[SOLVED] Does frametime spikes/FPS drops are normal?

[Adm85]

Hi Guys,
I have been IT guy for many years and relatively recently I started gaming again after ~15y brake.
Wow, there is a difference, no words
But after half year of gaming, and after build new PC for myself (first I built for my son), I’m little confused about stuttering in games, so I would like to kindly ask you guys for an opinion.

On the beginning of my “come back”, on first gaming rig (son’s rig) I never paid attention to FPS drops, so I didn’t notice any stuttering issue (monitor 60hz). But after building my second rig (spec below) it start to be visible, probably because monitor ref rate (165Hz), and/or my eyes upgraded 😉

I though this is some issue with my new build (my wife say it’s too powerful), but after tons of tests (with my first and second build), my final conclusion is that fps drops (smaller or larger stutter) is something normal in most games, and we have to play around every time with all graphics options (nvidia cp, in game options, OS, drivers, OC) trying minimize it (if you care). In some games we can successful minimize it (so they are not visible), but sometimes we simply can’t rid of it (like in BF5, SW Fallen order). What is your experience? Do you think framerate spikes are normal or is it h/w related thing (and I have simply bad luck with my both builds)?

What I have done for testing:
clean OS install (W10)
OS optimization for gaming (playing with multiple options and things)
different GPU drivers (and not only GPU)
overclock, downclock CPU/GPU
different BIOS versions and configurations/parameters
replace GPU/RAM/SSD/monitor
I tested my son’s rig and now I also see stuttering on his PC (much less visible because of 60Hz, but when I connect my monitor 144Hz stuttering is larger than on my rig).


PC spec:
Intel Core i9-9900KS, 4GHz, 16MB, BOX (BX80684I99900KS)
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS MASTER
G.Skill Trident Z, DDR4, 32 GB (4x 8GB),4000MHz, CL18 (F4-4000C18Q-32GTZ)
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GAMING X TRIO 11GB GDDR6
SSD Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 PCIe x4 NVMe (MZ−V7S1T0BW)
SSD Intel 660p 1TB M.2 PCIe x4 NVMe (SSDPEKNW010T8X1)
Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360R RGB (MLX-D36M-A20PC-R1)
Cooler Master MasterCase H500M (MCM-H500M-IHNN-S00)
be quiet! Straight Power 11 1000W
Monitor Asus PG279Q
3x Noctua PWM 120mm (NF-A12x25 ) (for replacing MasterLiquid 360R stock fans)

PC spec (first build):
Intel Core i7-8700, 3.20GHz, 12MB, BOX (BX80684I78700)
Stock cooling
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming K3
G.Skill Ripjaws V, DDR4, 16 GB (2x 8GB),3200MHz, CL16 (F4-3200C16D-16GVKB)
Palit GeForce RTX 2060 GamingPro OC, 6GB GDDR6 (NE62060T18J9-1062A)
SSD Samsung 970 EVO 500GB PCIe x4 NVMe (MZ-V7E500BW)
be quiet! SILENT BASE 601 | BLACK
be quiet! 500W PURE POWER 11CM BN297
Monitor LG 27MP59G-P

 

[jay32267]

I run 60 Hz....so maybe this isn't applicable but...

All my games run smoothly to me visually. Right now I'm running three gaming machines at 60 Hz....maybe 8-10 games on each. and every game runs perfectly smooth to my eyes.

Maybe running on 165 Hz monitor increases your sensitivity to stutter and frame drops? I'm not sure.

 

[Adm85]

Yes, maybe it does, because now playing with 60fps isn't smooth for me, and it was before (it is like curse), but you didn't notice any ocasional frame drop at all? (eg. in Fallen Order just on beggining when you slide down to the robot, there is massive stutter) ?

 

[jay32267]

Yes, maybe it does, because now playing with 60fps isn't smooth for me, and it was before (it is like curse), but you didn't notice any ocasional frame drop at all? (eg. in Fallen Order just on beggining when you slide down to the robot, there is massive stutter) ?

Unfortunately, I don't have that game.
Two of my machines are playing at 1080p at 60 Hz. One has a GTX 1060...one a GTX 1080.
The other one is 4K @ 60 Hz. This has an RTX 2080 Ti.
I get no visible stutter...nor do I sense stutter in anything.
Right now I'm running Borderlands 3, Black Mesa and XCOM and a few others.
On Borderlands 3...I only get around 47 fps at 4K....but it still feels smooth to me.

 

[Adm85]

Ah, I have to do more research in this case, maybe eyes operation 😉, I will have tomorrow Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook (GTX1660ti) for my daughter, and I will test more