No idea where to even begin <EXTREME STUTTERS OUTTA NOWHERE>

[tn_prvteye]

Not even sure which forum this should go into.  Rig:  i7-9700K@5.0, 32gb RAM, 2070Super, Reverb G2.  Latest Nvidia hotfix driver, updated Win10, SteamVR, non-Steam version of DCS.  Usually get okay frames 30-45ish on the Syria map.

 

Last night I was playing mission created with "Briefing Room":  https://akaagar.itch.io/briefing-room-for-dcs   Great program so far.

 

Anyway, I was playing a mission on the Syria Map, and it was running fairly smooth...I had just taken out a few tanks in my Viper, and then turned to an oncoming MiG-29.  Just before I get into AIM-120 Range, I get MASSIVE stutters...like 0.2 FPS.  In VR this is obviously jarring.  I tried Alt-Tabbing and didn't do any good.  However, if I paused or hit ESC, it was silky smooth.  I could look around no problem.  Un-pause and it's a PowerPoint Presentation by a sloth.

 

I'm not sure if it's a WMR, Reverb, Steam, Mission scripting, F-16C, DCS, Syria Map, or a PC issue.

 

Anyone else had a case of sudden stutter?

 

[Flappie]

Hi, could you please attach the mission from Briefing Room? There might be a problem in it.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Flappie

[tn_prvteye]

I'm pretty sure this was the one.  I created a "Campaign" using the new Beta tool.  This was the first MIZ from that campaign that was generated.

F-16-Syria01.miz

[Iridul]

I'm having a very similar issue with my RIft S. I can play fine at 45 fps then randomly it will drop to 0.2 fps. Sometimes if I am really lucky it will go back to 45 fps after a few minutes, but most of the time it just gets stalled and I have to shut it down from the Task Manager.

I've spent hours looking for a solution and trying different things with no luck.

[Flappie]

@IridulDoes it happen to you while playing a Briefing Room generated mission, or is it a global issue you're having with any mission?

Edited February 21, 2021 by Flappie

[Iridul]

For me it was anywhere. I seem to have pinned it down to either

a) old Nvidia Shaders

b) corsair Icue software

c) a background process from wallpaper engine

 

(or a combination of the above)

 

Killing these three seems to have cleared things up, might be worth @tn_prvteye checking if they happen to have any of these also running

[Flappie]

Many thanks for your detailed feedback.

[tn_prvteye]

18 hours ago, Iridul said:

For me it was anywhere. I seem to have pinned it down to either

a) old Nvidia Shaders

b) corsair Icue software

c) a background process from wallpaper engine

 

(or a combination of the above)

 

Killing these three seems to have cleared things up, might be worth @tn_prvteye checking if they happen to have any of these also running

 

Already done all three. 

 

a)I disabled NV cache and actually have seen no difference (maybe a small improvement?)

b) don't use it

c) don't use wallpapers.

 

I haven't seen it happen again recently, but I haven't been playing as much.

 

Thanks for the tips, though.  Could help some other users for sure.

Also, anytime I use the F10 Map it tanks the FPS.  So I've been trying to avoid that, but it's a known issue.

[Nealius]

I get this as well. Flying a WW2 DCS Liberation mission. 98-minutes in, trying to line up in close on a 190, when it suddenly goes from silky smooth to literal slideshow for nearly 10 seconds, causing me to wing-stall and lose the shot. 

[Flappie]

Guys, every stuttering issue is different. I've helped of lot of people in the past, and I have gathered solutions that might work for you along the way. Please take a look and try:

 

1. Antivirus/antiwhatever software are very curious when it comes to DCS: add your DCS folders as exceptions in your antivirus (main folder + Saved Games\DCS... folder). Some players even had to uninstall their creepy antivirus and now use the Windows default one, which works great.
2. DCS uses your Windows pagefile, whether you want it or not: ensure your pagefile size is not 0, ensure it is stored on a fast drive, and let all your drives breathe a little (at least 50 GB free space by drive!).
3. Windows likes to rest when it thinks it can: tell him not to by setting full performance in Windows Power settings.
4. NVIDIA/AMD are the same: tell them to go full steam ahead in NVIDIA/AMD options panel.
5. FPS VR app interferes with Steam software: disable FPS VR overlay.
6. Custom profiles for DCS in MSI Dragon Center/MSI Afterburner/whatever... is sometimes harmful for performance. Try not to use those and see if it's better or not.
7. Activated by default, NVIDIA Share and Windows Game Bar DVR are caching videos of your gaming sessions in the background. If you don't use these features, disable them.
8. Ensure your TEMP folder is stored on a fast drive (System Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced tab > Environment Variables... then in User variables).
9. For AMD users equiped with 400/500 series chipset (e.g. motherboards named X470 ...), enable Precision Boost in BIOS and see if DCS gets better.
10. For Intel users, try setting SMT off in BIOS and see if DCS gets any better.

That's all for now folks.

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by Flappie

[Nealius]

Done all of the applicable ones of those 10, plus VR shaders mods, plus everything on low settings and/or off......

[Flappie]

@NealiusThen you need to monitor your PC resources with Resource monitor (resmon). As soon as a lag comes in, look for unusual disk activity, and long response time (if you're running on SSDs, you shouldn't have more than ~50ms response times). 10 seconds let you take screenshots of resmon. You can then attach them here.

[RealDCSpilot]

If the stuttering starts, check the state of dedicated GPU memory (task manager or afterburner special option). If it shows nearly 8GB on a card with 8GB it means DCS is going to swap memory from disk to RAM to VRAM which overloads the CPU main thread. It just can't keep up the fps when this happens.