Inconsistent frame rate

[SchumiF399]

Hello everyone,

 

I am posting to see if I can get some insight on how to improve my frame rate in DCS. My current pc specs are as follows.

 

 

Intel i7 8700K @ 5GHz

EVGA GTX 1080ti FTW3

32GB of RAM

DCS World exclusively installed on NVMe SSD

3x 32 in 60hz 1080p monitors for a combined resolution of 5760x1080

 

I currently have these settings set in game

 

Textures-High

Terrain Textures-High

Civilian Traffic-low

Water-High

Visible Range-High

Heat Blur-High

Shadows-High

Resolution-5760x1080

Aspect Ratio-5.333333333333

Monitors- 3 Screen

Res of Cockpit Displays-512

MSAA-off

Depth of Field-off

Lens Effects-Dirt+Flare

Motion Blur- off

SSAA-off

SSLR-off

Clutter/Grass-1000

Trees Visibility-80%

Preload Radius-50000

Chimney Smoke Density-1

Gamma-1.5

Ansiotropic Filtering-16x

Terrain Object Shadows-Flat

Cockpit Global Illumination-off

Rain droplets-on

V-sync-off

Full Screen-on

 

Nvidia settings are on FXAA, Adaptive V-sync and Maximum Performance.

 

My problem goes like this as soon as I fly parallel over a city or trees on the new Syria map my frame rate takes a plunge to 37-40fps. With constant stutters through out the flight even at high altitude. If I fly the plane perpendicular to the terrain even in a big city or trees my frame rate stays constant at the locked 60fps. If I straighten out to 0 degrees the frame rate drops again.

 

I have tried many things to alleviate the problem from running the game on LOW settings to deleting FXO and Metashaders folders, adding the autoexec file for no device hotplug and the Windows setting for Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling. Also tried Process Lasso to no avail. I have combed the forums for these fixes but still the problem persists. Please someone help.

[Flappie]

Hi Schumi, you've come to the right place. :) Can you please attach your latest dcs.log file?

 

I'd like you to try running DCS in Windows safe mode and look for stutters.

 

Here's how to play in safe mode:

 

1. Press Windows key, type "msconfig" and press Enter.
   
2. In the General tab, tick "Diagnostic startup" and click "Apply" (you will see some other boxes get ticked, it's OK).
   
3. Click OK and choose to restart your computer.
   
4. Log into Windows as usual, then launch DCS. You will get several error messages since your PC network is disabled. Just click OK until you see DCS main menu.
   
5. Fly the Su-25T in an instant action mission and watch your FPS counter.
   

Once you're done with testing, just open "msconfig", tick "Normal startup", click OK and restart your system, and everything will be back to normal.

[SchumiF399]

Hi Flappie,

 

Attached is my latest log file. I will try in safe mode right now and report back.

 

Thank you.

dcs.log

[SchumiF399]

Ok Flappie, we are getting somewhere I'm so excited. Thank you!!

 

So the stutters appear to be gone in Safe Mode but the issue where I fly parallel to the cities/trees still causes the frame rate to drop. If I fly at an 90degree angle it climbs to 60 and stays there.

[Flappie]

Excellent news! No stutter in safe mode means an external process is messing with DCS performance.

 

Your pagefile is quite small (4GB for 32 GB of RAM). It may be responsible for the frame rate dropping. If you have enough free disk space, try setting Windows virtual memory (a.k.a. pagefile) manually to 8192 MB min and 32768 MB max.

 

Now, let's kill the stutters once and for all. I need the list of all your running processes. Here's how to do it. Please attach the resulting text file.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Flappie

[SchumiF399]

Ok Flappie, I have attached the task list. I will also increase pagefile to 16GB. Thank you.

process_list.txt

Edited September 3, 2020 by SchumiF399
File attachment

[Flappie]

Perfect. Here's your annotated process list.

 

Orange = processes I strongly suspect

White = processes I mildly suspect

Blue = processes that shouldn't do any harm to DCS

Green = processes you don't want to stop

 

 

 

Now, in order to determine which process is messing with DCS, you need to kill each process from the top of the list, one by one, until you find the bastard. Each time a process is killed, run DCS and see if the stutters are gone.

Some of these processes might be run as services, and they might restart seconds after you've killed them. To avoid them to restart, launch "services.msc", find them in the list (the name may change) and command them to stop (right-click > Stop).

 

The process I suspect the most at this time is Intel Extreme Tuing Utility. You can start with this one.

[SchumiF399]

I disabled some services and processes highlighted in orange. The stutters persist. If I disable the Nvidia Smart Maximise Helper Host it messes with my Nvidia Surround Displays. I left that intact. Attached is an updated process list. Thank you.

process_list.txt

[Flappie]

Here's a version 2 of your process list.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure now that your issue is tied to your NVIDIA settings.

I've been reading threads dealing with NVIDIA Surround in the NVIDIA forum. I've read that disabling NVIDIA "Share" option helped solving users FPS issues. Please give it a try.

 

Click the the cog (Settings) icon on the top right, go to "General" and disable "Share".

 

Still no joy? There seems to be some conflicts between Adaptive V-Sync and G-Sync. I assume you have a G-Sync monitor here. Please try the following configurations:

 

A.

NVIDIA Adaptive V-sync OFF

NVIDIA G-Sync ON

Ingame V-Sync OFF

 

B.

NVIDIA Adaptive V-sync ON

NVIDIA G-Sync OFF

Ingame V-Sync OFF

 

C.

NVIDIA Adaptive V-sync ON

NVIDIA G-Sync OFF

Ingame V-Sync ON

 

D.

NVIDIA Adaptive V-sync OFF

NVIDIA G-Sync ON

Ingame V-Sync ON

 

E.

NVIDIA Adaptive V-sync OFF

NVIDIA G-Sync OFF

Ingame V-Sync OFF

 

 

While testing these, DCS performance may improve but you'll probably get some tearing.

 

If your issue persists, try excluding your DCS folders (both main and Saved Games) from Windows antivirus.

 

 

EDIT: by the way, what model are your monitors and how are they connected to your PC (HDMI, DP...) ?

 

 

EDIT2: some reading.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Flappie

[SchumiF399]

I disabled every app in orange the stutters and low framerate persist. My monitors don't support GSYNC. The make and model are these: Philips 323E7QDAB. Thank you for the continued support.

[Flappie]

You're welcome. Thank you for the addtional info.

 

Have you already tried this in NVIDIA GeForce Experience software?

Click the the cog (Settings) icon on the top right, go to "General" and disable "Share".

Also, have you tried disabling W10 Game mode? According to this page, it can cause freezes and stutters in some games. You should give it a go.

 

If this doesn't work, you should try disabling both GamingServices.exe and GamingServicesNet.exe. If you don't use them, you can uninstall the XBox app. It should make them go away.

Edited September 6, 2020 by Flappie

[SchumiF399]

Hi Flappie,

 

I don't have Geforce Experience installed. I also went ahead and uninstalled the xbox app. I have this utility called autoruns that I used to disable the gamingservices.exe and gamingservicesnet.exe. I will a;so disable windows 10 mode tonight. I am at a loss as to why I can't get a stable frame rate. Just yesterday. I took my pc to my room and plugged it into a 4k TV and the frame rate was so smooth, better than my triple screen setup. I always read 4k was more demanding than a 3 screens at 5760x1080 so again I am not sure what is going on. Thanks again. I'll report back with the results after disabling W10 Game Mode.

[Flappie]

The test you have done with your TV is very interesting. It could simply be a multi-monitor issue. When you had W10 safe mode tested with no stutter at all, was your multi-monitor ON or were you flying with only one monitor?

 

I see your graphics card has:

 

• 3x DisplayPort
  
• 1x DVI
  
• 1x HDMI
  

And your screens have:

 

• 1x VGA
  
• 1x HDMI
  
• 1x DVI
  

How exactly do you connect each of them to your PC?

[SchumiF399]

I disabled windows 10 game mode and still no joy. :(

 

I couldn't recall if it was one monitor in safe mode or triple so I booted in safe mode again and it was displaying all 3 screens.

 

My monitors are plugged in via 3 HDMI to Displayport cables. I haven't encountered issues with other games (I play mostly sim racing titles) like Assetto Corsa Competizione or Iracing.

 

What I did notice however is that if I create a quick mission with Maximum opponents and allies it makes my game crash. The usage for RAM,GPU and CPU seems off. I captured a screen shot of the task manager for this mission before crashing and the resource utilization. Frame counter read ~ 35-45 fps but it felt more like 5-15fps.

 

Alternatively I ran the FC3 F15 1 vs 1 BVR mission and the usage seems about the same as the heavy mission? This was locked at 60 and felt smooth with the occasional stutter.

 

I've tried all kinds of variations. Removing my overclock for both cpu and ram and it yields the same results.

 

I have attached said screenshots and mission file. If it helps.

 

As always thanks for your continued support.

MG.miz

Edited September 7, 2020 by SchumiF399

[Matias Montaldo]

Hi All,

 

Schumi's problem is the same as mine in another post. Virtual memory, secondary external processes, etc doesn't explain the problem. This is something caused by DCS, something related maybe with the AA or the new modifications introduced in the modules during the last month.

[Flappie]

@Schumi: Mate, I've just noticed in your screenshots that you have MBAM antivirus installed on your computer (for some reason, it doesn't appear in your process list). Quite a few users had conflicts between MBAM and DCS lately. See here: 1, 2, 3

 

Have you tried excluding your DCS folders from MBAM?

 

F:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\

C:\Users\Isaac\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\

Edited September 7, 2020 by Flappie

[SchumiF399]

I use MBAM as an on-demand scanner the services for it are disabled. I will uninstall it just in case though. I will report back with the results. Thank you.

[SchumiF399]

Flappie!! The stutters are gone!! I was just in a multiplayer session for over 2 hours and no stutters. I uninstalled MBAM and I think that took care of it.

 

On a downside though fps performance is still unreliable. :helpsmilie:

[Flappie]

OK, great! :) Sorry for not asking about MBAM earlier.

 

 

Now, let's focus on performance. Can you please attach a fresh dcs.log?

[SchumiF399]

No worries! Flappie because of you the stutters are gone, thanks. Attached is a fresh dcs.log file.

dcs.log

[Flappie]

OK. Your Windows is up to date, but your pagefile is very low (4 GB). Try setting it this way:

 

C:\ (if your system drive is an SDD with at least 80 GB free space, otherwise pick another)

Min: 8192 MB

Max: 32768 MB

 

Here's how to do it.

[SchumiF399]

I had tried increasing page file size when you last mentioned after noticing it in my previous log file sorry. I didn’t see an improvement so I set it back to system managed. I tried 16GB page file on C: drive (120GB free space). I also tried turning off page file for C: drive and moving it over to F: drive. On the F: drive I have more space available so I maxed it out to 32GB. Both drives are NVMe ssd. I didn’t try on my SSHD should I do that?

[Flappie]

As long as the pagefile is stored on a fast disk (doesn't matter if it's on the system disk, on the disk containing DCS or on a third disk), it should work properly.

 

 

My Windows handles the pagefile automatically and my dcs.log always show this:

DCS: CPU cores: 8, threads: 16, System RAM: 32715 MB, Pagefile: 32768 MB

 

 

 

 

Still, your dcs.log file keeps displaying this:

DCS: CPU cores: 6, threads: 12, System RAM: 32702 MB, Pagefile: 4864 MB

That's why I'm asking you to try these pagefile settings on the disk of your choice:

 

Min: 8192 MB (or even 16384 MB if you want)

Max: 32768 MB

 

Then launch DCS and see what the log tells you (7th line). You should at least see 8GB of pagefile used. Then see if the game runs any better.

[SchumiF399]

Hi Flappie sorry for the delay been real busy haven’t had time to play. I am going to try that tomorrow night along with faster ram that I ordered. I will report back with the results. Thanks.

[SchumiF399]

I changed page file to 32GB and upgraded my RAM speed from 2666MHz to 3600MHz and still no change. Attached is a fresh DCS.log.

 

Thank you.

dcs.log