Oh wow, my searches bring me back to this page again except this time with a 2080 Ti  I'm getting GPU usage drops/stutter with a new 2080 Ti FTW3 so this cannot be the graphics card. Hard to believe the high quality UPS I am plugged into could be the issue here...

Are you powering the card with two separate pci-e cables instead of a single pci-e cable that splits into dual 6+2's?
 
Is your cpu overheating?
 
Is your gpu overheating?
 
Does the usage drop/stutter only occur on a specific game, or does the issue occur over multiple games?
 
Does the issue occur over multiple graphics drivers?
 
Does the usage drop/stutter go away if you load the game off a different hdd/ssd?

are you running the latest windows updates? Have you recently ran a virus scanner? 
 
has this been going on before any updates applied. How about are you running the newest motherboard driver?

blackpanther26
are you running the latest windows updates? Have you recently ran a virus scanner? 
 
has this been going on before any updates applied. How about are you running the newest motherboard driver?

Yes latest Windows 1809 and updates. Windows Defender does periodic scans in the background... This has been going on over multiple versions of Windows 10, as far back as I can remember... Motherboard drivers are current.

Graphite8five
I'm wondering if it is some sort of system interrupt or background app/task momentarily hogging resources. Tonight while playing The Division 2 as a GPU usage drop occurred it actually tabbed itself out to the desktop (no input from me) I thought Windows Focus Assist was supposed to prevent this sort of thing while gaming. On the other hand I realize I have not been toggling the focus assist button (Action center) to On before launching my games. So that is one possibility, focus assist letting background tasks through.
 

 
What PSU, MOBO, CPU, RAM, Monitor, and HDD are you using?
 

Just adding to some troubleshooting steps. 
 
 
You can try monitoring the 12v rails on the PSU. Most motherboard manufacturers have these readouts in BIOS. You can monitor it for 1-2 minutes for any fluctuations (no load changes via BIOS, it should be stable). Drops in fluctuations in a no load state can indicate higher drops/fluctuations under load situations. 
 
 
You can also try testing the card in another system just so that you've been able to isolate the graphics card away from your system. This would also help in finding where your issues may lie. 

Graphite8five

Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Graphite8five
I'm wondering if it is some sort of system interrupt or background app/task momentarily hogging resources. Tonight while playing The Division 2 as a GPU usage drop occurred it actually tabbed itself out to the desktop (no input from me) I thought Windows Focus Assist was supposed to prevent this sort of thing while gaming. On the other hand I realize I have not been toggling the focus assist button (Action center) to On before launching my games. So that is one possibility, focus assist letting background tasks through.
 

 
What PSU, MOBO, CPU, RAM, Monitor, and HDD are you using?
 

System Specs:
Asus Maximus X-Hero
8700K, 5Ghz, 1.310v, LLC 5, Adaptive voltage
Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200Mhz OC'd to 3466Mhz 1.360v
Seagate 3TB games, Seagate 3TB external, Samsung 850 EVO OS Windows 10 1809
PSU - Seasonic X-750 KM3 750W 
Monitor - Asus ROG PG348Q 34" Gysnc 100hz
Cyberpower UPS 900W 1500VA
 
**Update: Just installed a Samsung 860 EVO today and will test The Division 2 running from it.
 
@EVGA_Tech ThomasN: Your suggestion regarding the PSU 12V rail was suggested to me in another instance of trying to troubleshoot this issue. At that point the 12V rail for my PSU appeared to be within spec but I can double check.
 
Quite a lot of troubleshooting has already been performed for this issue with nothing sticking out as the culprit. I can confirm that the issue is still present with all overclocking removed from the CPU RAM and GPU. 
 
 

cool. ty
 
Keep Optimal Defaults on MOBO and Stock clocks GPU until the mystery is solved. (That's what I've done from day one with my 2080-ti.)
 
Don't trust the best PSU. Especially it's age.
 
With the amount of heavy use u put it through- saving the world and all lol, 3 years may be too much wear and tear on it and it may be time to test another PSU.
 
And in addition to the dreaded not-using-two-seperate-cables-connectected-from-PSU, many having discovered probs were just as simple as the PSU being the cause. They age really fast when u game, OC, and whatnot heavily. Reminds me, that I'm shutting down PC completely when not in use and skipping sleep mode for a few months with my 2080-ti.
 
https://forums.evga.com/FindPost/2931816
 
check out ^^ and several additional posts that i made after it on same thread.
 
Use my settings on FC5 and GTA5 if u have one or both of them and see if u can get the same results.
 
You run 3440x1440.
 
I discovered stutter with my 2080-ti on my LCD (@2560x1440) when only running @native resolution.
 
But at 200% Resolution Scaling (@5120x2880) all stutter goes away. FPS does go down but to a perfect rate for G-Sync but silky smooth game-play. (Average 55FPS. Edit: 45FPS but still plays great on G-Sync! That is actually the sweet spot for G-Sync. And above the range so heavily bragged about playing smoothly when it was 1st promoted.)
 
So, if a game doesn't have Resolution Scaling?
And is new like TD2?
Just crank the settings to Max and experiment because the 2080-ti might just be throttling. Try a setting ur overlooking because u think it might worsen the stutter because it might actually help stop any throttling. In other-words, this card is a monster that can take all u fire at it. Even @stock.
 
https://forums.evga.com/FindPost/2937438
 
^^ shows a vid with proof that RS @5120x2880 plays smooth as silk (including FPS OSD). G-Sync is the way YAY! whereby @2560x1440 it stutters- due to throttling i guess is why.
 
I'll be playing TD2 in a couple weeks- after i finally get around to buying it.
 
So GL, and see u in the Capital!
 
Edit: And be sure u cap Frames @100FPS. RivaTuner is best for me. I cap my FPS @144. And it works great too for FPS OSD. That way I have PX1 set only for a fan curve and LED color Solid Green. PX1 starts and minimizes to Sys Tray perfectly and I never have to touch it.
 
 

@Graphite8five
 
I've had not just one, but two 4 1/2 year old Seasonic PSUs die back to back. As they reach over the four year mark, they start going, very very slowly.
 
They seemed perfectly fine. Because both PSUs could still run an OS, and just about anything; but with games they slowly became less and less reliable.
 
1st sign that they were starting to go, was Stutter in games. Then random restarts while gaming slowly started occurring. Then more and more stutter and random restarts, and CTDs. Eventually it gets hopeless.
 
So u should shop now. Hopefully EVGA has another PSU sale soon. The December sale they had was SIK!
 
Glad to hear all the good about TD2.
 
CU N TD2 DC.  
 
 

Psu first. No need to do a custom loop if ya dont know what hardware could be faulty and end up tearing it apart. That would be a nightmare for a custom water cooling rig.

PSU can age just sitting on the shelf. So who knows how long your psu was shelved before ya bought it? Is there a manufacture date on it?

It's common for people to overlook the PSU when upgrading there system. Last thing they think about. Just use it till she blows.

narsnail
Do you have a pagefile? Even with 16gb of RAM on certain games, I get this weird stutter sometimes where the frame hitches for a split second and its really annoying. Clearing memory with something like Wagnardsoft Intelligent standby memory may help; if you have MSI afterburner you can check your "commit charge" and mine was usually about 17000mb when I was having stutters. 
 
 
 

Yeah my Virtual memory (commit charge) when playing The Division 2 is over 20000mb... Maybe it is time for 32GB or RAM?
 
Edit: The commit charge is physical RAM + Virtual RAM combined. Does all the Windows stuff get shoved over to virtual RAM when a game requests RAM?