CV1 dropping frames but Quest 2 with link is not.

[Mazda_Ron]

this has drove me mad, back and forth with nvidia with driver logs but no.... its oculus software.

specs are 12700k, 3080ti, 32GB ddr4 3200mhz

cv1 is dropping frames with random spike dips in the gpu headroom in any game, I'm using beatsaber as an example as I can notice them with absolutely no monitoring software or hud to rule out that being issues with nvidia card, these are frequently a few seconds apart or less and either a dip to 89fps or down to as low as 86fps. gpu headroom is obviously high, up in the 70% range, happens even with 1 sensor and headset on the same powered usb hub and port I use for link cable.

the same scenario when I use my quest 2 with wired link, even with 1.7 link resolution, 90hz, 3664 encode, 500mb bitrate, does not show the frame drops, either with or without the mobile asw feature enabled.

I've spent a whole day troubleshooting and only now (just past midnight) seen that link is fine, I've changed various windows and bios settings, reseating and testing ram speeds, cpu speeds, cores, gpu speeds and voltage locks, tried every port on mobo and pci card with and without powered hub, every combo of sensor and headset, everything including sending logs to nvidia driver reports.

both v39 and v40 ptc are showing this issue.

I'm not sure what's happening as there is no change apart from the oculus version since I've last played, the cv1 is still getting 18ms MTP, the quest 2 is still getting 37ms MTP, I can only presume something in oculus drivers has been messed up by a recent update, but then locking my card to low frequencies and setting a limiter didn't solve anything, my CV1 is my main PC headset and dropped frames especially in beat saber are very noticeable, but its present everywhere not just limited to oculus games but also steam VR which is why I originally suspected the gpu drivers (which i've tried all the way back to the cards release)

[Mazda_Ron]

Hi Rune, are you able to play the song 'beat saber' on expert with no fail while doing a lost frame capture from oculus debug tool (listed under tools option)

I seriously doubt its anything on my system as it has been fine, I've tripple checked all ports, changed headset cable, even changed cv1 headset itself for another (i have a new spare) and its ultimately the same

here is a comparison of just how bad issue is on cv1 regardless of any supersampling or debug tool options, quest 2 is fine and I can only put the missed frames down to it being fed quicker.

https://imgur.com/gallery/nysdopN

[Mazda_Ron]

found it, controller movement tracking causes the drops, please oculus fix this it's not the first time this has happened in an update 😞 feel like an idiot now not checking that first.

just done repair of software, changed controller batteries, cleaned all sensors and covered anything remotely shiny or reflective in room, played in the dark, redone sensor setup, tried again with 1, 2 and 3 sensors.

its the controller tracking, not sensors being an issue, instance of drop frame throughout whole song and if i was quick enough to lay controllers down I could of probably avoided that too.

https://imgur.com/gallery/1RN0dc4

[RuneSR2]

Great find - and I rarely play Beat Saber, but I do have the game. I really never use controller-tracked movements, but head-tracked - so might never have seen the issue even if I may have it too. 

Was only Beat Saber affected? 

[Mazda_Ron]

Hi rune, its on any game but i've been using beat saber as its easy to see in the frame capture tool when they are in levels and not from any loading, head tracking alone is no issue, only controller movements but I have found the fix and will respond below so I can mark it solved.

[Mazda_Ron · Accepted solution]

FIXED, wow this was a long winded process of elimination and it's very odd how link isn't affected, but here goes:

the TLDR to fix is, open task manager, click on the details tab OVRServer_x64.exe, right click and set priority to HIGH, and do the same for the game you are playing, doing either one alone will not work it has to be both.

you can do this with game running and issue presents itself as soon as you set either one to normal again, note that closing your game will end the process and you will need to set priority again, same for when you close or restart oculus server or PC, there are programs that can help you do this automatically but I wont go into that.

WHY this is happening for CV1 and not LINK I seriously do not know, but at least its an easy fix and one oculus could push in an update if they remember, just took me 3 days of doing absolutely everything else to find.

[sanxi3]

Hi, I have a same problem in rift s. I'm also a beatsaber player. My hardware is powerfull enough for beatsaber(5800x+6800xt). And this solution (set priority to HIGH) didn't work for me.

But I found that when i use steamvr  instead of "-vrmode oculus", it runs stable at 80 fps, I don't know why. but this changed the saber movement, I'm going to crazy.

[ScubaDivingJr]

I have the same issue, verified using Lost Frame Capture in Oculus Diagnostics.

Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2
AMD Ryzen 7800x3d, 4080 GPU, 32GB ram.

Setting priority to High for all Oculus processes + Beatsaber didn't work for me either.

I tried running it through Steam VR (don't have Beatsaber there), and it seems to do the same thing in the Steam VR lobby thing, with or without the "-vrmode oculus". While not a comprehensive test because frame drops happen all the time in menus, it didn't seem to fix the issue - I could notice the stutter in the SteamVR lobby when using the headset.

Worth mentioning that everything was fine until a week or so ago. Any number of things could've been updated (windows, oculus software, gpu drivers).

[MetaQuestSupport]

Hey there, @ScubaDivingJr! We'd be happy to help you with the issue you are having with your Oculus Quest dropping frames. 

As we want you to have the best user experience possible! Please try following the instructions on the link here. Please let us know if this 

helps things to run smoothly for you, or if you still need some more help. 

[MetaQuestSupport]

Hi again, @ScubaDivingJr! We were just reaching out to see if you still needed some help, if so please let us know!