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Something similar is happening to me. When I open the game (or any game on my PC) it will go to a high FPS (like 60+) but then i can watch the frame rate tick down slowly until it hovers around 10-13 FPS. It does this to EVERY game. but it isn't that my computer can't handle it (Borderlands 2 suggests all settings on high). It also makes no difference what the video settings are for Borderlands 2. One more thing, when I alt-tab out and then back in the frame rate goes up to 25-30 and then starts to fall back to crap. This is driving me MAD! Can anyone please help me?

System

Total amount of system memory 12.0 GB RAM System type 64-bit operating system Number of processor cores 4

Storage

Total size of hard disk(s) 3391 GB Disk partition (C:) 81 GB Free (581 GB Total) Disk partition (D:) 8 GB Free (15 GB Total) Media drive (E:) CD/DVD Disk partition (Y:) 131 GB Free (2794 GB Total)

Graphics

Display adapter type AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series Total available graphics memory 6907 MB Dedicated graphics memory 1024 MB Dedicated system memory 0 MB Shared system memory 5883 MB Display adapter driver version 8.930.0.0 Primary monitor resolution 1920x1200 DirectX version DirectX 10

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Have you tried the basic diagnostic steps ? IE: reformatting your OS, interchanging your video card with a different one, stress testing on your MOBO, etc ? This might be a question for the SuperUser StackExchange... – Zero Stack Oct 3 '12 at 11:46
Do you have any sort of in-game overlay? – SaintWacko Oct 3 '12 at 12:42
I use fraps to monitor FPS and before you ask, no it's not recording. @Foxtrot Would reformatting my OS help? and what does that entail? (I'm not completely new to computers but definitely not advanced) I don't have another vid-card to swap. – Yeti Oct 3 '12 at 19:07

1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote

Your video card, and probably the rest of you computer, is likely overheating. Have you tried cleaning it out (dust cleaners/blowers)?

When you Alt+Tab out, your video card essentially gets a quick relief from processing your games, and cools down a little bit.

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overheating is likely. Could be either the cpu or graphics card. Cleaning definetely recommended. Do you have any recommendations for temperature monitoring software? – Colin D Oct 3 '12 at 20:04
I will check that and get back to you – Yeti Oct 3 '12 at 20:20
ok... it very well could be heat related. I opened up the case and while dust was present, it wasn't enough to effect anything. However, i noticed that the GPU fan isn't spinning! i tested it out in borderlands and even under load it got hot but the fan didn't engage. If you have a ready solution to that let me know, but I am going to try to look into if it's something i can fix or if it's a defective fan or whatnot. – Yeti Oct 3 '12 at 20:32
Ok, i looked at the fan and I think I found the culprit: a dust bunny the size of a dime was caught between the centercap of the fan and the shaft. I think this'll do the trick (facepalm) – Yeti Oct 3 '12 at 20:44
Lol glad to help. This type of behavior is common on less powerful graphic cards as well; they're under more of a load processing the same games. – eric Oct 3 '12 at 22:53
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