Very low FPS while gaming even when battery is plugged in Nitro AN515-57

Carbxncle · February 2022

I'm using an Acer Nitro AN515-57 with 8GB RAM, 11th gen Intel Core i5, and Nvidia RTX 3050 Notebook GPU running Windows 11. I've had this same issue twice now where while I'm gaming with my nitrosense turned to Auto and CoolBoost switched on, my fans will suddenly start working at maximum speeds followed by my FPS on all games falling to below 20. Restarting my laptop doesn't work, plugging the charger cable in and out doesn't work, my power settings are set to high performance and I have made sure I'm using my dedicated RTX 3050 GPU to run these games. The last time this happened I did a fresh install of Windows but it still didn't fix the issue until suddenly I downloaded an update. I even did a complete uninstall followed by a clean reinstall of my Nvidia drivers but to no avail. I have checked Windows Update now, and there are no more updates to be downloaded. I am at a loss as to what to do since this laptop is only a couple months old and has already made me face this issue twice.

Thread was edited to add model name to the title

AnhEZ28 · February 2022

@Carbxncle what game do you play on and how many FPSs do you get?

Carbxncle · February 2022

AnhEZ28 said:

@Carbxncle what game do you play on and how many FPSs do you get?

Usually around 80-90 FPS on Final Fantasy 14, 64-65 if I'm in a very crowded location. 120-144 FPS on Divinity 2. When I have this issue my FPS doesn't go above 20 on any game.

Carbxncle · February 2022

@AnhEZ28 not sure if this will help show the issue but here's a screenshot of MSI Afterburner while running Witcher 3 in the background. I have not touched any of the under/overclocking features ever and I downloaded the app just now to check the voltage numbers.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/b3/1b30ocx5txvu.png

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Follow this guide completely step by step-
Windows 10 optimization guide for gaming — Acer Community

Carbxncle · February 2022

GAMING6698 said:

@Carbxncle
Follow this guide completely step by step-
Windows 10 optimization guide for gaming — Acer Community

I am not sure if this is addresses the problem I am facing, as my laptop was working perfectly fine all day then all of a sudden started having low FPS without any changes to settings etc.

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Just try this guide it eliminates unnecessary CPU power draw and some settings which affects your games

Carbxncle · February 2022

@GAMING6698
Tried out those steps, they didn't help.

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Check if your CPU/GPU Temperature are more than 90°C?

Carbxncle · February 2022

@GAMING6698 my temperatures are around 60 degrees when I start up any game and the fps is still stuck at 20.

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Can you please reord your gameplay using msi afterburner with monitoring CPU/GPU temperatures, Usage and at least play your games for 10min while recording.
(Watch YouTube videos if you don't know how to monitor and capture screen)
Post video here

Carbxncle · February 2022

@GAMING6698
I couldn't figure out how to record the game and keep Afterburner visible at the same time, so I took a recording using Nvidia's performance overlay instead. I hope that's good enough.

https://youtu.be/d2VfImrodkk

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Open nvdia software then change "prefer maximum performance" from nvidia control panel to "adaptive" and reboot.

After reboot test your games

Carbxncle · February 2022

@GAMING6698
Do you mean this option? There's no Adaptive option there, I've tried turning on both Normal and then Prefer Maximum Performance but neither of them gives me the performance I used to get.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/t9/9byze2merneq.png

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Then this option not available for laptops.
Download driver from link after installation reboot and check game fps
https://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/Driver/Chipset/Chipset_intel_10.1.34.8_W11x64_A.zip?acerid=637722039192081048&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=NITRO&Step3=NITRO AN515-57&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=AAP_2

Carbxncle · February 2022

@GAMING6698
Still no luck. The GPU clock, memory clock and GPU voltage values seem a bit low in the video I linked, is that maybe the cause of my problems?

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Yes, that's the reason.
May be bug in new driver.
Use DDU to uninstall your current driver then install most widely tested driver from this link↓
https://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/Driver/VGA/VGA_NVIDIA_27.21.14.6262_W11x64_A.zip?acerid=637722105041976365&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=NITRO&Step3=NITRO AN515-57&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=AAP_2

(Also pause windows updates because windows sometime tried to overwrite driver cause these type of issue)

Carbxncle · February 2022

Here is a screenshot of my FPS right after installing the driver, without restarting my laptop

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/sq/5f5g2evpo187.png

And here is my FPS after restarting my PC. I used DDU in safe mode to remove my Nvidia drivers then reinstalled them from the link you gave me.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/vb/3xldqd3snqtf.png

The problem still persists, sadly.

GAMING6698 · February 2022

@Carbxncle
Check if your ram is getting full while gaming?
If yes, then you need to upgrade

Carbxncle · February 2022

@GAMING6698
How do I check that? And I used an MSI laptop for 2 and a half years before this, also with 8GB of RAM and I used to play the same games with no issues. Isn't it more of a faulty hardware issue if my 2 month old Acer is having such a problem?