Issues with minor stuttering and a slight decrease in frames per second across every game.
Issues with minor stuttering and a slight decrease in frames per second across every game.
For two weeks I've experienced this bothersome stuttering issue, it appears whenever I enter new areas in my games. It occurs unpredictably, whether I'm in a tiny room or a vast open space. It often follows a brief drop in frames—like in Dark Souls 3 where the frame rate fell from 60 to around 54, then briefly returned—but never consistently. In Novigrad it seems to be the worst place, while in rural areas it's rare. It's not the continuous micro-stutters you see on YouTube; instead, it's a single moment of stutter followed by a frame drop. I tested this in The Witcher 2, a game I finished recently, and noticed similar behavior even at over 100 frames per second. Usually it drops by about 5 to 10 fps, but never completely. I tried lowering all settings to the minimum, changing NVIDIA controls, disabling Xbox and the gaming bar on Windows 10, running a malware scan, checking temperatures, updating drivers, and even installing fresh software. My hardware is a GTX 1070 with a Ryzen 1600 at 3.2 GHz and 8 GB RAM. Some people suggest adding more RAM or switching to an SSD, which I plan to do later. The problem started after I began tweaking the system to improve performance in Novigrad. A few weeks ago, I played PUBG for over a month without any issues, even on ultra settings with low difficulty. Another example: I could run games smoothly with Google Chrome open, since it uses a lot of memory. Thank you for your help and apologies for the lengthy explanation.
When you reach specific limits in games, new files are loaded from storage locations into your memory. Hard drive issues such as slower transactions can lead to the game freezing or stopping completely for extended periods. This occurred with my failing hard drive, and it became more severe as time passed.
You're experiencing several potential issues with your system. It seems background programs might be running in the background, possibly causing instability. There appears to be a memory or RAM concern, as the XMP settings aren't behaving as expected—try resetting them to default. Microflicks and sudden performance drops often point to RAM problems, not just a simple hardware fault. CPU overheating is likely due to dust buildup; a longer clean (like 2 hours) may help. Lastly, your HDD might be struggling, especially if it's not fully defragmented or lacks sufficient space.
I will try that, i hope it's something obvious like this, 1) I only installed it after the problem, but yeah i will remove it now. 2) i returned the ram to stock after i saw XMP didn't solve a thing. 3) Looking at CPUID in terms of heat the CPU looks pretty normal. 4) a) i defragmented already b) plenty of hard drive space left
Scan for malicious software. Enable advanced malware detection and perform a full system check. https://www.malwarebytes.com/premium/ Following this, perform a clean upgrade of your Nvidia drivers. This feature is available in the installation guide. Adjust VSync settings to use fast sync. For further guidance, run these commands in an admin prompt: To launch it, search for "command prompt" in Windows, right-click and select "Run as administrator." Execute: Dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth Once completed, proceed with: Sfc /scannow If the issue persists, turn off HPET (high precision event timer) in your BIOS settings. This can lower CPU usage and remove minor performance hiccups. I’ve done it myself. Then disable HPET in Windows via: In an administrator command prompt, type: bcdedit /set useplatformclock false
Check the manual for your motherboard to confirm the correct power-off locations. Ensure both settings are disabled in Windows. Verify which NVIDIA drivers you’re using and whether GeForce Experience is handling everything. If it’s working, disable it. Consider updating to newer drivers but back up your system first. For stability, try these adjustments: disable shader cache, turn off DSR, and set texture filtering quality to high. Also experiment with different Vsync settings in games—some require fast sync or a frame rate cap above 60 for smooth performance.
I successfully turned off Windows, but the issue remains. I've updated to the latest drivers, tried the ones used for playing PUGB, and even the older ones from last year didn't fix it. After switching to GeForce Experience, it stopped working. I'm considering your advice, though I'm skeptical because the problem started suddenly. I always played with VSync off, and I don’t mind the game freezing or stuttering. Here are some screenshots of my issue: https://prnt.sc/k8939z (FPS stays at 60) and https://prnt.sc/k894s1 (stutter appears on low settings). On a native 1080p resolution, the same happens even with DSR enabled.
He recently updated the NVIDIA drivers and noticed performance issues in games, which improved after reverting to older versions. It could be related.