solved Stuttering At Random Intervals

[dtpilot247]

Hello, everyone. This problem has been present since I moved to my new rig just yesterday. The game (both multi-thread and single-thread) seems to stutter for a fraction of a second at random intervals. This happens on all maps, in all aircraft that I own, usually anywhere around 2 to 20 seconds between each other. One way I can increase its occurrence is by maneuvering the aircraft. I have tried everything to my knowledge, with the help of a couple of other friends, to fix this issue, but to no avail.

My graphics options are:


My specs are:
MSI B550-A Pro AM4 ATX Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti 12GB GDDR5X
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7GHz 12-Core Processor
Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
M.2 2TB SSD
Corsair RM850X 850W 80+ Gold Power Supply

I play with TrackIR on a flat screen with a 239.760Hz refresh rate.

Attached is my dcs.log . All I did was spawn in, and after a few seconds, the game stuttered. Also attached is a regular speed and slow-motion recording of what one of these stutters looks like with the additional statistics. (This was done in MT, but does the exact same in ST)

When it comes to solution methods, I have done everything from hardware stress tests, to BIOS updating, from repairing/cleaning out DCS, to following multiple video tutorials on how to optimize DCS through the NVIDIA Control Panel. So far, nothing has worked. Help would be much appreciated!

dcs.log

Edited April 5, 2023 by dtpilot247

[BIGNEWY]

Hi 

please try this 

go to C:\Users\Daniel\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta

rename it to 

C:\Users\Daniel\Saved Games\DCS.openbetabackup

remove all unofficial mods and edits, run a slow repair or verify of dcs if steam.

Restart DCS 

login and redo desired settings. 

Go to DCS controls at the bottom right disable hotplug 

then test in a mission and see if you still have issues. 

If the renaming of the saved games dcs folder worked you can go to your C:\Users\Daniel\Saved Games\DCS.openbetabackup find the config folder and then copy your input folder to the new location so you dont have to redo your controls. 

hope it helps

[dtpilot247]

Unfortunately, that has not worked.

Other methods I have tried are: disabling Windows power service, turning on Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling, capping the FPS to 60 with both v-sync off and on through the NVIDIA Control Panel, enabling CPU auto-overclock through AMD Ryzen Master, and enabling the higher XMP-Profile in the MSI Click BIOS 5. I still get stutters on slow-repaired and non-mod DCS, regardless of aircraft or terrain.

Edited April 6, 2023 by dtpilot247

[dtpilot247]

I recently tried logging into a multiplayer server (4YA Aerobatics Online US) to see if the behavior of stutters would change. They in fact grow in occurrence and I do not have to be flying for them to happen.

 

[peanuts0441]

I assume you are on a fresh installation of windows with your new rig

Open task manager while playing DCS and see your disk activity, check if it is spiking close to 100% at the exact interval the stutters happen, or if the response time of the SSD gets delayed for some reason

Mostly stutters like these are related to your storage media

[dtpilot247]

23 minutes ago, peanuts0441 said:

I assume you are on a fresh installation of windows with your new rig

Open task manager while playing DCS and see your disk activity, check if it is spiking close to 100% at the exact interval the stutters happen, or if the response time of the SSD gets delayed for some reason

 Yes to the first part. Here is a recording of the disk activity. I do not see anything out of the ordinary. Also, for what it's worth, I do not have this problem on any other games. This seems to be something only specific to when I fly in DCS.

 

[AstonMartinDBS]

Maybe this helps:

1. deactivate VSync in the DCS options and
2. set "Vertical Synchronisation" in the nVidia Control panel to "Fast":

 

[peanuts0441]

Ok then, try running the sim at a lower resolution (1280x720) and turn down MSAA to 0, if the stutters still happen then we'll know for sure its not a hardware bottleneck of any sort

Also no need to record a video for this, just test it

[NIGHTHAWK1]

To BigNewy:  I am in steam.  How to I get to DCSopenbeta.  I would like to restart DCS and do a slow repair.   How do I do that in steam.  Will it make a difference in steam.    Also, what does Hotfix do?  I have never been able to find such options in any of the steam files.  I also have stuttering, micro stutters close to ground, I can reduce/eliminate if I turn settings down.   I9-12900k. rtx 3090 24GB, 64 gig DDR4-3600 , 2TB SSD, Oculus Quest 2, average 60 FPS in MT VR in most situations.   I think I have enough power but think that a clean install might help. Your comments please.

[dtpilot247]

7 minutes ago, AstonMartinDBS said:

 

1. deactivate VSync in the DCS options and
2. set "Vertical Synchronisation" in the nVidia Control panel to "Fast":

I have applied both and the stutters still happen.

5 minutes ago, peanuts0441 said:

try running the sim at a lower resolution (1280x720) and turn down MSAA to 0, if the stutters still happen then we'll know for sure its not a hardware bottleneck of any sort

The stutters are continuing at the lower res and MSAA turned off.

[peanuts0441]

6 minutes ago, dtpilot247 said:

The stutters are continuing at the lower res and MSAA turned off.

If you play the game in fullscreen then try it in windowed mode or vice versa

There is a tool by microsoft called procmon, it allows you to see exactly which services are doing what in the background

If you open that while running the game then you'll see if anything windows 10 related is causing those stutters

Instructions in spoiler

Spoiler

Download procmon, open the x64 version of the file
Make sure to have these 4 options checked:  

 

[NIGHTHAWK1]

I was experience micro-stuttering in VR, so not completely the same, but after testing/changing a lot of settings in both DCS setting, oculus tool tray, and nvidia control panel I found that the biggest effect on stutters is "visibity range" in dcs settings.  I changed one thing at a time and this is the one thing that eliminated the stutters by reducing it to "medium".  Picture is not as good, but stutters are gone.

[dtpilot247]

7 hours ago, peanuts0441 said:

If you play the game in fullscreen then try it in windowed mode or vice versa

There is a tool by microsoft called procmon, it allows you to see exactly which services are doing what in the background

If you open that while running the game then you'll see if anything windows 10 related is causing those stutters

Instructions in spoiler

  Reveal hidden contents

Download procmon, open the x64 version of the file
Make sure to have these 4 options checked:  

 

I'm not seeing anything that is linear/frequent with the stutters. I can send you my log file if you would like to review it? I did find these lines during the seconds the game had stuttered:

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Would you think that any of these have direct linkage to them? Note: Before I ran this specific test, I have uninstalled GeForce Experience. I have also disabled NVIDIA Telemetry after the fact, as apparently that used to be an issue to some a while ago.

Edited April 7, 2023 by dtpilot247

[AstonMartinDBS]

11 hours ago, NIGHTHAWK1 said:

How to I get to DCSopenbeta. 

If you want to replace your stable version of DCS with the open beta on Steam:

• open the Steam libary
• right-click on "DCS World Steam Edition"
• properties
• Betas
• select "openbeta - Public beta versions"*

*depending on your purchased DCS content (maps, planes, tech) the download of up to several hundred GB data starts immediately when you change this selection

If you have the DCS World Steam Edition you'll find all configs, logs, etc. under

%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\DCS\

in both stable and open beta.

 

11 hours ago, NIGHTHAWK1 said:

I would like to restart DCS and do a slow repair.   How do I do that in steam.

• open the Steam libary
• right-click on "DCS World Steam Edition"
• local data
• verify

Edited April 7, 2023 by AstonMartinDBS

[dtpilot247]

12 hours ago, NIGHTHAWK1 said:

I was experience micro-stuttering in VR, so not completely the same, but after testing/changing a lot of settings in both DCS setting, oculus tool tray, and nvidia control panel I found that the biggest effect on stutters is "visibity range" in dcs settings.  I changed one thing at a time and this is the one thing that eliminated the stutters by reducing it to "medium".  Picture is not as good, but stutters are gone.

This unfortunately did not work for me.

[NIGHTHAWK1]

AstonMartin - thank you.   did not change anything, but I didn't think it would but was hoping.  Again thank you!

[peanuts0441]

19 hours ago, dtpilot247 said:

I'm not seeing anything that is linear/frequent with the stutters. I can send you my log file if you would like to review it? I did find these lines during the seconds the game had stuttered:

Would you think that any of these have direct linkage to them? Note: Before I ran this specific test, I have uninstalled GeForce Experience. I have also disabled NVIDIA Telemetry after the fact, as apparently that used to be an issue to some a while ago.

 

Disable windows 10 antivirus temporarily, and then run the game

Remove all the pre installed junk that comes with windows, since this is a new installation, there's gonna be a lot of useless stuff

WinAeroTweaker is a good tool that allows you disable most of the tracking stuff in the background, for example: built in ads, windows 10s' own telemetery & it can also do other useful things

Windows 10 Debloater is a simple script that lets you choose which pre installed apps you want to keep, and which should be deleted, below is a list of apps you can choose to get rid of:

Spoiler

Read the instructions on the github page before running the script

Try it, if it doesn't help with DCS atleast it'll clean your system up, (until the next windows update which will automatically redownload it all lol)

Lastly, try and older version of DCS, to see if the game really is the problem

Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/611h5e/guide_how_to_download_older_versions_of_a_game_on/

 

[dtpilot247]

I have followed your post step by step, I followed instructions on both WinAeroTweaker and Windows 10 Debloater. I have done three tests (current version multi-thread, single-thread, and roll back to 2.8.1.34667.2) to see if any of these things took effect.

On a clean DCS install with a simple AI TF-51 orbiting over the Caucasus, the stutters are still happening.

Now I really question why this game has this problem which all of my other games don't. This only started when I first installed DCS onto my new rig (parts noted in the first post.) I have played Falcon BMS, Microsoft FS, Squad, Insurgency Sandstorm and more, and not a single game has had this issue once.

I guess the main goal is to simply stop that red "CPU Bound Main Thread" thing from popping up on the framerate counter but I'm dumbfounded as to how.

Edited April 8, 2023 by dtpilot247

[peanuts0441]

You said you enabled auto overclocking, disable any overclocks you made to the CPU and GPU

And also try downclocking your cpu by 100-200MHz

What power supply did you have in your older system?

 

[dtpilot247]

17 hours ago, peanuts0441 said:

You said you enabled auto overclocking, disable any overclocks you made to the CPU and GPU

And also try downclocking your cpu by 100-200MHz

What power supply did you have in your older system?

 

Disabled overclocking, still stutters. But I will try downclocking once I get the chance to.
 

 

17 hours ago, Badhorsie53 said:

Sounds like Nvidia driver problem. Try an older driver. The new drivers cause stutter problems.

Just rolled back to the last one pushed out in 2022 and it has no effect.

[peanuts0441]

14 hours ago, dtpilot247 said:

Disabled overclocking, still stutters. But I will try downclocking once I get the chance to.

Try downclocking, then we'll go from there

[dtpilot247]

So a friend of mine had helped out last night, and finally my DCS is running smooth. No more stutters/major hitches. He had noticed very high response times on the C drive when the game froze. What he recommended to me was two things: Disabling page files and changing the power plan. You would go to "This PC", right click anywhere in the white space below the displayed drives and hit properties, then go to the Advanced tab, Settings under Performance, go to the second Advanced tab, click Change under virtual memory, then bubble in "no paging file" and click Set and OK. Afterward, search "Power & Sleep" in the Windows search bar, open Additional Power Settings on the right, and change from Power Saver to High Performance.

Here's the kicker. The second portion wasn't even present on the first install of Windows. I had checked this exact same location three times to make sure I wasn't going crazy while trying to fix the issue. The second time I installed Windows I hadn't checked but the third time, all of a sudden, it was there. Both reinstallations were booted from the same USB flash drive with all partitions wiped. Another friend of mine has recommended switching back on page files to see if it was only the power plan change to have affected the game. I will post an update on that momentarily.

For now, it's safe to say that the game's been fixed. Thank you @peanuts0441, @AstonMartinDBS and others who had aided in trying to find a solution to this aggravating issue.

Edited April 12, 2023 by dtpilot247

[peanuts0441]

10 hours ago, dtpilot247 said:

He had noticed very high response times on the C drive when the game froze.

You know whats funny? I totally noticed that too in the video you posted earlier showing task manager, but I disregarded it because you also said in that post "Nothing seems out of the ordinary" so I thought it may have been normal with your drive

Initially, even my eyes went straight to the response time of that drive when I saw the video
Lol could've saved so much trouble if I just atleast told you about it

[AstonMartinDBS]

15 hours ago, dtpilot247 said:

For now, it's safe to say that the game's been fixed.

I'm glad you were able to solve the problem! Thanks for your feedback and for sharing the detailled solution.