I recently upgraded my mobo and CPU.  See signature for system specs.
 
I play Digital Combat Simulation (DCS) and noticed random pauses (1~2 sec) in the graphics during game play; not to an unplayable level, but annoying.  The audio is still going.  So I benchmarked my old system with UserBenchmark and it told me that everything was good except my GPU which performing at 27% compared to other 1080's.  It said that the FPS was capped and 93 and a possible cause was the G-SYNC was on.  So I went to Nvidia control panel and I don't have the Setting G-SYNC tab.  Okay, after some I then went to the image settings and it was set to QUALITY.  I set it to PERFOMANCE, the FPS came up and all was well with the world, but the pauses still persisted(maybe not as bad).
Then I upgraded to the i9-9900K CPU and the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro Mobo thinking that the bigger CPU would be able to chew through the issue.  But the pauses are still there!  I ran a benchmark test using 3DMark using the Time Spy test and it performed poorly only scoring around 7800 where comparable systems were scoring high 9000's to 10000. My CPU scored well at the mid 11000s
 
I tried all the things that got the FPS up before including:
Nvidia Control Panel:
1. Disabling V-SYNC
2. Putting all pertinent settings to Performance or Preferred Max performance
3. I could not get the monitor refresh rate over 30Hz although my monitor (TV) refreshes at 144Hz.
Windows Control Panel:
In the Power Options, I set it to PERFORMANCE as well.
 
Someone looked at my specs and said that I was below the minimum requirement for power with my system.  Could this be my issue?  Does the GPU cap itself if it is starved for power?  If so, why would the CPU not do the same thing?
 
 
Does someone know any other tricks I can try?
 
 

No, I did not.  Can I do that without losing any file?

Ok, I will try that.  What can I expect from it?

I reinstalled Windows 10 and ran the 3DMark test, but only scored 7934.  

https://www.3dmark.com/spy/13304654 Found it myself. Looks like a normal score to me based on your clock speeds of your cpu & gpu.
 
https://www.3dmark.com/spy/6553540 This score is higher because the user has overclocked their cpu, gpu & are running faster ram than you.
 
Do the pauses happen in any other games? If no, it sounds like it's a game issue to me.

You said that you suspected the power supply is undersized, and asked our opinion, but you didn't tell us anything about your power supply. Please tell us your power supply's brand, model, and age. Yes, a GPU which is slightly underpowered can underperform. If it is too underpowered, the system is likely to just crash, freeze, or simply shut off, but at the ragged edge, it has been demonstrated that stutters and performance dips can be present.

Additionally, as a GTX 1080 and 4K monitor owner, I agree that 4K is ambitious for a GTX 1080 in some games depending on the complexity of the game and graphics settings chosen. Since I don't know anything about Digital Combat Simulation, I have no idea if 4K is ambitious in that game for a GTX 1080.

Edit:
I have been informed by PM:

friendly fyi - psu is in his sig = rosewill glacier 600W

Since I am not using a PC right now, I can't see your signature.

If it was 80+ Gold certified, 600W should be enough. Since it is 80+ Bronze, you are probably pushing it. Should be enough, but I wouldn't place any bets. Especially, aging will be a factor. If it is a few years old, it has probably degraded and cannot sustain its original rating. Also, 600 watts isn't the full story because different manufacturers rate it at different temperatures. Since it is Rosewill, it is probably rated at 600 watts closer to 25c rather than 45c.

I'll put it this way: I wouldn't say at this point that your performance issue definitely is not caused by your PSU. It may be caused (or exasperated) by your PSU.



I recently purchased (have not yet received) a 600 watt 80+ Titanium PSU because I realized that my 1200 watt 80 + Gold PSU is getting old and spends most of its time idling at around 60 watts. When it was new, it was only about 70% efficient at 60 watts. Now that it has aged? Who knows. I bought 600 watt so that my normal 60 watt usage is still within its 80+ Titanium rating of above 90% efficiency. Just saying, I am personally taking the gamble that 600 watts is enough with a GTX 1080 when using a high quality PSU with excellent efficiency. I personally wouldn't have taken that gamble with a lower-quality PSU with a lower efficiency.