[PC] Periodic severe frame pacing/stuttering while FPS remains near cap

Platform: PC / Steam

Laptop: GIGABYTE AORUS 17 XE5

OS: Windows 11

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU

RAM: 16 GB DDR5-4800

NVIDIA driver: 610.88

Display: 1920×1080, 360 Hz internal display (connected through Intel Iris Xe / Optimus)

Apex: DX12

FPS cap: 145

I started experiencing a periodic frame pacing/stuttering issue around Aug. 31 / Sept. 1, 2026.

The unusual part is that the FPS counter often remains almost completely stable at around 144–145 FPS (sometimes only dropping to around 143), but the game suddenly looks and feels significantly less smooth. At its worst, it can visually feel far below what the FPS counter is reporting.

The issue usually lasts roughly 10–15 seconds and then returns to normal by itself. It can also occur in the Firing Range, without combat or a visually demanding scene.

I have captured the issue multiple times with CapFrameX. During the affected periods, the frametime graph shows strong and rapid fluctuations even though the average FPS remains close to the cap. The beginning and end of these periods are also quite abrupt.

I also captured one occurrence using Windows Performance Recorder and examined the trace in Windows Performance Analyzer.

During the captured event, I observed:

Apex DX frame presents becoming much less frequent during the affected interval.

RTX 3070 Ti GPU utilization dropping from roughly 40–60% to near 0%, with only intermittent short bursts.

Multiple Apex CPU worker threads sharply reducing activity at approximately the same time.

When the stutter ended, DX frame presents, GPU utilization, and CPU worker activity recovered at approximately the same time.

Because GPU utilization drops rather than reaching 100% during the event, this does not appear to be a conventional case of the GPU simply being unable to maintain the target FPS. GPU clocks also remain stable during the captured episodes.

I have also checked CPU/GPU temperatures under sustained load and did not find evidence of a cooling problem that corresponds with this behavior.

So far, I have reproduced the issue after:

Clean reinstalling Apex Legends and resetting local settings

Closing Discord completely

Testing different FPS caps

Testing both Apex's FPS limiter and NVIDIA Max Frame Rate

Disabling CapFrameX sensor logging

Testing Windows fullscreen optimizations both enabled and disabled

Explicitly assigning Apex to the RTX 3070 Ti in Windows Graphics settings

Stopping all mouse movement during an active stutter episode

I also tested the system with LatencyMon during a confirmed occurrence and did not observe an obvious DPC/ISR latency spike corresponding with the problem.

The problem began suddenly around Aug. 31 / Sept. 1. I noticed that other PC players have recently reported FPS/frame-pacing problems beginning around a similar date, although their exact symptoms are not necessarily identical to mine.

I cannot determine whether this is related to a recent Apex update, anti-cheat changes, a driver/Windows interaction, or something else. I do not want to claim a root cause without sufficient evidence.

Note: I am not a developer or performance engineer, and I do not have professional experience with tools such as Windows Performance Analyzer. I used these tools with guidance while trying to collect objective evidence of the issue. I am therefore not claiming to know the root cause; I am providing the captures so that someone with the appropriate technical expertise can interpret them.

I have attached three screenshots:

CapFrameX capture showing the periodic frametime instability.

WPA DX Frames + GPU Utilization showing DX presents becoming sparse while RTX GPU utilization drops to near 0% during the affected interval.

WPA CPU Usage showing multiple Apex worker threads reducing activity during the same interval.

I hope these captures can help identify what is causing the issue. I can provide additional details or testing if needed.