[SOLVED] Witcher 3 Stuttering with gtx 1650/i5 9300H Windows 11/10

[Skeletonnn]

Hello, I am writing here because i am out of ideads what to do, let me start with what i have:

Lenovo legion Y540 notebook;
gpu: gtx 1650
cpu:i5-9300H
RAM: 8gb x2 = 16gb
drives: 2xSSD (one 1tb which the game is on, and one 256 gb with system)

Windows 11

third-party software i am using:
MSI afterburner
RivaTunerStatistics
Razer Cortex (although i checked how W3 works with and without it - no real difference)
process Lasso (but i havent changed anything in it regarding W3)
Malwarebytes antivirus
____

Basically other games than Witcher 3 works fine on my pc, but W3 have some horrible stutters (every few seconds they appear, even in animated loadings) that i cant handle, i have tried switching off/on every option in game, setting to lowest quality, setting vsync, etc. Also i did what most of the people were recommending so setting pre rendered frames to one etc, basic stuff in nvidia control panel. Since i have checked already many forums that didnt helped at all, maybe someone from here will help me.

Game holds 60 fps when there is no stuttering, Stutters occour when moving fast, rotating camera, when loading save file, and sometimes in cutscenes but rather rarely.

things i should probably say: i have no overclocked gpu/cpu, i have updated gpu drivers to the latest version, same thing is happening on Windows 10, it doesnt matter if i have game mode on/off, xbox game bar on.off, it just doesnt make any difference, DVR also doesnt change anything to me, it doesnt matter if gpu grivers are updated for me or not (i tried also older versions)

when i play temperature of my gpu reaches max of 91 celsius, 100% usage even on lowest settings with around 1000Mhz (jumping from 450 in lowest to 1395 highest), My cpu is keeping around 70-90 degree celsius,
I also have not installed any mods that should in any way affect performance, i dont have viruses, i have already run commands like memchk, dskchk in cmd, with no errors found,

also game should have enough of free disk space (around 100gb at the moment)

if anyone will have any questions i will answer them the best i can,

Also below you have screenshot with one of those stutters with msi afterburner, maybe that will help solve the case (but it was one of the big ones, usually when this happenes frametime jumps from 16 to 32,not 100+, and most of the times max frame drop is from 60 to 50 fps)


link to photo with stutter

second link to stutter if first doesnt work

 

[alceryes]

Maybe you're hitting a hardware limit?
Run HWiNFO64 in the background (sesnors only, logging on) and play for at least 20 minutes. Go through the log file to see what it shows and/or upload it somewhere we can have a look.

 

[Skeletonnn]

Ok, so i followed your suggestion sir, and here is the file you asked me for: HWiNFO file, if there will be anything else i could do just let me know. Also i have noticed my cpu is thermal throttling, but idk if there is much i can do about it and idk if this should have such a big hit on a performance really?

 

[GoofyOne]

It sounds like you have some throttling issue, and the machine slows down briefly to cool down a bit. What graphics resolution are you playing the game at? ie: are you playing it at 1920 x 1080p or some other resolution?

Maybe try reduce the resolution and see if that is better. That is all I can think of atm. Ahh I think you already tried that, you said you tried the lowest settings didn't you.


{Goofyone's 2c worth ... which may or may not be actually worth 2c}

 

[Skeletonnn]

It sounds like you have some throttling issue, and the machine slows down briefly to cool down a bit. What graphics resolution are you playing the game at? ie: are you playing it at 1920 x 1080p or some other resolution?

Maybe try reduce the resolution and see if that is better. That is all I can think of atm. Ahh I think you already tried that, you said you tried the lowest settings didn't you.


{Goofyone's 2c worth ... which may or may not be actually worth 2c}

My resolution i am playing on is 1920x1080, and yes, when i lower up resolution game runs better, but its just not really good solution for me since it should work in fhd no trouble, also i know how this might sound but to be honest i think my pc might be lacking thermal paste on cpu but i am not sure about it, also let me say that for example gta online runs almost perfectly smooth.

Edit. i also undevolted now my cpu and game runs better but still not perfect

 

[alceryes]

Ok, so i followed your suggestion sir, and here is the file you asked me for: HWiNFO file, if there will be anything else i could do just let me know. Also i have noticed my cpu is thermal throttling, but idk if there is much i can do about it and idk if this should have such a big hit on a performance really?

Both your CPU and GPU are getting too hot and thermal throttling. You could try getting one of those laptop cooler pads. What was the ambient temp when running HWiNFO64? Did the laptop have good airflow? Could there be dust blocking airflow?

 

[Skeletonnn]

Both your CPU and GPU are getting too hot and thermal throttling. You could try getting one of those laptop cooler pads. What was the ambient temp when running HWiNFO64? Did the laptop have good airflow? Could there be dust blocking airflow?

My laptop is already always on cooling pad when i am using it to allow better airflow, i just do not always use the fans they have, also i have cleared my pc fans lately (few days ago) and after that air flow started to be way better, about the ambient temp (without anything on) with hw info:

Core temperatures (in celsius):
Minimum: 36
Maximum: 62
Average: 41

GPU:
Minimum: 53.6
Maximum 55.8
Average: 55.1

Also i can do a 3DMark test and link it here if it will help somehow.

 

[alceryes]

A 3DMark Time Spy would be good.

However, we already know the issue. Both your CPU and GPU are thermal throttling. It the system is getting good airflow then the next step would be to take the whole thing apart and reapply thermal paste wherever it's used. But this is a difficult task - not for someone whose never done it before.

 

[Skeletonnn]

Okay, here is my 3D Mark result for you to check out: result, i havent overclocked or undervolted anything so this benchmark is not affected by anything, but as far as i understand for now from what you have said my problem is probably just lack of thermal paste on my components? i have seen applying thermal paste only on the cpu, are there any more places that it should be placed on?

 

[alceryes]

Okay, here is my 3D Mark result for you to check out: result, i havent overclocked or undervolted anything so this benchmark is not affected by anything, but as far as i understand for now from what you have said my problem is probably just lack of thermal paste on my components? i have seen applying thermal paste only on the cpu, are there any more places that it should be placed on?

It varies from laptop to laptop but a lot of times there's one heatpipe/fan that cools both the CPU and GPU. I'm sure they have thermal paste on them but my guess is that it's the most horrible cheap crap the mfg. could get their hands on, and is now just cracked hard clay between the chips and heatpipe.
I recently had to swap out the keyboard on a laptop where you literally have to take apart EVERYTHING. The thermal 'clay' was a disgrace. I regularly received notifications about thermal throttling on this laptop, previously. When I put it back together, I used some good arctic silver thermal paste and haven't received one notification about the laptop thermal throttling since.

YMMV, or course. But I guarantee you that what's there now isn't as good as a $10 bottle of thermal paste you can get at your local computer shop. Again, fully taking apart a laptop is a chore and should be done by someone who has experience doing it.

 

[Skeletonnn]

Thank you, i will apply thermal paste when i will have it, but i also have to say that disabling "cpu performance boost" option (or whatever its called in english windows) in power manangment setting from aggresive to disabled seems to help a lot for me, i just thought i will write it here so maybe it will help somebody. Anyway thank you all for your help.

 

[Skeletonnn]

Okay, today i applied thermal paste in my laptop and games are working abolutely outstanding! in Witcher 3 my gpu in city reaches 80% usage, 1890 Mhz with around 60-70 celsius, thank you guys so much, you helped me a lot with understanding of my issue cpu also works really good now in city it reaches around 75-80 celsius, i have no more stutters, everythiing is perfectly smooth, i guess, we can close topic

3DMark after paste if someone interested: 3d Mark after fix