Fps drop/stutter in open world games - normal?

[Namalsk]

Hi guys. I'm wondering how normal it is to experience minor fps drops or stutter in open world games such as WoW or Skyrim.

I'm running a gtx 970, i7 5820k cpu, 16 gb ddr4, 850 samsung pro ssd with wow/skyrim and OS on it.

I'm running both wow and skyrim with vsync and tripple buffering (otherwise i get tearing etc) so my fps caps at 60 and I run them both on ultra. 99% of the time the fps is exactly 60 or 59.1 to 59.9 at worst.

However, when I log into wow, or load skyrim and I turn around (or teleport) in any direction I get an initial fps stutter and then fps drops down to about 45 - 54 for about a second with a noticeable mini-freeze and then back to 60.

If it was a once-off thing it, wouldn't bother me, but it also happens every 30-60 seconds or so as I walk/run through areas and new stuff loads in both games. This happens especially if I keep spinning my camera as I keep running around. When it stuttered once and I don't move, I can spin around for hours and it will not drop (I assume it's because there is nothing to load as i'm standing on the spot spinning)

I found that turning down the graphics to normal-high etc makes this happen less often but it doesn't eliminate the issue completely.

Is it like this for everyone? Does this happen to you? Should I even try to fix it or it's just poor game optimization and not me?

Thanks

 

[B0reas]

This kind of sounds like it would be more a matter of the game being at fault than the computer, especially since that isn't a heavy drop in FPS, however how many background programs do you have running when you are playing either WoW or Skyrim? Do you have active antivirus programs, or any downloads going on at various times through thing slike steam or the battlenet launcher?

The other matter is that stuttering on WoW can be simply due to lag and not always performance-related. Might want to take into account your download speed should it be a potential factor.

Lastly, does the stuttering in WoW happen everywhere, or just in the new areas?

 

[Heyday665]

Your computer is more than capable of playing games (open-world or not) without having performance issues. However, a responsibility of the developers is to optimize the performance of their game (and usually their engine). Now, since you are having issues with specifically with movement, it might have something to do with the way that triple-buffering is working.

V-sync, while useful at combating screen tearing, is known for causing a load of issues like this one. Have you tried playing without v-sync (triple buffering) to see if the issue goes away, I know the screen tearing might return, but it is a lot less noticeable than losing ~25% of your FPS. Also try switching to a double or single buffer method as opposed to triple, to try to eliminate the tearing at the same time.

EDIT: Look at NVidia's "bragsheets" for their new G=Sync capabilities some new monitors have for a clear explanation of VSync at it's issues.