Need Your Help! FPS Drops & Stuttering on High-End PC

UPDATE 5

I've already done all the necessary tests in new Windows 10 1803 (17134.1) Build. There are no performance improvements even with new "Ultimate Performance" power plan.

UEFI Main Settings:
- BIOS 1301 update
- "Sync All Cores" at [47]
- XMP at 3,200 MHz
- PCIE3_4 and M.2_2 slots at X4 speed
- Custom fans curve and disabled unnecessary EXT FANS
- Disabled SpeedShift/SpeedStep, C-states, Spread Spectrum, Fast Boot and ASUS MultiCore Enhancement

Windows 10 1803 global Google Drive folder with all results: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VI-D62fRZ2AfNZ2NZqKtFXAEoM5tibdJ
MSI Afterburner Hardware Monitor games logs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1z_EPdYovV_swrAm3El-gRJ87RZtrXvq3
Windows and other settings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=14a6vfGqZhDp6z6V-CFoBdpHR161pXKy8
All diagnostic info including GPUView Merged.etl trace file, MSINFO32 and Speccy snapshot: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1h3oCMaw5_odOSO1972Tqn6_RwYZz6vy3

If you can or know how to correctly analyze all the data, please, help me find the culprit of these frametime spikes and stuttering. Thank you a lot!


Hi community,[/B]

It's sad to say, but there are serious FPS drops/spikes/freeze and micro stuttering in almost all the games on my new self-built high-end PC with Intel i7 8700K + Aorus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti.

Please Note:
1. PC specifications, Windows 10 & Software configurations are below in this topic.
2. I use Google Drive for image/docs hosting instead of other specialized sites in terms of security (sorry Imgur fans).
3. All images, screenshots and documents mentioned in this topic are stored in the shared Google Drive folder available at the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PYf2NOVn0sOlgkVLgBFN7rZHDgm9ZUM9?usp=sharing
4. If you don't see some items in Google Drive folder, try signing in with your Google account. I hope you have it.
5. If you can't open links or view spoilers in this topic, try signing up.

Warning:
I figured out that only with NVIDIA 388.13 Driver MSI Afterburner's "Power" monitoring option cause enormous FPS drops and especially stuttering in absolutely any game every time MSI AB refresh values in hardware monitor. This depends directly on hardware polling period in AB settings. Therefore, I recommend you to disable "Power" monitoring feature to prevent issue with future or other NVIDIA drivers.

Introduction

FPS drops/stutters are very noticeable in GTA 5, The Witcher 3 and War Thunder (very laggy hangar). There are almost no drops in recently released World of Tanks 1.0. Every game's graphics settings are set to Max/Ultra values without any type of sync or FPS lock.

All PC hardware have been purchased from trusted local vendors with original seal and warranty from the official manufacturer. PC was precisely built by me without any mistakes, with all the manual/PC building guides requirements.

Enough intro, let's dig in!

GTA 5 — FPS Drops/Stuttering

I have read that I'm not the first player who catch these kinds of issues. But this Rockstar child is especially laggy on my rig. FPS drops occur after each 1-2 minutes of gameplay with high average FPS, particularly noticeable when flying and aiming at the police helicopters on the background of the skybox.

Also I know that GTA 5 game engine doesn't allow more than 188 FPS. For the first time, I thought that the game is just the culprit because of the 188 FPS engine lock and Grand Theft Auto 5 porting from consoles. But now I'm think that troubles arise due to software or much worse hardware fault.

FPS Drops: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n8XO6bJQ_77TaC5ZGGTidgfrHH75Pkwa?usp=sharing

MSI Afterburner Graphs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jEWidv5I0g7j0B2S7dEbiR2vRi6fduFC?usp=sharing

GTA 5 Graphics Settings: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10aCAmFWNARyXWZbNvzcq4PhYH_3L6egV?usp=sharing

The Witcher 3 — FPS Drops/Stuttering

Well, I didn't expect any problems with this CD Projekt great-optimized masterpiece game due to very positive feedback on all game platforms and tons of articles like "The most optimized game ever". Unfortunately, of course, not on my rig.

Drops are rarely and less noticeable compared with Grand Theft Auto but they ARE, and this an issue. Usually, I notice them while moving, Roach riding or fighting with monsters and guards. And the biggest sorrow is that there is no workaround for this awesome game.

FPS Drops: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c6ELIfJnD3CEdkKHOQplR_SUPPYtI0xM?usp=sharing

MSI Afterburner Graphs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Vm0KTIQtvVrbtmIPP9dZtcoeO3fFlil-?usp=sharing

The Witcher 3 Graphics Settings: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Vxd6FRMoedT-lvn7F38-CnkPNZULEp85?usp=sharing

World of Tanks 1.0 — FPS Drops Only

What about this MMO, I didn't catch any spikes up to yesterday evening, when I decided to play a test battle to show that only one game can run smoothly on my high-end PC without any issues. But what was my disappointment when I found out that WOT wasn't as seamless as I expected.

I noticed only one drop to 18.7 FPS after 8 minutes of battle. It's the first huge FPS drop
in the last month playing WOT. Till this moment the maximum frames drawdown wasn't below 53.8 FPS and it only happened after my tank was destroyed.

WOT graphics settings was set to Ultra preset and 100% 3D Render Resolution without any other changes. Screenshots are not needed there. Also, I missed a moment of FPS drop and didn't have time to take a screenshot, so there are only MSI AB graphs.

MSI Afterburner Graphs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VFcBiO9sL62leixwwPKJiEGzta9K6SaS?usp=sharing

What I tried to do and that DID NOT HELP any game:

1. Marts_Sum's method with EmptyStandbyList on GeForce Forum: https://forums.geforce.com/default/...dows-10-creators-update/post/5235141/#5235141
2. Set UEFI (BIOS) and Windows 10 to default settings.
3. Roll back to Windows 10 Anniversary Builds 1703, 1607 and fresh reinstall of 1709.
4. Disable/Enable: Windows Defender, Firewall, Cortana, Game DVR/Game Bar/Game Mode, all unnecessary services/drivers/startup items, indexing, consumers features, power modes (Balanced/High performance/Power saver), hibernation, SWAP & PAGE files, Fast Boot (in UEFI as well) and LAN by unpluging an Ethernet cable.
5. Reinstall/Reconfigure all possible old/new drivers and firmwares from official sites. Also tried to use DDU.
6. Overclock/Downclock GPU, CPU and turn on/off XMP Profile (3,200 MHz).
7. Install other overclocking software.
8. Uninstall all Windows 10 built-in apps.
9. Uninstall MSI Afterburner & RTSS.
10. Paused MSI AB Hardware Monitor and disable "Power" monitoring option.
11. Reinstall game from M.2 SSD to 7,200 RPM HDD and vice versa.
12. Lower down/max out graphics settings, screen resolution and refresh rate.
13. Run as Administrator and disable/enable Fullscreen Optimization.
14. Switch to integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 630.
15. Install GTA 5 and The Witcher 3 on NASA computer in the hope of getting rid of FPS drops and stuttering.

What I tried to do and that SOMEHOW HELPS (unfortunately only for GTA 5):

1. Lock up to 150 FPS and less using the Rivatuner Statistic Server.
2. Enable VSync. But I rarely notice some drops down to 32 FPS, better than falling down to 5-8 FPS but not worth it. Also, high input lag doesn't make this method a pill from all the illnesses.
3. Hope it will be soon thanks to your helpful tips.

Conclusion

I hope that I gave you enough information to find out the reason. Unfortunately, I still haven't found any permanent way to play games without these killers of the game experience.

Let it be a software fault, because I really don't want to send my hardware to a service center, and I definitely don't know which part of the PC causes problems.

Questions

1. So, dear readers, do you know any advices, workarounds and working fixes?
2. Or, maybe, any official confirmation from NVIDIA, Microsoft and Intel that is 100% related to their software failure instead of hardware defect?
3. If FPS drops and stuttering caused by hardware, сan you roughly determine what is the culprit and where to dig?
4. How I can be 100% sure that it's NOT a hardware failure?

Thank you very much for the attention!
I will be very grateful for any of your help!

With deepest respect,
"Happy" High-End PC Owner



Hardware and Software Configurations

PC specifications:

MB: Asus Maximus X Hero
CPU: Intel i7 8700K Kaby Lake
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
GPU: AORUS GeForce® GTX 1080 Ti 11G
RAM: HyperX Predator 3200MHz DDR4 16GB (2x8GB in Dual Channel)
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 250GB
HDD: Western Digital Black 1TB (7200rpm 64MB)
PS: Seasonic Prime 850W Platinum
LCD: Acer Predator XB271HU (27", 2560 x 1440, 144 Hz, G-Sync)
KeyB: HyperX Alloy Elite MX Blue (1,000 MHz)
Mice: A4Tech Bloody V2 (1 ms, 1,000 MHz)
Case: Corsair Graphite 780T
Fans: (X5) Noctua NF-A14 PWM (140mm) & (X1) Noctua NF-S12A PWM (120mm)
UPS: APC Back-UPS Pro 1200VA/720W

DxDiag:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SuSemQ4Q6vDD01HSIjq3PLPQW8xTAF7n/view?usp=sharing

Windows 10, UEFI (BIOS) and Software settings: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CN1N33vfbgKA1TBAtKW63BjSmKfu78It?usp=sharing

NVIDIA Control Panel settings: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1f_ZOY9XTqAJ1uOYuswf53iMOq5upNj8p?usp=sharing

Benchmarks results:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18sr4PuAD-0df5neNf-9sgyfEIyJ6jtCk?usp=sharing


UPDATE 1:

Just an hour ago I did:
1. Disconnect my Aorus GTX 1080 Ti physically from the motherboard.
2. Uninstall NVIDIA Driver 391.35 with Display Driver Uninstaller.
3. Switch to the Intel's Integrated Graphics, download and install the latest Intel VGA driver.
4. Lower all GTA 5 graphics settings to minimum and set 800*680 screen resolution.
5. Start playing.

The average performance was about 72 FPS. But drops and frame time spikes still happened at lowest possible graphics settings with 800*680 resolution! I'm really disappointed. Issue didn't go away even WITHOUT GPU and NVIDIA driver.

Then I opened the Latency Monitor and started playing GTA 5 again. After 5 minutes of gameplay I switched to LatencyMon and noticed that highest DPC latency was about 202 ms (instead of normal 30-90 ms) for this driver "Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation". I think that WIndows 10 is the culprit but not 100% sure.

You can check the MSI Afterburner GTA 5 log.hml available in the Google Drive folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14DrbFKVLNyiAG4zBtAWWF6soUT91ApyY?usp=sharing

UPDATE 2:

So, I have recently retested GTA 5 performance with the following tweaks:
- Downclock the CPU to 3,700 MHz
- Disable Hyper Threading and Intel VT
- Disable ASUS Multi-core Enhancement
- Disable all the C & P states
- Disable Base Clock & PCI-E Spread Spectrum
- Disable HPET using cmd command and the Device Manager
- Enable Threaded Optimization in NVIDIA Control Panel

I noticed more frametime spikes and long stuttering after applying mentioned tweaks without any FPS lock.
But, with 150 FPS lock there was no drops or any similar issues in GTA 5.

MSI AB Hardware Monitor Logs (with & without FPS lock): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jmoWxPj0rZ73qYA4noabaeDX_PSw840j?usp=sharing

LatencyMon during game without FPS cap: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gim1F9ypbhXzjr4GxSER56b_rapZBDaO?usp=sharing

UPDATE 3:

BAD NEWS! Windows 7 HP SP1 didn't help in anyway. =(

I did a fresh install of Windows 7 with formatting previous OS drive (C:\, then installed all the necessary Win7 (x64) service updates and drivers: GPU, LAN, Audio, Chipset, SATA, NVMe SSD, DirectX & Visual C++. Configured NVIDIA driver to previous Win10 config, reinstalled MSI AB & RTSS and load custom profiles from my backup.

Also, I've cleared CMOS and reconfigured UEFI with the following "Custom Default" settings:
- Enabled #1 XMP, Sync All Cores "Auto"
- Configured fans
- Change PCIEX4_3 & M.2_2 to X4 speed
- Disable unnecessary SATA ports, fans, lights and other garbage

Windows 7 changes:
- High Performance Mode
- Disabled all the startup items
- Disabled built-in AV and firewall
- Disable all reminders in Action Center

In GTA 5 (no FPS cap) I've noticed the same issues with frame time spikes and drops when pressing RMB when being in a vehicle. With capped FPS there were no problems as before installing Win7.

In The Witcher 3 I noticed almost constant 100% GPU utilization and the same spikes. On Win10 there weren't such a frequent MAX GPU utilization, only in high loaded areas.

Now, I'm pretty scared of all this cr*p even in well run Win7 OS.

GTA 5 logs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=15NAhU33h4mXKBqXfU6aOGq4aMlPRBFgs

The Witcher 3 logs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-9U66th5eAAnMJd9hrkjZCHxTUISKG-T

Any advice, if possible in such a creepy situation?

UPDATE 4:

I did all the suggestions from HOWIEJC troubleshooting guide, but it wasn't helpful in anyway.

I did the following actions:
UEFI:
- Install 1301 update and cleaned CMOS
- Customize fans curve and disable unnecessary EXT FANS
- Disable FastBoot
- Set X4 speed for PCIE3_3 and M.2_2 slots
- Set XMP 3,200 MHz
- Disable TurboBoost, SpeedShift/SpeedStep, C-states, Spread Spectrum and ASUS MultiCore Enhancement
- Set "Sync All Cores" to [37]

Windows:
- Completely reinstall Windows 7 and change to Ultimate SP1 version
- Install all drivers
- Disable Windows Update, Defender and Firewall
- Set High Performance Mode
- Set Windows Timer Resolution to 0.5ms with TimerTool and did all tests with it been enabled in the tray
- Disable Core Parking & Frequency Scaling with ParkControl form BitSum
- Set almost ALL (except of Intel SMBUS A2A3) PCI devices to use MSI instead of traditional IRQ channels - Set mouse polling to 1,000 MHz

NVIDIA Control Panel:
- Set Max Pre-Rendered Frames to "1"
- Set Prefer Max Performance (even tried Optimal Power as you said in some of your posts)
- Set Threaded Optimization to "ON"
- Disable G-\VSync and AA

MSI Afterburner:
- Completely reinstall it
- Check and correct all AB settings to have the perfect config

Games:
- Do tests with MAXIMUM and MINIMUM possible graphics settings (TLDR: wasn't helpful)
- Change render quality
- Change screen resolution to MAX and MIN

Settings and games logs in Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 with no updates:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DJw9FySD7Hw4sAGckB8cqjWYJLCqyxv9

Can you help me with any working advice?

Because I'm completely disappointed about these issues on the TOP ~5K$ RIG. =(
I really want to know what is the culprit, software or what worse — hardware. And how I can figure out the source of all this c**p?

P.S.
1. Have you any similar issue on your PC? If yes, how are you get rid of issues on your rig? Do you removed stuttering completely?
2. What are the most valuable tweaks for your PC?
3. Do you notice issues after set UEFI and Windows settings to default?
4. Do you play and have any issues in PUBG, CS:GO or games that I've tested?
5. Does Steam (running in the tray) affect games performance?
6. Is it better to run games without Steam if possible or there are no noticeable changes?

P.S. 2
I've tested games with 43 or 47 CPU multiplier and TurboBoost enabled. Wasn't helpful. =(


P.S. Dear Administration, I'm new to this forum. If something is wrong with this topic or its location, please, correct it and let me know. Thank you!

 

Wow you took a lot of time to make this post.
Setup MSI Afterburner to show the frametimes as a graph. Then record a gamepaly session until you get a frame drop(how often are those BTW ?) do you play your games from the SSD or from the HDD. What about malware ?
this is how it should look like.

 

When I first switch on my computer and start playing BF1, it's fine for a number of maps. After leaving the game and playing something else and coming back again, it starts stuttering horribly as well as 5 sec pauses randomly (the long pauses are not very often). It is most noticeable when running around to new areas on the map. Other games develop this stutter too, such as Kingdom Come and Wolfenstein II - The New Colossus. I have tried 3 different computers with the same symptoms, and the only device that has remained the same throughout all of them is the GTX 1080. Originally I was on Intel 4770K, then I switched to Ryzen 1700, now I have Threadripper 1950X. So that's 3 different chipsets and all stutter. Only Threadripper has the long 5 second pauses though.

I'm using a GTX 1080, 32 Gigs of RAM @ 3200MHz and 16 - core threadripper @ 4GHz. CPU and GPU are watercooled. Unparking cores doesn't make a difference, neither does any other basic tweak. I haven't tried clearing the standby memory periodically yet though.

When I first fired up Heaven benchmark on my original computer (4770K), I couldn't get a score to match my GPU's capabilities. I believe that was because of stutter which affected my average framerate throughout the benchmark. After I ran it several times, I was able to obtain a decent score, it seemed to be just down to random chance whether I got the stutter or not.

 

1. Already have frametime graph enabled. Spikes are extremely random.
In GTA 5 they occur each 5-20 sec, especially noticeable when aiming to the police helicopters on the background with a skybox.
In The Witcher 3 I notice issues when start Roach riding and when moving fast or fighting with someone.
In H1Z1 there are almost no issues in Combat Training but there're in Battle Royale mode.
Only WOT runs fine with almost no spikes, only one drop to 30 FPS after battle start.
2. Tried run on both — no changes.
3. No maleware or PUP. Made fresh install of Windows 10 and 7 with drives formatting.

Have you any issues on your rig? What's your PC specs?

 

Try with Vsync on and report back.

 

VSync helps a bit for GTA 5 only but not completely.

 

post an Afterburner screenshots. Also try the other games. Also try disabling Vsync and limit fps to say 60.

 

Any news?

 

There's so many variables changed its kind of hard to know what may have cancelled out the possible solution at any attempt.

Thinking of how frame drops can happen, some symptoms are:

1. GPU memory is being used up and falling back to system memory

2. Hard drive is thrashing from virtual memory being used (or in general depending on its speed)

3. Rendering was operating on a CPU thread/core that went into a parking state
(rare, but older game engine's scheduling can cause the brief delay before switching to an active thread/core)

4. Double-Buffering Vsync in use

5. Power limit by CPU or GPU is being reached (or unstable power delivery to any component)

6. Poorly coded application

 

It's definitely not 1&2, he's on a 11gb 1080ti. It's also not a vsync issue because he ran without vsync.

 

TLDR: Issues almost disappear with AMD GPU! I assume it's 100% NVIDIA driver or card failure.

I've tested games with AMD Radeon HD7770 GPU.
I'll be write Update 5 tomorrow with more details.
If you want some info before full Update 5 change-log — you can check MSI AB .hml logs recorded with AMD.

Hardware Monitor logs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1riQbrv0E7QhWGAoXxnlmvmkmmdWMRDb7

Important Edit:
I have already returned to NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti and tested Team Fortress 2. Everything was smooth and without spikes BUT at the end of last log recording frametime started jumping every 0.1-0.5 sec to constant 18.7 FPS! Something really goes wrong.

Team Fortress 2 logs (GTX 1080 Ti):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GgXC-kbaqWJO8WBgn5T4HdH5oOqT2YuB

Extreme spikes at the end of logging (screenshot):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZZISlFClcQMHjSmAcZu9GeSgbxAuIl2p

 

Do you hear me? Can you help me by checking the post with AMD GPU results above?

 

Only way to be absolutely sure its not a GPU problem is to install the GPU in another PC and give it a test run.

 

UPDATE 5

I've already done all the necessary tests in new Windows 10 1803 (17134.1) Build. There are no performance improvements even with new "Ultimate Performance" power plan.

UEFI Main Settings:
- BIOS 1301 update
- "Sync All Cores" at [47]
- XMP at 3,200 MHz
- PCIE3_4 and M.2_2 slots at X4 speed
- Custom fans curve and disabled unnecessary EXT FANS
- Disabled SpeedShift/SpeedStep, C-states, Spread Spectrum, Fast Boot and ASUS MultiCore Enhancement

Windows 10 1803 global Google Drive folder with all results: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VI-D62fRZ2AfNZ2NZqKtFXAEoM5tibdJ
MSI Afterburner Hardware Monitor games logs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1z_EPdYovV_swrAm3El-gRJ87RZtrXvq3
Windows and other settings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=14a6vfGqZhDp6z6V-CFoBdpHR161pXKy8
All diagnostic info including GPUView Merged.etl trace file, MSINFO32 and Speccy snapshot: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1h3oCMaw5_odOSO1972Tqn6_RwYZz6vy3

If you can or know how to correctly analyze all the data, please, help me find the culprit of these frametime spikes and stuttering. Thank you a lot!

 

Maybe you could upload a video for us all to see exactly how bad this stuttering is. Because some games, if you look at frametimes, you'll see spikes and it can happen for many reasons. It could be due to assets loading for example and many other reasons.

Record some gameplay at 60fps and upload it somewhere and we'll have a look. Looking at frametime spikes is one thing, seeing it in action is another.

 

And what happens if you play without UPS? I've seen a few that had stutters, turns out it was UPS fault.


Also keep those c- states and eist, turbo, at auto default.. no need to disable..


I have GTA5 too and never experienced any sporadic stutter, ok only if I had bad cpu OC, it eventually froze later. I play only GTA online though..

I use this in nvcpl gta5 profile (nvinspector)
fastsync
frames to render, auto
ingame AF off, forced 16xAF in driver.
power: prefer max perf.
threaded optimization on


ingame

Spoiler

extra 120fps RTSS limit on top.

idk about withcer3, but it could be connection with hair, try lowering its multisample or disable nv hair..

Maybe experiment with nvcpl profile a bit,

frames - auto or 2
prefer max perf
threaded opt. on or off
texture quality - quality
disable ingame AF, try driver forced and extra AF optimization
test fast sync, but use a fps cap e.g. 144 or 120., so its really smooth.

 

This.

 

Will record the video with my phone because I don't want to add extra load on the system using video-cap software.

1. Nope. I don't have UPS now. UPS 100% isn't the culprit.

2. Tried to keep these settings on Auto & Disabled but there were no changes.

3. I play GTA 5 SP only.
You haven't any spikes because of FastSync enabled. I also almost don't notice any issues with VSync or FPS cap. Syncs create frame buffer which helps to eliminate issues.

4. I tried to set the lowest possible settings in TW3, no changes.

 

Cool, just make sure it's nice a steady, ideally if you have a tripod, mount the phone on that and make sure the focus is crisp. Also, make sure you're showing frametimes in the overlay and that the overlay is large enough to read.

 

got it. Will try.