Constant hitching
A_Gay_Possum
Join Date: 2013-08-31 Member: 187372Members, Reinforced - Supporter
Join Date: 2013-08-31 Member: 187372Members, Reinforced - Supporter
So I've been having trouble with hitching for quite some time now. It's persisted through many updates, so I figured I better try to get to the bottom of it. What will happen is that my screen will freeze for just a moment, then continue on as normal. Some maps it seems to happen more than others (biodome and eclipse for example) but it is not map specific. Some games it happens constantly, and others barely at all. It can happen at anytime in the game, not only in late game. Let me be clear that it's not a performance issue, I find the FPS I get in game to be sufficient except for the hitching. I've tried changing from DX11 to DX9 thinking it may have something to do with that, but to no avail. I've also tried playing with the settings a bit, but nothing really seems to help.
After some reading around, it seems that some screen shots of the profile at the time when the hitching occurred are needed, so here are mine. Let me know if there's some other info that's needed.
System specs are:
i5 3570k @ 3.4 ghz
8GB RAM
GTX 660 2GB
Any help with the issue will be greatly appreciated
After some reading around, it seems that some screen shots of the profile at the time when the hitching occurred are needed, so here are mine. Let me know if there's some other info that's needed.
System specs are:
i5 3570k @ 3.4 ghz
8GB RAM
GTX 660 2GB
Any help with the issue will be greatly appreciated
Comments
This is my DX11 run, map Biodome 24players:
Besides that, I've already tried DX9, but the hitching still remains
Does it happen when you round specific corners? When you turn quickly? etc??
It may be a Nvidia specific issue regarding VRAM allocation. In the meantime.. could you turn the textures down to medium and tell me if it still persists?
I turned that option on as soon as it came out. No difference for me.
I can't say for certain if it's only at specific locations on the map, but I do believe you're on the right track. It does seem to happen as I am moving through the map, or when I turn quickly. Annoyingly, it does seem to happen more often when getting into a battle and my mouse starts moving around, which usually leads to my death.
I tried playing with textures on medium, and it seems better after a brief test, but there are still hitches. I'll have to do more testing to see if there is a notable improvement or not.
I also noticed hitching sometimes when opening the scoreboard or the map. I can post the screenshots if needed.
If so, could you perhaps download that, turnit on, make sure it is recording VRAM usage and then play with your normal settings (aka, textures high etc...).
1.I am actually curious how much VRAM is being used...
2. furthermore what the VRAm usage difference for you is on medium and High textures.
3. Also, if there is a spike on the VRAM usage graph when the hitching occurs for you.
1) On medium, I use 1100 MB VRAM, 1500-1600 on high. It also seems to climb a tiny bit as the game progresses, but only by a few MB by the end.
2) There are no spikes on VRAM usage when I hitch, but I do notice a spike in my GPU usage (it drops)
3) When I used EVGA Precision, I get the same thing as @Mige, spikes in framerate ms
4) I noticed a significant difference when I switched from medium to high textures while in game. Medium seemed fine or barely noticeable, and when I switched to high I was hitching all over the place. This may have been due to switching during a game, I usually don't hitch that much on high textures.
I bought a new PC with a GTX 970 - first I was happy with the fps as they are constantly on 120 fps or above. Then I experienced this hitching. Sudden frame drops from 120 to 70-90 and r_stats shows 3-5ms of waiting for GPU. After that all back to normal. Occures at fast movements and when I turn around ( joined an empty server, flew around as a Lerk, no hitching at all though). Checked with OSD from msi afterburner and it seems the Card is only using 1 Gb of VRAM - it stays around ~1090mb
How can I give you more precise data about this problem? just p_logall? Install fraps and log the fps drops? Maybe there is a solution to this problem already?
Edit: oh and btw my old PC has an AMD 7870 (runs with lower fps but without hitching/problems)
Edit2: tested around a little bit, in DX11 it doesn't show the VRAM properly (alway 4GB free), with DX9 it seems to work. But I get lower fps than with DX11, is that normal?
DX11 has complete different fps and stability then DX9.. DX11 in ns2 is much more experimental and if it works better or worse is totally a individual case.
Tbh im kinda impressed you see a hitch if its still 70fps and a mere 5ms waittime but each eyes are different..
While you are at it also make a techsupport.exe filedump. I do not need you to run ns2 at this time, since you do not crash I doubt anyone is interested in your dumpfile. (They can always ask anyway).
You did set the correct vram options in NS2s menu?
NS2 uses around 1-1.7GB of vram last I checked so that sounds perfectly fine.
Often cards lie about there vram in DX9.. DX11 reports this much more accurate.
I assume you may have hitches when something is first loaded in. This would result in it not hitching the 2nd time you need it, as its already loaded. More VRAM keeps more loaded if I understood correct, but on the first load it shall always be less fast.