Frequent drops in CPU and GPU percentage in Task Manager coinciding with gameplay slowing

[Ste@med]

I started experiencing frequent and regular significant slowing in games. I don't know if it happens in all my games, but it happens in more than one (e.g., Firewatch, 12 Minutes). These slowings happen every several seconds and last for a few seconds. In running Task Manager simultaneous with gameplay I see sudden and dramatic drops in CPU and GPU percentage.

I don't know how to troubleshoot this situation.

Dell XPS 17 9720, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 64 GB RAM

[emoticorpse]

Anything happen recently around the time this started?

[_I_]

its a laptop
either limited by cooling, temps over 95c
or power, battery or brick not strong enough
or its power delivery/conversion from ~19v to pack voltage and its requirements by the laptop

laptop cooling pad would be a good place to start
and make sure its fully charged and plugged in to its brick when gaming

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Tell me are the usages HIGH when the PC is NOT playing games while in Task Manager?

If the usage is HIGH while in IDLE then you have a miner.

[Ste@med]

Thank you for the replies. If I'm interpreting them correctly, it looks like I'm experiencing what I now have learned is called thermal throttling. HWiNFO64 seems to say the CPU is getting up to 100C before being brought back down to about 80C. So assuming that's the correct diagnosis now I'll have to ponder what solutions to attempt.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Publicado originalmente por Ste@med:

Thank you for the replies. If I'm interpreting them correctly, it looks like I'm experiencing what I now have learned is called thermal throttling. HWiNFO64 seems to say the CPU is getting up to 100C before being brought back down to about 80C. So assuming that's the correct diagnosis now I'll have to ponder what solutions to attempt.

What is the CPU (and GPU) usage % when it is hitting the throttle temp?

[Ste@med]

Publicado originalmente por Cosa Nostra:

What is the CPU (and GPU) usage % when it is hitting the throttle temp?

Maybe 30% or so.

[Ste@med]

Publicado originalmente por Cosa Nostra:

Tell me are the usages HIGH when the PC is NOT playing games while in Task Manager?

If the usage is HIGH while in IDLE then you have a miner.

No, CPU is only several percentage points when idling.

[Ste@med]

Here's a bit of an update. I'd appreciate any further thoughts. I disable CPU turbo in BIOS. I also changed the power mode from balanced to efficiency. (I'm running Windows 11, fully updated.) I find that CPU percentage still periodically drops, but now CPU temperature doesn't go higher than the 80s. So it still seems to be throttling, but the temperature doesn't seem to be the cause (or so it seems to me).

[Midnight Aurais]

question does your laptop have vents on the backside if so then consider a laptop cooling pad

the effectiveness of those cooling pads again depends on the design of the laptop to include vents on the back

[Ste@med]

Publicado originalmente por Midnight Aurais:

question does your laptop have vents on the backside if so then consider a laptop cooling pad

the effectiveness of those cooling pads again depends on the design of the laptop to include vents on the back

The vents are on the bottom. It does seem that I should get a cooling pad. I'm thinking about a Thermaltake. I'm also going to replace the thermal paste on the CPU.

[76561199648916059]

Just had a issue with my AMD, it rolled back drivers to 11-2023. I previously had march drivers, for what ever reason Windows update reverted to older drives which causes increase temperatures, make sure to redownload the latest driver update

[Iron Knights]

If you use a laptop for gaming, there is no reason why you shouldn't buy a serious cooling deck not a "pad". Something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Powerful-Turbofan-Radiator-Infinitely-Variable/dp/B0C69BVWGB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O58PK3YQCSJR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DxH_VJolrWctIEpGUOfD3HtOjDkeoOp9XLbKPujYg_CrInuJIZUUgFVElXJV8K8OwWFkv4woXajzK-rK3EnouMcezfjDo42hRIuDRL8rl866SXottAwSqCCt7Cp6PO4r0QjCcSexfwELEEhx-r7FeA2d2RHt-SqVn5t_C97iMGzwwglqIV6pJaMU_MyXG4qXSCGm4mtFTrHfFthGdbXtB5Cjdg6QDWSWr0YfSs5lgySNPyiQ862odWUUMB_WI0H8ekFGDz8FKf5XXZxjWMW8t_1mYOKydPIvpprSyGPqg8o.wSka7eijUgj4hrSkttNaTF-Cn-bry-2TBU0vJxhdDQY&dib_tag=se&keywords=laptop%2Bcooler&qid=1715907220&s=electronics&sprefix=laptop%2Bcooler%2Celectronics%2C134&sr=1-1&th=1

[Ste@med]

Publicado originalmente por Iron Knights:

If you use a laptop for gaming, there is no reason why you shouldn't buy a serious cooling deck not a "pad". Something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Powerful-Turbofan-Radiator-Infinitely-Variable/dp/B0C69BVWGB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O58PK3YQCSJR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DxH_VJolrWctIEpGUOfD3HtOjDkeoOp9XLbKPujYg_CrInuJIZUUgFVElXJV8K8OwWFkv4woXajzK-rK3EnouMcezfjDo42hRIuDRL8rl866SXottAwSqCCt7Cp6PO4r0QjCcSexfwELEEhx-r7FeA2d2RHt-SqVn5t_C97iMGzwwglqIV6pJaMU_MyXG4qXSCGm4mtFTrHfFthGdbXtB5Cjdg6QDWSWr0YfSs5lgySNPyiQ862odWUUMB_WI0H8ekFGDz8FKf5XXZxjWMW8t_1mYOKydPIvpprSyGPqg8o.wSka7eijUgj4hrSkttNaTF-Cn-bry-2TBU0vJxhdDQY&dib_tag=se&keywords=laptop%2Bcooler&qid=1715907220&s=electronics&sprefix=laptop%2Bcooler%2Celectronics%2C134&sr=1-1&th=1

I'll try that. I've replaced the thermal paste so a cooling deck might be the last step. But I'm getting to the realization that using this machine for much gaming is not the best, since it's main purpose (besides routine tasks) is photo editing.

[_I_]

get one of the vent fans, they work so much better than the pad coolers

https://www.amazon.com/Eborsi-Laptop-Fan-Cooling-Pad/dp/B0CQJBS7HM/ref=asc_df_B0CQJBS7HM

they assist the laptops cooling method by using a much stronger fan

[humboldt]

i cant read the whole thread now, but i would change the energy mode to "high performance/max performance" and if this doesnt work: reinstall windows as clean as possible. install gpu drivers and then start a game. if the error continues, you have a hardware problem. this is what i would do.
byebye