Graphics Cards

[Maciej]

Hi. I've noticed something strange recently. All my games were running fine, when suddenly while playing games like Dying Light, etc., I'm getting lags and stuttering on a few seconds interval. It has never happened before, my drivers are up to date and I do not use afterburner, etc. I only have intel for my intel hd graphics card.

It happened suddenly, on games that were running perfectly fine before.

[RPX100]

You are not providing much info, but it could be thermal throttling.

Make sure to install some monitoring software to check your temps.

If you see temps above 90°C then it might indeed be thermal throttling.

Air vents on any device need cleaning to let them operate without issues.

Make sure to clean your devices at least 1-2x per year.

[Maciej]

Of course it is being cleaned. In fact, it was cleaned in August.

[RPX100]

Good. Check your temps anyway. 

If its not the temps and you want help, then:

Information Required When Posting a Discussion 

[Maciej]

Will do that soon, thanks.

(Will attach the required info soon)

[Maciej]

• AMD Radeon R7 M260
• Dell Inspiron 15 5000
• Windows 10 64bit 10.0. 18363
• Radeon Software Adrenaline 20.11.2
• 1366 x 768 LED Screen 48/60 Hz
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz, 2201 MHz, 2 Cores
• Dell 08NT2J A00 + BIOS A02
• Dell 65W LA65NS2-01
• Samsung 1600Mhz  PC3L-12800 DDR3L 2x4GB (Not sure about the ram at the moment, will keep you updated)

[pokester]

Thermal throttling is something definitely worth checking. Don't assume if it is not at 90 it isn't throttling, many AMD cards seem to throttle in even the mid 70s. So a custom fan curve that kicks the fans higher sooner often helps. Also setting the Power Limit to max, raises the power ceiling can help too if that is your issue, so that may be worth a try. 

Lastly and most importantly, any time that you were running okay and now aren't the two thins you have to ask is did software change at the same time, ie did you load a new driver or a new Windows update loaded for instance. If this started after a driver update then report the issue to AMD https://www.amd.com/en/support/contact-email-form and run DDU from wagnardsoft dot com and go back to a previous driver.

Next is, to make sure your hardware is not at fault. A GPU, Power Supply, CPU, Memory, Motherboard can all fail or develop stability issues at any time. Run OCCT from ocbase dot com and check out your components. Watch for dips below 12v. You can monitor in real time with HWinfo too. Plus you can watch and test if your thermals on all components are in line while this is running. 

Good Luck and report back if any of this did or didn't help. 

[Maciej]

Looks like it can be thermal throttling(never happened to me before tho), checked on the temp using radeon software and it was between 88-93 degrees while playing - weird, since the pc was cleaned in august, any ideas why? It was cleaned and the the thermal paste was changed, so maybe the fans are just getting worse over time(the pc is 5-6 years old).

[pokester]

Sometimes you can just get dryout of the thermal grease on the GPU or if a pad is used it loses good contact. It happens. 

Worth noting is that with many card makers addressing this yourself can void the warranty. I would talk to your cards maker about your temps. I doubt it is your case if you are positive it was working fine before and temps were lower but checking all your fans is a good idea. Use hwinfo and monitor their speed. Also test the system with the side open and see if that improves temps this can be proof if better of an airflow issue.

Your GPU makers support department would be very helpful in diagnosing the issue and they can offer advice or RMA if needed. 

Good Luck!

[kingfish]

We're dealing with a laptop here..so most responses do not apply.

I would first check the Device manager for any yellow error marks.

Go to INTEL SUPPORT , use the driver search and update your graphics..and anything else it finds.

Go to Dell support and check for a bios or chipset update.

Have you assigned the AMD graphics to the games thru the computer "Display" option?

[pokester]

I have had several laptops where the power supply or brick goes bad. I have had fans fail and many time had to replace the thermal grease and pads on them as well. The are tons of videos showing how to fix cooling issues on laptops online. They don't exist because it never happens. Not sure why most of this does not apply? The OP of course mentions already cleaning and applying new thermal compound. 

Certainly what you suggested are also things worth checking. 

[Maciej]

Will check all of that. I've also asked the guy who cleans my pc once a year about him changing the thermal grease on gpu.(I believe he only changed the thermal cpu paste, but will look)

[kingfish]

Laptops do not have fan settings...no selective/adjustable fan settings just low,medium,high... or power limit selection. That's what I'm referring to.

[Maciej]

Got some news. Checked every device manager category and no error marks. The PC-Mobile trusted service opens on Monday so he'll probably tell me if he did apply new grease on the gpu, entered my service tag on the dell site and will run some tests.

[Maciej]

Installed a bios, chipset and the amd Dell drivers update. None of these solved the problem. The card is still getting to 90°C and experiencing the lags and stuttering, altough they were lighter this time, however I think it just depends on the game/luck. Still good to have them updated tho.

Any ideas, apart from changing the gpu grease?

[kingfish]

Yes...read my pm.

[Maciej · Accepted solution]

Aight, I've decided to go leave my laptop at my service and check what's really the issue.(Is my gpu dying from it's age or maybe just thermopads to replace).

Anyway, I'm leaving on friday so I'll do it when i come back - The PC is totally fine to use apart from gaming, altough when playing games that aren't heavy to handle, it is fine as well. Or maybe I'll find a good service in Germany. ;)

Thanks for all the help.

I guess we can consider it solved. :smileyhappy: