What next to upgrade AND microstutter issue..

[Concorde1]

Cooler = Noctua NH-D15
Memory = Kingston savage 2400 Mhz 2x4GB
Motherboard = Asus z87-a
Power supply = EVGA supernova g2 750W
Processor = Intel i7-4770k
Storage = Samsung 840 Evo 250GB SSD
Video card = Gigabyte g1 gtx 970

Haven't overclocked cpu or gpu yet.

Everything's installed on the ssd. Still has 60 GB free. SSD on latest firmware.

Gtx 970 on latest driver.

I'm getting regular but not continuous microstutters in Source games (TF2 and cs:go), when I'm getting 100-300 fps most of the time. It shows as short time intervals ~0.1seconds where there is a gap in the events on the screen.

I ran Unigine heaven on Extreme / 1080p and got:
FPS:
57.1
Score:
1438
Min FPS:
28.3
Max FPS:
122.1

It was smooth except for 2 times the camera stopped moving for like 0.3-0.5 seconds then shot forward to catch up with itself. I believe this is a longer duration than the stutters I'm getting in the games.

Anyone know how I can find out the cause of this stutter? I have a feeling it might be the SSD, as I've read the 840 EVO has a performance issue. The ssd is 2.5 yrs old. CPU is also 2.5 yrs old.

 

[Ebo]

Have you tried this ?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=danish&id=199958323

 

[Shrike42]

That does not exactly sound like "microstutter" when AFAIK people use then term for more frequent events.

If it was me I would look at the back ground tasks running on you system.

My son had success following some advice given here to turn off some back ground tasks.

Are you on windows 10? Then the following types of things are worth looking at

Stopping a lot of the "unnecessary" background tasks is a good starting point.

 

[qubit]

The SSD or HDD won't be the cause of stuttering as all the data is loaded into RAM/VRAM for fast access first. Only when a level has just been loaded do you sometimes see it for a few seconds as the data hasn't completely loaded, depending on the game.

Do you see it when vsync is turned on?

What resolution are you running at? If it's hitting that 3.5GB VRAM limit then you would see this.

It could well be background tasks running in the background causing it, as Shrike42 says. It happens to me a little bit, but it's not often enough to warrant troubleshooting it.

 

[Kanan]

Do you have the latest firmware for 840 evo? It fixes the speed problems associated with it. Just install Samsung magician if you don't have.

 

[Concorde1]

I upgraded (not for this reason) to a brand new gtx 1070. I still have the issue. So it's not gpu or ssd related (thanks qubit)

Could just be the coding of the game I suppose. .

Have you tried this ?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=danish&id=199958323

I've tried that now, yep

That does not exactly sound like "microstutter" when AFAIK people use then term for more frequent events.

If it was me I would look at the back ground tasks running on you system.

Stopping a lot of the "unnecessary" background tasks is a good starting point.

I'm on windows 7 and Steam and the game are the highest in memory usage of processes. No antivirus or unnecessary things

Do you have the latest firmware for 840 evo? It fixes the speed problems associated with it. Just install Samsung magician if you don't have.

Yes I have the latest / magician




I guess I should try memtest86 and intelburntest. Before I installed the overkill cooler I did get some BSODs due to the cpu overheating on the stock cooler, so the cpu may have been hurt.

Do you see it when vsync is turned on?

What resolution are you running at?

I will try with vsync on soon. Reso is just 1920x1080

 

[qubit]

I will try with vsync on soon. Reso is just 1920x1080

That can actually max out the memory, depending on the game. I don't think this one is so intensive though. You can use GPU-Z or MSI AfterBurner to check the video memory usage.

Am I right in saying that trying the stuff in the Steam link from Ebo didn't help?

 

[i7Baby]

What CPU temps are you getting?

What CPU usage (per Task Manager) are you getting?

 

[Concorde1]

Correct.

I monitored video memory in the games

GPU Memory: 1579 MB out of 8GB
GPU Core clock: 1987 MHz
GPU Memory Clock: 4007 MHz
GPU usage: under 50 %

CPU Usage: 30-40 % overall.

Framerate: mostly 200-300 but with dips to 100-150 at busy times

RAM Usage: 5200-5400 MB out of 8GB

Temps of cpu and gpu were fine (cpu under 60C, gpu under 70C)

 

[Vayra86]

Correct.

I monitored video memory in the games

GPU Memory: 1579 MB out of 8GB
GPU Core clock: 1987 MHz
GPU Memory Clock: 4007 MHz
GPU usage: under 45 %

CPU Usage: 30-40 % overall.

Framerate: mostly 200-300 but with dips to 100-150 at busy times

RAM Usage: 5200-5400 MB out of 8GB

Temps of cpu and gpu were fine (cpu under 60C, gpu under 70C)

- Heaven is very prone to the occasional stutter in the benchmark. Don't fuss about it.

- If you run your games without Vsync or an FPS cap, and your FPS jumps from 200-300 to 100, yes you will notice. Your eyes are sensitive to *changes* in framerate, much more so than they are sensitive to the actual amount of FPS you can see. A stable FPS is therefore always preferable to the highest possible FPS. I'd say, cap your fps at 120 and try again.

 

[Concorde1]

Good points thanks.

I suppose the 5/8 RAM usage is a normal thing?

 

[i7Baby]

Depends what you have loaded. At the moment I have about 3GB in ram.

 

[gupsterg]

@OP

+1 to Vayra86 post, several differing PCB cards I've had, have all done stutter at some point in Heaven bench.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Correct.

I monitored video memory in the games

GPU Memory: 1579 MB out of 8GB
GPU Core clock: 1987 MHz
GPU Memory Clock: 4007 MHz
GPU usage: under 50 %

CPU Usage: 30-40 % overall.

Framerate: mostly 200-300 but with dips to 100-150 at busy times

RAM Usage: 5200-5400 MB out of 8GB

Temps of cpu and gpu were fine (cpu under 60C, gpu under 70C)

What you see, 1579mb is usually just average usage, it doesnt show spikes like: game loading, game zones, various other things, too many people in a small area, all affect game mamory usage. (ahhh the mamories ....)

same goes for GPU/CPU usage.