Stuttering on new GTX 1080

[satch919]

Stuttering on new GTX 1080

I recently bought a GTX 1080 (upgraded from AMD 280x) and I'm having trouble getting this game to run without hitching/stuttering. I've tried most of the tweaks from the compendium (those that apply to Nvidia users) and other suggestions found on other forums and I still can't get things running well. The game stutters just when I approach NPCs. Towns and cities seem to make the issue worse. I'm running everything at their max settings at 1080p (Fullscreen setting). Here's what my system specs are:

i5 2500k at 4.4GHz
GTX 1080
16gb of RAM
Windows 7
Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM drive
Antec 750W High Current Gamer Series

I've had no issues with other games. This has gotten to be rather frustrating because I really enjoy The Witcher games. I did drop the resolution down to 720p and that seemed to get rid of the stutter. But it looks like a blurry mess on the monitor since it's native 1080p. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here's my user.settings profile:

[Gameplay/EntityPool]
SpawnedLimit=150
[Hidden]
HasSeenDLCMessage=true
HasSetup=true
WorldMapPreviewMode=1
uiVerticalFrameScale=0.9975
uiHorizontalFrameScale=1
[Localization]
RequestedSpeechLanguage=
SpeechLanguage=EN
RequestedTextLanguage=
TextLanguage=EN
[Viewport]
VSync=true
Resolution="1920x1080"
FullScreenMode=2
VSyncThreshold=0
OutputMonitor=0
[Hud]
NPCNames=false
OnelinersModule=false
HudSize=0
[Budget]
TerrainTileMipDataBudget=100
TerrainTileMinTimeout=2
TerrainTileTimeout=10
OcclusionQueryAdditionalMemory=5
TerrainTileLoadingTimeout=5
[ContentManager/Mods]
MaxNameLength=64
Enabled=true
[Audio]
Subtitles=true
[LoadingScreen/TCR]
ShowProgress=true
[Game]
DoNotPauseWhileStopped=false
[Scripts]
DebugScriptsForceFlush=true
DebugScriptsLogDir=
[PostProcess]
SharpenAmount=1
MotionBlurPositionTreshold=0.05
AllowVignette=false
MotionBlurRotationTreshold=1
AllowDOF=false
SSAOSolution=2
[Input]
PadVibrationEnabled=true
KeyboardCooldownSpeed=0.1
InvertCameraXOnMouse=false
InvertCameraYOnMouse=false
CameraAutoRotX=true
InvertCameraX=false
UIMouseSensitivity=0.5
CameraAutoRotY=true
RightStickCameraSensitivity=1
InvertCameraY=false
RightStickAimSensitivity=1
MouseSensitivity=0.5
SteamController=0
ForceDisablePad=false
[DLC]
DlcEnabled_dlc_010_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_015_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_005_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_007_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_013_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_004_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_006_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_001_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_008_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_011_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_002_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_014_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_009_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_012_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_003_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_016_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_011_002=1
[Gameplay]
Difficulty=3
EnableUberMovement=1
AutoCameraCenter=false
[LevelOfDetail]
SwarmHideDistance=200
DecalsHideDistance=80
DimmerHideDistance=60
DynamicDecalsHideDistance=20
StripeHideDistance=60
[General]
ConfigVersion=2
[LoadingScreen/Editor]
Disabled=false
[LoadingOverlay/TCR]
FadeOutCooldownExtraTime=1
FadeInSpinnerTime=1
NoninteractiveSpinnerTime=3
FadeOutSpinnerTime=1
NoninteractiveEndCooldown=1
[Visuals]
AllowClothSimulationOnGpu=false
InventoryBgColorScaleB=0.036
InventoryFixedLuminance=0.25
InventoryBgColorScaleG=0.034
MovieFramerate=30
GammaValue=0.66
InventoryBgColorScaleR=0.02
[Rendering]
GrassDensity=2400
DecalsSpawnDistanceCutoff=10
GlobalOceanTesselationFactor=48
CascadeShadowFadeTreshold=1
HairWorksGlobalWidthLimit=5
CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=1.5
MaxTextureAnizotropy=16
HairWorksGlobalDensityQuality=1
TextureMemoryBudget=4096
CascadeShadowDistanceScale3=1.5
HairWorkstGlobalDensityLimit=2
TextureStreamingHeadsDistanceLimitSq=100
MeshLODDistanceScale=1
ScaleformTextureUnstreamDelay=2.5
DecalsChance=1
TerrainReadAheadDistance=200
HairWorksLevel=2
TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold=1.6
TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThresholdFar=3.5
TextureStreamingCharacterDistanceLimitSq=225
MaxTerrainShadowAtlasCount=4
TextureStreamingDistanceLimitSq=40000
HairWorksGlobalDetailLODFactor=1
TextureMipBias=-1
TextureInFlightBudget=128
TextureInFlightCountBudget=12
PreserveSystemGamma=false
TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier=6
CascadeShadowmapSize=3072
CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=1
MeshRenderingDistanceScale=1
CascadeShadowQuality=1
CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=1
[Input/Gestures]
EnableSwipe=true
EnablePan=true
EnableGestures=true
EnablePinch=true
[LoadingScreen]
FadeInTime=3
SkipShowWithAnyKey=true
GameRevealTime=3
SkipHideDelay=3
SkipInputDelay=0.25
FadeOutTime=1.5
SkipAutoshow=false
[Engine]
LimitFPS=0
[Rendering/SpeedTree]
GrassGenerationEfficiency=0.075
GrassDistanceScale=1.5
FoliageDistanceScale=1.8
FoliageShadowDistanceScale=54
GrassRingSize=16777216
[Gameplay/BoatCamera]
BoatLocalSpaceCamera=false
[Save]
ShowCompatWarning=false
[Kinect]
Kinect=true
[Foliage]
MaxVisibilityDepth=24

 

[Fieldcrab]

Probably a CPU bottleneck or the HDD. I suggest you turn off the in-game vsync and use Adaptive-sync found in the NVidia control panel + fullscreen. This should make the stutters less noticeable whilst introducing some tearing when dropping below 60 FPS. Might want to decrease population density also.

I used to have some quite noticeable stutters with my old 4690k @ 4.5GHz + 980Ti whilst in cities. ( I have a 4790k @ 4.5GHz now and stutters in Novigrad are pretty much all gone.)

Seeing that you have plenty of GPU horsepower to spare you could use DSR to downscale from 1440p for improved visuals or getting KNG's Ultra grass mode for som epic looking grass.

 

[LoveGOG]

In the wilderness the game will utilize a lot from the GPU, but around NPCs - and especially in cities - the CPU usage will go up tenfold. That i5 2500K, while still a good CPU, is starting to show its age in games that will use a lot of power from the CPU like The Witcher 3. Monitor the usage on your cores to verify that it's a bottleneck with programs like MSI Afterburner, because I think it is.

 

[satch919]

Probably a CPU bottleneck or the HDD. I suggest you turn off the in-game vsync and use Adaptive-sync found in the NVidia control panel + fullscreen. This should make the stutters less noticeable whilst introducing some tearing when dropping below 60 FPS. Might want to decrease population density also.

I used to have some quite noticeable stutters with my old 4690k @ 4.5GHz + 980Ti whilst in cities. ( I have a 4790k @ 4.5GHz now and stutters in Novigrad are pretty much all gone.)

Seeing that you have plenty of GPU horsepower to spare you could use DSR to downscale from 1440p for improved visuals or getting KNG's Ultra grass mode for som epic looking grass.

Thanks for the reply. I wonder if it really is a CPU or HDD issue. I don't seem to have an issue with any other games. But perhaps they're not as intensive on these components. I tried switching the in-game vsync to adaptive w/ full screen and this still doesn't address the issue. And even when I lower the population I still get some stuttering, though it isn't quite as rough.

I enabled DSR and the image looks a bit more clear. Thanks for the suggestion.

In the wilderness the game will utilize a lot from the GPU, but around NPCs - and especially in cities - the CPU usage will go up tenfold. That i5 2500K, while still a good CPU, is starting to show its age in games that will use a lot of power from the CPU like The Witcher 3. Monitor the usage on your cores to verify that it's a bottleneck with programs like MSI Afterburner, because I think it is.

Issue is, I don't remember having this issue with stuttering when I was running a 280x. Though I could be mistaken as my memory is not always the best. But you could be right about the CPU. The thing has been good to me all this time. I was hoping that it still had some longevity. I'll monitor CPU usage to get a more clear understanding of what's going on. Thanks.

 

[nfi42]

I believe it's a streaming issue. CPU and/or HD could be the cause. A large open world game will utilize the CPU more than any other game.

There is also a .ini setting which increases the amount of memory the game uses which could help. Can't remember what it's called but it's in this thread somewhere

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/63999-The-compendium-of-tweaks-and-fixes-for-the-PC-version

 

[Vistula77]

I run smoothly on GTX 1080 and old i7 980X CPU in 4K native resolution without any problems on ultra settings. Please try lower you graphics settings to low - if it will stutter again that CPU is the bootleneck. Try overclock it or turn off hyperthreading in BIOS.

Try set PhysX to graphics card in NVidia settings panel and "prefer max performance" in NVidia 3D settings.

 

[LoveGOG]

Even if that i7 980X is old it still have 12 logical processors whereas Satch only has 4. That 2500K CPU doesn't support hyperthreading so there's nothing to turn off or on.

 

[satch919]

Even if that i7 980X is old it still have 12 logical processors whereas Satch only has 4. That 2500K CPU doesn't support hyperthreading so there's nothing to turn off or on.

Exactly. And, Vistula, I have the processor overclocked already. I have already tried changing the PhysX settings to check if there was any appreciable difference. No change.

I used MSI Afterburner to monitor the CPU usage and the highest it got when running around in a town was 88%. I don't know what to make of that but that's what it showed.

 

[LoveGOG]

Interesting, is at 88% on all 4 cores? How's the temperature by the way? Any loss in clock speeds? Try running the program for a while while playing with stutters and post all the results here, preferably screenshots on those graphs so we can see when stutters occurs.

 

[satch919]

One core hit 88% and the others hit 86% and a little lower. But nothing went beyond 88% throughout all the cores.

I'll have to get some more play time in to monitor the temps and possible loss in clock speeds. Thanks for your input, btw. I appreciate it.

---------- Updated at 08:29 PM ----------

Okay, I ran Afterburner for a bit and everything looked pretty normal but I was still getting a lot of stutter at the Bloody Baron's place. However, when I closed the game and went to my system tray I noticed there were new drivers to download for my card. I installed the newly released Nvidia drivers and also limited my frame rate to 60fps through Riva Tuner. The game runs much smoother now. I get a little bit of a hiccup and the fps still drops to 59.5 or so but it's not as jarring as it had been. I'm gonna go to Novigrad and see what the performance is like there since it was definitely at it's worse at that location.

 

[Marcin_89.683]

I think this is your problem with 1080 :

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...ies/gtx-1080-high-dpc-latency-and-stuttering/

 

[satch919]

Thanks for the link, Marcin_89.683. Unfortunate that this is happening with this card. Hopefully Nvidia gets a hotfix out soon so I can see if this was the culprit.

 

[GerardofRiviera]

I have a 2500K and also installed on a 7200rpm HDD and I don't experience any stuttering.

 

[satch919]

Gerard, do you have a GTX 1080 as well?

 

[davidtt]

I have a gtx 1080, a 6600k, 16go and ssd and I have no stuttering. I played every settings maxed (except msaa 4x for hairworks) at 1080p, vsynch on and 60fps cap.

The gpu load is about 70-80%

But in some place my 6600k (non oc) reach 100% load...!
Maybe your cpu bottleneck your gpu.

If you set your game with vsynch off, no fps cap and, with the help of a frame counters (like Fraps), your fps sometime go below 60fps I am almost sure your are cpu bottleneck.

(You can also try the "maximum pre rendered frame" in the nvidia control panel).