Stuttering in games

[DionvdRiet]

So I have trouble with gaming since April, after the launch of GTA V my rig began to stop with the smooth performance and decided to give me stutters. I thought sending my gpu to the supplier might help. After doing that the card was claimed defect and I got a nice amount of cash back. So I decided to buy an MSI GTX 970, because it has amazing reviews and seems to handle every game you throw at it just fine. At first, GTA V ran fine on default settings (so most of the things on very high), but after some playing, the same fcking microstuttering apeared. At this point I just wanted to burn my pc, but that would result in a burnt house and maybe a burnt neighbourhood, so I stayed calm. What is noticable about the usage in GTA V by my CPU and GPU is that my CPU cores are around the 90 to 100% usage all the time (well it's very inconsistent, sometimes they drop to 40 or something), but my GPU, which from what I have heard needs to be around 100%, especially in a game as GTA V, got as low as 40% usage.

So it is either my CPU, PSU or Motherboard, because my SSD is fairly new, I checked my RAM yesterday, and the GPU is ehm.... new.

I want to know if my CPU is bottlenecking my GPU, or some other wizard shit is going on, thanks in advance!

----------------------------------------------
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570 @ 3.4Ghz
GPU: MSI GTX 970 @ Stock
RAM: 8GB DDR3 @Stock
PSU: Cooler Master GX Lite 600W

MB:   Asrock B75 Pro 3

 

Nothing it overclocked

 

 

 

[AdamH96]

By the sounds of it your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU in GTAV

[Tim Drake]

By the sounds of it your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU in GTAV

Em can't you see his CPU Usage?

[Tim Drake]

Check background processes, set process priority to high, check VRAM usage.

[Naeaes]

You sure about your RAM? It's not uncommon for them to throw the JEDEC settings on which is often wrong. I mean, if you leave the BIOS at auto for speed, CAS and/or DRAM voltage, there'll most likely be something other than what it was meant for. Close enough to cope on static tests but off enough to go haywire under real stress.

 

Tl;Dr: Does what CPU-Z say about the RAM, what you got entered in BIOS and what it says about the settings on the sticks, match perfectly?

[theereal]

By the sounds of it your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU in GTAV

No Look at his CPU usage.

[DionvdRiet]

You sure about your RAM? It's not uncommon for them to throw the JEDEC settings on which is often wrong. I mean, if you leave the BIOS at auto for speed, CAS and/or DRAM voltage, there'll most likely be something other than what it was meant for. Close enough to cope on static tests but off enough to go haywire under real stress.

 

Tl;Dr: Does what CPU-Z say about the RAM, what you got entered in BIOS and what it says about the settings on the sticks, match perfectly?

I don't really understand the terms you are using in the reply,not your fault, just my lack of computer science knowledge, but I will say I have tested my RAM sticks (2 of them) seperately in 3D Mark, in multiple slots, and the results are all the same, almost no difference with the result when putting my 2 sticks in motherboard. Also Memtest said my Ram was ok (no problems)

[VortexS]

-Disable vsync if enabled (it's on by default)

-Set cpu priority to high on gta5.exe

-Set shadows on high instead of very high if it's on very high.

-Check if other programs are using a lot of CPU/disk/GPU resources.

[Naeaes]

I don't really understand the terms you are using in the reply,not your fault, just my lack of computer science knowledge, but I will say I have tested my RAM sticks (2 of them) seperately in 3D Mark, in multiple slots, and the results are all the same, almost no difference with the result when putting my 2 sticks in motherboard. Also Memtest said my Ram was ok (no problems)

Oh, It's fine, man. I'll elaborate.

Most memory these days is something like 1600MHz or 1866MHz or what ever. But they're not manufactured as such. The chips are often manufactured as a step below. So 1600MHz is actually made as 1333MHz. They're then overclocked and tweaked in various ways to get them to run at the higher speed. That's why they have the cooler on them. The values that the chips on the modules were initially manufactured are called JEDEC settings.

 

So unless you bought very basic RAM that wasn't meant to be overclocked and hence runs at the JEDEC settings, it needs to be overclocked to work. THey don't even test if the modified memories would run on JEDEC. The settings need to be forced on in the BIOS.

 

JEDEC is always slower than what's marketed and meant to be used. You'd imagine they'd work fine on those lower settings but usually something very strange happens. It might be a timing problem, might be too little voltage, who knows. But anytime I get a computer like this to work on, I input the settings and it works like magic from then on. 

 

Issues with RAM manifest in very strange way. Back in the times of XP computers tended to crash altogether on memory faults but nowadays programming is more robust and tolerant to errors so they crash less and tend to just stutter and hang. And often times they pass memory tests with flying colors. The way memory is tested is they enter a series of bits in and read what comes out, if it matches, it passes. Then it moves on to the next block and does the same. One at a time. This is like testing a wooden bridge one moped at a time. It'll never fail if it gets off that easy but load on a thousand mopeds and we're talking of an actual test of strength. It's just that RAM works in such a way that this is the only choice.

 

For me to be able to help you along, I'd need to know what exactly is your ram. Not just Corsair Vengeance or Kingston Beast but the actual product code. You can start by downloading CPU-Z by CPUID here. It's basic program that shows all sorts of info about your setup but what we need here is the RAM settings in the memory tab. If I'm right, what that shows won't match with how fast you thought your ram was. For example it might tell that your RAM is running at 667MHz / 10-10-10-10-27 while it should be like 800MHz / 9-9-9-24. There'd be our problem. Don't be alarmed by the halved megahertzes. That's what DDR means (double data rate) and this program shows the physical clock speed.

[DionvdRiet]

Oh, It's fine, man. I'll elaborate.

Most memory these days is something like 1600MHz or 1866MHz or what ever. But they're not manufactured as such. The chips are often manufactured as a step below. So 1600MHz is actually made as 1333MHz. They're then overclocked and tweaked in various ways to get them to run at the higher speed. That's why they have the cooler on them. The values that the chips on the modules were initially manufactured are called JEDEC settings.

 

So unless you bought very basic RAM that wasn't meant to be overclocked and hence runs at the JEDEC settings, it needs to be overclocked to work. THey don't even test if the modified memories would run on JEDEC. The settings need to be forced on in the BIOS.

 

JEDEC is always slower than what's marketed and meant to be used. You'd imagine they'd work fine on those lower settings but usually something very strange happens. It might be a timing problem, might be too little voltage, who knows. But anytime I get a computer like this to work on, I input the settings and it works like magic from then on. 

 

Issues with RAM manifest in very strange way. Back in the times of XP computers tended to crash altogether on memory faults but nowadays programming is more robust and tolerant to errors so they crash less and tend to just stutter and hang. And often times they pass memory tests with flying colors. The way memory is tested is they enter a series of bits in and read what comes out, if it matches, it passes. Then it moves on to the next block and does the same. One at a time. This is like testing a wooden bridge one moped at a time. It'll never fail if it gets off that easy but load on a thousand mopeds and we're talking of an actual test of strength. It's just that RAM works in such a way that this is the only choice.

 

For me to be able to help you along, I'd need to know what exactly is your ram. Not just Corsair Vengeance or Kingston Beast but the actual product code. You can start by downloading CPU-Z by CPUID here. It's basic program that shows all sorts of info about your setup but what we need here is the RAM settings in the memory tab. If I'm right, what that shows won't match with how fast you thought your ram was. For example it might tell that your RAM is running at 667MHz / 10-10-10-10-27 while it should be like 800MHz / 9-9-9-24. There'd be our problem. Don't be alarmed by the halved megahertzes. That's what DDR means (double data rate) and this program shows the physical clock speed.

Wow, amazing that you explained it for me

My DRAM Frequency is 798.1 Mhz, I assume there is no problem with my ram now?

[xMishax]

having exactly same issue as you, maybe a lil bit more severe but stutters and graphs are similiar to ones you described if possible post as soon as you will find any solutions 

[Naeaes]

Wow, amazing that you explained it for me

My DRAM Frequency is 798.1 Mhz, I assume there is no problem with my ram now?

It's my personal holy war to shed the world of RAM problems. So thanks for this opportunity.

If your RAM is 1600MHz then it's fine for that part. I'd need to know what your ram is exactly to be able to tell about the rest. The latencies play a part, the CL, tRCD, tRP and tRAS value.

[DionvdRiet]

It's my personal holy war to shed the world of RAM problems. So thanks for this opportunity.

If your RAM is 1600MHz then it's fine for that part. I'd need to know what your ram is exactly to be able to tell about the rest. The latencies play a part, the CL, tRCD, tRP and tRAS value.

CL is 9.0 clocks

tRCD is 9 clocks

tRP is 9 clocks

tRAS is 24 clocks

Really a totally different language for me

 

And just so you know, this is my RAM: https://azerty.nl/producten/product_detail/?ID=478347

[DionvdRiet]

Check out this post I made on a similar topic.

Hope it helps!

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/428158-high-end-pc-frametime-issues-trying-to-resolve-for-almost-6-months/?p=5756000

Thanks for the help

I don't know how to use this program and the purpose of it, but when I did a test, my CPU usage was at 100% while my CPU Throttling was at 0%, is this worrying?

[Sintezza]

Maybe the motherboard is throttling the cpu.

Since its not the best board in the world.

That could explain those cpu drops, or the cpu is overheating?

[DionvdRiet]

My

 

Maybe the motherboard is throttling the cpu.

Since its not the best board in the world.

That could explain those cpu drops, or the cpu is overheating?

Overheating isn't the case, I got a different cooler that keeps my cpu at 40-45 degrees celsius while gaming

[DionvdRiet]

I guess that if I upgrade my cpu, the problem will be fixed. An i7 4790 doesn't fit in this socket, so I will need a new motherboard. Anyway, do any of you have tips on testing my PSU, perhaps my gpu doesn't get enough power?

[Naeaes]

CL is 9.0 clocks

tRCD is 9 clocks

tRP is 9 clocks

tRAS is 24 clocks

Really a totally different language for me

 

And just so you know, this is my RAM: https://azerty.nl/producten/product_detail/?ID=478347

It's all as it should be. I would have loved to solve the problem for you but this isn't caused by wrong settings. Those values are timing settings, also called latency. Kind of like delays.

 

Even thou electricity is super super fast, some delays need to be left in place so that things have some time to happen. The smaller the timing values are, the better, but if you go too small, it won't work. 9-9-9-24 is very common for 1600MHz. The timings are, BTW, the reason why DDR4 isn't as awesome as it could be. They're very loose, around 15-15-15-35 for 2400MHz. So what you gain in clock speed you lose in timings. But I trust It'll get better over time. The first DDR3s weren't 9-9-9-24 either. 

 

The processor you have is a great one. It was the king of processors two generations back. No way it's bottlenecking anything. I'd say it would have to be faulty to be the problem. The weak link in the system is the motherboard. I can't tell what's going on but it's the most likely cause. B75 is the Nissan Micra of chipsets. Cheap and easy to manufacture but reliable enough for basic use, but no bells and whistles and not fun to be in on the fast lane.

 

Hope you figure it out!

[DionvdRiet]

It's all as it should be. I would have loved to solve the problem for you but this isn't caused by wrong settings. Those values are timing settings, also called latency. Kind of like delays.

 

Even thou electricity is super super fast, some delays need to be left in place so that things have some time to happen. The smaller the timing values are, the better, but if you go too small, it won't work. 9-9-9-24 is very common for 1600MHz. The timings are, BTW, the reason why DDR4 isn't as awesome as it could be. They're very loose, around 15-15-15-35 for 2400MHz. So what you gain in clock speed you lose in timings. But I trust It'll get better over time. The first DDR3s weren't 9-9-9-24 either. 

 

The processor you have is a great one. It was the king of processors two generations back. No way it's bottlenecking anything. I'd say it would have to be faulty to be the problem. The weak link in the system is the motherboard. I can't tell what's going on but it's the most likely cause. B75 is the Nissan Micra of chipsets. Cheap and easy to manufacture but reliable enough for basic use, but no bells and whistles and not fun to be in on the fast lane.

 

Hope you figure it out!

Thank you so much and goddamn you know alot

It's a shame my motherboard doesn't have warrenty, but nevertheless, 100+ euros (MB) is way cheaper than 400 euros(MB+CPU)

I will solve this, I promise you!