DLSS causes horrible stuttering / skipping

[tranceport26]

Since launch, I've not had any issues with Cyberpunk. One of the lucky few, I guess. I upgraded my graphics card to an RTX 4080 a little while back, and was super impressed. I have not been able to play since the expansion however (whether it was the expansion, update 2.0, or the release or DLSS 3.5, I don't know - I unfortuantely don't get a tonne of time to play, so can't pinpoint when it all started happening).
The best way to describe my issue is to see it in action:

I knew that the update and expansion would slow things down, but my framerate has dropped dramatically, and when DLSS is turned on, it is totally unplayable. Stuttering / frame skipping. I've not seen this before.

I have tried:
- Uninstalling drivers (using DDU, safe mode etc) and reinstalling,
- Repairing game,
- Completely uninstalling and reinstalling game,
- Checking NVIDIA Control Panel has monitor set to 144Hz and G-SYNC enabled,
- Fiddling with every damn graphical setting in-game, and
- Manually updating the DLSS files in the folder (I thought it was odd they didn't get updated, even after I uninstalled the game, made sure there were no traces of it, and then reinstalled).

Nothing helps.

Official support told me to use DDU, then ghosted me.

I figured I would eliminate drivers, my card, DLSS etc etc by testing a couple of games i have that use DLSS 3 - Diablo IV, Deliver Us Mars and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Diablo and Deliver Us Mars work just fine, no issue at all. And guess what? Witcher 3 does the same darn thing Cyberpunk does:

I am stumped. Both Cyberpunk and Witcher 3 used to work just fine for me. I am at a loss as to what to try next.

Anyone seen this before? And suggestion, please?

EDIT: Should mention the rest of my specs, in case that is somehow useful:
i5 13600K, no OC
Gigabyte Z790 board
32GB DDR5, no OC
Windows 11, always kept updated
All games installed on old Samsung 850 Evo SSD

 

[huccis]

Hasn't happened to me, but the easiest way to figure out whether it's a software or hardware issue is to have a separate windows installation on another SSD. You don't have to activate that windows (create an offline account, you'll just have a marker that tells you this windows isn't activated) and the SSD can be something like 240GB (as long as it's enough for windows + drivers + game) which can be bought for less than 20€.

 

[tranceport26]

Hasn't happened to me, but the easiest way to figure out whether it's a software or hardware issue is to have a separate windows installation on another SSD. You don't have to activate that windows (create an offline account, you'll just have a marker that tells you this windows isn't activated) and the SSD can be something like 240GB (as long as it's enough for windows + drivers + game) which can be bought for less than 20€.

Cheers. I already have Windows on a separate drive, if that's what you mean? I've a few drives for assorted things. I have tried installed Cyberpunk on a couple of different drives and it same issue occurs.

 

[Nixilos]

Cyberpunk Ultra Plus Better Path Tracing and Stutter Hotfix This mod and the accompanying directions fixed it for me on my 4060.

I think reinstalling your drivers would have done it already, but make sure you clear your shader cache too.

 

[huccis]

Cheers. I already have Windows on a separate drive, if that's what you mean? I've a few drives for assorted things. I have tried installed Cyberpunk on a couple of different drives and it same issue occurs.

Nah, what I meant is basically trying if a clean windows install would fix it - installing *only* windows + drivers + game on another drive. No motherboard bloatware, no nonsense, only essentials. If it works with a clean install, well, after that it's up to you if it's worth it trying to find the software conflict in your original windows installation (which can take hours or even remain unsolved) or if it's better to just reinstall windows. You can download installation media straight from Microsoft, and you don't have to buy another windows license to test what I described.

 

[northwold]

Don't know if this moves thing forward any but DLSS frame generation has been causing stutter issues across a whole litany of games so it sounds like this is something Nvidia themselves will need to address.

I don't know if they have a function to directly report things on their websites. I guess if nothing else you could post on their forums.

 

[SikerLV]

I'm facing exactly the same issue on 2.1 Update, the stutter and screen freezes are unreal. They happen almost every second, impossible to play the game in this state...

 

[endersgones]

Very late, but having the same problem. It works smoothy sometimes after switching from one mode to another (regardless of whether I'm going up and down in quality). For example it will often work normally/silky smooth after switching from performance to balanced or even switching to quality; but at random it just starts absurd levels of stutter again.

On lower resolutions I get better performance with dlss off, so bizarre. Scanning and opening menus definitely starts the issue everytime, so I try to avoid these things...but a pretty silly and ridiculous problem.

*For anyone reading this in the future, I have found a somewhat decent fix. I'd look into videos covering disabling shader pre-caching. Essentially turn it on or off before launching--> just doing one or the other before launching, doesn't matter the current setting.

There's more about it on youtube--- I'm dumb so I couldn't explain to you why that should have any beneficial effect for myself or potentially you (*scratches head*), just reporting my anecdotal experience.