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Graphics card stuttering on High textures

mxoagentjohnson

mxoagentjohnson

mxoagentjohnson

Associate
Joined
16 Nov 2011
Posts
696
Hey guys.

So i've played quite a few games, and lately ive noticed i'm getting stutters at high textures when i get high enough framerates (even when unlocking it)

Here is an example on Ethan Carter, unlocked my FPS is about 90-100 and i lock it to 60, with medium textures the stuttering goes but with high the stuttering is there, notice the framerate counter, all dips are stutters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4kVwiKgnrI

It also happens in Left 4 Dead 2, every setting at max but Textures is fine, but setting it to high textures with high paged pool memory i get micro freezes/stutters.

Same with Payday 2, everything max but? You guessed it, textures, or i get the same thing.

I previously thought it was faulty ram, but 48 memtest proved otherwise, i thought it was my HDD loading things in badly, but a new SSD didn't fix it, so now all i can think of is the GPU.

It doesnt happen on every game, sleeping dogs, tomb raider all ram great. Perfectly even, but Watch Dogs, Payday 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Ethan Carter and quite a few others do when i should be able to play them at 60 fps solid.

No GPU fluctuations, temps are fine, clocks are fine, VRAM usage is never maxed out, i really dont understand this but if anyone could help i'll be very grateful!

GPU 680 Power Edition, 8GB Samsung Green RAM, i7 2600 @ 3.4ghz, Z68P-ud3p Motherboard, Samsung 840 SSD!
 
With this many stutter threads, you obviously have a faulty 680. There was reports of stutter on the Nvidia 600 series too, which was apparently fixed in one of the drivers.

Do you not have another GPU to test out? If not, get a 970 and be done with it!
 
Do you keep your PC on 24/7? I know, it sounds silly, and it's weird... but on my 680 (also a Power Edition, but flashed with Lightning BIOS) a reboot was required, else I'd get what you're describing in every game - but only in borderless window. Fullscreen was fine. This usually happened after playing LoL. Can't explain it. The only thing I noticed was that the memory clock received a 1mhz offset in Nvidia Inspector/GPU-Z, like so:

3ftf8.jpg


Edit: It's worth mentioning that this happened on my 580, too. Weirdly, the 980 is fine - didn't even reinstall drivers.

Have you tried setting power management mode to "Prefer maximum performance" in the NVCP?

How's your DPC latency? Link
 
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RageQuit© said:
With this many stutter threads, you obviously have a faulty 680. There was reports of stutter on the Nvidia 600 series too, which was apparently fixed in one of the drivers.

Do you not have another GPU to test out? If not, get a 970 and be done with it!
Click to expand...

For me the stutter stopped once I upgraded the bios for my card.
 
RageQuit© said:
With this many stutter threads, you obviously have a faulty 680. There was reports of stutter on the Nvidia 600 series too, which was apparently fixed in one of the drivers.

Do you not have another GPU to test out? If not, get a 970 and be done with it!
Click to expand...

Trouble is the problem popped up just end of July and i've had this card from OC for under over a year and a half now maybe, possibly longer.

LegendaryDread said:
Do you keep your PC on 24/7? I know, it sounds silly, and it's weird... but on my 680 (also a Power Edition, but flashed with Lightning BIOS) a reboot was required, else I'd get what you're describing in every game - but only in borderless window. Fullscreen was fine. This usually happened after playing LoL. Can't explain it. The only thing I noticed was that the memory clock received a 1mhz offset in Nvidia Inspector/GPU-Z, like so:

3ftf8.jpg


Edit: It's worth mentioning that this happened on my 580, too. Weirdly, the 980 is fine - didn't even reinstall drivers.

Have you tried setting power management mode to "Prefer maximum performance" in the NVCP?

How's your DPC latency? Link
Click to expand...

DPC latency is all good, doesnt matter if its a fresh boot or on 24 hours, i never leave my pc on longer than 12 anyway, happens all the time.

I havent flashed my Bios, i was thinking about doing it though, and i dont play Borderless but i get stutter on that, and sometimes windowed, but i'm a fullscreen man.

Yea did all the power management settings!
 
LegendaryDread said:
I used this for reference:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club

and this BIOS:

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/128193/msi-gtx680-2048-120625-1.html

80.04.28.00.3A

Not sure if it's the latest.
Click to expand...

When i flashed to the latest, my resolution upon reboot reverted back to the lowest and the GPU fan was going mad, and the gpu was going from full load back to 0 over and over, i reverted back to my Backup but gonna try a different Bios if i can o_O
 
Forgot to mention! You need to change the BIOS switch on the card to the unlocked (to the right, not like the image!) position prior to flashing. Obviously don't do this while the power is on.
6vegi.jpg
 
LegendaryDread said:
Forgot to mention! You need to change the BIOS switch on the card to the unlocked (to the right, not like the image!) position prior to flashing. Obviously don't do this while the power is on.
6vegi.jpg
Click to expand...

Woops.
Well i reinstalled the drivers on 3A and when i boot the fans go mad, after being on for 30 seconds teh fans cool down. but i'll open up and switch the switch now
 
Discovery.

Overclocking my CPU to 4.2ghz helped the stutter in Ethan Carter and Borderlands 2, really well (not elimated due totexture streaming but gone from the seperate issue) however, after 3 mins of Borderlands 2, temps were fine but the PSU started to make a bit of noise and the beginning smells of burning started to occur, so i immediatly set the clocks back to stock and going to invest in maybe a better PSU and new CPU cooler to OC more (but limited to 4.2 as of being a 2700 non k)

40 mins of play on 3.8ghz didnt replicate the noise/smell from the PSU, so it may be the sweet spot
 
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Hello mate

I've replied in a few of your stuttering threads :)

Of the 4 games you mention this time with problems, I have Ethan carter and watchdogs. I hate to sound like a broken record, but yet again ITS THE GAMES, and there's nowt you can do about it. I experience the same. :)

Just google 'vanishing of Ethan carter stutter' or 'watchdogs stutter' and you will get pages and pages and hundreds of people with the same issue.

Watchdogs - broken in so many ways. Can only be fixed by putting a lot of time and effort in and modding yourself (see guru3d mod section). I have my own custom mod now for watchdogs and can run on ultra textures (the main problem) and max settings 95% stutter free. I still have to completely disable SLI though as this causes shocking stutter.

Ethan carter - unreal 3 engine game, and suffers from the usual micro stutter that can be fixed by tweaking the 'smooth framerate' settings in the ini files, but 'other stutter' is not totally cured due to the UE3 engine texture streaming issues and new area loading issues that are in ALL UE3 engine games until patched out by the devs. This is unlikely to happen with Ethan carter as it has one programmer!
 
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wunkley said:
Hello mate

I've replied in a few of your stuttering threads :)

Of the 4 games you mention this time with problems, I have Ethan carter and watchdogs. I hate to sound like a broken record, but yet again ITS THE GAMES, and there's nowt you can do about it. I experience the same. :)

Just google 'vanishing of Ethan carter stutter' or 'watchdogs stutter' and you will get pages and pages and hundreds of people with the same issue.

Watchdogs - broken in so many ways. Can only be fixed by putting a lot of time and effort in and modding yourself (see guru3d mod section). I have my own custom mod now for watchdogs and can run on ultra textures (the main problem) and max settings 95% stutter free. I still have to completely disable SLI though as this causes shocking stutter.

Ethan carter - unreal 3 engine game, and suffers from the usual micro stutter that can be fixed by tweaking the 'smooth framerate' settings in the ini files, but 'other stutter' is not totally cured due to the UE3 engine texture streaming issues and new area loading issues that are in ALL UE3 engine games until patched out by the devs. This is unlikely to happen with Ethan carter as it has one programmer!
Click to expand...

Hey again mate :)
Yea, i figured these would be issues, but i actually came across a few things that helped some issues with some games which is great.

I dont know exactly the reason, but in one go i Upped my Overclock to 3.8, turned off Hyperthreading and when i loaded back into Borderlands and Ethan and Payday 2, it certainly wasnt gone but it was a lot better.

When i set the clock back to 3.4 or even 3.2 it was still ok, just not as good CPU wise.

Although lately a faint smell of burning or so has been coming from what i believe is the PSU, and when i oc'd to 4.2 the fan on the PSU and the smell was a bit stronger, no idea!

But yea, just believe it could be those games, its a shame cause Watch Dogs looks fun!
 
mxoagentjohnson said:
Hey again mate :)
Yea, i figured these would be issues, but i actually came across a few things that helped some issues with some games which is great.

I dont know exactly the reason, but in one go i Upped my Overclock to 3.8, turned off Hyperthreading and when i loaded back into Borderlands and Ethan and Payday 2, it certainly wasnt gone but it was a lot better.

When i set the clock back to 3.4 or even 3.2 it was still ok, just not as good CPU wise.

Although lately a faint smell of burning or so has been coming from what i believe is the PSU, and when i oc'd to 4.2 the fan on the PSU and the smell was a bit stronger, no idea!

But yea, just believe it could be those games, its a shame cause Watch Dogs looks fun!
Click to expand...

Hyperthreading (HT) is a funny one. Some games it's definitely better to turn it off. When Battlefield 3 first came out it had terrible stuttere / judder every few seconds walking forward, no matter what framerate. The ONLY way to fix it for me was to turn off HT and then it ran smooth as butter! This problem was later fixed in a patch I believe.
Another game I think I mentioned in your other thread was Far Cry 3. Again this ran better and with less stutter with HT off.

Onto your other point.....A burning smell is never ever a good thing when it comes to your comp fella! :)

I'm reluctant to advise upgrading any hardware to 'fix' your stuttering, as it's mostly just the particular games as I mention. But perhaps you should consider a new PSU anyway (not for the stutter problems though - the bloody burning smell!) You should never scrimp on the PSU in any gaming system, it's very important. And if you get a good one with some headroom it allows more overclocking potential!

Stuttering issues aside, You really ought to overclock your cpu if you can anyway as it will help performance in many games (won't get rid of stutter though!).
I too have an i7 2600 but it's the K version which is a breeze to overclock. I run mine at 4.5 now at ridiculously low volts. Is yours a 2600K?
 
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If I remember rightly, I think he is using a non 'K' cpu.

+1 re : the psu. There's not one component you can buy that is more important than that.
 
wunkley said:
Hyperthreading (HT) is a funny one. Some games it's definitely better to turn it off. When Battlefield 3 first came out it had terrible stuttere / judder every few seconds walking forward, no matter what framerate. The ONLY way to fix it for me was to turn off HT and then it ran smooth as butter! This problem was later fixed in a patch I believe.
Another game I think I mentioned in your other thread was Far Cry 3. Again this ran better and with less stutter with HT off.

Onto your other point.....A burning smell is never ever a good thing when it comes to your comp fella! :)

I'm reluctant to advise upgrading any hardware to 'fix' your stuttering, as it's mostly just the particular games as I mention. But perhaps you should consider a new PSU anyway (not for the stutter problems though - the bloody burning smell!) You should never scrimp on the PSU in any gaming system, it's very important. And if you get a good one with some headroom it allows more overclocking potential!

Stuttering issues aside, You really ought to overclock your cpu if you can anyway as it will help performance in many games (won't get rid of stutter though!).
I too have an i7 2600 but it's the K version which is a breeze to overclock. I run mine at 4.5 now at ridiculously low volts. Is yours a 2600K?
Click to expand...

I have three badboys on the list to buy for my next upgrade, they are a new PSU, a new CPU Heatsink and some more thermal paste!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-013-EA

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-080-AK

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=AC-000-AC

My CPU Heatsink isnt the best so full load overclocks cause temps to sometimes hit 80+ which is never good, even on 3.8 it sometimes hits 72 which isnt too bad but the burning smell happens at 3.8-4ghz.

the new PSU i dont need that much power, but the modular capabilities and the potential for future proofing it is a lot nicer!

Unfortunatly i am not on the K, so i can adjust the modifier (boost i believe) to 4.2, trouble is it has a lot of power saving things and doesnt either reach 4.2 all the time and goes up and down from 4.2 to 1.6 when out of gaming!

arc@css said:
If I remember rightly, I think he is using a non 'K' cpu.

+1 re : the psu. There's not one component you can buy that is more important than that.
Click to expand...

The PSU i purchased around 4 years ago now is discontinued, it is a 700W Xigmatek i got.

Sometimes the smell of sliight hot components lingers even when just browsing and stuff, which makes me believe it is the PSU, i dont believe it happened to the GPU, even after flashing the bios and the fan going full speed and stuff i dont believe the gpu is at fault, i can smell the very slight burning from sitting in front of my pc and when i go to the back it doesnt smell as bad but nearer the psu is where it smells worse off.

This also might explain the random loud noises my pc sometimes made on occasion, only when i was gaming i sometimes got like a crack or a bang, not hugely loud but sounded like plastic expanding and contracting in heat like ahouse would yknow?
 
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