PC Graphics

[Thoomy]

Hi team.

On my 6 years old laptop (Lenovo E580) I started observing significant FPS drop from ~50FPS to ~10FPS after a couple of minutes in-game. In previous years this issue was not present.

Did some investigating using GPU-Z and observed GPU Core clock drops from around 900Mhz to 214Mhz. Core clock never gets back up from 214Mhz after FPS drop is observed.

Seems it is completely locked at 214Mhz and always at 214Mhz. Tried 3 different GPU drivers (latest and 2 older ones) but it makes no difference in behavior.

Main change I remember was BIOS update in November, but back then it still worked OK. Could it be BIOS update?

Attached 2 files from GPU-Z.

Thanks for any help.

Tomi

[FunkZ]

Looks like GPU and MEM clocks are dropped like it's in 2D mode or it is throttling. How are the GPU temps while gaming when the FPS drops? Tried blowing dust out of the cooling fan? Also are you on AC power when this happens and what power setting is Windows on?

[Thoomy]

Looking at temperatures they max out at around 82°C when game is running for 5minutes. Weirdly GPU clock did not drop when I was logging the data with Radeon software, only after I minimized the game window and afterwards went back into the game. Then it again dropped to 214Mhz.

Cooling fan was cleaned a month ago with compressed air- was not so dirty even after 6 years

Running AC power, original adapter, Best performance mode (tested also Better performance but no difference in FPS). Even after closing the game GPU clock remains at 214Mhz and does not move.

Would share LOG file from Radeon, but don't know where to attach it here...

Current driver version I have is:

[FunkZ]

The fact that the clocks dropped only after you ALT-TABed out of the game makes me think it is switching from 3D to 2D mode and then not switching back when you re-enter game, likely a driver/BIOS issue.

I would suggest to download the last available graphics driver direct from Lenovo and do not upgrade the driver from AMD or Microsoft.

[Thoomy]

Update: issue with FPS drop still present, not only when ALT-Tab is done. Sometimes after 90s in game, sometimes after 5min. No logical repeatability.

Tested latest AMD driver from Lenovo site - no difference.

Used DDU removal tool - no difference.

After DDU, tested AMD PRO Software driver PRO 23.Q4 (saw this driver version on the forum as a more stable version) - no difference.

Have also set the setting under Windows "Graphis settings" to use "High performance" power mode for this specific game.

What else can be troubleshooted? Can I somehow exclude Intels' integrated graphic driver if it is interfering with AMD?

Is there any suitable diagnostic tool (GPU stress test or similar) to run?

[FunkZ]

GPU-Z has a mini load generator built in - click on that blue question mark next to the bus interface field. It's not meant to stress-test but just to generate a small 3D load.

[Thoomy]

SOLVED Finally!

FunkZ your first reply made me thinking what has changed that the game suddenly had FPS drops.

Solution for Lenovo E580 laptop with RX550 mobile GPU is downgrading of BIOS to version 1.13

After this BIOS version, Lenovo "upgraded" their BIOS with thermal management half-product not-tested BIOS.

So my hope with upgrading BIOS in November really meant I downgraded it in terms of thermal management.

But will definitely try to repaste the CPU and GPU in case current 6 years old paste is already worn out

Thanks again FunkZ for good advice!

[FunkZ]

Good to hear you have isolated the issue to a faulty BIOS version!