Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about FPS stuttering, game performance, and PC troubleshooting.
General Performance
Why do I have stuttering even with a powerful PC?
Raw hardware isn't the whole story. Stuttering usually comes from software: driver regressions, background processes fighting for resources, a Windows setting that quietly sabotages frame pacing, or shader compilation the game never finished. An RTX 4090 still stutters if the drivers are a mess or Windows is in the way.
Is stuttering the same as low FPS?
No, they feel different in your hands. Low FPS is a steady slog: your average is 20–30 FPS and everything moves in slow motion. Stuttering is inconsistent delivery. You can be running at 100 FPS on average and still hit micro-freezes that make the game feel choppy and unresponsive.
Why does my game stutter only after playing for a while?
Almost always thermal throttling. Your CPU and GPU build up heat the longer you play, and once they hit their limit, the chip drops its clock speed to protect itself. The frame rate tanks, the stutter kicks in. Open HWiNFO or MSI Afterburner mid-game and watch the temps. If they're pinned near the ceiling before the stutter starts, you've got your answer.
Learn more →Can RAM cause stuttering?
Yes, in a few different ways. Under 16GB is the most common one. Modern games spill into the page file and stutter every time that happens. If your RAM is running at JEDEC speeds because XMP is off in the BIOS, you're losing the memory bandwidth you paid for. And a single failing stick can throw intermittent stutters that look like anything else until you run a memory test.
Graphics & Drivers
Should I always use the latest GPU drivers?
No, new isn't always better. Every few months NVIDIA or AMD ships a driver with a regression that tanks performance in whatever game you play. If things get worse right after an update, roll back. For stability, stick to Game Ready on NVIDIA or the Recommended branch on AMD rather than chasing every beta.
Learn more →What is DDU and when should I use it?
DDU stands for Display Driver Uninstaller. It wipes every trace of your current GPU driver from Windows so the next install starts from a clean slate: registry entries, driver store, and the leftover files a normal uninstall leaves behind. Reach for it when a regular uninstall didn't fix your driver-related stuttering or crashes, or when you're moving between NVIDIA and AMD cards.
Learn more →Does fullscreen vs borderless window affect performance?
Yes, and the difference shows up mostly in frame pacing and input lag. Exclusive fullscreen hands the GPU directly to the game and bypasses the Windows compositor, which is why it tends to feel tighter. Borderless window is easier for alt-tabbing and second-monitor stuff, but the compositor sits in the middle and can introduce small stutters.
V-Sync & Frame Rate
Should I enable or disable V-Sync?
Depends on your monitor. If you have a G-Sync or FreeSync display, turn V-Sync off in the game and let adaptive sync handle tearing. That gives you the smoothest feel without the input lag penalty. If you don't have adaptive sync, V-Sync is the next best option for killing screen tearing, but you'll pay for it with added input lag, so cap your FPS below your refresh rate to reduce the hit.
Learn more →What is frame pacing and why does it matter?
Frame pacing is how evenly the frames arrive at your monitor. Average FPS only tells you how many frames the GPU pushed per second, not how they're spaced. You can sit at a clean 60 FPS and still feel miserable if the gaps between frames swing between 10ms, 25ms, and 12ms. The eye picks that unevenness up instantly and reads it as stutter.
Learn more →Should I cap my FPS?
In most cases, yes. Setting an FPS cap a few frames under your refresh rate (141 FPS on a 144Hz monitor is the usual target) keeps you inside the G-Sync or FreeSync window, which is where adaptive sync actually does its job. Uncapped FPS tends to bounce above the window and break the smoothness you paid for.
What is the difference between G-Sync and FreeSync?
Both do the same job: they sync your monitor's refresh rate to whatever your GPU is actually pushing, which kills tearing without the input lag of traditional V-Sync. G-Sync is NVIDIA's brand and originally required a dedicated hardware module in the monitor. FreeSync is AMD's, built on the open VESA Adaptive-Sync standard, so it's cheaper to implement. Modern NVIDIA cards can also run FreeSync monitors under the G-Sync Compatible label.
Storage & Loading
Can my HDD cause stuttering?
Yes, and it's one of the most common causes of stuttering in open-world titles. An HDD can't keep up when the engine needs to stream textures and assets on the fly, so you get a hitch every time the camera enters a new area. Plenty of newer games now list an SSD as a hard requirement, not a recommendation.
Learn more →How do I check if my SSD is failing?
Run CrystalDiskInfo first. It's free and reads the SMART data off your drive directly. A green Good status is what you want; Caution means reallocated sectors or wear is creeping up, and Bad means you should be backing up now. Follow it up with CrystalDiskMark to benchmark read and write speeds, and compare against the manufacturer's rated numbers. A healthy drive shouldn't be falling far short.
Learn more →Should I install games on NVMe or SATA SSD?
For most games, a SATA SSD is plenty. You'll see a few seconds shaved off loading screens with NVMe, but once you're actually in the game the difference is usually invisible. Save your NVMe slots for titles that lean hard on texture streaming, or games built with DirectStorage in mind where the engine can actually put that bandwidth to use.
Thermals & Cooling
What are safe CPU/GPU temperatures?
The rough rule for most gaming rigs is CPU under 85°C and GPU under 85°C while you play. That's the safe zone for older chips. Newer stuff like Intel 12th+ gen and AMD 7000 series is actually designed to run up to 100°C and sit there without damage, which still looks terrifying in HWiNFO the first time you see it. Check the official thermal limit for your exact model before you panic.
Learn more →How often should I replace thermal paste?
Every 2-3 years is the honest answer for most builds. The real tell isn't the calendar though; it's watching your idle and load temps creep up over a few months even when the fans and dust situation haven't changed. Usually that's dried-out paste losing contact with the heatspreader. Decent pastes like Arctic MX-4 or anything from the Thermal Grizzly lineup hold up longer than the cheap stuff that ships in a box.
Can undervolting fix thermal throttling?
Often, yes. Lowering the voltage cuts how much power your CPU or GPU draws, and less power means less heat, usually with no performance loss. Sometimes you even get a small gain because the chip stays below its throttle point longer. The catch is that every chip tolerates a slightly different voltage curve, so you have to test yours specifically and hammer it with a stability run before you trust the setting.
Learn more →CPU Performance
How do I know if I have a CPU bottleneck?
Alt-tab to Task Manager mid-game and look at the Performance tab. The telltale sign is CPU usage sitting at 90-100% while the GPU hangs around 40-60%, which means the GPU is starving and waiting on the CPU to feed it draw calls. Check the per-core view too. One core pinned at 100% while the others sit idle is still a bottleneck, only on a single-threaded workload.
Learn more →Does closing background apps help FPS?
Yes, more than most people expect, especially when you're already CPU-limited. The usual suspects are browsers with a dozen tabs open, Discord (the CPU hit varies wildly depending on the server you're in), cloud sync services like OneDrive or Dropbox churning through uploads, and antivirus scans kicking in at the wrong moment. Close what you don't need before you hit play and you'll notice it in the frametimes.
Learn more →What is XMP and should I enable it?
XMP is the Intel name for a BIOS setting that tells your RAM to actually run at the speed printed on the box. AMD calls their version DOCP (or EXPO on newer boards). Without it enabled, your kit falls back to the JEDEC standard speeds, which are much slower than what you paid for. Turning it on is safe, takes about ten seconds in the BIOS, and gaming gains are real in CPU-bound titles.
Still have questions?
Try our interactive diagnostic tool or contact us directly.