Microstuttering on single GPU , despite 144hz and High FPS!

[brokencarr00t]

Hello! 

 

 

Please , read whole text before you reply. And sorry for my weak English! 

 

So, since ive builded my own gaming PC about 6 months ago ive been expirience terrible microstuttering in almost all games i play (mostly new ones) despite high fps. Ive said ''since ive builded'' , why? Because , just as ive builded my gaming pc ive tested it for the first time with the game ''Dying light'' and it worked just perfect , no microstuttering at all , it was actually very smooth with very high fps on my 60hz monitor. I was really happy with my build , the only thing i was missing is HDD (i was running on SDD only with 120gb). So , finally ive collected money to get me a HDD. When i got and installed HDD in PC ive decided to reinstall windows 8.1 , i wanted to make it fresh after installing an new HDD (even if my build was only about one week old) So after installing a windows 8.1 everything went to hell. I was testing Dying Light and had a terrible stuttering which make game playable but not enjoyable, even if i had very high fps (around 80-90). The only thing that would stop stuttering it was V-sync but that was not an option for me as introduce input lag and it feels akward. So , ive figured out it might be a game , maybe developers messed up something with an update. So ive tested an Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline (which was even worst). Then i got GTA IV which was even worst than ''Dying Light'' and Battlefield. The only game that was working well i remember it was '' Alien isolation''. Ive tested a many many games and almost everyone have that stuttering.

 

Never managed to fix the problem but ive learned that i might be dealing with ''Microstuttering'' . I've also learned that a 144hz monitor may help me to get rid of it. So i bought one ''Asus vg248qe'' 144hz. Microstutter improved alot. Atleast 60% of microstuttering were gone. Now games feels more enjoyable but still im not happy with it. Unfortunatley that 40% of microstuttering left is still alot. Currently im playing The witcher 3 and im not happy at all with the performance. Games still stuttering (just more less) despite my high fps and 144hz monitor and refresh rate (which ive configured in control panel). V-sync is not an option. 

 

 

Things that i did to remove stuttering with no luck:

 

- Changed drivers

- Changed from 8.1 to windows 7 & 10 

- Upgraded RAM memory from 8GB to 16GB 

- Overclocked / Downclocked GPU 

- Overclocked CPU

- Removed HDD and reinstalled Windows 

- Tried different settings in Nvidia Control Panel

- Caped fps at almost all possible framerates 

 

 

And many other things that i cant really remember all of them. Please do you know what should be a problem here? Im preparing to order new GPU to see if that fixes problem. 

 

MY PC :

 

GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB 
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690k 3.5Ghz 
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz 
SSD (Windows 8.1) : Samsung 850 Evo 120Gb
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST1000DM003 3.5 1TB 
MOTHERBOARD : Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3
PSU: Corsair CX600m 
CASE: NZXT Source s340
 

[App4that]

PSU should be replaced asap. Do you have the same issues while benchmarking?

[Curufinwe_wins]

1. You are not driving 144hz at 1080p (at least not witcher 3 or any other 2014/2015 AAA title) so you have a faster monitor than your graphics cards can preform. This will induce stutters at times.

 

2. I doubt very much you actually noticed input lag on a 60Hz monitor linked to v-sync, just saying.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Think I found your issue.

Either your PSU doesn't have enough watts, or you have your RAM not in duel channel. (I had this issue)

On your motherboard, your RAM is 1,2,3,4 with slots.

For two RAM chips, put them in 2 and 4.

With four RAM chips, put them in 2 and 4, and the other set in 1 and 3

 

-Ordering a new GPU won't fix your issue.

Its a 970... A 400W would be plenty. Ram could be an issue though, it shouldn't be but it could.

[brokencarr00t]

PSU should be replaced asap. Do you have the same issues while benchmarking?

So you think that i should order a new PSU? Also i cant see stuttering in benchmark as i dont move my mouse/controller. 

 

Think I found your issue.

Either your PSU doesn't have enough watts, or you have your RAM not in duel channel. (I had this issue)

On your motherboard, your RAM is 1,2,3,4 with slots.

For two RAM chips, put them in 2 and 4.

With four RAM chips, put them in 2 and 4, and the other set in 1 and 3

 

-Ordering a new GPU won't fix your issue.

Yes i was playing around with ram , which did not helped. Youre too suggesting to try stronger PSU? 

[Curufinwe_wins]

So you think that i should order a new PSU? Also i cant see stuttering in benchmark as i dont move my mouse/controller. 

 

Yes i was playing around with ram , which did not helped. Youre too suggesting to try stronger PSU? 

Do you have any games with in game benchmarks that show min fps? It would actually be helpful along with if that game show's stuttering to your eye.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yes, a 400 watt could be plenty.

Put into consideration, that he/she may have overclocked.

Problems started with a new HDD, which may be a result of a broken PSU.

 

-I'm sure its the Ram.

With overclocking on a 970 and a 4690k, 400W is plenty.

 

Plus supposedly issue persists regardless of OC/DC.

[brokencarr00t]

1. You are not driving 144hz at 1080p (at least not witcher 3 or any other 2014/2015 AAA title) so you have a faster monitor than your graphics cards can preform. This will induce stutters at times.

 

2. I doubt very much you actually noticed input lag on a 60Hz monitor linked to v-sync, just saying.

1. At Witcher 3 im getting around 70-90 fps whole the time , never drops below 70. 

2. I can say that i dont like v-sync at all , otherwise i wouldnt buy a whole new monitor that costs me alot. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

1. At Witcher 3 im getting around 70-90 fps whole the time , never drops below 70. 

2. I can say that i dont like v-sync at all , otherwise i wouldnt buy a whole new monitor that costs me alot. 

 

So, and it is extremely important you are honest here, is it that you don't like the idea of v-sync? or that you actually saw issues with it?

 

Also, I really doubt that for Witcher 3 unless you are running low settings in game.

[brokencarr00t]

So, and it is extremely important you are honest here, is it that you don't like the idea of v-sync? or that you actually saw issues with it?

 

Also, I really doubt that for Witcher 3 unless you are running low settings in game.

 

First of all , most important.... Having a v-sync on a competitive game as Battlefield is bad. Aim get screwed up and i can make a single kill. The second,  when i have v-synch on game stutter every 5-10 second once drops from 60 to 58-57. And as i have a powerful gaming PC so vsync is not an option. Im expecting a fluid and smooth gameplay vithout vsync. as everyone else getting with this rig. 

 

As for The witcher 3 , im not playing at highest settings. Ive turned of all Hairworks options and reduces some other settings. I would say its at High settings.

[igrowmangoes]

Do you have 2 monitors or your computer hooked up to something secondary like a TV as well? I had the same problem for quite a while with the VG248QE and found the only way to fix it was to disable my second monitor (TV in my case) in the NVidia Control Panel. No idea why having both enabled gave such an issue and I tried dozens upon dozens of things but only that seemed to fix it.

 

Setting my Multi-display/mixed-GPU Acceleration to Single Display Performance Mode in the 3D Settings also seemed to make it a little bit better but didn't fix it entirely. If you only have 1 monitor I doubt itll make much of a difference but may as well try since itll do no harm. 

 

 

Unless your PSU is actually broken, there's no way a 600W wont cut it for your system. And why would you guys assume RAM? Im curious to the reasoning, especially after he said he bought new stuff which made no difference. 

[brokencarr00t]

Do you have 2 monitors or your computer hooked up to something secondary like a TV as well? I had the same problem for quite a while with the VG248QE and found the only way to fix it was to disable my second monitor (TV in my case) in the NVidia Control Panel. No idea why having both enabled gave such an issue and I tried dozens upon dozens of things but only that seemed to fix it.

 

Setting my Multi-display/mixed-GPU Acceleration to Single Display Performance Mode in the 3D Settings also seemed to make it a little bit better but didn't fix it entirely. If you only have 1 monitor I doubt itll make much of a difference but may as well try since itll do no harm. 

 

 

Unless your PSU is actually broken, there's no way a 600W wont cut it for your system. And why would you guys assume RAM? Im curious to the reasoning, especially after he said he bought new stuff which made no difference. 

 

Yes i have 2 monitors connected. Old one (60hz) and new one (144hz). Also i did disabled old monitor , but still im having issue. 

Also i did set Multi-display to single which also did not help. 

[App4that]

The power supply is a know issue, total garbage. Not saying that's the issue but it wouldn't hurt anything to replace it.

Have you benchmarked this PC? If you haven't then you don't know it it's stable. I'd suggest 3D Mark as any instability shows up almost immediately.

[brokencarr00t]

The power supply is a know issue, total garbage. Not saying that's the issue but it wouldn't hurt anything to replace it.

Have you benchmarked this PC? If you haven't then you don't know it it's stable. I'd suggest 3D Mark as any instability shows up almost immediately.

I did benchmark couple times before. It shows a score which was pretty simmilar to other owners of GTX 970. i thing it was around 11 000. 

[App4that]

Did you see the same issue while benchmarking?

[Curufinwe_wins]

First of all , most important.... Having a v-sync on a competitive game as Battlefield is bad. Aim get screwed up and i can make a single kill. The second,  when i have v-synch on game stutter every 5-10 second once drops from 60 to 58-57. And as i have a powerful gaming PC so vsync is not an option. Im expecting a fluid and smooth gameplay vithout vsync. as everyone else getting with this rig. 

 

As for The witcher 3 , im not playing at highest settings. Ive turned of all Hairworks options and reduces some other settings. I would say its at High settings.

 

 

I give up. Good luck.

[brokencarr00t]

Did you see the same issue while benchmarking?

Well not really sure. As i have to command mouse or xboxcontroller in order to feel it. Also benchmark goes below 60 fps so you cant really decide wheter is fps lag or microstuttering. 

[App4that]

wait, Xbox controller? That would be why. You'll get lag in the controls if using a controller. Use a mouse and see if that helps.

[brokencarr00t]

Vsync is known to microstutter when dropping under 60fps.

Well , i get microstutter without v-sync.

 

wait, Xbox controller? That would be why. You'll get lag in the controls if using a controller. Use a mouse and see if that helps.

Well it does , im using a mouse and keyboard when playing Battlefield. So it still stutters very bad. 

[App4that]

If you're going to try changing parts I'd start with that PSU. Your graphics card wants steady voltage. Like I said I don't know of a way to test it but you should be replacing it anyways. Try running a stability test using AIDA64 on the RAM, just in case.

[brokencarr00t]

Well , i guess ill start with repleacing psu first...

[Monarch]

If you're going to try changing parts I'd start with that PSU. Your graphics card wants steady voltage. Like I said I don't know of a way to test it but you should be replacing it anyways. Try running a stability test using AIDA64 on the RAM, just in case.

 

 

Well , i guess ill start with repleacing psu first...

 

I'm pretty sure the PC would shutdown if the PSU was the problem. Microstuttering has nothing to do with the PSU. 

 

@brokencarr00t

 

Install MSI Afterburner if you haven't already, go to settings > monitoring and then under Active hardware graphs tick Frametime. Then go play a game for a bit and check the Frametime graph. If it has spikes, then it is microstuttering and it happens either due to bad software, or weak hardware. If the spikes are not larger than 25 ms you have nothing to worry about. Keep in mind that games like Witcher 3 and Dying Light are very complex and hardware taxing. It's impossible not to get some frametime spikes, even with best hardware available. The fact that these games are so advanced and yet use DX11 which is very limiting in terms of draw calls is one of the possible reasons. It could also be not so good optimization, but we don't know for sure.