Random frametime spikes. Full logs provided. Please help!

[127.0.0.1]

Hello,

 

When I play Overwatch, my game experiences high frametime spikes. Let me explain the issue. When I initially load up the game, I can play for awhile, probably half an hour. However, after playing for awhile, I will start noticing little "sessions" of frametime spikes. Basically, my frametime will go from normal, stable ~5ms, to random spikes of 20+ms. My framerate is not affected, but the game begins to feel stuttery and jitterish once the frametime spikes hit. I have attached the full logs of my computer, as well as a red arrow in the frametime graph depicting where the issue begins to happen. 

 

Note: The issue is depicted by the red arrow in the top left frametime graph. As you can see, the frametime goes from being steady ~5ms, to getting out of control and very chaotic. This introduces stuttering to my game which is noticeable. I am wondering if someone can notice any trend with the frametime doing this and any of the other graphs.

 

(Plus one graph I forgot to add in the picture)

 

So far, I have noticed that the Voltage Limit, No Load Limit, GPU Voltage, and Core Clock may have some sort of correlation to the frametime spikes. I am not the best with hardware, so this is just my assumption. 

 

Specifications

(as well as information involving my overclock:)

GTX 1080 Founders Edition
i7 8700K 4.9GHz (Overclocked at 1.31v @ 4.9GHz)
16GB G.Skill 3000mhz RAM (XMP Enabled)
Corsair H115i Pro
MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon
S340 Elite Case
650W EVGA PSU
2x ASUS VG248QE 144hz (DisplayPort)
1x SANYO 60HZ TV (HDMI)
Corsair K70 RGB
Zowie EC2-B Divina
AudioTechnica M40X
HyperX Cloud II

The only options in my motherboard that I have changed were changing my CPU to 4.9GHz, setting the voltage to 1.31v, and enabling XMP. I have attempted to launch the game without my overclock and the frametime issue persists.

Game Options

To ensure the best possible framerate, I play Overwatch on all low options at 75% render scale. Because Vsync introduces nasty input lag on any game, and Overwatch is a competitive game, toggling the option is not ideal for me. My options are below:

 

It is important to note that my PC is more than capable of maintaining a near-max framerate with this simple game, especially on such  low settings. However, the frametime issue says otherwise. 

 

What I have tried

• Launching the game without an overclock
• Disconnecting my 60hz TV (both directly, and in Windows)
• Uninstall Corsair drivers
• Uninstall MSI Drivers
• Reinstalling the game
• Uninstalling the PTR

Conclusion

I really hope someone can notice a trend in the graphs. Is there something that is occurring with my CPU/GPU when the frametime starts to spike like that?

 

My immediate guess is that, because the game is run in such a low-demanding state (due to me running it in a lower render scale, with lower options, etc.), my computer draws less power, and it leads to the issue. A complete guess though. I

 

Please help, I want to enjoy smooth gaming. 

 

Regards,

127

[Mark Kaine]

What is apparent is 50%GPU usage.

 

 Any idea why this happens? Is it normal?  

What's your "target framerate"?

 

I've seen people claiming they could reduce those "micro stutters"  or however you wanna call it,  by limiting the framerate with with RTSS. 

 

So yeah, what's your target framerate and what's the refresh rate of your monitor? 

 

(sorry if you mentioned all that already, it's late here) 

 

 

[127.0.0.1]

15 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

What is apparent is 50%GPU usage.

 

 Any idea why this happens? Is it normal?  

What's your "target framerate"?

 

I've seen people claiming they could reduce those "micro stutters"  or however you wanna call it,  by limiting the framerate with with RTSS. 

 

So yeah, what's your target framerate and what's the refresh rate of your monitor? 

 

(sorry if you mentioned all that already, it's late here) 

 

 

Yes, the ~50% GPU usage is quite normal. Overwatch is a very easy game to run, and that, on top of the fact that I am using 75% render scale and the lowest settings, would yield such a GPU usage.

 

I am limiting the framerate through the game directly, with a 250FPS cap. As seen in the top graph, the framerate remains quite consistent at 250FPS. I have tried uncapping the FPS completely (hard caps at 300), capping it at 200, and capping it at my refresh rate (144), but these frametime spikes appear regardless.

 

And no worries, it is quite late here as well.

[Mark Kaine]

9 minutes ago, 127.0.0.1 said:

Yes, the ~50% GPU usage is quite normal. Overwatch is a very easy game to run, and that, on top of the fact that I am using 75% render scale and the lowest settings, would yield such a GPU usage.

 

I am limiting the framerate through the game directly, with a 250FPS cap. As seen in the top graph, the framerate remains quite consistent at 250FPS. I have tried uncapping the FPS completely (hard caps at 300), capping it at 200, and capping it at my refresh rate (144), but these frametime spikes appear regardless.

 

And no worries, it is quite late here as well.

I see.  I'm also now seeing it's not just the frametimes, framerate starts to fluctuate too...  I can definitely see that being annoying...

 

I don't have a solution either just some crazy ideas lol...

 

1 thing is you could try to actually do this RTSS trick... You'd need to look up how exactly but there's a setting for exactly that issue (doesn't mean it 100% works but it's worth a try imo) 

 

What I would do is set the cap at exactly 288fps or perhaps even 144fps and then actually up your settings,  100% render scale for a start. I mean your system should be definitely be able to do that (maybe not at 288fps though) 

 

 

 

Another thing is since this is an online game is it possible these fluctuations are actually coming from the game engine,  like there's something going on during a match,  people joining,  etc? 

 

 

[127.0.0.1]

15 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

I see.  I'm also now seeing it's not just the frametimes, framerate starts to fluctuate too...  I can definitely see that being annoying...

 

I don't have a solution either just some crazy ideas lol...

 

1 thing is you could try to actually do this RTSS trick... You'd need to look up how exactly but there's a setting for exactly that issue (doesn't mean it 100% works but it's worth a try imo) 

 

What I would do is set the cap at exactly 288fps or perhaps even 144fps and then actually up your settings,  100% render scale for a start. I mean your system should be definitely be able to do that (maybe not at 288fps though) 

 

 

 

Another thing is since this is an online game is it possible these fluctuations are actually coming from the game engine,  like there's something going on during a match,  people joining,  etc? 

 

 

Good point, I didn’t notice the framerate fluctuations. It’s not as noticable as the frametime spikes though, because it’s only like 5 FPS. 
 

I will look into the RTSS solution, but it is not something I really want to do. It’s more of a workaround. I would rather locate the fundamental, root cause for these frametime spikes, and fix it accordingly. 
 

I will try a 288FPS cap today. Due to personal preference (75% render scale makes it easier to aim in Overwatch because the enemy outlines become bigger), changing to 100% render scale is not ideal for me. 
 

I am not sure if the game engine is solely responsible for these fluctuations, but you do have a point, I haven’t seen this issue in other games (yet), but I barely play other games. 
 

As for people leaving/joining a match, that does not seem to trigger anything. Almost no one leaves in Ranked Mode, yet the issue occurs. 
 

I am just so stressed out over this issue, and I am starting to lose sleep over it. I really hope it is not an issue with my PSU.
 

 

[bryce backer]

Hey man did you ever find a fix for this? Im currently having the same issue