A question about frame times.

[peanutreaper486]

So, I bought a Radeon HD 7850 a while back to replace a weaker Radeon HD 6670. But, there's something that I've been noticing in gameplay.

Even when I have 60 frames per second in a game, it's just...not 60 fps. It just looks choppy. It isn't fluid like 60 frames should be. I can easily tell the difference in smoothness when I see my friend's rig, which has a GTX 570 in it, having smoother gameplay at 40 fps than I do at 60.

After researching the absolute hell out of this, I came to the conclusion that it was a frame time issue, the frames are either runts, or are being drawn too slowly. But after trying out Catalyst 12.3, 12.6, 13.2 (Beta 7), 13.4, and 13.8 drivers, I still have the issue with all of Catalyst's community chosen best drivers.

So I ask this question, Tom's community: Is there anything I can do to improve upon this sanity breaking issue?

Here is a video showing the stutter in action. Note: Fraps is not causing the stutter, it actually captured it perfectly at 60 frames. Although Youtube can only playback videos at 30 fps, it still shows up pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju0YiZAbTYg

Also, here's the rest of my specs.
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme3 970.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.8ghz.
RAM: 4GB DDR3 Single-Channel @ 1333mhz.
GPU: Radeon HD 7850 [1GB].
HDD: Seagate 250GB 7200RPM / Seagate 2TB 7200RPM.
PSU: Rosewill HIVE-650 [650W].
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

 

[peanutreaper486]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

Turning off Ambient Occlusion did not help the stutter, neither did motion blur. It gave me some extra frames, but I'm usually already over 60 anyway, not much help with a 60hz monitor. c: Also did the v-sync idea, it's...alright, I suppose. Doesn't completely fix the issue, but the extra mouse lag makes it a wee bit more annoying.

EDIT: Tested in games: Crysis 1/2, Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, and Sleeping Dogs.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

Turning off Ambient Occlusion did not help the stutter, neither did motion blur. It gave me some extra frames, but I'm usually already over 60 anyway, not much help with a 60hz monitor. c: Also did the v-sync idea, it's...alright, I suppose. Doesn't completely fix the issue, but the extra mouse lag makes it a wee bit more annoying.

EDIT: Tested in games: Crysis 1/2, Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, and Sleeping Dogs.

If you have Minecraft go in-game and press F8 and move the screen around, see if that lags, It should put the least amount of strain on your PC so you can really see. I know this might sound dumb but have you tried another mouse?

 

[peanutreaper486]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

Turning off Ambient Occlusion did not help the stutter, neither did motion blur. It gave me some extra frames, but I'm usually already over 60 anyway, not much help with a 60hz monitor. c: Also did the v-sync idea, it's...alright, I suppose. Doesn't completely fix the issue, but the extra mouse lag makes it a wee bit more annoying.

EDIT: Tested in games: Crysis 1/2, Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, and Sleeping Dogs.

If you have Minecraft go in-game and press F8 and move the screen around, see if that lags, It should put the least amount of strain on your PC so you can really see. I know this might sound dumb but have you tried another mouse?

First off: That's a neat little trick, didn't know that. It still visibly stutters, as objects jitter as the camera slowly moves. And yes, I have used different mice on this computer: A generic 800-DPI Dell mouse, a Logitech MX510, and currently a Perixx MX-1000.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

Turning off Ambient Occlusion did not help the stutter, neither did motion blur. It gave me some extra frames, but I'm usually already over 60 anyway, not much help with a 60hz monitor. c: Also did the v-sync idea, it's...alright, I suppose. Doesn't completely fix the issue, but the extra mouse lag makes it a wee bit more annoying.

EDIT: Tested in games: Crysis 1/2, Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, and Sleeping Dogs.

If you have Minecraft go in-game and press F8 and move the screen around, see if that lags, It should put the least amount of strain on your PC so you can really see. I know this might sound dumb but have you tried another mouse?

First off: That's a neat little trick, didn't know that. It still visibly stutters, as objects jitter as the camera slowly moves. And yes, I have used different mice on this computer: A generic 800-DPI Dell mouse, a Logitech MX510, and currently a Perixx MX-1000.

One thing you can do to rule out and problem with your mice is to set your movement keys to arrow keys and see if it is still choppy, there is a article here that explains the problem you are having, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-2.html

It might help you, still not a exact fix. I'll continue to look for a solution.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

Your best bet for now would be to try tweaking mouse sensitivity and keeping v-sync on to prevent tearing,

 

[peanutreaper486]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

Turning off Ambient Occlusion did not help the stutter, neither did motion blur. It gave me some extra frames, but I'm usually already over 60 anyway, not much help with a 60hz monitor. c: Also did the v-sync idea, it's...alright, I suppose. Doesn't completely fix the issue, but the extra mouse lag makes it a wee bit more annoying.

EDIT: Tested in games: Crysis 1/2, Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, and Sleeping Dogs.

If you have Minecraft go in-game and press F8 and move the screen around, see if that lags, It should put the least amount of strain on your PC so you can really see. I know this might sound dumb but have you tried another mouse?

First off: That's a neat little trick, didn't know that. It still visibly stutters, as objects jitter as the camera slowly moves. And yes, I have used different mice on this computer: A generic 800-DPI Dell mouse, a Logitech MX510, and currently a Perixx MX-1000.

One thing you can do to rule out and problem with your mice is to set your movement keys to arrow keys and see if it is still choppy, there is a article here that explains the problem you are having, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-2.html

It might help you, still not a exact fix. I'll continue to look for a solution.

Well, I would suspect my CPU of being the issue here, but my friend with the GTX 570 has the exact same CPU as I do; the Phenom II X4 965. In fact, he have almost identical builds, except he has 8GB of 1333mhz ram, and the 570. Also, thank you for your quick replies, Joshua.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

In-game try disabling Ambient Occlusion and/or Motion Blur, it might help with the choppiness. Also try flicking v-sync on to prevent tearing and maybe improve the smoothness.

Turning off Ambient Occlusion did not help the stutter, neither did motion blur. It gave me some extra frames, but I'm usually already over 60 anyway, not much help with a 60hz monitor. c: Also did the v-sync idea, it's...alright, I suppose. Doesn't completely fix the issue, but the extra mouse lag makes it a wee bit more annoying.

EDIT: Tested in games: Crysis 1/2, Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, and Sleeping Dogs.

If you have Minecraft go in-game and press F8 and move the screen around, see if that lags, It should put the least amount of strain on your PC so you can really see. I know this might sound dumb but have you tried another mouse?

First off: That's a neat little trick, didn't know that. It still visibly stutters, as objects jitter as the camera slowly moves. And yes, I have used different mice on this computer: A generic 800-DPI Dell mouse, a Logitech MX510, and currently a Perixx MX-1000.

One thing you can do to rule out and problem with your mice is to set your movement keys to arrow keys and see if it is still choppy, there is a article here that explains the problem you are having, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-2.html

It might help you, still not a exact fix. I'll continue to look for a solution.

Well, I would suspect my CPU of being the issue here, but my friend with the GTX 570 has the exact same CPU as I do; the Phenom II X4 965. In fact, he have almost identical builds, except he has 8GB of 1333mhz ram, and the 570. Also, thank you for your quick replies, Joshua.

Funny, i have the Phenom II x4 965 as well, i sometimes experience that in windowed mode but only on occasion. I am going to get some sleep so i will continue the search, if you manage to fix it let me know.

 

[peanutreaper486]

After trying some different remedies, I've yet to discover the true cause of my frame latency. Any suggestions?

 

[peanutreaper486]

Updated AMD drivers to 13.9 WHQL drivers. Frame latency is still rearing it's ugly head.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

Updated AMD drivers to 13.9 WHQL drivers. Frame latency is still rearing it's ugly head.

I would say go ahead and RMA it, wouldn't hurt if you have the patience.

 

[peanutreaper486]

My warranty's still good, so let's see if Sapphire will oblige. Thankfully I still have my 6670 lyin' around. I'll look into it, thanks Josh.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

My warranty's still good, so let's see if Sapphire will oblige. Thankfully I still have my 6670 lyin' around. I'll look into it, thanks Josh.

No problem, let me know how it goes, still curious of the cause.

 

[timil]

try uninstalling the drivers cleanly and then using driversweeper to completely kill all traces of the driver then install the latest one. you may be getting the frame latency issue because you have remnants left of the shitty old driver with the frametime problems. I have personally experienced very odd and all round shitty gpu performance because i decided to update the drivers without first sweeping the old ones. also try messing around with radeonpro, heard thats good for frame latency.

 

[peanutreaper486]

Hm, I've always been advised against DriverSweeper because it never did justice for any of my techie colleagues, but by this point I'm willing to try anything to get this damn thing to stop stuttering. Ill give driver sweeper a shot when I get home, thanks.

 

[peanutreaper486]

Okay, installed DriverSweeper, then express uninstalled Catalyst 13.9, re-booted, then swept out the AMD drivers, and re-booted again. DriverSweeper even found some Nvidia drivers left over from when I was helping my friend troubleshoot his GTX 570 when he first got it(It arrived defective several times.). Then re-installed 13.9 drivers. What I can tell the difference is that I only get about 80-100 fps instead of 100-120 in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and it still feels like 40 fps when I have that 80 fps. So, nothing's really changed except for a slightly lower framerate.

 

[smeezekitty]

It may be a background program. Try to minimize startup items.
I had a program called "F.Lux" installed at one point and it causes regular severe stutters.

 

[peanutreaper486]

Hm, the only main background programs that I use regularly are Aida64, Dropbox, Asus GPU Tweak, RadeonPro(Just recently.), and Steam. I'll check for more background programs that have high resource usage when in game, thanks Smeeze.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

Hm, the only main background programs that I use regularly are Aida64, Dropbox, Asus GPU Tweak, RadeonPro(Just recently.), and Steam. I'll check for more background programs that have high resource usage when in game, thanks Smeeze.

Little off topic but how did you run BF3? I am purchasing a 7870 tomorrow and just want to know what to expect as far as performance.

 

[peanutreaper486]

Hm, the only main background programs that I use regularly are Aida64, Dropbox, Asus GPU Tweak, RadeonPro(Just recently.), and Steam. I'll check for more background programs that have high resource usage when in game, thanks Smeeze.

Little off topic but how did you run BF3? I am purchasing a 7870 tomorrow and just want to know what to expect as far as performance.

Hehe, I have a few benchmarks saved from when I first got the card. Here ya go:

Caspian Border.
High Preset.
Minimum: 59 fps.
Maximum: 96 fps.
Average: 74 fps.

Caspian Border.
Ultra Preset.
Minimum: 45 fps.
Maximum: 64 fps.
Average: 53 fps.

Sadly, these benches were done in 1600x900, I didn't have a 1920x1080 display.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

Hm, the only main background programs that I use regularly are Aida64, Dropbox, Asus GPU Tweak, RadeonPro(Just recently.), and Steam. I'll check for more background programs that have high resource usage when in game, thanks Smeeze.

Little off topic but how did you run BF3? I am purchasing a 7870 tomorrow and just want to know what to expect as far as performance.

Hehe, I have a few benchmarks saved from when I first got the card. Here ya go:

Caspian Border.
High Preset.
Minimum: 59 fps.
Maximum: 96 fps.
Average: 74 fps.

Caspian Border.
Ultra Preset.
Minimum: 45 fps.
Maximum: 64 fps.
Average: 53 fps.

Sadly, these benches were done in 1600x900, I didn't have a 1920x1080 display.

Considering I am running at 1680x1050 i think a 7870 will be great for BF4, etc.

 

[peanutreaper486]

How much is a 7870 these days? I keep checkin' out the GTX 760. That $250 price, for all that performance.

 

[JoshuaHMB]

It's on sale for 174.99 ATM, overclocking it will get you better performance or equal with the 760 for 75 bucks less.

Did i mention it has a 15 dollar rebate and a free two games?

 

[peanutreaper486]

SOLD----

If I had funds. Damn me being an unemployed student.