(closed) Jagged edges, flickering in most games, Smoothness not applied

[Madlark]

Hi all!

I've posted this on a couple other forums already, but so far there's been no solution, so I decided to try my luck here. Warning: wall of text (hey, at least it has videos!)

ISSUES

1. Since May 2017, the vast majority of the games I play show jagged aliased edges on objects at medium/far distance, as well as flickering on the said objects and shimmering shadows/grass (even close-up). This is happening both in 2k normal and 4k DSR. Now, before I get the usual "this is normal, this is how AA works" treatment – no, it isn't. Simply because up until May, it was fine. No jaggies, no flickering. Period.

2. The obvious way of solving this was by checking the Nvidia Control Panel settings, except nothing I've tried worked. Oddly enough, I noticed that most of the settings, most notably the DSR Smoothness, had no effect whatsoever on any of the games I've tested this with EXCEPT The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux.

The games I've tested (at 2k and 4k DSR): Fallout 4 (was textbook-perfect until this happened), Alien: Isolation, The Bureau: Xcom Declassified (never installed before), The Elder Scrolls Online, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux. Of the above, only The Vanishing looks as good as the others used to – no jaggies, no shimmering, DSR Smoothness gets applied properly.

SOLUTIONS TRIED AND FAILED

1. Rolled back Nvidia drivers several times (all the way back to 378.49 from way before the issues first began), currently running 385.41. Was using DDU + Clean Install afterwards each time. So it's unlikely the driver's fault.
2. Checked the in-game graphics settings.
3. Reinstalled the games which have this issue, removed all mods.
4. Tried all possible Nvidia Control Panel settings.
5. Physically swapped the GPUs around.
6. Tested the games with first just one GPU, then just the other, various PCI-e slots.
7. Reset the CMOS to defaults (running the latest BIOS). So it doesn't look like it's hardware, either.
8. Reinstalled the monitor driver.
9. Tried changing desktop resolution, disabled scaling in program properties, tried compatibility modes and running as admin.
10. Installed Windows Creators Update, mucked around with its new scaling settings, rolled back.
11. Rolled back every Windows update I could.
12. Tried different Power plans.
13. Checked the actual monitor’s settings (thought perhaps Sharpness was too high – nope).
14. Reversed any and all overclocking I did on my rig.
15. Contacted Nvidia support ("Sit tight and it will be fixed in future driver update. Maybe. But unlikely. No I can't tell you if your issue is ever going to be looked at").
16. Contacted Microsoft support, because heck, it's Windows ("LOL, Windows is perfect, contact Nvidia").
17. Tried two different monitors (neither of them native 4k though).

SOLUTIONS NOT TRIED YET

1. Windows reinstall. I have lots of sound production software installed, and reinstalling it all would be a pain. I will probably try to do a clean install of Windows on a different drive later though, to see if the issues remain.
2. Physically moving the PC, using a different wall socket, getting a UPS – this was all suggested to other users on different forums, but personally I think this is just so much nonsense: if one game works and the others don’t, this has nothing to do with power.
3. Getting a new monitor

PC STATS

2x Gainward GTX1080 Phoenix GLH in SLI, factory-overclocked
Intel i76850k (OC @ 4.2GHz)
MSI X99a Krait
16Gb Patriot Viper 4 RAM (2 sticks of 8)
Samsung SSD 950Pro
LG 24MB56 monitor
Windows 10 64x
Focusrite Scarlett 6i6
EVGA Supernova 850 P2

ADDITIONAL INFO

The CPU and GPU temps are absolutely fine – CPU never goes above 55 (30 when idle), GPUs stay at 45-60, depending on load.

None of the games except The Elder Scrolls Online had any updates around the time the issues appeared.

VIDEOS (watch in HD and fullscreen)

The Bureau: Xcom Declassified (4k DSR)

– note the left side of the door at 0:22

– the top parts of the windows

Fallout 4 (2k)

– the bridge

– the rails

Alien: Isolation (4k DSR, almost playable, but the generally smooth picture makes the flickering stand out more when it happens)

– the keyboard panel
https://youtu.be/pIKsKBqDmH0 – the locker door and nameplate

The Elder Scrolls Online (4k DSR)
https://youtu.be/YJ8I1v2tztw – the window from 0:09
https://youtu.be/c5M47N_sA2w – the terrible, horrible light glitch. This may be due to a recent game update though.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (4k DSR – this is what all the other games used to look like before: SMOOTH)
https://youtu.be/eo-CtM_ElwU – note the non-shimmering grass
https://youtu.be/-_FrCTzQQ_8 – note the wires, in all other games they would be jagged and flickering as heck as soon as I moved away

So here we are. Please help. I’ve spent a small fortune on my rig (well, by my standards), so this is literally driving me nuts. And once again, to the people who only read every second sentence: this is NOT normal, because it wasn’t like this before – see The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux videos.

Apologies for the wall of text, but I wanted to be thorough. Thank you in advance!

 

[Madlark]

Forum won't let me edit the links properly, sorry for the mess.

 

[EarthDog]

1st vid = shadow, may not be AAliased...can only tell late in vid as its blurry

2nd vid... blurry for a while again...

3rd vid with bridge, no clue, as its blurry as hell until 15s in...

I see the shimmering in Fallout on the rail road ties... again, blurry vid until almost the end. I see AA on the rails though...?

The last vid, there are plenty of things AAliased in that scene......




I see plenty of AA going on in those scenes....

 

[Madlark]

1st vid = shadow, may not be AAliased...can only tell late in vid as its blurry

2nd vid... blurry for a while again...

3rd vid with bridge, no clue, as its blurry as hell until 15s in...

I see the shimmering in Fallout on the rail road ties... again, blurry vid until almost the end. I see AA on the rails though...?

The last vid, there are plenty of things AAliased in that scene......

I see plenty of AA going on in those scenes....

Please manually set the video quality to HD - for some reason, Youtube seems to revert it to Auto when it's embedded.

 

[EarthDog]

Did that...

1. Same. Door frame is AA, shadow doesn't seem to be
2. I see shimmering, but scene is AA'd
3. I see shimmering on top of the bridge, but scene has AA
4. I see shimmering and AA
5. Again, plenty of things AA'd in that scene, I see what you are saying on the keyboard though.

The bottom line is, not all things get AA put on it. Different types of AA AA different things.

 

[biffzinker]

Tried adjusting Anisotropic Filtering in the games your having problems with shimmering? Looks like not enough AF is being applied in the Fallout 4 video with the rails.

 

[phanbuey]

clamp on negative LOD bias.

uninstall Geforce Experience...

 

[Madlark]

I probably should have worded it better: I am aware AA does get applied to most things, but the jaggies/shimmering on objects which are further away is an issue, and it was not present initially.

There are more videos after the 5th by the way, check the links if you feel like it. The forum won't let me edit them to show as embeds.

Any suggestions though?

 

[phanbuey]

I probably should have worded it better: I am aware AA does get applied to most things, but the jaggies/shimmering on objects which are further away is an issue, and it was not present initially.

There are more videos after the 5th by the way, check the links if you feel like it. The forum won't let me edit them to show as embeds.

Any suggestions though?

1. uninstall geforce experience,
2. reset driver to default- in the nvidia control panel, 'reset to defaults' in 3d settings.
3. set allow LOD bias to 'CLAMP'
4. make sure FXAA is disabled.

 

[Madlark]

Tried adjusting Anisotropic Filtering in the games your having problems with shimmering? Looks like not enough AF is being applied in the Fallout 4 video with the rails.

AF, same as most other Nvidia Control Center settings, seem to have no effect whatsoever on any of the games.

 

[erocker]

1. uninstall geforce experience,
2. reset driver to default- in the nvidia control panel, 'reset to defaults' in 3d settings.
3. set allow LOD bias to 'CLAMP'
4. make sure FXAA is disabled.

This. Go one further even and uninstall drivers and make sure to leave no trace of previous drivers.

 

[Madlark]

1. uninstall geforce experience,
2. reset driver to default- in the nvidia control panel, 'reset to defaults' in 3d settings.
3. set allow LOD bias to 'CLAMP'
4. make sure FXAA is disabled.

1 - I'm currently using Geforce Experience to force DSR on some of the games, is there a way of doing so without it?
2 - done several times, with different drivers.
4 - it is.

3 - will test it and let you know the results, but I'm pretty sure I've tried this before. Like I said, most NCC settings seem to have no effect at all.

 

[phanbuey]

1 - I'm currently using Geforce Experience to force DSR on some of the games, is there a way of doing so without it?
2 - done several times, with different drivers.
4 - it is.

3 - will test it and let you know the results, but I'm pretty sure I've tried this before. Like I said, most NCC settings seem to have no effect at all.

You can set the DSR through the CP. I think Geforce experience is overriding your settings, which is why the cp is not doing anything. It's holding on the broken settings and reapplying when you launch the game.

 

[Madlark]

You can set the DSR through the CP. I think Geforce experience is overriding your settings, which is why the cp is not doing anything. It's holding on the broken settings and reapplying when you launch the game.

This... actually makes sense. I will give it a go!

 

[Vario]

Geforce Experience is dreadful.

 

[erocker]

Geforce Experience is dreadful.

I have no problem with it.. as long as you don't let it "optimize" your games or do any kind of updating. I did just start using the latest version though, for the instant capture for Battlegrounds. It works well enough that I'm not uninstalling it for now.

 

[Mussels]

i'm agreeing with others here, geforce experience over-riding settings is the probably cause. Dont ever let it optimise your games.

This does look like AF to me, the the LOD bias also could explain it.

 

[AvrageGamr]

You can set the DSR through the CP. I think Geforce experience is overriding your settings, which is why the cp is not doing anything. It's holding on the broken settings and reapplying when you launch the game.

1 - I'm currently using Geforce Experience to force DSR on some of the games, is there a way of doing so without it?
2 - done several times, with different drivers.
4 - it is.

3 - will test it and let you know the results, but I'm pretty sure I've tried this before. Like I said, most NCC settings seem to have no effect at all.

I'm using 382.53 driver and GeForce exp and don't have any issues. DSR must be enabled via NVidia control panel, ( this is important --->) then used via the in game graphics settings . The resolutions you pick will show in the games graphics settings. NOT all games support it. Forcing DSR in games will give mixed results. Could be a driver issue also. Don't use GeForce Exp to optimize games, only good for video capture.

 

[Madlark]

You can set the DSR through the CP. I think Geforce experience is overriding your settings, which is why the cp is not doing anything. It's holding on the broken settings and reapplying when you launch the game.

This. Go one further even and uninstall drivers and make sure to leave no trace of previous drivers.

i'm agreeing with others here, geforce experience over-riding settings is the probably cause. Dont ever let it optimise your games.

This does look like AF to me, the the LOD bias also could explain it.

Alright, this is what I did so far:

Uninstalled Geforce Experience;
Reset Nvidia Control Center settings to default;
Set Anisotropic Filtering to 16x;
Set Negative LOD Bias to Clamp;
Set DSR Factors to 4x / 50% Smoothness (as it was before);
Set up DSR resolution in-game (Xcom doesn't seem to support it, but oh well);

Results so far:
Slight overall increase in FPS in all games (bye-bye Geforce Experience, forever);
Smoothness now gets properly applied in all DSR-ed games except Elder Scrolls Online, but ESO is, ahem, "special", so it doesn't matter much - pixelated lights have been fixed in that one now though;
Jaggies remain unchanged (couldn't check Fallout 4 unfortunately, since there was an update yesterday and it broke F4SE - waiting for an update);
Shimmering remains unchanged;

Feels like a step in the right direction though. Thank you for all the help so far, any further suggestions will be most appreciated!

UPD: Attached my NCC settings screenshot

 

[EarthDog]

If you are able to see AF in game, do so. Always try to use in game settings where you can.

Not sure that will help, but..

 

[Madlark]

If you are able to see AF in game, do so. Always try to use in game settings where you can.

Not sure that will help, but..

I try to max out all in-game settings whenever possible, so if AF is is there, it's maxed out. Results were the same without AF enabled in NCC though, so I don't think it matters =(

 

[eidairaman1]

Yeah always do ingame detail before using the gpu control panel to force details.

 

[erocker]

SO it seems DSR doesn't work with some AA modes so I think that's the issue. DSR isn't perfect and depending on your monitor/rest of your config, you can get things like botched resolutions and improper use of AF. You may have to go into some of your games and reset the video settings to resolve whatever GeForce Experience messed up.

 

[Madlark]

SO it seems DSR doesn't work with some AA modes so I think that's the issue. DSR isn't perfect and depending on your monitor/rest of your config, you can get things like botched resolutions and improper use of AF. You may have to go into some of your games and reset the video settings to resolve whatever GeForce Experience messed up.

Actually, I think I'm going to reinstall a couple, to see what happens on fresh installation.

 

[Mussels]

try completely disabling DSR and see what happens. I always found it to look far worse than native res.