There is an in-game stutter, likely occurring when accessing data from storage?
There is an in-game stutter, likely occurring when accessing data from storage?
The MX500 benchmarks seem fine, but if you're sure you're using the correct SSD, it might point to a software issue. This problem appears consistent across all your games, not just Skyrim, where stuttering is often reported. Are you keeping the latest graphics card driver? If not, consider updating it. If you are, try removing it from your system with DDU and switching to an older driver. Alternatively, a full Windows reinstall could be worth a shot. Also, run some CPU benchmarks and use CPU-Z to verify your processor and RAM speeds are normal. I once had a Wolfdale processor on an ASRock board where everything seemed okay in BIOS, but later found it was actually running at 1.7 GHz because of a motherboard BIOS flaw that only fixed by a third-party update—remind me never to take things for granted.
It isn't the newest graphic driver available. I'm using Windows 7, so options are limited. I can try installing newer drivers with some adjustments, but it won't solve everything. I've been testing various drivers on my 1060 and always perform a clean reinstall using DDU in safe mode.
I prefer to avoid formatting because it doesn't guarantee improvement either. The CPU is functioning properly at 3.6 GHz, and the RAM is operating at its maximum capacity of 1600 MHz.
I'm familiar with this machine well. It's been with me for years, and I'm used to its performance levels. The same games I've played for a long time still run smoothly. There have been minor gains since switching from an i5 4590 to this Xeon—more hyper-threading, an extra 2MB of cache, and a higher clock speed of 100MHz. Additionally, I can now set my graphics settings much higher after upgrading from the 1060 to the 2060 Super.
My frames remain stable when all is loaded in-game. The only issue is occasional stuttering when accessing new content from disk and loading it into memory.
I've recorded another example, highlighting the most extreme case: stuttering when opening MSI Afterburner overlay for the first time during each game.
There seems to be a fundamental problem if this happens with something as simple as this.
I began drafting a detailed response, only to discover I was unfamiliar with ESET and learned it relates to security.
ESET Support:
"By default, your ESET product scans files upon creation or access. This works well in normal use but may lead to major performance problems for games that frequently load sound files, textures, and models."
ESET thread from 2022:
Users reported lag and stuttering during gaming even after enabling "Gamer Mode" and other settings.
It might be worth investigating ESET as a possible cause of your issue. Try disabling it while offline to see if the problem persists.
I notice the RTSS overlay is being used. If the GPU power monitor is turned on in rivatuner, it leads to stuttering during gameplay. The overlay remains active regardless of whether it's enabled or not. View: https://youtu.be/bQH3DYNboM0
ESET is known for developing popular antivirus software such as "NOD32," although they are now focusing more on their updated "Internet Security" product.
The program isn't receiving updates on Windows 7 anymore, but the database is refreshed daily, which is why I continue to use it.
This antivirus behaves similarly, making it one of my initial concerns. I added many exceptions—like Steam folders, games outside Steam, and the pagefile—to improve performance.
Even when I turned off real-time protection, the stuttering persisted. However, I never tried disabling internet access alongside the adjustment.
Additionally, the quality remains unchanged regardless of the starting frames; setting it to 15 or 10 still causes the issue.
I unticked "Power" in monitoring options, but it made no difference. I also verified some time ago that it's not caused by RTSS or Afterburner. Given this problem is consistent and easily reproducible as I don't even have to load to actual game, just RTSS overlay showing up for the first time is enough... but it's also easy to force it in games, just like in my third video. I just make a save in a open world games in a spot where I'm just a few steps away from LOD transition. So I just checked again. Closed both Afterburner and RTSS, loaded up that save from the third video in 1st post and run forward while also making some mouse movements and I can definitely feel stutter once that tree model loads in.
Consider using an NVMe drive along with a PCIe adapter.
The Intel 97 chipset was the initial one to support NVMe.
I owned two of these in my Sabertooth Z97 Mark S.
But it doesn't seem logical why I would need NVMe now. It would make more sense if I were attempting to run the latest Windows and games on this machine, but that's not my case. This PC was likely purchased in 2015 with a GTX 770, an i5 4590, and 8GB of 1600Mhz RAM. I remember playing games like Crysis 2 without any issues. Over the years I made some upgrades, but eventually this system reached its limits, so I had to accept stuttering in newer titles. This was usually due to my GPU or CPU struggling under heavy load (90-100% usage). So I became accustomed to stuttering, which is why the current problem with assets loading feels so natural. It started to stand out when I experienced stuttering in older games with around 30% CPU and GPU usage. Then I focused on real-time asset loading.
I can now open the oldest 3D application available and assure you that any missing preloaded data will cause stuttering if it needs to be read from disk. This issue is evident when RTSS overlay stutters in the main menu. Even a slow HDD should handle opening it without problems.
It makes me think there might be a way to test this outside of 3D apps, but I can't confirm because file explorer works fine and I don’t notice any lag when opening folders on my SSD.
Well then, if you're certain it's not ESET, we're back to my initial version.
You're dealing with a drive access issue. It seems the specifications aren't sufficient, there might be a hardware fault, or a software glitch.
Since these are old games on an SSD, if the specs check out, it likely points to a hardware or software concern.
The CrystalDiskMark scores are accurate, temperatures and health are normal, suggesting a software-related problem.
If the issue persists across all titles, it probably isn't just a problem with this specific game.
If you think drivers and settings can be simplified and none of the other processes are active, then the chances of resolving it are low.
Reinstalling Windows might be your only option, but if you're not sure it will fix the problem, you're left with no real solution.
I'll note this: it's possible you've turned off a crucial process or service, and a fresh Windows install is needed.
To be frank, minimizing the system tray for 'performance' is no longer a priority with modern multi-core processors and OS versions that utilize them. I haven't touched it since WinXP.
You're running an 8-thread processor with 16 GB RAM. Unless you're certain a background process is causing trouble, it's safer to ignore it rather than delete it without certainty. Chesterton's Fence.