Stuttering when FPS is below 60

Taras Bulba · Jul 20, 2014

The stutter occurs when FPS drops below 60 (refresh rate of my monitor). As long as FPS is above 60, gameplay is butter smooth.

It feels like something like this, but a little bit better (the video is not mine): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYhDgYkplvk

My specs:
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.1GHz
RAM: 8192MB RAM
Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 1GB

If I should provide you with more information on my hardware, I'm ready and willing.

clutchc · Jul 20, 2014

Probably poor frame time is what you are experiencing. Your card and processor is not the best. What resolution are you gaming at?

Taras Bulba · Jul 20, 2014

1280-1024
The monitor is 64.0 kHz 60Hz 17-inch.

Outlander_04 · Jul 20, 2014

Buy a better graphics card .

A radeon R7 260 , or an older 7770

Eduello · Jul 20, 2014

Why is your resolution 1080p in the settings of the game if you're not playing on a 1080p screen? Try using the native resolution of the screen

Taras Bulba · Jul 20, 2014

Well, the native resolution is stated as 1280-1024. My monitor is not wide-screen.

Eduello · Jul 20, 2014

Yes, but why have you set your resolution as 1920x1080 in the settings of your game (check your video)? Try using 1280x1024.

Taras Bulba · Jul 20, 2014

The video is not mine, I just linked it here to show the kind of stutter I'm experiencing.

clutchc · Jul 20, 2014

Taras Bulba :

You can easily get a better card... even for that dual core processor. Do you know the make/model of your PSU? I wouldn't want to recommend anything that would kill the PSU.

Taras Bulba · Jul 21, 2014

As far as I remember, it's Thermaltake with 600 W. It far exceeds my required power supply.

So I assume there is no fix for stuttering without actually buying new hardware? I thought the problem is in hardware conflicts or maybe the monitor is too old or something. Maybe sounds like bullshit, just guessing.

When one's rig is insufficient for a game, the game lags with FPS drops. But when one has high FPS in the game and it still stutters, the problem is not in the rig being old, I think. For example, recently released DMC (Devil May cry 5) and Dark Souls 2 run butter-smooth on max settings on my system, while old Sacred 2 stutters like crazy (physics disabled).

clutchc · Jul 21, 2014

I feel your issue is still poor frame times with that older card and CPU. It involves Frame Time Variance, the extra long length of time a few frames take to be rendered causes the apparent stutter... while the overall FPS still remains high. Here is a better description of it: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-benchmarking-frame-rate,3466.html

Taras Bulba · Jul 21, 2014

Thank you for the link.
Maybe I can overclock something or do I risk screwing things up?

clutchc · Jul 21, 2014

Taras Bulba :

No, depending on the quality of the MB, OC'ing the CPU is an option. But with a locked clock multiplier, you will only get a few MHZ improvement. The card may be more easily OC'd via software, like Precision X: http://www.evga.com/precision (free for registering)

If upgrading the other components is impractical right now, that may be enough to make the difference.

Taras Bulba · Jul 21, 2014

I see. Is there a risk to shorten the life of my graphic card after overclocking it?
And how do I overclock it properly? What are the limits?
I know it's a bunch of questions to answer but you're probably my last hope.

clutchc · Jul 21, 2014

Taras Bulba :

The card is a few years old. Its components are less than at the top of their life span. I would keep the OC to reasonable limits. Maybe 10-15% on the core clock. Same with the CPU. But I doubt you'll get that much with the CPU w/o an unlocked multiplier. What motherboard do you have?

And I wouldn't OC the CPU w/o replacing the stock cooler with an aftermarket one. Also, I would replace the dried out thermal paste on the gfx card before OC'ing it. And be sure the case has good air flow and is dust free.

Taras Bulba · Jul 22, 2014

Gigabyte GA-EP43T-UD3L

lightcloud · Jul 22, 2014

My advice is to get a mid range graphics card and a better processor. As this is usually the case when recording.

clutchc · Jul 22, 2014

Taras Bulba :

Yeah, that was a nice board. But it wasn't an overclocker. Poor phase power design, and no heatsinks on the VRMs. I don't think you are going to get much of an OC out of the E7500 without frying the board. Maybe look for a used Q9xxx quad core.

You can find the CPU support list here* (under Support and Downloads). It will list the CPUs that the board supports and the BIOS version necessary for it to be recognized.

* At the top of the page is a list of revisions to that board. Be sure to identify which is yours.

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