Graphics Cards

[pkfx]

I have had consistent stutters in many different games on the RX6500m, whether or not I am on a high or low graphics setting. I find often the game will run perfectly fine for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, before starting to stutter and continuing to do so until I close the game. This happens on a number of games, including COD Warzone (2 and 3), Fortnite, War Thunder, Escape from Tarkov, and even Minecraft, (although that only stuttered occasionally in the nether, i assume from the high amount of particles with my shaders?) making these games unplayable. The 6500m can definitely run these games however, as for the first 30 seconds to 2 minutes before the stutters start, I consistently run 60 fps on medium settings (Tried this on COD and Fortnite, and on War Thunder I can see same results on High and only see fps drops on Movie).

My task manager shows sufficient VRAM, RAM, etc, and with some further testing on COD, I found that on Low settings I still get stutters despite only using 40-60% of my graphics card and CPU.  The problem could not be thermal throttling either, as the stutters remain when my GPU and CPU are around 50-60 degrees Celsius.

TL;DR - Consistent stutters in many games regardless of graphics settings and demand on cpu or gpu, unplayable.

My Specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H

RAM: 16GB

Dedicated graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6500M (4GB)

Integrated graphics card: AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics (512MB)

I am on a Lenovo Thinkpad Z16. Windows 11.

Things I have tried already:

Please note I have a limited knowledge on these things and some of these things I have tried seems silly, but were probably a last-ditch-effort to resolve this issue.

Updating and checking drivers

Disabling game bar presence writer

Turning Shader Cache to registry

Disabling High Precision Event Timer (Couldn't find settings in BIOS, just disabled in drivers and set to false on cmd)

Disabling MPO

Disabling CPU Turbo Boost

A few other things I can't recall, however they of course did not work.

Things to note:

I have Linux on my laptop, and could play some incredibly intensive shaders on Minecraft. This could be because Linux (POP OS) uses a lot less resources than windows does for just the operating system, but I was also not getting any stutters whatsoever in the few months I played for. I briefly tried War Thunder and the same results could be seen. This means whatever is making my laptop stutter is likely part of windows. (or any of the AMD Adreneline edition or Razer Cortex settings I have on windows but not linux)

Linux however is not a permenant fix, as linux does not allow me to run the same games, including COD and Fortnite (Without complex emulators etc).

If we cannot resolve this issue here, could someone point me in the right direction to contact AMD? My laptop is still under warranty.

Thanks.

[Lorena783lopez · Accepted solution]

It sounds like you've already done quite a bit of troubleshooting, so let's explore a few more potential solutions and considerations:

Power Settings:

• Ensure that your power settings are optimized for performance. Sometimes, laptops may throttle performance to conserve battery, leading to stutters in games. Set your power plan to "High Performance" in Windows settings.

Background Processes:

• Check for any background processes or applications that might be consuming resources. Close unnecessary applications and disable startup programs that you don't need while gaming.

gm-socrates
BIOS Update:

• Check if there are any BIOS updates available for your Lenovo Thinkpad Z16. Sometimes, BIOS updates can improve system stability and performance.

Graphics Settings:

• In AMD Radeon Software, try adjusting the graphics settings specifically for the games that are stuttering. You can experiment with settings like Radeon Anti-Lag, Radeon Boost, or adjusting individual graphics options to see if they make a difference.

Windows Updates and System Files:

• Make sure that Windows is fully updated, including drivers, system files, and patches. Sometimes, updates can address performance issues and compatibility problems.

AMD Support:

• Since your laptop is still under warranty, you can contact AMD support directly for assistance. They may have additional troubleshooting steps or be able to provide guidance specific to your hardware and software configuration.

Monitoring Tools:

• Use monitoring tools like MSI Afterburner or AMD Radeon Performance Metrics to track GPU/CPU usage, temperatures, and other performance metrics while gaming. This can help identify any anomalies or patterns during stuttering episodes.

Disk Cleanup and Optimization:

• Perform a disk cleanup and optimization to ensure that your system's storage is not fragmented or cluttered, which can affect overall performance.

Hardware Diagnostics:

• Run hardware diagnostics provided by Lenovo for your Thinkpad Z16 to check for any hardware issues that may be contributing to the stutters.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, reaching out to AMD support or Lenovo's technical support team would be a good next step. Provide them with detailed information about your system configuration, the games experiencing stutters, and the troubleshooting steps you've already taken. They should be able to assist you further and determine if there are any hardware or software issues that need attention.

[pkfx]

Thanks mate. Power settings seemed to be really low to save battery, even while on charge. As soon as I changed it, I got a notification regarding my fans being able to work at full power (dunno why lenovo had to send me a notification) now. Just testing cod right now however not much luck in starting it, acting very weird but it looks like its an issue with cod itself and not my computer so i havent been able to test but this should be resolved pretty quickly. Whether or not it fixes the stuttering, you have still been a big help in boosting my performance.

Thanks mate, I will get back to you if it fixes the issue. If not I will probably take this up with AMD support or lenovo as you said.

[pkfx]

Hey mate just came back to give a huge thanks. Just played a full match of War Thunder, and not only did you solve my stuttering issue but changing that power setting allowed me to utilize a lot more of my graphics card. I am not running incredibly smooth and consistent at the max graphics. Again still yet to try Call of Duty seeing as something has broken within that, an unrelated issue, but I am pretty confident you have solved it, unlike all these useless complex tutorials I followed beforehand telling me to turn off "High Precision Event Timer" and all sorts of irrelevant things.

Thankyou, you have just made my month