Unexpected pauses and visual glitches occur during gameplay in Dirt Rally 1.0.
Unexpected pauses and visual glitches occur during gameplay in Dirt Rally 1.0.
Greetings everyone,
Dirt Rally 1.0 has recently begun to experience stuttering despite running smoothly for a long time. Occasionally, I can navigate a track flawlessly, only to suddenly encounter stuttering on the same path. Although Steam’s overlay doesn't indicate any frame drops, it appears as though frames are being skipped rather than lost. This resembles an online lag issue, even though I'm playing in single-player mode with an Xbox 360 controller. The problem persists regardless of my chosen graphics settings, even when set to low.
I’ve already attempted the following solutions:
* Updated and reinstalled all drivers, including those for my graphics card, USB ports, network adapter, chipset, and BIOS.
* Updated the operating system.
* Adjusted my CPU clock speed between 4 GHz and 4.4 GHz, and then returned it to 4 GHz.
* Moved the game files to a separate SSD drive.
* Disconnected and reconnected my controller in multiple USB ports.
* Checked the hard drive and RAM for any errors.
* Ran benchmarks to test my GPU’s performance (Furmark, 3D Mark) – these tests showed no issues.
* Investigated potential temperature problems.
* Disabled the Steam overlay and deactivated Nvidia features, experimenting with different configurations both in-game and within the Nvidia control panel, but the issue remains consistent across all settings, even at low levels.
* Utilized DirectX Diagnostic Tool (DxDiag) to look for errors.
* Activated and deactivated Vsync, with no effect on the problem.
During these stuttering occurrences, my GPU, CPU, RAM, and hard drive usage remain significantly below 100%. I believe I’ve exhausted most potential troubleshooting steps. Here are my system specifications:
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home - Version 10.0.18362 Build 18362
* Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz, 4008 MHz, 4 Cores, 8 Logical Processors
* BIOS Version: American Megatrends Inc. 1.I0, 26.06.2018
* Mainboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977)
* Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G
* RAM: DIMM 32 GB DDR4-2133
* Audio: Realtech High Definition Audio / Scarlett 2i2 USB
* Hard Drive: MZ-75E500B 500 GB, Solid State Drive
* Power Supply: POWER ZONE 750W
If anyone has any further suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them. Thank you for your assistance!
I’ve conducted further investigation. I completely reinstalled both Windows and the game. Despite these efforts, the problem persisted, leading me to suspect a hardware malfunction.
I examined the BIOS and discovered that my CPU was being limited to 800MHz, a value reflected in Windows. I performed a CMOS reset (by removing the battery) to rectify this, and initially, the CPU speed returned to normal. However, the issue continued to reappear after a period.
Using Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, I observed that my CPU consistently experienced thermal throttling to 800MHz, despite maintaining temperatures between 30 and 40°C – levels considered perfectly acceptable. Consequently, I disabled the thermal protection feature in the BIOS and restarted Windows. Temperatures remained stable, but the throttling no longer occurred. Following testing with Dirt and other games, I confirmed that this was indeed the root of the problem, resulting in stable performance.
My concern now is regarding this feature. I prefer to keep it enabled, as it’s a crucial safeguard against potential overheating. Currently, my temperatures rarely exceed 60°C. What is causing this intermittent thermal throttling, and what steps can I take to resolve it without disabling the protection?
Thank you in advance for your assistance.