Jump to content
  • Sign Up

[Solved] FPS drops randomly to 8FPS


Recommended Posts

I've been experiencing random FPS drops over the past couple of weeks. One moment it'll be 60fps, the next it will be 8fps (8fps seems to be the magic number it almost always drops to). This can last from a matter of seconds, to several minutes. The frame-rate doesn't fluctuate once it drops, it stays consistently at the same number as if the frame-rate was locked. Sometimes I can go a whole session (several hours) without FPS dropping, other times I get them constantly.

What I've done trying to fix it:

  • Set the graphics to lowest.
  • Checked hardware temperatures. Everything was normal.
  • Checked resource usage (CPU, GPU, RAM). Everything was normal, no unusual spikes when FPS dropped.
  • Removed third-party apps (DPS meter, etc.)
  • Reinstalled display drivers (Nvidia)
  • Deleted and redownloaded gw2.dat
  • Completely reinstalled GW2 from scratch
  • Completely reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch

So far nothing has fixed it, and I'm still experiencing these random FPS drops. At this point I'm thinking it's either a problem with GW2 itself, or it's a problem with my hardware. However, I've run benchmark software to stress my GPU and CPU, and everything ran fine.

My specs are:

  • GTX 970
  • i5 4670k
  • 8GB DDR3 RAM

Any advice or info is appreciated.

Other people are experiencing the same problem, see my reddit post for more info: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/7bsdw2/fps_drops_randomly/

EDIT: Downgrading my Nvidia graphics driver has fixed the problem. Download and use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to uninstall your drivers, and then install version 385.28 (can be found here: http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/122543/en-us).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should add that over the past 5 years I've never experienced FPS drops like this. I always got FPS drops in large zergs such as in WvW or world boss events, but it would fluctuate depending on what was happening on-screen. I'm getting FPS drops in instances with few players, or even by myself in my home instance.

This has been happening since around the time the patch adding DPI Scaling was added as an option. Toggling this option doesn't solve the problem though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Latest driver doesn't seem to fix it for me. I am getting horrible FPS drops. I never had this issue when I played 5 years ago, (just started playing again). I have played with the graphic settings with no luck. At times when I am standing still I get around 90FPS but then it drops to below 30FPS at times when playing.

Specs:Windows 10 x64i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz16GB RamGTX 10802560x1440

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've had this happening to me ever since either PoF or the first Living Season happened. It's awful because you never know when it happens. And when it does, the game because completely unplayable.
Thing is, it happened before as well as after my PC upgrade. The only thing that didn't change was the SSD that it's installed on.

Previous specs:Win 7 Enterprise x64i7 2600k @4.3 GHz8GB RAMGTX 6701920x1080Installed on Samsung 850 EVO

Current specs:Win 10 Education x64i7 7700k @4.1GHz16GB RAMGTX 10601920x1080Installed on Samsung 850 EVO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been checking back on this thread since my problem was solved.

I see a lot of you saying, "I'll update my drivers to see if that fixes it". This is the complete opposite of what fixed my problem. Go back to my post where I fixed it and read:

@"SixthExtinction.6035" said:It appears this could be a Nvidia driver issue. I was advised to downgrade to an older driver version (version 385.28) and so far I haven't experienced any FPS drops. If I still experience the FPS drops I will update this thread, along with my reddit thread.

I did not update my drivers to the latest ones, I DOWNGRADED to older drivers. If you are not trying to play newly released games you have no reason to update your graphics drivers. In fact, it is advised that you do not keep up-to-date with the latest graphics drivers. New drivers are usually just "Game Ready" drivers which add support for newly released games, but something in the update could cause problems with older games.

If you noticed performance loss after a driver update, use a program like "Display Driver Uninstaller" to remove all traces of your current drivers, and then download and install the older drivers which didn't cause a problem. Old drivers can be found on the Nvidia site (it might be easier to search for the specific driver version on Google, and then select the Nvidia link).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

if you have all the drivers up to date on the graphic card then it might be one of a few things couseing the issue you may have. if you have a old gc( graphic card) or play with other game with it maxed out all the time it might mean you need a new one. if it is new then it might be that you will need to do a system cheack to make shure you have a good gc. if you still have issues then it might just be the game codeing that is couseing issues or the internet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

@Zrbear.2367 said:I had the same issue and found that disabling shadowplay immediately corrected the problem for me - while running the latest version.

I disabled the overlay and I have not had issues since... So this might be it? Must say I coincidentally also did a Win10 update along with it. But I've done many before that and it never helped. So perhaps it is indeed Shadowplay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Dibbelocher.2318 said:

@"Zrbear.2367" said:I had the same issue and found that disabling shadowplay immediately corrected the problem for me - while running the latest version.

I disabled the overlay and I have not had issues since... So this might be it? Must say I coincidentally also did a Win10 update along with it. But I've done many before that and it never helped. So perhaps it is indeed Shadowplay.

In-game overlays, especially DVR-style "record stuff" features, are a frequent culprit for mysterious performance drops across a wide range of games. Your report would be consistent with what has worked for many other players.

In addition to the NVIDIA ShadowPlay tool, Windows 10 "game bar" includes a DVR feature that has caused similar issues for others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...