Studder non stop on new machine

Was it your goal to buy a fast gaming rig or a top of the line video editing workstation? Digital Storm sold you a video editing workstation. You way overspent on CPU/Mobo/RAM. You could have bought a second 2080 Ti with that budget.

The Threadripper 3970X ($1900) is a great CPU for production work that will smoke my CPU on a Cinebench run but it won't run games faster. You would have been better off with the $400 3900X or even better the $250 Intel 10600K and overclocked it.

32GB of RAM is sufficient for DCS and games and will be for a while. 128GB will help with video editing. If you want to spend extra on RAM, buy a high binned b-die RAM kit that can stay stable at 4000MHz+ at the lowest latency possible.

Now since you said capping your framerate at 60fps didn't work I'd double check that since that's the cause of most people's issues with stuttering/TrackIR.

Firstly, check that high performance is enabled for your CPU in Windows, as well. If a tech remoted in he should have done so but maybe not.

Next, make sure to enable the XMP profile for your memory. Even if your system was shipped with a factory tune, something could have easily got reset.

Third disable SMT in your BIOS, it provides no benefit in most games. In fact throwing 64 threads at DCS may be your issue.

After that I'd look into a free utility called Process Lasso and what "core affinity" is. Assign 4 specific cores for DCS and 1 for TrackIR. DCS will use 3 tops. You can also easily put your rig into a high performance mode that limits the impact of background programs.

Windows will by default switch DCS and TrackIR rapidly between cores in an attempt to be more efficient and keep the CPU cool. You want to prevent that, it doesn't help framerate or stuttering. And since your system has a cooling loop it won't be an issue, it's more helpful with a laptop running day to day programs.

And as always, delete FXO and Metashaders folders to rule that out.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=171754

Some things that have kept things smooth for me over the years...your mileage may vary.

Was it your goal to buy a fast gaming rig or a top of the line video editing workstation? Digital Storm sold you a video editing workstation. You way overspent on CPU/Mobo/RAM. You could have bought a second 2080 Ti with that budget.

 

The Threadripper 3970X ($1900) is a great CPU for production work that will smoke my CPU on a Cinebench run but it won't run games faster. You would have been better off with the $400 3900X or even better the $250 Intel 10600K and overclocked it.

 

32GB of RAM is sufficient for DCS and games and will be for a while. 128GB will help with video editing. If you want to spend extra on RAM, buy a high binned b-die RAM kit that can stay stable at 4000MHz+ at the lowest latency possible.

 

Now since you said capping your framerate at 60fps didn't work I'd double check that since that's the cause of most people's issues with stuttering/TrackIR.

 

Firstly, check that high performance is enabled for your CPU in Windows, as well. If a tech remoted in he should have done so but maybe not.

 

Next, make sure to enable the XMP profile for your memory. Even if your system was shipped with a factory tune, something could have easily got reset.

 

Third disable SMT in your BIOS, it provides no benefit in most games. In fact throwing 64 threads at DCS may be your issue.

 

After that I'd look into a free utility called Process Lasso and what "core affinity" is. Assign 4 specific cores for DCS and 1 for TrackIR. DCS will use 3 tops. You can also easily put your rig into a high performance mode that limits the impact of background programs.

 

Windows will by default switch DCS and TrackIR rapidly between cores in an attempt to be more efficient and keep the CPU cool. You want to prevent that, it doesn't help framerate or stuttering. And since your system has a cooling loop it won't be an issue, it's more helpful with a laptop running day to day programs.

 

And as always, delete FXO and Metashaders folders to rule that out.

Hi Sn8ke,

I may have spent two much money on this machine, but my hope was that I could use it for DCS and possibly other flight sims down the road. I have always wanted to get into DCS and thought that this machine would have no problem trying to run it as well as other software.

I will contact the Digital Storm Tech and verify that the high performance is enabled for my CPU in Windows. My guess it already is. They spent a lot of time tweaking this machine.

I do know that they check the memory and since this is a AMD computer they give XMP Memory profiles another name, but they did check to make sure that the memory profile was turned on and it is set to 3200 MHz.

I'll will also mention the SMT in the Bios as you suggested. I believe this processor has 32 cores, but I believe most games only use 2 to 4 at best. I just figured that DCS would leave the other cores alone, but some day if I get into video editing I figure I could use them.

I will also try deleting FXO and Metashaders folders to rule that out. not sure what that it so I do not know what I am loosing by deleting it, but at this point I have nothing to loose.

I tried reinstalling DCS on my primary M.2 drive just to see if that would make a difference, but like everything I have tried it had no affect. No matter what I do I still see my frame rate cut in half every second and I tried setting the refresh rate to 60 Hz, but as you know that did not help either.

I thought about getting a second video board, but I see a lot of game developers moving away from SLI and in the old days DCS did not play well with SLI so I just figured one RTX 2080 Ti liquid cooled would be enough.

It's just giving me a headache sitting in a training mission and watching other aircraft move in a jerky fashion as they move past me or trying to move my head around with Track IR and having it pause every second.

Not sure what DCS is doing in the background, but like you said I have watched Cinebench, Heaven, and Furmark all run as smooth as silk so it has to be something that DCS does not like about this machine.

Thanks for the advice.

Regards,

Feetwet

You have great system. It should run DCS fine.

Regarding stutter you can try this

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums%2Eeagle%2Eru%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D251377&share_tid=251377&share_fid=74365&share_type=t&link_source=app

 

Good luck and welcome to DCS.

I had a similar problem. Adding the autoexec.cfg referenced above cleared it up for me and has for a lot of others also.

I had a similar problem. Adding the autoexec.cfg referenced above cleared it up for me and has for a lot of others also.

I tried it and it had no effect.

Thanks,

Feetwet

I wonder if you can use OpenTrack as software instead of Natural Point software.

I use OpenTrack and PS3eye Camera so I'm not sure if its doable but If I were you I'd try that since it seem turn off the TrackIr solved the stuttering. Whatever you do it'd be better to have a backup first, just in case.

Or you could try to ask directly to Natural Point CS about this issue. Maybe they have the solution.

Good luck.

I wonder if you can use OpenTrack as software instead of Natural Point software.

I use OpenTrack and PS3eye Camera so I'm not sure if its doable but If I were you I'd try that since it seem turn off the TrackIr solved the stuttering. Whatever you do it'd be better to have a backup first, just in case.

Or you could try to ask directly to Natural Point CS about this issue. Maybe they have the solution.

 

Good luck.

I don't thinks it's a Track IR problem any more. I think Track IR was a by product of the stuttering going on in the background. I turned Track IR off by not loading it and then I went into a training mission and with my head not moving and watched two AI F-16s takeoff and noticed them stuttering down the runway. I watched a truck drive by the front of my airplane, as it drove by in a Jerky or what looked like a stuttering manner.

I don't even think my hardware is the issue since I have now tried other games and they all run fine. I can only assume something is going on with DCS.

Thanks,

Fetweet

TrackIR can give some tiny stuttering if the native refreshfreq of the TrackIR isn't used (or reached) which is 60Hz. But it should not cause severe stuttering.

It's time to provide more detailed data or it will be a hit and miss guess game to find out what's wrong.

Is the stutter constant (same time interval), hectic or irregular.

Any input device (besides TrackIR that's playing up? Deconnect everything and just run it with a keyboard (playing a track should give the same effect as if when playing).

Detailed game settings (screenshot is best), maybe a video with a detailed MSI Afterburner overlay so we can see temps, RAM, VRAM, CPU and GPU usage etc...

Also, the Project Lasso road mentioned on the previous page is an option.

You also said that FPS drops down to 30. Does it go lower? Still a lot of things to to try and to provide.

Really sorry to hear you are having that problem with such a high-end machine. I bought a Digital Storm Lumos about 8 months ago. It has an i7-9700K, 32GB of 3200 MHz RAM, a Samsung 1TB M.2 drive, and an RTX 2070 Super.

I am running DCS on a 34" 1440P monitor at max settings and am getting a very smooth, fluid picture.

I have been debating getting Track IR, but after reading through this thread, I am not so sure that I want to tempt fate and introduce a problem.

Your hardware should be running DCS picture perfect. I can't offer any other suggestions, but I do hope that you can get everything sorted out.

I have been debating getting Track IR, but after reading through this thread, I am not so sure that I want to tempt fate and introduce a problem.

Normally you should have no problem, i'm running trackIR since TrackIR 2, no real issue besides the fact that it can't deal with higher refreshrates then 60Hz.

Did you try disable hot plug yet?

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=251377

Hi BIGNEWY,

I tried it and unfortunately it did not have any affect. But I wanted to thank you for preparing the Autoexec.cfg file for everyone. I just dropped the file into my /DCS World/Config directory of DCS and restarted the computer and DCS. I tried running several different missions and I still see the stutters every second. I'm not sure at this point what else to try. I learned a lot about my computer with your help and everyone else, so I am very grateful for all that you guys have done. What a great community that so many of you would offer to help.

I have tried disabling the SMT (Hyper-treading), overclocked the GPU, tried assigning DCS to a specific Cores, moved DCS to another drive, unplugged certain devices to free up USB ports, removed my USB Hub, tried different settings in DCS, video board and monitor, set DCS to priority in the Task Manager, tried the Open Beta, even set the refresh rate to 60 Hz and it still drops the rate by what looks like 30 FPS know matter what refresh rate I use.

In the end the only thing that stops the stuttering is turning off Track IR. But something tells me it's not Track IR since there are so many other users using it with DCS. I just think that DCS is using up all the bandwidth of the CPU that their is no more room for resources on the CPU for the both of them. I will admit that watching the sim running without Track IR is a beautiful thing to see. Watching all those AI planes takeoff while kicking in afterburners or watching other aircraft in external view is something to be seen. Unfortunately, the moment I turn Track IR on again everything in the sim just starts stuttering. I mean everything. Not just my head movement, but every other object in the sim.

I wish another company made something similar to Track IR with a 64 bit driver that might behave better with DCS, but I looked and their is nothing out there. In the end I hope someday I get to learn how to fly the F-18 and the F-16. After reading the manuals I can see their is no other hardcore sim like it.

Again thanks for trying to help. If you think of anything else let me know and I will give it a try.

Thanks Again,

Feetwet (Robert)

Really sorry to hear you are having that problem with such a high-end machine. I bought a Digital Storm Lumos about 8 months ago. It has an i7-9700K, 32GB of 3200 MHz RAM, a Samsung 1TB M.2 drive, and an RTX 2070 Super.

 

I am running DCS on a 34" 1440P monitor at max settings and am getting a very smooth, fluid picture.

 

I have been debating getting Track IR, but after reading through this thread, I am not so sure that I want to tempt fate and introduce a problem.

 

Your hardware should be running DCS picture perfect. I can't offer any other suggestions, but I do hope that you can get everything sorted out.

Hi Bob,

If I ever find a solution I will let you know since flying with Track IR is so much more immersive.

Regards,

Feetwet

Join the ROG forum Checkmate, https://rog.asus.com/forum/ same as this forum mate, they are very helpful people but with the added advantage of they make the boards.

Have you checked if you are using the latest BIOS rev ?

Just a shot in the dark here but have you tried track ir in a different USB port. I don't know if you have it in a USB 3 port as some new mobos tend not to have many USB 2 ports anymore but I always have mine in a USB 2 port when I play ARMA.

Hi Bearskin,

I tried two different ports. I noticed that half the ports are blue and the other are Red. I think this has something to do with Gen 3 and Gen 4, but to be safe I tried it in both and still had the stutters.

But you have a good idea and I think what I will do is remove everything I can except for the keyboard, mouse and Hotas, and for some reason my monitor needs a USB Plug not sure why and then I will move the Track IR to another port and see what happens again. Thanks for idea.

Regards,

Feetwet.

The reason I have always used USB 2 for my track ir is because I read somewhere a few years back that the track ir doesn't play nicely with USB 3.0 ports and certain chipsets, this has probably been resolved by now though. The USB 2 ports are normally black, you might have 2 on the top of your case, you have to manually plug them into the USB 2 headers on your board, but that has probably already been done..

Normally you should have no problem, i'm running trackIR since TrackIR 2, no real issue besides the fact that it can't deal with higher refreshrates then 60Hz.

Will that create a conflict between Track IR and a 100 Hz monitor?

It would be a good idea if you first figure out what kind of stuttering this is, and you should post actual video examples of this bug, with your power of the PC this should be no problem, however there is quite a lot of details how to do a video perfectly, you can't just install fraps and let it go, that video wouldn't be trustable because the recording software by default affects CPU resources in such a way that it's very likely to affect DCS and change the outcome, you'd be recording something else, it would create performance annomalies or it would exaggerate existing ones, this is the noise we don't want in our testing at all costs and we have to work with your case more closely, we need to first set all of these performance tools and utilities, recordings and probably some kind a master file to document stuff (the guides I'll write for you are same ones I wanted to post in tutorials months ago anyway) I have sent you a PM about this and other things your massive amount of RAM and CPU Cores could come in good use.

If you have time you can do us a huge service if you go slower step by step and document a lot of the things you've changed. However if you do think this is a good idea, to use your PC to cooperate with this then I suggest you consult here before you go on a hunt into something which we already know may not lead anywhere for example, etc.

You should also provide DXDIAG report, and Windows version. Most likely you do not have a custom debloated Win10, it's probably standard that came from the assembler of the PC right?

After that I'd look into a free utility called Process Lasso and what "core affinity" is. Assign 4 specific cores for DCS and 1 for TrackIR. DCS will use 3 tops.

That is true in a simplified meaning yeah. Technically DCS has over 20 threads, ofcourse many of those could be mangled down to use as much CPU time that fity into 3-4 cores, the texture streaming threads can ofcourse tolerate lower amounts of available CPU time as it wouldn't affect the FPS (but sometimes it seems like it does but that's a bug I'm trying to test and report about, long story tho, not sure if that is related to this thread yet)

It would be a good idea if you first figure out what kind of stuttering this is, and you should post actual video examples of this bug, with your power of the PC this should be no problem, however there is quite a lot of details how to do a video perfectly, you can't just install fraps and let it go, that video wouldn't be trustable because the recording software by default affects CPU resources in such a way that it's very likely to affect DCS and change the outcome, you'd be recording something else, it would create performance annomalies or it would exaggerate existing ones, this is the noise we don't want in our testing at all costs and we have to work with your case more closely, we need to first set all of these performance tools and utilities, recordings and probably some kind a master file to document stuff (the guides I'll write for you are same ones I wanted to post in tutorials months ago anyway) I have sent you a PM about this and other things your massive amount of RAM and CPU Cores could come in good use.

 

If you have time you can do us a huge service if you go slower step by step and document a lot of the things you've changed. However if you do think this is a good idea, to use your PC to cooperate with this then I suggest you consult here before you go on a hunt into something which we already know may not lead anywhere for example, etc.

 

You should also provide DXDIAG report, and Windows version. Most likely you do not have a custom debloated Win10, it's probably standard that came from the assembler of the PC right?

 

 

 

That is true in a simplified meaning yeah. Technically DCS has over 20 threads, ofcourse many of those could be mangled down to use as much CPU time that fity into 3-4 cores, the texture streaming threads can ofcourse tolerate lower amounts of available CPU time as it wouldn't affect the FPS (but sometimes it seems like it does but that's a bug I'm trying to test and report about, long story tho, not sure if that is related to this thread yet)

Hi Worrazen,

I would be more than happy to help you test with my machine. I replied to your PM, but I can't tell if it went through because when I checked the sent box it shows zero messages sent. But to answer your question, anything I can do to help especially with my machine I would be happy to do. I'm so very impressed with DCS, so anything I can do to improve it for myself and other please count me in.

Regards,

Feetwet

Please try something for me

 

go to DCS World\distr\DirectX

 

double click DXSETUP and install,

 

let me know if anything installs and if it helps.

Hi BIGNEWY,

I gave it a try but no go. I ran two mission: the first was a F-18 mission with a Mig-21 and all I did was a 360 roll watching my aircraft stutter as it did its roll. Then I tried the F-16 Startup Training Mission and I watched as other F-16s taxi in front of my aircraft just stuttering by in a jerky fashion. I could see the frame rate drop momentarily from 60 down to 40 and back up. By the way, if I pause Track IR then everything stays smooth until I release the pause. Thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Feetwet

Hi BIGNEWY,

By the way, if I pause Track IR then everything stays smooth until I release the pause. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Regards,

 

Feetwet

Doesn't that seem to point to Track IR being the problem?

Try unplugging trackir and seeing what performance you get,

But an additional question, what psu do you have? And your graphics card does have two 8 pin cables plugged into it, ideally from two sockets on the psu...

Also try setting things to “low” in dcs.

Have you got HAGS switched on, if so try turning it off.

Finally what additional software do you have running in the background for dcs, or just in general, are you using an exports for example to say streamdeck Or Helios or dcs bios etc....

Thanks for trying, I have known others in the past that have had problems with trackIR. I imagine you have tried USB driver updates, windows updates, motherboard bios updates and so on.

 

Changing the USB port has helped others in the past also, make sure it is a direct USB and not on a USB Hub.

Hi BIGNEWY,

It's amazing the time you spend helping so many people, so I wanted to say thank you for all your help all over the forum. I know a lot people would be lost without your help. Yes I've have been reading your threads all over the forum helping everyone. Absolutely amazing. So thank you.

Now back to business. I tried all that you mentioned above: different USB ports, removing all USB devices that are not necessary, updated all windows and video drivers, but the only thing I did not mess with was the motherboard and bios since the machine is brand new and I'm not that familiar with it. It was built by Digital Storm so I had there technician remote into the PC and check every thing he could. He also ran several utilities like AMD Ryzen Master to check CPU voltage and temps, FurMark, Heaven and Superposition (4k Benchmark 11876) Benchmarks to overload the CPU and GPU and they all ran smoothly. I tried running these utilities with Track IR running in the background and saw no problem. I see a lot of talk about refresh rate, but it does not matter what refresh rate I have set. What I see is a very rapid FPS drop and then backup and when that happens their is a stutter.

I'm guessing their is some recourse that Track IR and DCS are sharing, but when I hit the hot key to pause Track IR in DCS the stuttering seems to stop, so I am wondering if its worth uninstalling Track IR and reinstalling the software again. Any thoughts?

Regards,

Feetwet

Update:

I just tried reinstalling Track IR 5.4.2 drivers and it had no effect.