Not one setting matters. STU STU STU STUTTERRRR

[chumpnut1323]

No matter what setting I turned down, even with everything on the lowest settings I get major stutters with anything related to the new smoke affects. This has been months of testing on my end.

 

Mostly tested this out with quick missions with medium amount of units.

 

 

Offline:

Normandy is by far the worst performing.

 

Caucasus is manageable with few stutters.

 

Nevada performs the best but still has few stutters.

 

Multiplayer:

 

Same issues. No stutters until something/someone emits smoke, whether that be pods, sam launches, air to air launches, flares, it doesn't matter.

 

In 1.5 I can have everthing maxed out and no stutters with the emitting of smoke. It runs pretty flawlessly. My GPU memory is around 2-3GB's of use in 1.5 though and thats where I believe the problem resides in 2.5 because it's dam near maxing out my VRAM at 6GB's. Keep in mind Iv'e done just about everything with tweaking, OCing, nvidia control panel, nvidia inspector, etc..

 

My conclusion is it's either my GPU causing the issue or it's the optimization on ED's part. I believe it is mostly likely my GPU. But even when I turn the settings on low my VRAM is at 2-3GB's I still get the stutters with the smoke effects. I like to keep the settings mostly on high and I can retain a constant 60fps until (you guessed it) smoke emits.

 

So what is it?

 

Who here has a 1080TI and what's your experience like with that badass?

 

 

GTX980TI, 4790k, 16GB DDR3, EVO 500GB SSD.

[Flappie]

Hi, I have a standard GTX980 equiped with 4 GB VRAM, and DCS runs fine on my rig (and my CPU is 5 years old), with medium graphic settings.

 

Your smoke issue is weird. Can you run GPU-Z and post us a screenshot?

 

 

 

You should upload your DCS log files as well. Use this guide : https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=184544

[chumpnut1323]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Once again if I startup any quick mission, in which they're are a lot of units in a small amount of space right infront of me; no stutters until the units start firing away. But I've also related it to flares, etc...

Logs.zip

[Flappie]

GPU-Z indicates that your PCIe bus runs @x8 instead of @x16 (it might not be a big deal, but it's worth trying, eh?).

 

What's the model of your motherboard?

Is your PC equiped with an NVMe SSD?

 

 

Also, your latest DCS log file shows shaders were being compiled, as if: 1. you had started DCS 2.5 for the first time (which I believe is not the case) or 2. you had deleted your metashaders folder (did you?). I know, it seems non-related to smokes, but I don't see anything weird in your DCS log.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Flappie

[chumpnut1323]

Good catch, I moved my GPU to the top slot, PCIe is @ x16 now. Didn't affect my performance however....

 

I have a MSI Z97 MOBO

 

I did recently delete the meta shaders folder as that was one of the many "quick fixes".

 

I have a SATA SSD

 

I did just play before and it ran good for a couple sessions then it started stuttering again. I think that was why it was hard to pinpoint on what was causing it. The majority of the times I play tho it does stutter with the smokey interactions.

Edited April 24, 2018 by chumpnut1323

[Flappie]

Yes, the quick fix is about deleting both "metashaders" and "fxo" folders as soon as you change the graphic settings of the game, so they are recompiled the next time you launch a DCS game.

 

 

I'm thinking maybe some nVidia post-process filter coud get messy as soon as smoke is seen on the screen? Have you tried resetting your nVidia control panel settings? (guide) Afterwards, you need to check the Program parameters tab, for your nVidia DCS profile only uses global parameters.

 

 

Another lead: you should check your Windows' Page File size. Mine is managed by Windows, and it equals the size of my RAM (16GB). How big is your Page File? (type "sysdm.cpl ,3" command, then go to Performance settings > Advanced tab > Change... the first item must be checked) By the way, do you have enough free space on your SSD?

 

 

I don't see any other reason why your rig would do that. If you can't fix this issue, you should wait for the problem to reproduce, write down the time it happens, and upload your log files here again.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Flappie

[chumpnut1323]

I've been tweaking the nvidia control settings for months now, tried just about every combination of settings. I set everything back to global as you stated and the stutter/massive frame drops still persist.

 

The pagefile is interesting although. I tried setting it at 1024MB, 24GB on one SSD, 24GB on two SSD's, and I've let windows manage it. Stutters still were evident.

 

The interesting part was I had Riva Tuner running stats in the background no matter if I had a pagefile or not, small or large DCS still ran a pagefile of 12GB during single player and around 25GB in multiplayer.

 

The size of the pagefile that DCS uses concerns me lol. Hopefully with the new memory management update, that is fixed and possibly my stutter issue.

 

Now enlarging my pagefile to twice my RAM(16GB) helped keep me in the multiplayer sessions, otherwise it was creeping up past 16GB and crashing. But the main issue of stuttering persists.

[FragBum]

Well I find all the settings seem to interact to an extent, from my experience in VR, if you drive the GPU near 100% it doesn't take much in the game to cause the GPU to hit 100% utilisation once it hits 100% I always got a stutter or two. Once I backed off the graphics settings so the GPU runs at about 70% to 80% average and peaks up depending on complexity of whats happening in game it seems fine.

 

I had to sacrifice MSAA and PD both are FPS eaters especially with deferred shading on.

With my old 980Ti I could get reasonable smooth 45FPS in VR without DS and yes generally used most of the VRAM, with my 1080Ti depending on map etc uses about 8.5GB of VRAM in SP and near 11GB in MP.

 

Total RAM usage seems to sit around 16plus GB with about 28GB committed, but 16GB should be okay from what I have been told.

 

Perhaps review you graphics settings even with a 1080Ti it seems you can't have everything maxed put. :cry: But it is smooth as in VR. :D

 

As for an upgrade yes! Especially for VR, although I would wait to see if rumours of an 1180(Ti) coming out soon-ish eventuate. in the mean time try dropping some of the settings back. DCS had poor graphics performance in a couple of iterations in 2.x but soon optimised their code afterwards.

Edited April 25, 2018 by FragBum
my bad

[chumpnut1323]

I attached a log where I created the problem in a quick mission in which I chose the Normandy map.

 

I have tried the settings on low and it still stutters.

 

I can run an easy 60fps on high settings with tree visibility maxed and shadows=low, terrain shadows=default when just flying around.

 

As I stated before any interaction that involves weapon deployment makes it stutter.

 

 

The log attached was done on the open beta 2.5.1 but that doesn't really matter just for reference.

 

 

Thanks for the responses, I'm dedicated on figuring this out, like madly, insanely, unhealthy type of dedication.

dcsquickmisslog.zip

[chumpnut1323]

For what its worth I attached another log. This time on low settings with the same stuttering problem.

 

I chose Normandy again because it seems to be worse than any other map, but I do indeed get it on the others.

dcs.zip

[DaveRindner]

Please try ;

1. Defragment hard drive.

2. Give DCS.exe, in Task Manager - Details, give DCS high or realtime priority.

3. Check how many apps and applets are automatically started.

4. Goto C:\Users\Usernamer\Saved Games\DCS delete metashaders folder. DCS will cache new texture maps.

[Buzzles]

Please try ;

4. Goto C:\Users\Usernamer\Saved Games\DCS delete metashaders folder. DCS will cache new texture maps.

 

Also fxo folder.

 

You might as well delete them both on every update at the moment while ED are playing with shaders a lot.

[chumpnut1323]

Just want to give an update. Appreciate all the feedback.

 

I believe the problem lies in too many units within a small range of space such as what you would get with the "create fast mission" option. That's where I first encountered the problem and that's where I've been testing the problem. I honestly think any rig would stutter or perform a badly with the "create a fast mission" option unless it spreads the units out and they're not engaging right away(which would give your system enough time to load the units properly). Now I understand Normandy is still early access, which is why the "create a fast mission" option performs the worst on it, the other maps aren't nearly as bad.

 

I think the "create a fast mission" option is a poor option to have in the first place. I think it makes ED/DCS look bad which isn't the case, it's just too many units in too small of a space.

 

The one thing that I believe helped was "cockpit resolution" setting to every frame, whether that be 512(my case) or 1024. Also the 2.5.1 FX helped frame rates as well.

 

Another think I noticed was, barely any hiccups without SAM'S. I found a thread on stating the same here... https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=206772

 

If I run max units without SAM's the stutters are significantly reduced.

 

Thanks for all the help.

Edited April 29, 2018 by chumpnut1323

[Coxy_99]

NTTR has no trees, Caucasus has a few trees and Normandy has millions :)

[DieHard]

GPU-Z indicates that your PCIe bus runs @x8 instead of @x16 (it might not be a big deal, but it's worth trying, eh?).

 

What's the model of your motherboard?

Is your PC equiped with an NVMe SSD?

 

 

Also, your latest DCS log file shows shaders were being compiled, as if: 1. you had started DCS 2.5 for the first time (which I believe is not the case) or 2. you had deleted your metashaders folder (did you?). I know, it seems non-related to smokes, but I don't see anything weird in your DCS log.

 

Watched the video concerning PCIe 3.0 x8 vs x16. Video said changes can be made to the motherboard using BIOS. I'm still pretty much a PC noob compared to most you guys, though I built a PC from scratch maybe 10 years ago. Current PC is an Alienware Aurora R3.

 

How do I get into the BIOS to go take a look at what changes can be made?

 

Or is this more a Dell Forums question?

[toutenglisse]

DieHard - it's even a good Google question. Here Google's answer :

 

How to access the BIOS on your Alienware System?

1 Turn On your System

2 Tap the F2 key repeatedly as the system turns on

3 BIOS should load after the Alienware logo screen

[DieHard]

Thanks.

 

Heck, I knew that... I just forgot.