Why does my GPU Usage suddenly go below 30% randomly and go back up?

[airlo]

I'm playing a game called VALORANT and I have been searching for countless ways to optimize the game and my pc to run it well (it's a really easy game to run compared to other detailed games) and I've reached a point where I get around 130-200fps, but I keep getting random drops in fps that last for as long as 5 minutes which is really annoying. I opened up task manager and I found out that when I'm getting over 130fps my GPU usage is over 80% whilst when I get way less than that it is below 30% or even 20%. I've already installed GeForce Experience and it told me I have the most up to date drivers for my GPU. I'm just wondering if there is any way for me to fix it and if it's a software issue or a hardware issue that I need to take to a repair shop to solve. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Laptop Specs:
GPU - GTX 1050 Ti
CPU - Core i5-8300H
RAM - 16GB
OS - Windows 10

 

[Intel_man]

GPU stutters like that could be waiting for the CPU to catch up.

Next time you play valorant, keep an eye out on the CPU usage as well and report back. See if there's any correlations to very high CPU Usage when your GPU usage drops.

Sometimes rolling back drivers a couple versions back could also help identify any instabilities in the latest drivers. I'd suggest you read through the changelogs of nvidia driver updates to see if there's a reason for you to update them. Especially for an old card like the 1050 Ti, it probably won't affect you much unless it's a new game they're adding support for and you want to play them.

 

[airlo]

GPU stutters like that could be waiting for the CPU to catch up.

Next time you play valorant, keep an eye out on the CPU usage as well and report back. See if there's any correlations to very high CPU Usage when your GPU usage drops.

Sometimes rolling back drivers a couple versions back could also help identify any instabilities in the latest drivers. I'd suggest you read through the changelogs of nvidia driver updates to see if there's a reason for you to update them. Especially for an old card like the 1050 Ti, it probably won't affect you much unless it's a new game they're adding support for and you want to play them.

Problem solved! There was no correlation between CPU and GPU usage though I rolled back my drivers and it seems to work now! I am playing on a lower fps but I'll trial and error with some of the versions and see which one gives the best results. Thanks!