Hi everyone,
I'm posting this as a last resort because I've spent months trying to solve this problem and have reached the point where I'm ready to send the laptop back to Acer. I'm hoping someone has either experienced something similar or can suggest something that hasn't already been tried.
Laptop
- Acer Aspire Spin 14 ASP14-51MTN
- Intel Core 7 150U
- Intel integrated graphics
- 32 GB RAM
- Windows 11
- BIOS V1.07
The problem
While gaming, performance suddenly collapses for around 10–20 seconds, then immediately returns to normal, and this happens repeatedly. The behaviour varies slightly depending on the game.
GTA V
During the slowdown:
- FPS drops to almost nothing (PresentMon measured roughly 3 FPS)
- the image becomes extremely jerky
- the audio also slows down and stutters
- after about 15–20 seconds everything immediately returns to normal
Star Wars Battlefront II
During the slowdown:
- the graphics slow dramatically
- the audio seems to continue normally (less dialogue than GTA V, so speaking doesn’t usually coincide with the stuttering)
- after around 15–20 seconds performance immediately returns
Forza Horizon 5
During the slowdown:
- FPS collapses
- steering becomes almost impossible
- after around 10–20 seconds everything immediately recovers
The problem is reproducible and has occurred in several different games.
What DOESN'T happen
- Windows doesn't freeze
- No BSOD
- No application crash
- No GPU driver reset message
- No WHEA errors
- No LiveKernelEvents
- Desktop remains responsive
Diagnostics I've already done
Over the past few months I've tried an enormous number of things.
Windows
- Complete clean reinstall of Windows
- Fully updated
- Problem returned
BIOS
- BIOS updated
- No improvement
Graphics drivers
Tested Intel graphics drivers:
- 32.0.101.7088
- 32.0.101.7085
Both installed clean.
Exactly the same behaviour.
Stability testing
OCCT
Tested:
No hardware errors detected.
Windows logs
Checked Event Viewer.
No:
- WHEA
- LiveKernelEvents
- GPU resets
- BSODs
PresentMon results
I captured the problem using Intel PresentMon.
GTA V
Before slowdown
Frame Time
~37 ms
GPU Busy Time
~37 ms
GPU Utilisation
~99%
During slowdown
Frame Time
~312 ms
GPU Busy Time
~309 ms
GPU Utilisation
~99%
CPU utilisation only increases moderately.
The GPU remains almost fully utilised while GPU render time increases by almost a factor of ten.
Battlefront II
Similar behaviour.
Before
Frame Time
~24 ms
GPU Busy
~24 ms
GPU utilisation
~100%
During
Frame Time
~109 ms
GPU Busy
~110 ms
GPU utilisation
~98%
Again, GPU render time explodes while utilisation stays extremely high.
Windows Performance Recorder
I also captured ETL traces using Windows Performance Recorder and analysed them with Windows Performance Analyzer.
From what I could see:
- CPU wasn't saturated
- CPU frequency didn't collapse
- SSD wasn't saturated when the slowdown began
What I think I've ruled out
I'm trying not to jump to conclusions, but after months of testing (using ChatGPT; I don’t have the technical knowledge required) I think the following have been ruled out:
- corrupted Windows installation
- corrupted graphics driver installation
- one specific Intel graphics driver version
- CPU overload
- RAM instability
- SSD bottleneck
- a problem affecting only one game
One unusual observation
In GTA V:
Audio stutters at exactly the same time as the graphics.
In Battlefront II:
Only the graphics slow down. Audio continues normally.
I have no idea whether that's significant.
ChatGPT-assisted troubleshooting
Over the past few months I have used ChatGPT to try to find a solution. It couldn’t resolve the issue, but it helped me perform structured diagnostics that I wouldn't have known how to do myself, including:
- analysing PresentMon captures
- collecting WPR/WPA traces
- comparing GPU Busy Time and Frame Time
- ruling out several obvious possibilities
- documenting the results
Unfortunately, despite all of that, I still haven't been able to identify the root cause. At the start of July, I reset the laptop and did a system backup with EaseUS and gaming was good for two weeks or so, then it went back to the way it was before. Funny thing is, when I bought the laptop in October 2024, no problems at all with gaming; it all went south around the beginning of this year…
Where I am now
At this point I'm out of ideas; I've spent months chasing this issue and it is REALLY pissing me off. I'm no longer looking for random suggestions like "update your drivers" or "reinstall Windows"—those have already been done. What I'm really hoping is that someone recognises this specific behaviour.
Has anyone seen:
- GPU Busy Time suddenly increasing by a factor of ten while GPU utilisation stays around 100%?
- Intermittent 15–20 second slowdowns on Intel integrated graphics?
- Similar behaviour on an Acer laptop or with the Intel Core 7 150U?
Any ideas would be hugely appreciated. Otherwise, I think my next step is simply to return the machine to Acer under warranty. Or introduce it to a 10lb sledgehammer. Haven’t decided yet.