ASUS LAPTOP HAS LAG AND FPS DROPS IN EVERY GAME (ASUS G814 2024 4070 + I9 14. GEN)

[RoxaneOnline]

For months, I have been searching for a solution to this problem without success, and I've finally decided to post on the ASUS FORUM. The laptop has been sent for warranty repair twice, but the issue is still present.

        Purchased in August 2024

• Model: ASUS ROG Strix G18 G814JIR

• Operating System: Windows 11 Home Single Language

• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX

• RAM: 32GB (2 x 16GB Samsung DDR5 SDRAM PC5-44800)

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU

• Storage: 1 TB WD PC SN560 SSD

• Display: 2560x1600 @ 240Hz

• BIOS Version: G814JIR.320, 24.10.2024

For the past 8 months, I have been experiencing significant screen stuttering whenever I play games. My laptop's performance is great, but the momentary freezes have become unbearable. The games I play are not even demanding. My laptop's screen has G-SYNC enabled, all my drivers are up to date (BIOS, GPU, Intel, Armoury Crate, NVIDIA), my internet connection is excellent, the laptop is plugged into the charging adapter, I've formatted it many times, and even with the lowest in-game settings, the simplest games still stutter.

I sent it to the service center twice, but each time they simply put a 3DMark test file on the desktop and wrote "No problem found" on the repair slip. I have also attached the results of my own stress test.

When I first bought it, I played games like CS2, League of Legends, War Thunder, and Valorant without any issues, and the performance was fantastic. The performance is still good, but for some reason, the screen is tearing and stuttering in games. While playing CS2, fixing the frame rate at 240 in NVIDIA settings reduced the issue a little, but it's still there. Last week, I downloaded Clash of Clans, and even my laptop with an RTX 4070 and a 14th Gen i9 stutters while playing it.I think, this isn't a hardware problem; it's a software one.

One more thing I'd like to mention: when I increase or decrease the volume, the momentary FPS drops in CS2 get worse.

I'm waiting for your suggestions, especially from ASUS. You are truly infuriating ROG STRIX G814 (2024).

[WontonWasabi]

Hmmm, that's a tricky one for sure, when you install new NVidia drivers, do you select the clean install option?  

edit: I also wanted to add that I've experienced that volume meter pop up causing frame rate drops on multiple PC's as far as I can tell it's a quirk of Windows 11. 

[RoxaneOnline]

I usually install my graphics card drivers using the quick install option, but nothing changed when I installed them using the clean install option. Can you believe that even the emulator freezes when playing games?

[WontonWasabi]

Yeah that is strange, and very frustrating I'm sure!! 

When you are playing games, does the NVidia control panel  on the task bar show that the card is active? 

If you hover it will usually say the cards name followed by an (active) or (inactive) message. 

[RoxaneOnline]

Yes, it shows which application performs on which graphics card, but I don't always see that panel.

 

[WontonWasabi]

That's interesting it doesn't always show up, (but it does show up sometimes), do you use the power mode settings inside of Armoury crate, or the stock ones from the energy setting(s) in windows 11? 

[RoxaneOnline]

Yes, I am using Armoury Create power settings. Performance mode: Turbo and Graphics Card mode: Ultimate.And I think it's entirely a software issue.

Edit:I tried many different modes in the same game, but the lag continues.

[WontonWasabi]

Yeah it does sound like a software problem, especially if ASUS has already done some repairs. My recommendations (as a fellow laptop problem experiencer) are to maybe try going to graphic setting in search bar 

and try adding or verifying that the apps you want the graphics card to be used for are here, you can always manually add an app if you can locate it in the file explorer. 

once you see an app, or add one yourself you can select the drop down arrow and select high performance as an option, which just always forces windows to use your NVidia GPU. 

An other thing you could try if this doesn't seem to help performance (or maybe it's something you're already trying) is to toggle off game mode. (just search game mode in search bar) sometimes it cause hiccups. 

finally if you are still having issues, maybe trying the optimized setting in Armoury Crate might help, it can help trigger NVidia Optimus and MUX switching. 

Let me know if any of those work, I'm gonna do some research and I'll check the forum posts a little later. Hopefully we can get those FPS numbers up and stabilized. 

[RoxaneOnline]

I applied all the settings you suggested and restarted the computer.

I can definitively say the following:

• When playing Clash of Clans on a Google Play emulator, noticeable and serious stutters are still occurring.

• In CS2, after disabling Game Mode, the FPS drops have slightly increased. Also, whenever I use the in-game team microphone, the FPS latency spikes up to 300ms.

• I re-downloaded Fortnite, a game I had stopped playing due to stuttering and freezing. I've been playing it for the last hour, and the sudden drops from 300-400 FPS to 30-40 FPS are still happening.

• In War Thunder, I still experience micro-stutters when trying to look around.

The most interesting part is that I didn't experience any of these issues while playing the open beta for Battlefield 6, which was released last week. I believe, as I said, that this is a software issue, because I never saw Battlefield 6 go above 100 FPS. This problem seems to happen whenever I'm getting high frame rates. When I limited the FPS to 240 in CS2, the issue was slightly reduced. Everything was perfect when I first got the laptop, so what happened that even old games are now stuttering? I'm sure my laptop hasn't been dropped or had its screen damaged.

I thought about replacing the thermal paste, but decided not to because it was still under warranty. I don't think it's due to heat. Should I install Windows 10?

[ElectroStingz]

Hello,

If you are running the 14900HX at default settings it will be at the limit of thermal throttling, over time this will get worse from new so it may be the temperature spikes as it is more frequently over 95 DegC causing stutters.

Monitor the temperatures of the CPU P-Cores during gameplay along with the P-Core frequencies at the same time to see if they are being impacted. (That is, if the CPU is throttling too much the P-Core frequencies will drop during use)

Run a game in Windowed mode with hardware monitor at the side, view the CPU Temps and Frequencies as you play, like this.

https://youtu.be/Y6Ghrp4aWYs?feature=shared

For a quick test lower the CPU boost using ThrottleStop / tick the disable Boost option to see if the stutters go away / temperatures should drop. (This is only to test, disabling Boost cripples performance)

ThrottleStop v9.7.3: https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop

And when you tick only that option, press on save then check in hardware monitor, the P-Cores will drop to 2.2 - 2.1GHz, The E-Cores will go to 1.6GHz, then see what happens.