ROG STRIX G16 GPU Frequency Fluctuations

[itzQuixotic]

I'm not sure why but recently all of a sudden my games on my computer have been getting FPS drops consistently every 5 seconds with stuttering and resolution downscaling. This is happening across all my games. I've had this computer for about 9 months and its worked perfectly up until recently. I've tried updating drivers, reinstalling windows and numerous guides and the same issue persists. I can't find anything online about this issue.

I was also having some CPU cooling issues, so I cleaned and repasted both my GPU and CPU. Repasting the CPU seems to have fixed the temperature problems on the CPU side. I have a HUGE cooling pad underneath my laptop and I literally just cleaned the fans so I don't think ventilation is the issue. To be clear the issue was happing WELL BEFORE I repasted the GPU and CPU. Also, I should mention that I DID NOT reapply thermal paste to the VRMs, because they already had plenty of paste on them and I had run out, so I just left them alone.

I'm looking into Armoury Crate and seeing that my GPU is performing perfectly fine until it reaches about 72'C, then my GPU temperature starts to fluctuate between 65'C and 72'C every 4-5 seconds, which also fluctuates my frequency from base clock into ROG boost and back into base clock.

I've also found that turning down the resolution does help a little bit but it is still very noticeable while playing. Switching to manual also seems to have an effect on it since I have my fan speeds set higher than default. The issue is better in Turbo mode as any other mode is completely horrible. I've also made sure my GPU mode is in Ultimate, which it already was set to. I've also read online that for some reason the lighting AURA settings on your laptop can effect GPU power, so I also turned that off, which also didn't help. Additionally, I've made sure all my drivers are up to date as well - still didn't help.

From what I understand, it seems like a temperature issue of some sort. Perhaps something to do with the temperature reader not working properly? It's just really weird because it was working perfectly with no issues for a solid 8 months, then out of the blue it starts doing this. I haven't had any maintenance done on it either, so I'm at a loss. 

For reference, here are my specs:

Processor - 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13980HX 2.20 GHz

RAM - 32G

GPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU 16G VRAM

SSD - Micron Crucial X8 SSD SCSI Disk (1.83Tb)

[Falcon2_ROG]

@itzQuixotic 
Since you mentioned that you have replaced the thermal paste yourself, it is currently not possible to confirm whether the thermal module’s fit or sensors are functioning properly, which may lead to unstable GPU frequency and performance. 

Based on your description, the issue may be related to cooling or CPU/VRM overheating, or it could be due to software settings or hardware abnormalities. It is recommend first uninstalling and reinstalling Armoury Crate, and for the graphics driver, please use the version provided by us for confirmation. 

If the problem persists, we suggest sending your device to an authorized service center for further inspection to ensure the system can return to normal performance. 

The following is the contact information:
https://www.asus.com/support/service-center-location 

Also you can contact the local service center for help.
The following is the contact information:
https://www.asus.com/support/CallUs# 

Sorry for any inconvenience it may be caused.

[itzQuixotic]

So I've repasted the GPU and CPU, and I also swapped the old thermal putty for thermal pads. I ran a few tests using HWi64, and found out that my VRM was overheating which was causing the throttling. While doing the refresh and swaps, I noticed that the thermal putty was pretty hard and flakey, which probably was the culprit. Regardless, after replacing the putty with the pads my temperatures seem to be MUCH worse than before - GPU sitting hot around 88'C and 90'C. I don't know why that could be, maybe I'm using the wrong thickness pads?

I tried to go as thin as possible but still allow the heat sync to make contact with the VRM's, but I also think the heat sync isn't sitting properly on the GPU, because after trying different thicknesses, the paste was barely spreading out on the GPU side. So, I'm going to see if I can go back to a paste for the VRM's, since that's what they had on before AND it was about time for it to get redone anyways. 

In the meantime, I've undervolted my GPU and kept the resource intensive games to a minimum to help prevent permanent damage, if there hasn't been some already.

[itzQuixotic · Accepted solution]

So update. I've repasted my VRMs and it works much better. I'm getting 120+fps in most games in 1440p. The game still stutters every now and then but that's because I ran out of paste for the rest of the syncs, meaning I only pasted the VRM's and some of the GPU syncs. 

Overall, if I were to come out with anything from this whole experience, make sure your GPU, CPU, VRMs and Miscellaneous syncs are properly pasted and not hardened.