpu was 61 degrees Celsius. It usually sits around 55ish. (This is while playing BC2) -I applied new thermal paste and remounted the cpu fan SEVERAL times. [b]Drivers[/b] -I have installed Video card drivers many times. None of this has helped. [b]Affinity[/b] -I have messed around with setting the affinity of games. It hasn't helped. [b]Other things[/b] -Turned off Cool'n'Quiet -Messed with a couple of other options in bios -Changed graphic options within the games -Changed out RAM -checked for Viruses, etc.... -Other things that I can't remember [/quote] [url=http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=476090]I have found someone else that had the same problem I am having.[/url] What he found out was the cpu is throttling down. His solution was to lower Vcore by .1V I don't know how to do this in my bios (my motherboard (which is a piece of shit) might even not let me do it, hell I don't know). [url=http://speccy.piriform.com/results/UluyWBp1mJdfFl80EtFo8Fv]Speccy[/url]

[QUOTE=mr hobo;32484278]I have given up. I have been trying to solve this on my own for the past couple of weeks or so now, and I have found NO solutions what so ever. So I bring my question to facepunch and maybe, just maybe, this can be solved. Here's the problem. I start playing a game. The game will be running fine, then all of a sudden my fps drops horribly. I'll use Bad Company 2 as an example. I have that game run at maxed. The fps ranges from 60-100ish. When I start playing, it will run fine for about 10-15 minutes. The fps then dips to 10-17ish for several seconds then it goes back up to 60-100ish every couple of minutes. It DOESN'T matter what graphics setting I have it on, the fps still dips. I have second monitor, so I ran the task manager AND core temp while playing BC2. During the lag spikes the cpu spikes to 100%. When that happens though, I noticed on core temp that the temperature goes down. I have done the following [url=http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=476090]I have found someone else that had the same problem I am having.[/url] What he found out was the cpu is throttling down. His solution was to lower Vcore by .1V I don't know how to do this in my bios (my motherboard (which is a piece of shit) might even not let me do it, hell I don't know). [url=http://speccy.piriform.com/results/UluyWBp1mJdfFl80EtFo8Fv]Speccy[/url][/QUOTE] is that 61 farenheight or celsius.

[QUOTE=krazipanda;32484293]is that 61 farenheight or celsius.[/QUOTE] Celsius

Get coretemp, then you can see the speed the CPU is running at, to check if throttling somehow is your roblem: [url]http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/[/url]

I'm guessing it's a software problem, check if your AV is scanning, or your computer's defragging, or any other software that may be hindering performance.

Yeah, leave the task manager on and sort processes after how much of the CPU they use.

[QUOTE=Warship;32485295]Yeah, leave the task manager on and sort processes after how much of the CPU they use.[/QUOTE] Just tested this. I didn't see anything, other than BFBC2Game.exe using the CPU like crazy. Its sitting around 80ish. Steam is second with around 15ish. Nothing goes up during the fps drop. [QUOTE=Warship;32484459]Get coretemp, then you can see the speed the CPU is running at, to check if throttling somehow is your problem[/QUOTE] How can I tell if my CPU is throttling? Is it when the MHz goes down? It goes down during the fps drops. It sits at 3415.10ish then it does to around 800ish. Update: I found a pattern. When the CPU temp reaches 62 degrees celsius, thats when it goes to 800ish MHz. The temp then drops to about 50. Then it climbs back up and the cycle continues. Is 62 degrees too hot for a temp?

Usually not, but I don't know about AMD processors. I guess you could get a new cooler, but have you tried looking in your BIOS? Maybe there's a valuable where you can change the throttle temp.

I think I fixed it! I read that the max temp for a x4 965 was around 62 degrees before it had too slow down. So I decided to remount my cpu cooling one more time, but this time with a different mounting bracket. Now it runs about right at 54 degrees while playing BC2. I'll keep on playing too see if I get a lag spike, but I've been playing for around 20 minutes now and nothing bad has happened yet! UPDATE:Hmm, I kinda fixed it. I can play it now for much longer before it does it. The new magic number is 58 degrees. Once it hits that it starts the lag. But, it doesn't lag as long as it did before. Once it hits 58, it goes down to 800 MHz and the temp drops rapidly then it goes back to 3415 MHz

Can you change the temperature at which it starts to throttle your cpu in the bios?

What CPU fan do you have? Stuff like this happened to me before when I used the stock CPU Fan I got with my AMD Phenom, so I'm assuming the same is happening with you.