Request for assistance - performance issues

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 14:03

I'm trying to diagnose performance issues and could do with a little help, please. There is a growing list of games that I have that perform with awful judder to the point where they are unplayable. I originally put this down to a quirk in certain games, but now the list is growing to the point where I'm thinking is there something wrong with my system?

Some games are silky smooth, which just confuses me more!

I'd be interested in any thoughts/suggestions you may have. I'll post some video in the next post that hopefully will show the issue.

System spec:

2700x
Z470i
1080ti
X34a @ 90Hz
Frame cap @ 88 (Rivatuner)
Vsync ON in Nvidia CP
Vsync OFF in game

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 14:03

Here's a video of Dishonored 2. The textures shimmer like mad and there's a horrible judder when panning the mouse around. I've lowered all the settings to rule out a cripple setting. I've tried just about everything to smooth this out, but having no joy.

Update: dropping monitor refresh to 60Hz and enabling Vsync in Nvidia control panel fixed this.

Here's Hunter:COW - set @ 60fps with everything at low and the judder is awful.

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 14:12

chroniclard said:
Any crashing or just poor performance?
Use MSI afterburner to monitor the in game performance of GPU/CPU, post results.
Memory tested stable? (ramtest and/or HCI memtest)
Give the setup you should not be having issues with anything.

No crashes. You can see by the overlay in the video that FPS is solid 88 with CPU & GPU having bags of room to spare.

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 14:30

melmac said:
what drivers are you using?

Can you try turning off the Frame cap and Vsync and see what happens?

EDIT: I am just wondering is it a problem with the monitor, Can you also try running it at 60hz?

Latest driver; 417.35

I'll try the other suggestions and post back, when you say running at 60hz do you mean capping at 60 or lowering the monitor to 60Hz?

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 17:01

melmac said:
EDIT: I am just wondering is it a problem with the monitor, Can you also try running it at 60hz?

This appears to have solved it. I've dropped the refresh rate to 60Hz and have Vsync on in NCP (tearing is awful with it off).

I hope this is game specific. I'll have a wee play for a while to ensure this was the issue, and then I'll test with the other games I'm having issues with.

Cheers @melmac

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 17:02

ltron said:
Your Acer monitor should have an FPS refresh rate monitoring setting so you can check whether the refresh rate is varying in line with the FPS and hence that Gsync is working. It is more reliable the Gsync indicator in the Nvidia control panel.

Nice tip, thanks.

Dirk Diggler · 15 Dec 2018 at 20:11

@melmac Yea, I'm not sure what to think of it. I think the monitor is only guaranteed to run @ 60Hz so RMA is probably out, but on saying that some games run 100fps silky smooth so maybe it is just game specific. Another game that acts up similarly is Hunter:COW. I'll need to see if this fix applies there, too.

Will report back, but beer is flowing and wife wants to watch a movie.

Dirk Diggler · 16 Dec 2018 at 13:53

The next game I've tried is Hunter: COW. It's a juddery mess, unfortunately. I've tried the 60Hz thing that worked with Dishonored 2 but it's still horrid, so hoping we can suss the reason. I suppose the positive is that the 60Hz fix was unique to that one game and not an issue with the monitor (bear in mind, there are games that run perfect 100fps), but on the downside there's still an underlying issue here.

I'll post a video later and hopefully you can see the issue I'm having.

Dirk Diggler · 16 Dec 2018 at 16:04

opethdisciple said:
Are you overclocking your monitor? That could be the problem as well.

Monitor is overclocked to 100 but some games run perfect.

Dirk Diggler · 16 Dec 2018 at 17:58

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Is Ryzen Master running in the background? Try shutting it down if that is the case.

No, that isn't running.

Here's Hunter:COW - set @ 60fps with everything at low and the judder is awful.

Dirk Diggler · 16 Dec 2018 at 20:54

MyBrains said:
I thought lowering settings will put more on the CPU?

It's sitting 60fps solid, the work load only shifts to the CPU if the frame rate is uncapped.

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 09:27

MyBrains said:
I have no clue then, how many monitors are you running? I get crazy stutter in OBS running 3 but it goes away when i only run 2, which sucks for when i want to stream.

I did have 2 plugged in, but have disconnected the second one but still no joy.

I'm running the X34a at 100Hz again and Hunter:COW is still juddery at the higher refresh rate. Interestingly, Dishonered 2 is working fine with the monitor at 100Hz so long as I lock to 60 in the game settings.

Given that there are games that run perfect smooth at 100Hz then I think I can rule out issues with the monitor.

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 12:19

ltron said:
Can you run the frame skipping test to make sure? https://www.testufo.com/frameskipping

All squares together.

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 13:43

ltron said:
Can you increase the exposure on your camera so you get more squares?

It's a Pixel 2 XL and I'm not seeing settings to do that, I'll try to find an alternative camera app.

Kelt said:
Just tried that (but not locked @ 60fps) on my system with the same settings and it's buttery smooth, so something is definitely up with your rig.

And you have a more powerful GPU...

Yes, it's getting frustrating. If it was one or two games then I'd let it go, but the list is growing so it's starting to be an issue. I'll go through another couple of affected games and see if anyone can spot a common denominator.

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 13:55

ltron said:
Did you try that FPS refresh monitoring setting in the monitor's OSD to make sure Gsync is working correctly in the affected games?

Manual Camera is a good Android app for adjusting exposure.

Yes, I did and the refresh was changing with the FPS.

I'll download that app and repeat the test when I'm back in the house. Thanks for taking the time to assist, it's appreciated.

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 15:08

Here's a longer exposure image, looks OK.

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 16:39

I've just switched to my other monitor which is 144Hz Gsync (Acer XB271HU) and the judder in Hunter:COW is still there at 120fps. It's looking like it's safe to rule out issues with the monitor.

I'll now try to roll back a few drivers to 388 as previously suggested; what's the best way to roll back, just uninstall the current driver in add/remove programs section? I've got Geforce Experience installed also.

Edit: there's a few choices for 388

388.00
388.13
388.59
388.71

Dirk Diggler · 17 Dec 2018 at 20:17

Woodsta888 said:
ALT+ENTER twice. Just an easy idea.

melmac said:
I would go for the 388.59 ones.

No joy.

Dirk Diggler · 18 Dec 2018 at 13:00

HabUK said:
I had that exact same problem with Dishonored 2 on my X34a, I gave up trying different things in the end but I'll have to reinstall and try it at 60hz

Yea, Vsync on in NCP and off in-game. Here's a screen shot of the settings (my monitor refresh is still at 100Hz BTW).

Dirk Diggler · 18 Dec 2018 at 19:25

HabUK said:
Just downloaded it and tried it with those settings and it's now fine, cheers fellas!

Update on Dishonored 2 - I've just fired it up on my Acer XB271HU which is 144Hz Gsync. If I lock the frames to 120 then it's utter silky smooth - it seems to need multiples of 60. I've had to disabled HBAO+ to guarantee 120fps but the smoothness is lovely, such a massive improvement over 60.

p.s. @melmac I'll do some trouble shooting on the other games shortly.