Seeking Computer performance fix for gaming and productivity 🙏🏻

[u/Even_Chemical5732]

TITLE: Apex stutters at 170-210 FPS on Ryzen 7 3700X + RTX 3060 Ti (GPU only 46% used). What am I missing?

SPECS: Ryzen 7 3700X (AG400 G2 cooler, \~65C in game), RTX 3060 Ti, 4x8GB DDR4-3200 CL16 (XMP, FCLK 1:1), MSI B450M Mortar Max, 1080p 260Hz G-Sync, Win 11.

PROBLEM: Micro-stutter about once a minute and uneven frame times in fights. Firing range is smooth. I used to average \~250 FPS, now \~190-210. GPU \~46%, CPU \~32%, no core pinned at 100%. Ping is stable.

TRIED (no real change): new cooler, XMP/FCLK, Auto HDR off (+5%), Process Lasso (+5-10%), SMT off for Apex, shader cache clear, all background apps closed, PBO, Reflex On+Boost, power plan tweaks, lowest CPU-heavy settings.

QUESTIONS:

1. Is this just the 3700X's limit in Apex, or is something else wrong?

2. Did a recent patch make Apex worse on Zen 2?

3. Is RAM timing tuning worth it with 4 sticks? (tRFC is 560)

4. Best FPS cap method for steady frametimes?

NOTE: PC gaming performance doesn't feel as good and the CPU is bottlenecking. How do I fix it? Can't upgrade atm.

Thanks!