Occasional frame drops/Stutter without GPU appearing to be working hard

[Robbo_Cop]

Hi all,

Another question from me 😉

I have noticed recently that I seem to be getting occasional frame drops etc but the GPU fan and CPU fan haven't even spooled up to max. If I am right, this means they aren't running hot/potentially have more capacity in them and yet, sub optimal output.

This isn't tied to any particular app, but happens across several. Happens more often when I pan across a scene... I have also tried just turning down the texture quality etc and I still get the issue.

When I open Tray tool and put the performance HUD on, the headroom seems to average around 40-50% but then has occasional rapid dips down to zero and this causes the frame rate to start to switch down. The frame rate normally only drops to the mid 80s before the problem is resolved and the frame rate is straight back to 90 (and headroom ~50%) So maybe a 10th of a second or less.

I know my system specs don't poo all over the minimums, but as I said, it seems like the GPU/CPU aren't working too hard as their fans aren't even ramped up when the image stutters.
GTX970 Windforce Overclock GPU (4G if I remember the specs correctly)
Skylake i5 6600K processor

If I turn on supersampling then the headroom at idle is like 15% but that is clearly a different issue

[aledmb]

Robbo_Cop said:

Happens more often when I pan across a scene

 yeah, i can confirm i have that.

FPS is all good, but this happens way too often.

[Anonymous]

OK I finally fixed my Judder problems which began around 4th April. There was no Driver Update to cause it but something triggered it, possibly Renesas USB3 Driver Update (Microsoft) or a Mediatech Update which installed a driver for Andoid Phones knowing you connected one already. Plus the Oculus Firmware and generally things expanding and using more system memory.

*Used latest DDU Driver Uninstall in Safe Mode - although about 7 ways to get in Safe Mode it for Win10 was not so simple when it tries to find ISO of OS to revert to as 1st auto step! I used HOLD SHIFT whilst selecting RESTART in START MENU to get there. Cancalled the ISO search, Advanced, it reboots, gives you several options, Select Safe Mode number 4. Use DDU (not connected to net & not to install driver upon boot). From here I found the Driver 384.94 also on the DDU website and installed using Microsoft method of Updating Driver in Device Panel rather than using the daft package with Experience. 
*It went well but there was no Nvidia Panel on Right-Click until I rebooted yet again as is normal for drivers to work properly. Then to config the FULL DYNAMIC RANGE as this gets your black the most black. I also altered DSR=ON and checked all boxes just in case it required this. (???)
*E:D running Max but Shadows to High as a compromise and OculusDebugTool PD= 1.85 and it runs fine. On 1.9 I get slight stutters. On 2 I get it ok everywhere except in Stations at times it goes crazy so I take it that is bottlenecking, heat, and memory all at once. My EVGA Precision-X fan control & overclock takes 44MB and I maybe better without it (???). Otherwise, I got it working fine and super smooth on PD=1.85 and happy.
*It also installed the daft 3D Driver so I removed that and I already Disable the standard driver for my Monitor so it didn't put Nvidia Audio on either. It did put on PhysX which hardly any games use now plus VulkanRT (excellent) and this I read made LONE ECHO work again for one user so I may try this again. Although I had many hard crashes when I tried it last time to no avail and it could have been the cause. That is severely bad of them to add SSE4.2 check in a game. It installs but can not run past the menu.

[Anonymous]

However, I have finished my testing for Judders I had in E:D now solved.
RESULT: It was EVGA PrecisionXOC which makes use of the Pascal power of my GTX1080
This is my overclock/fan control monitor. I had actually been using this in full KBOOST mode always because in my understanding since earlier versions I needed this program open to get my fans to run properly rather than my old GTX970 sat idle too much before over heating. e.g. E:D used to crash when exiting from H-Jumps to Stars without this program running a Custom Fan Profile to get the fans running earlier. In my mind I thought I had to select KBOOST to get the Factory Preset OC2 speeds/settings. Actually, (it does now say in tips) this button it ONLY for Benchmark Stress Testing as it puts the card in overdrive mode at max.
If I use the older PrecisionX16 it no longer lets me access this tiny button the size of this "." and the program is merely a monitor and fan controller. If I use the latest PrecisionXOC which makes use of the Pascal power of my GTX1080, even with KBOOST=OFF, it still will make E:D goes all crazy glitching but only within the Stations. So with E:D I must not use this program which is a monitor in my use anyways. I simply thought it was a need to have it running due to experience of the old GTX970 which the firmware had a slow startup for fans from idle. The new cards are fine to not require Custom Fan Profiles and if they are Factory Overclocked then that is their new default to not require KBOOST. That button is way too easy to think you need use it!!!

[losthobbit]

I had a problem in Skyrim VR, where I would get stuttering / juddering after about 10 minutes of playing.  I had to restart my PC each time in order to get it working smoothly again.  Using MSi Afterburner seems to allow me to play for longer,  by turning my fan speed and maximum temperature up.