Witcher 3 stuttering

[ChrisD.]

The game runs along at 60 fps using V Sync absolutely fine, however now and then, especially with slower movements, or movements which are sudden eg turning whilst sprinting on a horse I get a fair amount of stutter. The PC is more than powerful enough for it so I feel as if it's a V Sync setting perhaps that's causing it?

Would getting a G Sync monitor help at all?

 

[ChrisD.]

In my sig:

ntel i7 5960X|Samsung 960 Evo 1TB SSD|1080 Ti
MSI X99A XPower|16GB DDR4|LG 34UC97-P|Dell U2713H

I have but it tears quite a lot and to be honest I don't remember if stuttering solved it.

 

[ChrisD.]

Rig is is 100% not the issue here. Try again without vsync ignore screen teary for now. See if the stuttering is removed.

Something else you could try is nvidia FastSync I think it's call. Create a witcher 3 profile and set the FPS above monitor refresh rate in your case max 75fps FastSync will remove all screen tear of the frame rate is above the refresh rate.

1080ti should have no issue holding 75fps depending on resolution you using.

Monitor is only 60hz, I take it holding higher than that won't be an issue? I'll give it a go this evening if I have enough time. I have read a few posts that suggest locking fps to 59 via Nvidia control panel and turning off V Sync but I haven't tried that yet.

Resolution is 3440x1440 (Ultra Wide) and all settings max.

 

[ChrisD.]

I have lots of stuttering in this game on a GTX 1080 and Gsync Dell S2716DG 1440P 144Hz monitor. I also have a [email protected] and 32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2133MHz. The game is running on a Samsung NVME SM961 512GB SSD.

I don't know whether it is an Nvidia driver/Palit BIOS problem, X99 issue or RAM frequency issue. What frequency is your RAM running at and what power plan are using in Windows?

No idea what the RAM is set to, it's all at default settings. I lost my overclock once as the BIOS reset and I noticed no difference so just left it all alone.

 

[ChrisD.]

Is the stuttering only present in Witcher or also in other games?

I don't play many games, but it isn't present in Farcry 5, Titanfall 2 and AC: Origins.

I use MSI on my Logitech keyboard and everything looks fine. As far as it is concerned, I'm still getting 60 fps.

 

[ChrisD.]

Does your RAM have an XMP profile? I know from Digital Foundry videos that the Witcher 3 is highly RAM speed dependent. When I had my AMD 390X setting shadows to medium would get rid of all stutter in this game and I'd have a locked 60FPS. However, I was very disappointed when I got my 1080 as I got more stutter even though frame rate was much higher and the medium shadows trick didn't work.

I'm pretty sure it does, is that worth giving a go then?

 

[ChrisD.]

Make sure Vsync is on within NVCP and off within game and set the frame limit to 60 (in game option).

I run at 1080P, maxed out (except I use FXAA) including hairworks (again no AA) and I get zero stutter (so far)...and my ancient ram only runs at 1600Mhz.

Ah, I will give that a go. Thanks.

 

[ChrisD.]

Drop AA down or off. I’ve had stutter in the past with TW3 and turning AA off has stopped it. Worth a try.

I would also ensure your running optimal mode in nvidia 3d panel, have had issues with it running adaptive mode.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but why would the FPS counter show a constant 60 fps? In normal scenes, frames never drop and all is smooth.

I've never looked at anything in the Nvidia CP, I'll see if I get a game pass shortly from the mrs and give it a go.

 

[ChrisD.]

I think so. Also, tell me what speed the RAM is set to by XMP when you find out. I can't go above 2133 without manually overclocking so it would be interesting to find out whether it makes any difference.

There’s two profiles, one is 2666Mhz and the other is 3000.

 

[ChrisD.]

I can’t see TW3 in the application settings. I’ve set power to Max and VSync to on. I’ll disable it in the game and give it a go. XMP now also on. Thanks all.

 

[ChrisD.]

I've tried the above as well as dropping hairworks down to 2xaa, still get the stuttering. It's only really during slow mouse movements, the rest of the time it's okay.

 

[ChrisD.]

Are you using the "hardware cursor" option in graphics settings? If you aren't try turning it on as it uses raw mouse input which makes the mouse much smoother and more precise. Why CDProjekt Red put this in the graphics settings is beyond me.

No, I'm not as I had no idea what it does. I'll have a go later in the week, thanks.

 

[ChrisD.]

Is it just the Witcher 3 that you have the issue with or other games too?

Just this game.

Set framerate to unlimited ingame, force vsync in the nvidia control panel and cap to 60fps using RTSS, works very nicely with stuttering locking frametimes and framerate.

I believe I've already done this by setting VSync in the Nvidia CP to 60 and the game to off.

run the game windowed borderless and it should be fine. it's the game not your system

I'll give that a go, thanks.