Question Micro-stuttering issues after upgrading the graphics card and monitor ?

May 29, 2023
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Hello everyone,

Recently, I upgraded my PC by replacing my old GTX 970 graphics card with a new GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and my Full HD monitor with a new 2K monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate. Despite the significant increase in performance, I have noticed the appearance of annoying micro stuttering while using my system. I would like to share this experience with you and see if anyone has any advice or suggestions for a solution.

Before the upgrade, my system was running without any noticeable issues. However, since the upgrade, I have noticed that during gaming, there are brief interruptions in the image, as if there were small stutters. These micro stuttering moments are quite bothersome and affect the overall experience, especially during gaming sessions.

I have tried several approaches to resolve the issue. I have checked and updated all the drivers, including the graphics card and monitor drivers. I have also made sure that the resolution and refresh rate settings are correctly configured. I have tried using different graphics settings in games, such as lowering the settings or limiting the framerate, but the problem persists.

I have also monitored the system temperatures during usage, but they seem to be within normal range. My power supply is sufficient to support the new graphics card, and I haven't encountered any other obvious hardware issues.

I wonder if anyone has experienced a similar situation after performing a similar upgrade and if they have found an effective solution. I am open to suggestions or advice on how to address this micro stuttering issue.

Here are my system specifications:

Processor: Intel Core i5-9600Kf Motherboard: MSI Z390 Gaming Plus Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200 RAM Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Monitor: Xiaomi Gaming 2K 144Hz Operating System: Windows 10

I appreciate any help or suggestions you can provide. Thank you in advance for your attention and support!
 

boju

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How much did you limit fps to? Depending on game, 6 core cpus can start to struggle with frame rates above 100. Might be your issue, cpu maxing out. What games you play?

See video.
View: https://youtu.be/Qo3EJzHuXok


If cpu is maxing out try limit fps to around the same level as before the upgrade and then increase frame rate incrementally to find CPU's optimal level without any of the cores pegged to 100%.
 
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May 29, 2023
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How much did you limit fps to? Depending on game, 6 core cpus can start to struggle with frame rates above 100. Might be your issue, cpu maxing out. What games you play?

See video.
View: https://youtu.be/Qo3EJzHuXok


If cpu is maxing out try limit fps to around the same level as before the upgrade and then increase frame rate incrementally to find CPU's optimal level without any of the cores pegged to 100%.
I have a 144 FPS limit, and I'm experiencing micro stuttering in all games. The CPU rarely reaches 80% usage, while the graphics card is almost always at 100% when playing resource-intensive games. Anyway, I have a video of the issue. The phenomenon is somewhat limited in F1, but it's more pronounced in other games. Here's the video:
View: https://youtu.be/uldQ2PS7lio

The freezes can be found at 0:07 and 0:26 seconds, but there are others as well. It's difficult to notice them in the video since it's running at 60 FPS. Anyway, the game freezes for a fraction of a second and then continues smoothly. This issue has become more pronounced since I formatted my computer. I think I had found some settings before that reduced the freezes, but not completely eliminated them.
 
May 29, 2023
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Which Windows?

What happens if you do limit fps to 80~100?

Tried a different Geforce driver?

What applications have you installed that may be running in the background?
  1. Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045 Build 19045
  2. Nothing
  3. Yes, I have tried with both new and old drivers ranging from one to two years.
  4. The only program I have open while playing these games is Discord
 
May 29, 2023
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Is there any settings in Discord, hardware acceleration or similar you can try if you need it running. Might be that setting you were talking about.
No, even with Discord closed, the game still experiences frame drops.
I would like to add that when running benchmarks with 3DMark, the results I get are in line with my graphics card, and during the benchmark, there are no FPS drops or other issues.
 
Does the CPU/GPU usage change when this happens (typically if something is hitching it will show up here)? Have you tried capping the in game frame rate to match your monitor on games like F1 where your video is showing well over 144 fps?

You can also check DPC latency to see if something on your system might be slowing everything down as there could be some sort of driver/software interaction causing this issue.
 
May 29, 2023
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Does the CPU/GPU usage change when this happens (typically if something is hitching it will show up here)? Have you tried capping the in game frame rate to match your monitor on games like F1 where your video is showing well over 144 fps?

You can also check DPC latency to see if something on your system might be slowing everything down as there could be some sort of driver/software interaction causing this issue.
Look, to check DPC latency, I know LatencyMon is used, but I have no idea how to interpret the results. Can I post them here at most?
 

boju

Titan
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Have you tried maximum performance in NvidiaCP instead of normal?

What power supply have you got?

Benchmarks are usually smoother as there isn't any user input or iops from drive to worry about. What peripherals do you have attached?
 
May 29, 2023
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Have you tried maximum performance in NvidiaCP instead of normal?

What power supply have you got?

Benchmarks are usually smoother as there isn't any user input or iops from drive to worry about. What peripherals do you have attached?
Yes, I have already tried that, but it didn't change much. As for the power supply, I have an RM 850 Gold. The peripherals that I usually have connected to the computer, in addition to the monitor, keyboard, and mouse, are a Bluetooth dongle that I use for the Xbox controller, headphones, and a USB-C cable for charging.
 

boju

Titan
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I don't see anything wrong there. Could try disconnect Bluetooth dongle. Grasping at straws now. How about your monitor, is Gsync enabled with Vsync on? Perhaps try a tv just to see if panel being VA that ghosting hasn't anything to do with it.

Try monitor min / max / avg fps in Msi Afterburner. Need to enable benchmark mode to get those values to show properly.
 
May 29, 2023
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I started a test with LatencyMon, and the highest reported DPCs seem to be from the video card driver with a score of 1830.278139. It's called nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 531.61, NVIDIA Corporation. Could this be the problem? And can it be resolved?
I don't see anything wrong there. Could try disconnect Bluetooth dongle. Grasping at straws now. How about your monitor, is Gsync enabled with Vsync on? Perhaps try a tv just to see if panel being VA that ghosting hasn't anything to do with it.

Try monitor min / max / avg fps in Msi Afterburner. Need to enable benchmark mode to get those values to show properly.
 
May 29, 2023
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I had a gaming session, and I did the only test I could. It froze again, and I want to figure out if it's Freeza causing the problem or something else.
I don't know. Searching nvlddmkm.sys high dpc finds various threads, none really explaining what's going on. Besides trying different drivers, which you said you have, first reply here looks interesting but no clarification if it actually helped besides receiving appraise.