Micro stutters in every game - AMD
Micro stutters in every game - AMD
Hello everyone, I’m trying to figure out what’s going on. It seems like a sudden issue is disrupting my usual gaming experience, especially with Warzone 2 and Unreal Tournament 4. I thought it might be related to Warzone 2, but the same problem popped up with another game. I went all out by purchasing a new GPU, yet the issue persists. I haven’t updated Windows before this and don’t recall any changes. Everything was fine until the third or fourth day of installing Warzone 2. After that, other games started causing similar skips.
I’ve checked for any internet issues, but I played single-player with bots and still experienced these delays. I noticed in the past that Docker Desktop, MongoDB, Microsoft SQL, and VMMEM.exe were running in the background. I tried stopping those processes with taskkill, but nothing helped. ESET isn’t the culprit, and Windows telemetry isn’t the cause either. I even tried a clean GPU installation with DDU, but it didn’t resolve the problem.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, any developer guidance to help troubleshoot this would be useful. It seems like the problem appeared out of nowhere and I can’t understand why.
What I’ve tried so far:
- DDU increased the issue
- Purchased a new GPU
- Restarted router and modem
- Ran DISM and SFC checks
- Applied system restore points
- Updated Windows
- Adjusted page file settings and managed system resources
- Disabled FTPM and security features
- Changed processes like vmmem.exe, Docker Desktop, MongoDB, and SQL
- Used different specs for the GPU
Details about my system:
Fractal Design Meshify C - Dark TG FD-CA-MESH-C-BKO-TG Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX Power Supply
EVGA 600 BR 100-BR-0600-K1 600 W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Non-Modular Active PFC PFC SLI Power Supply
XFX AMD Radeon RX 6600 (previously had RX 570)
Windows 10
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six-Core Processor
Silicon Power DDR4 RAM 16GB (8GBx2) Turbine 3200MHz (PC4 25600) 288-pin CL16 1.35V UDIMM Desktop Memory Module (SP016GXLZU320BDA)
Patriot Viper Elite II DDR4 32GB(2 x 16GB) 4000MHz Kit
LEVEN JS600 SSD 1TB 3D NAND SATA III Internal Solid State Drive - 6 Gb/s, 2.5 inch /7mm (0.28") - up to 560MB/s - Retail 1 Pack (Packaging May Vary)
WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB Internal SSD - SATA III 6Gb/s M.2 2280 Solid State Drive - WDS500G2B0B
MSI Arsenal Gaming AMD Ryzen 2ND and 3rd Gen AM4 M.2 USB 3 DDR4 DVI HDMI Crossfire ATX Motherboard (B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II)
What is the speed of your RAM? The first generation Ryzen CPU you own has higher latency than newer models and needs at least 3200 speed DDR 4 RAM to perform optimally. Even then, it still lags behind the latest Ryzen CPUs. If you happen to have 3200 or faster RAM, upgrading the CPU might be necessary. The 5600X is a well-known AMD CPU within a reasonable price range.
not all initial generations were capable of handling 3200mhz... however, even at 2133, microstutter should not occur unless it originated from storage
Sata or nvme?
If it's sata, navigate to device manager and verify ide ata/atapi controllers there. If they're using microsoft named drivers (standard ahci etc.), it's okay. If it's amd sata drivers, remove them including deleting driver backups.
Stuttering results from a brief shortage of a required resource.
In your situation, I believe the issue lies with the CPU.
Think about upgrading to a processor with better single-thread performance.
Execute cpu-Z benchmark and examine the single-thread results.
You should see a single-thread rating around 412:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/t2ju2b
The graph will display ratings for other processors as well.
That's accurate, but assigning fault to hardware isn't the best approach. What about interrupt storms? Will a new CPU resolve it? Perhaps internal CPU delays would be reduced, allowing better concealment, though some issues might remain. Regarding frame jitter, it can appear as skipped frames or microstuttering. Unless you're 100% certain it's defective, it's probably not the case. For OP, could you check your DPC and ISR latencies while gaming? Trying windowed or borderless mode might help, as fullscreen can cause spikes that are harder to detect later. https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon is a good resource. Download it, open your game, run latencymon, press the play button, switch to game mode and play briefly. If you notice microstutters, use alt+tab to return to latencymon and see if anything is detected.
It's well known the latency the 1st gen Ryzens had, especially when paired with low speed RAM, caused fluctuating frame rates and drops, which CAN cause stutter and even freezes. The fact that some older Ryzens at launch couldn't even handle 3200 speed RAM makes it even more clear what a mess AMD's Infinity Fabric design was back then.
IMO it took AMD FAR too long to make their Ryzen CPUs compatible with faster RAM, especially since their Infinity Fabric interconnects were tied to and therefore dependent on RAM speed for optimal performance, which is a stretch because there never was anything optimal about 1st gen Ryzens. May sound harsh, but true none the less.
Good points, but it should also be noted that considering the GPU he has, the 5600X competes admirably against other 5000 series Ryzens without costing too much, which is why I suggested it and why it's one of the most popular Ryzen CPUs. And as well, the Zen 3 processors improved quite a bit on latency and multithread performance, the latter of which is key for current games.
And here's an even better price on the Ryzen 5 5600X, and it's in stock.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1...x_3_7.html
I have bought from B&H Photo before and they are very good to do business with.