[Benchmark3D] Microstutter Case Study: Skyrim

[Final8y]

Hope everyone had a great New Year’s party, don’t ask about mine…I don’t remember much, last thing I remember is shoveling snow away for the camp fire. Anyways, be sure to stick by the New Year’s resolutions I’m sure everyone made.

The last important thing that happened in 2012 was TechReport’s microstutter article, in which we were informed about the microstutter situation going about with Radeon cards. Kudos to them for bringing up this somewhat obscure issue, at least for your average gamer and PC buyer, I’m pretty sure everyone else knew about some of the issues TR brought up.

http://benchmark3d.com/microstutter-case-study-skyrim-wtf-edition

 

[Final8y]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1348515/benchmark3d-microstutter-case-study-skyrim#post_19031693

http://www.overclock.net/t/1348515/benchmark3d-microstutter-case-study-skyrim/10#post_19031950

http://www.overclock.net/t/1348515/benchmark3d-microstutter-case-study-skyrim/10#post_19032286

 

[Final8y]

You lost me

TL Tender Love

 

[Final8y]

Can you just sum up what those links are saying?

It seem that playing with the CPU does indeed help and even on APU

But on NV it makes it worse which is shown in the first link, i think its down to NV having better multi threaded drivers and is why in some CPU + GPU reviews NV gained by having a stronger CPU while AMD didn't so much.

Also when [H] did a TriFire AND TRISLI review the TriFire won, but when it was re done on a beefier platform the TRISLI won.


http://hardocp.com/article/2011/04/28/nvidia_geforce_3way_sli_radeon_trifire_review/1
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review/

Two graphics cards, ten processors, ten benchmarks

If you like playing games in Full HD resolution with all fancy graphical effects enabled, you obviously need to invest in a high-end graphics card. If you're looking at buying one of the current high-end cards, such as the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition or the Nvidia GeForce GTX 680, it's worth taking a closer look at the rest of your computer. Will your PC be able to squeeze the most out of these expensive powerhouse video cards, or do you have a bottleneck hiding somewhere? With a speedy Core i7 processor you obviously need not worry, but what if you have something like an Intel Core i3 or AMD A6? Hardware.Info examined just that scenario, so read on to find out.

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/3714/radeon-hd-7970-and-geforce-gtx-680-tested-with-10-cpus

 

[Final8y]

It doesn't matter how many people tell me the HD7950 is a better card than the GTX660Ti.

The nVidia card 'feels' like a better card.

Weehamish, puts his points across badly, but he has been honest with his experiences.

I will be sticking with nVidia, so no surprises there!

Yes, I have around 130 hrs on it before I got bored.
I played it at 1080p with GTX 470 SLi and it was a good experience.

I was the one that brought the 12.11 frame latency issues to the attention of these forums.

Wasn't it you who said that your GTXs were 'buttery smooth'?

Edited: i found it.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18466444&highlight=startername_SkodaMart on Windows 8

And your issue was before those drivers.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18446828&highlight=startername_SkodaMart

No NV has not always been smoother in Skyrim.

http://techreport.com/review/23419/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-ti-graphics-card-reviewed/7

 

[Final8y]

So it's just the 'never settle' drivers then?

When it comes to Skyrim it may have more issues.

 

[Final8y]

Has anyone gone back to old drivers to see if it fixes the problem?

Not that i have seen.

 

[Final8y]

Okay, already saw a difference however - I also saw stutter on the GTX 680, just not as bad haha. I'll post the CSV info on an edit, but for now here is the actual graph (I zoomed in.)

I tried to normalize the two runs as best I could, both rigs are set to ingame ultra, with 8xAA, disabled any outside optimizations (CCC to default, NV panel to default), and both at 1080p full screen
EDIT for more info:

I used the same account, so its the same character, same gear, same mount, yada. I disabled all mods, so its all WoW stuff.
Resolution was set to 1080p, full screen, 8xAA, all ingame options Ultra.
CCC/NV panel reset for the run.
I found a two landmarks easy to identify and faced the wall, then strafed between the two. CSV file for both runs was similar in size.

I noticed stutter on both rigs, but far more on mine (the HD 7970.)

GTX 680 Results:

Spoiler

HD 7970 Results:

Spoiler

I will update my CSV file with the two runs, clearly there is a difference.
EDIT #2: Posted the info in my CSV files:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhY9sOddohlTdGdsbHUyb1dfUm9RWnBlTFJKWnljQkE#gid=0

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=34490495&postcount=399

 

[Final8y]

I should have looked more closely when i posted it because its WOW and not Skyrim.

 

[Final8y]

Reading that forum, most would be banned if they were like that on here. It gets very heated.

You aint kidding, its the worst of all i go too.

 

[Final8y]

You don't half get around a lot.

Staying in one Ecosystem has it drawbacks, its ripe for misconceptions and false information to propagate if you don't see other things for yourself, and hence why i also read the NV forums.