FPS is suddenly tanking for seemingly no reason.

Basically, after shutting my PC down one night, the next time I started playing FF14, it started running into an issue where my FPS suddenly drops from its once consistent 60 FPS to as low as 10 FPS, and continues to stay this way for varying amounts of time. I've been using a Nividia GTX 1060 for over six months with no major issues.

From monitoring the GPU, it seems to be hitting 100% usage during the laggy periods, when it normally would top off at around 80% when it's running at 60 FPS. The temperatures are within safe ranges, too, and no other programs are running that could be placing a load on the GPU.

I'm really at a loss as to what could be making this happen.

windows update?

windows 10 creators updates are notoriously buggy for games. so if your computer installed that when you shut it down it might be your problem. seen quite a lot of people with the same issue coming up lately. 1709 is just as bad as 1703 it seems.

safest way to install those updates is quite literally disconnect everything game controllers, gaming mice usb headsets and devices, extra monitors. external drives or sound devices and then let the update run and reconnect it all after. minimise the risks of driver conflicts which is one of the big issues with creators

Good afternoon and thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

Did anything change with your PC that coincides with this? Such as an update to your OS or antivirus (like the poster above suggested)?

I'm assuming the frame drops are consistent, not in specified areas?

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There weren't any updates visibly being installed when/before I shut down the PC, and yeah, the FPS drops would kick in after maybe a minute of playing regardless of my location.

I did, however, notice that the power usage on the GPU was dipping unusually low during the moments where the FPS started tanking. When I inspected the case, I noticed that a fan wire that originally been secured was touching a metal...something on the back of the video card. There wasn't any visible damage to the wire or the GPU, but I resecured the wire and replugged the GPU's power cord, and currently haven't been having any issues any more.

I'm thinking the wire might've been disrupting the power flow to the GPU somehow. The issue was actually affecting the entire PC, as even after I shut down FF14 in the wake of the massive FPS drops, the entire display would sometimes start lagging with my mouse not moving properly and such, and eventually forcing me to shut down the PC with the power switch as I couldn't access anything.

In any case, I'm hoping it's fixed now, but if it isn't, it's definitely something I should take a dedicated PC help forum instead.

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