Small Stutter Issue accompanied by Large stutter within certain games

[DeathBestowerX]

This is a re-post because The large fps drops have been fixed, now certain games have a small stutter and a fairly stop-like stutter when I loose only one or two frames; Example: 60 fps down to 58 fps. It doesn't happen in all games though.



Hello again friends,

Okay, so I know I have already stated something on this, but in the meantime (before a new card purchase) , I have to deal with this still very active tiny stutter. I recently tried my friend's DuckTales Remastered on my PC and it seems that even though it holds a complete 60 fps without movement, I still experience the strange micro stutter lag (if I am using this phrase properly, if not sorry). It's every few seconds and a side by side comparison to XBOX 360's version, shows that it is truly an issue, as the problem isn't present.

I'm starting to wonder if my GPU is messed up a bit or if it's a background service that persists to annoy me.

Any suggestions?

Is there anyone out there that has had this issue?

I retried a few methods: I tried messing with CCC's options, but it didn't get rid of the micro stutter.

I Put Dxtory on 60 fps limit with Wait for Available Buffer and Force CPU Processing

checked, it still didn't help.(4 processing threads)


I tried killing explorer and running from desktop, even killing CCC.


I tried using gamebooster and dxtory together (gameboosters options were set to kill

explorer,kill CCC, and launch from desktop); dxtory still worked but actually caused more

stop lag issues.

I disabled HIDs.

I just don't get it; it's so similar to what I experience in COD4:MW, but I know for sure windowed mode (1280x720 to 640 x480) didn't help this, as it may have for COD4 game. (Not sure though, size does seem to make it harder to see.) I also turned off AA, which made no difference.

I also tried keeping CCC on, but turning off Vsync and triple buffering, and then using DXtory simultaneously; absolutely no difference.

I think I should attempt to use a VGA monitor, what do you think?

I also learned that micro stutter is through two cards, which you may have already stated in this post; I don't have two cards, so what would I call this " every few seconds stop type lag"?

Also I did testing on Dead Island once again and apparently didn't do the right research from the start, because the only way to have a smooth experience in this game is to have the controller hooked up; why is this?

Which of these processes could I kill?

I appreciate all the help thus far.


I know I have diagnosed this as a GPU problem, but there doesn't seem to be a connection since some games with higher GPU requirements do not have this issue (MAX PAYNE 3 when properly set); this indicates to me that it is a program issue, but even with a re-boot and the install of the 64-bit OS, there is still an issue, and it is with older games even...



Could any of these services be turned off?

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[DeathBestowerX]

 

[DeathBestowerX]

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Okay so here is a list of the games that have issues thus far (All using June 2010 DirectX) : Valiant Hearts, Duck Tales: Remastered, Double Dragon Neon and COD4:MW. Now most of these titles are 2-D and I have heard some complaints concerning 2-D games on a ATI GPU, but nothing to confirm my theory. I believe it is either the 2-D or the DirectX 2010, due to the fact that the Visual C++ Versions are different. The one major subject that concerns me, in contrast to this theory, is that not all 2-D games do this: there isn't stutter on the 2-d game Ascendant; I am unsure if this uses distributables, even though I am sure that no new distributables were installed; It should have some type of distributables, but it could be ran off of Open GL.
I have noticed that Open GL did have issues with Rune: Viking Warlord (Old); so maybe its Open GL, as DxTory cannot address these problems (Probably runs off DirectX).

Anyone have any ideas on this? - Dxtory has been able to fix this problem before, but does not have the capabilities to cover this issue (Maybe due to Open GL). Is my HD 5770 just not capable of fluently running these games due to the version of Open GL included or supported?


Thank you for you help friends; By the way, how you doing JD?

Edit: I apologize for not noting this sooner = There is no way it is Open GL because DxTory wouldn't run along side it, nor would DirectX; So now I question, even more so, is it my distributables? Or the way my card handles them? Should I try lower versions of CCC as some in forums have said it can fix issues?



Update: I tried RadeonPro and found that even set to a dynamic framerate of 30fps, the problem still persists; it just seems a bit less noticeable because it's slower- wouldn't this sort of indicate that its in the
program or distributables?

Update: I tried HDMI opposed to DVI= No difference.



UPDATE: If I haven't started anything within FireFox or accessed any internet options, should TCP connections be active; I could see this being a yes if it is for specific programs, but what if it's a virus AVG isn't picking up? Could this be my issue?​

 

[BrightCandle]

First things first, we need to see what this stutter looks like. You need fraps, you need to set it to output frame times and we need a graph of the interval between the frame times. This will show us what the stutter looks like.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Thank you for the quick response; I have Fraps so I will do that first thing in the morning. It's currently 3 a.m. and I felt the urge to check my post

 

[Tweak155]

Is your monitor 60hz?

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Sorry BrightCandle it has been a long week. These files pertain to the small stutter I was talking about.

http://wikisend.com/download/875552/DuckTales 2014-10-14 14-56-01-05 frametimes.csv

http://wikisend.com/download/203322/FRAPSLOG.TXT

In response to Tweak155: Yes it is




http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2330524&page=10

The last few pages of the above link can give you an idea on what I've tried.

Here is a brief description of what's going on:

I realize the small stutter the most in some 2-D games when I am scrolling left to right or opposite, I don't believe it is present when I am stationary; I believe this may have something to do with my USB 1.0 ports and my USB 3.0 controllers and such. Again this isn't present in every game.


Thank you all for your help.

 

[BrightCandle]

This is what the frame trace looks like:



So this is a a vsync 60hz trace without a doubt.

While the average frame rate is decent we can see a clear constant stutter at the vsync boundaries. There are a few higher drops but mostly I suspect the issue is the 16/33ms issue we can see.

 

[Tweak155]

Yeah I would try removing vsync.

 

[BrightCandle]

Yeah I would try removing vsync.

Yep I agree, there isn't a lot of point doing a frame time graph on stuttering issues unless what you want to see is that type of trace. You can't track down core stuttering issues with vsync on because it itself adds so much stutter when its not perfect 60hz all the time.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hi, thank you for the feedback.

I have a few questions if you don't mind:

1. How do you convert these readings; what program are you using?

2. How do you read this in order to come to conclusions?

Now onto the main subject:

This test was actually done with Vsync set to " On unless applications specifies " in CCC. I also changed this to always off, but this didn't help.

If you reference my past issues in the link I provided it may help to draw a conclusion. I have tried multiple changes without any real significant difference.

Thank you for your time and if you have any other ideas please let me know.

 

[alcoholbob]

Have you tried running your display at a refresh rate of 59Hz to see if it would fix the issue?

 

[BrightCandle]

So the issue is that vsync is stuck on and it can't be turned off. So the trace really did help then because we didn't know that before. I can't say I have ever encountered such a problem, not even sure how you go about fixing such a thing. If you hadn't reinstalled already I would say do that. Vsync is entirely controlled by the GPU, nothing else is responsible so it must be that component that is forcing vsync on despite the settings.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

In response to Astrallite: I will attempt this and report back immediately.


In response to BrightCandle:

I apologize I should have clarified; the vsync was never on (tearing proved this, along with fluctuating fps) to begin with and turning it on helps nothing. I am still interested in how you came to your conclusion and would appreciate it if you explained to me how you turned it into a graph.

Note: If the game stays on Vsync, your best option is to edit a configuration file such as an " .ini ". I have tried messing with multiple settings and none of the 30+ methods have changed anything.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Have you tried running your display at a refresh rate of 59Hz to see if it would fix the issue?

Okay I tried lowering to 59hz; I even used DXtory to try to cap it at 59hz after that didn't work, but nothing worked. By the way, CCC was set to Vsync "Always Off" during this test.

I tried RadeonPro (Default driver fps rate) with DXtory set to a 60hz cap; this didn't work.

I tried DXtory by itself at 60hz; still nothing.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hello friends, I apologize for my absence in updates but here goes nothing:


Bought everything bare-bones, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHZ RAM, Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB with Boost, XFX PRO850w PSU, Corsair Vengeance M65 Gaming Mouse, Rosewill R5 Black Gaming Case with Fan Control and other important features, and I kept my old HDD from my Dell 546, along with the CPU (Phenom II x4 955 95w TDP version) that I just recently bought.

Not sure what it was exactly, but I believe it was the graphics card not supporting newer features, or perhaps a few other things such as Old USB ports, or RAM even as I believe this is what John Dime said in the first place about my massive lag drops.

I plan to upgrade to the FX - 8350 8-core CPU soon, along with getting a gaming keyboard and a much faster SSD (opposed to HDD).

If anyone has any questions about the performance of this rig, please feel free to ask.