Troubleshooting-Microstutters in Games, PC-Build from January 2024

[Mangus]

Hello there I am struggling with Microstutters since I built my System in January 2024 in Games like:

Escape from Tarkov
Battlefield 2042
Forza Horizon 5
PUBG
Hogwarts Legacy
Space Marine 2
Warhammer 40K Boltgun
Halo Infinite
Minecraft Windows Bedrock Edition
Delta Force
Fortnite (also Potatoe mode)
Ready or not

Counter Strike 2 / DOOM Eternal and Halo Master Chief Collection seem to run perfectly

Main-System
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Motherboard: ASUS TUF X670E-Plus WIFI
CPU: R7 7800X3D
RAM: ADATA XPG LANCER DDR 5 6000MT/s 32GBx2, CL 30-40-40, AX5U6000C3032G-BLABK
GPU: Sapphire RX 7900XTX NITRO+ VAPOR-X
CPU-Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
PSU: Corsair HX1500i

M.2_SSD: WD_ Black SN850X 2TB (OS-Drive)
M.2_SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB
SATA_SSD: Crucial 120 GB
HDD: WD Black 1TB

1st Monitor: LG Ultragear 27GR75-B 165hz (Displayport)
2nd Monitor: Old Samsung 60hz (HDMI)

Latest Chipsetdrivers, drivers and Bios are installed.


Microstutters:

Erverytime a Sutter occured I saw with MSI Afterburner and Adrenaline Monitoring Overlay that:
- Power draw of GPU declined
- 1% lows dropped to 2digit and 1digit FPS
- clock speed decreased

Troubleshooting before 25.01.2025 without Solutions

- Windows 11 Pro Re-Install a lot of times
- GPU- and Chipsetdriver Re-Install (Using DDU and AMD CleanupTool) a lot of times
- Downloaded MoBo-drivers with and without ArmouryCrate (ASUS-Tool)
- Ran two different RAM-Kits in stock and OC settings
- changed RAM with Corsair Vengeance 16GBx2 CMK32GX5M2B6000Z30
- RMA CPU 7800X3D (seller replaced it with new one)
- RMA Mobo ASUS TUF X670E-Plus Wifi and got it back (Asus repaired it but did not clarify what they repaired)
- Changed Mobo with ASUS TUF X870-Plus Wifi
- used 7950X3D on ASUS TUF X870-Plus Wifi
- Changed Energy Option in Windows to High performance
- Ran the Games on very low settings
- changed Displayport cables
- shut off energysaving modes
- Played games on both 1440p and 1080p in single monitor configurations
- used 2nd Monitor with IGPU and 1st with 7900xtx
- used both monitors on 7900xtx at once
- bought a second Sapphire RX 7900XTX NITRO+ VAPOR-X for my gf´s upcoming build and tested it in my system
- turned off ULPS with MSI Afterburner
- turned off SAM
- Turned off Freesnyc
- turned off PBO
- increased power draw in adrenaline to 15
- tried adrenaline full and driver only install

Further Problem:

Reliability Monitor shows that Windows did not shut down correctly, eventhough I booted it up. (occured 24.01.2025 and 25.01.2025)

Question:

Could the PSU cause microsuttering because of lets say not giving enough power in the right time?

I am at the end of ideas.
Thank you in advance

 

[Mangus]

Hello and welcome, see your new to the forums.

- Have you checked for any bios updates?
- Have you checked for any firmware updates on the NVME drive?
- Have you tried re installing Windows with just the OS drive attach to stop Windows installing anything to other drives?
- All windows updates installed?
- Is FPS capped?
- Do you have resizable bar enabled in the bios?
- tried installing windows on to a different drive? spare SSD\HDD?

I have the latest Bios version. FPS is uncapped. Resizable bar is enabled. I will now update the firmware of the NVME drives and unplug my old drives. Then i will reinstall windows via USB.

I will let you know if it worked. Thanks a lot.

 

[Mangus]

Do you get the drops without the overlay software running? I know millions of people use it but when I stopped using afterburner my games ran so much smoother.

Are you running any Icue software? delete it! as its know to cause stutters to.

Then lastly unplug the HDD, I persevered for to long with them to and I'm assuming its windows but it must look at it every so often and whilst it waits for a response it hangs the system for a split second. My entire computer felt more responsive when I disconnected a HDD that was only ever used for storage. Never gone back to having an HDD since.

You say you've tried disabling energy saving modes? can you elaborate. I get get better 0.1% lows when I disable C-states in BIOS.

Hi,
Im not running any iCue software. With energy saving modes i mean the windows energy options and the ULPS which can be turned off with MSI afterburner.
Never disabled C-States, honestly I dont know what this does.
I Will try the above and unplug the HDD.

Thanks a lot. I will let you know if it worked.

 

[Mangus]

Uninstall afterburner
Afterburner is normally the cause of microstutters

I had stutters before i used Afterburner. I start using Afterburner a week ago.

 

[Mangus]

Have you tried disabling onboard IGPU?

I will try, thank you

 

[Mangus]

Hello again,
I now unplugged every drive with the exception of my M.2_SSD: WD_ Black SN850X 2TB + updated the firmware (OS-Drive) and installed windows 11 pro on it.

Disabled IGPU.

I now ran Space Marine 2 with LatencyMon: https://imgur.com/a/ESBGq2t

 

[Mangus]

Grab LatencyMon and see if you have DPC latency issues i.e. a driver playing up causing it.

If you have any USB network or WiFi adapters or external drives like floppy disc or CD drives sometimes they can be a source of low level stutter.

DPC: https://imgur.com/wDQ0tb0

 

[Mangus]

When I started my PC today, the reliability Monitor showed me this: https://imgur.com/cD252sA

"Windows was not properly shut down" reffering to the night before.​

 

[Mangus]

Have you ever tried running with a brand new install at stock settings? (Ie Expo disabled and nothing installed except for AMD chipset drivers, graphic driver and games)

Yes I did

 

[Mangus]

What I also do not understand is that the microstutters do not occur in any benchmark test from 3dmark ...

 

[Mangus]

Tried setting a GPU power limit? Try from 99% to 95%.

Hi I did that via adrenaline
but it doesnt seem to work
Game Hogwarts Legacy
Picture: https://imgur.com/M49jLhI

You see how the 1% lows drop ...

Thank you

 

[Mangus]

I agree with @tamzzy about uninstalling Afterburner but will add that other utilities that monitor GPU usage can also cause the issue.

Yes im not using afterburner anymore
I also tried the minimal install for adrenalin/gpu drivers

thank you

 

[Mangus]

I

I was having micro-stutters after doing my new build a couple of weeks ago and scoured the Internet for answers. I tried several things but the two that appeared to help the most was to disable the X3d Gaming mode in my Bios and the second was to increase my virtual memory. Despite having 32gb of RAM, Windows had only allocated a tiny amount of VM.

Just turned on the core flex x3d yesterday and hat stuttering still. Maybe its the poorly optimised games these days ...

 

[Mangus]

I just sent in my PSU for rma. I remember i had crazy crashes and bluescreens when i first built with those components. Also my mainboard was defective and repaired. Mb my psu was the root cause of all this. Because me an my friend observed severe wattage drops of the Gpu power draw when microstutrer occure, hope i will get an answer from the seller...

Also the dpc latency i observed the past two days was too high

I will try a new PSU tomorrow

Thank you guys