Windows 10 creators update (1703) - Very low performance on high-end laptop

I would like to start by saying that I've already contacted nVidia and Microsoft support via chat and they couldn't help me.

My specs: - Laptop: Clevo P870km1-g - CPU: I7-7700K @ 4.2ghz - Drive: Samsung SSD 960 pro 512GB - Ram: 32gb @ 2400mhz - GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080 (SLI enabled)

Windows recently installed the creators update for my laptop. Since that happend, my laptops' performance was very poor. Microsoft and nVidia both have a running case on this.

The problem is, everything that involves animation feels sluggish and everything I do feels slower than before, like opening chrome. Not just slower, but taking the specs into account, really slow. So I tried a couple of things:

• Enabled/disabled SLI
• Disable Game DVR
• Disable Game Mode
• Disable full screen optimization
• Completely removed driver in safe mode and reinstalled after reboot (hotfix 381.78)
• Drivers tried: 376.33, 381.65, 381.78 (based on forum and nvidia suggestions)
• Changed page file size manually and as recommended by windows
• Disable VSync
• Created a new account
• Firewall disabled
• AV disabled
• Maximum performance via power options
• Cleaned cache and prefex
• Other things I can't remember
• Reset my windows installation
• Installed process explorer to check for high CPU/GPU/RAM/Disk usage (all idle)
• Ran checkdisk and memory test (pass)

When I run the performance monitor using the following command:

perfmon /report

I get a report saying that every aspect of my computer is performing slow (information message) - CPU - Graphics - Ram - Hard drive

That can't be coincidental, can it? And it's true, everything I do feels like slow motion compared to before the update.

Running all cinebench tests, I get a result that's really surprising, I'm ranked just beneath a GTX 670m. Games struggle to keep above 30FPS. It doesn't matter which game. as soon as it start te demand something, FPS drops significantly.

I'm hoping somebody has had a similar problem and might suggest a potential fix for me to try.

Greetings from Belgium!

Solution 1:

Eureca, I've got the solution to my problem.

Before the Creators Update from windows, I had downclocked my CPU's voltage by -100mV. This used to work fine and helped cool my CPU down by a few degrees without losing any performance.

Even before I reset my windows installation, I noticed lag in everything I did. After the reset, the result was still the same. In my BIOS settings, the CPU voltage was reset to -0 MV as well, so no issues there. While waiting for an update or fix, I set the voltage back to -100mV.

Now, for some reason still unknown to me, I booted into safe mode and used the tool to reset the voltage to it's default. The boost was immediately noticeable. Sure enough, after reboot everything ran smoothly again. High FPS in all games.

So, for anyone downclocking their CPU's for this reason. If you notice any lag, this is what you've got to do :)