GTX 1080 stutters - faulty?!

[roguelvlup]

Hey there guys!
 
Recently I purchased a Gigabyte windforce 1080, paired it with my old rig (i5 4460, 16 gb ddr3 ram, 550W PSU) but I have some issues when running games on Ultra. For example Watch Dogs 2...When I run it on ultra, I can't get a stable 60 fps. When driving I get 40 fps (even on high settings). And I am only playing on 1080p.
 
And THE MOST ANNOYING issue is that I have some kind of stuttering in the games. Like the game stops for 0.2 seconds. It's really annoying, since I paid a bunch for this card. I have noticed this stuttering in Witcher 3 too.
What could be the issue? Is it the bottleneck, or is my card faulty?
 
PS.: I just played LoL (with Paladins running in background) and only had like 100-110fps with stutters sometimes. My monitor is only 1080p. Is this seriously normal?
 
Thanks for the help in advance

 

[Dreamweapon]

It's possible you're CPU bound to some degree, but I wouldn't expect it was normal, no, and it would be surprising if it was hardware rather than software. The first thing I would do is grab DDU, reboot into Safe Mode and completely wipe your current nVidia drivers, reboot and reinstall the latest version clean. If that doesn't work try shutting down everything but the most necessary apps and processes and try to localize what's causing the problem. Or just skip to the end stage and try a clean OS reinstall after you've backed up your personal files; it really shouldn't take long at all, esp. if you have any sort of cloud/nas/external drive backup already in place.

Hey there guys!

Recently I purchased a Gigabyte windforce 1080, paired it with my old rig (i5 4460, 16 gb ddr3 ram) but I have some issues when running games on Ultra. For example Watch Dogs 2...When I run it on ultra, I can't get a stable 60 fps. When driving I get 40 fps (even on high settings). And I am only playing on 1080p.

And THE MOST ANNOYING issue is that I have some kind of stuttering in the games. Like the game stops for 0.2 seconds. It's really annoying, since I paid a bunch for this card. I have noticed this stuttering in Witcher 3 too.
What could be the issue? Is it the bottleneck, or is my card faulty?

PS.: I just played LoL (with Paladins running in background) and only had like 100-110fps with stutters sometimes. My monitor is only 1080p. Is this seriously normal?

Thanks for the help in advance

 

[roguelvlup]

To avoid any issues, before I put my new GPU in the PC, I did a complete reset to the PC (even lost an important file full with unused steam keys which I can't even get back anymore probably cause it's overwritten). You think another reset would solve my issue? Are you sure that it's not a hardware issue? Oh I forgot to mention that I have a 550W PSU, is that enough?

It's possible you're CPU bound to some degree, but I wouldn't expect it was normal, no, and it would be surprising if it was hardware rather than software. The first thing I would do is grab DDU, reboot into Safe Mode and completely wipe your current nVidia drivers, reboot and reinstall the latest version clean. If that doesn't work try shutting down everything but the most necessary apps and processes and try to localize what's causing the problem. Or just skip to the end stage and try a clean OS reinstall after you've backed up your personal files; it really shouldn't take long at all, esp. if you have any sort of cloud/nas/external drive backup already in place.

 

[Dreamweapon]

Ok, well, I would still run DDU and perform a clean install of the GeForce drivers, I've had a GTX1070 for a year now and have had to run this same operation at least half a dozen times because of stupid driver issues, it's just a fact of life with PC gaming. But it doesn't take long, 10 minutes or less.

A 550W PSU should be more than fine, Pascals are frankly pretty economical compared to earlier GPUs; a 1080 only uses b/t 230 and 280W and a Haswell i5 isn't going to be that big a load. I'm not sure it's not hardware, no, but software is the culprit at least 9 times out of 10 in these situations. Try the complete uninstall of all nVidia via DDU and a clean reinstall, and make sure to do it right, don't skip any steps or reboots. It may clear things up by itself.

To avoid any issues, before I put my new GPU in the PC, I did a complete reset to the PC (even lost an important file full with unused steam keys which I can't even get back anymore probably cause it's overwritten). You think another reset would solve my issue? Are you sure that it's not a hardware issue? Oh I forgot to mention that I have a 550W PSU, is that enough?

 

[roguelvlup]

Alright! What's a DDU btw?

Also what's the best thing to test if my GPU (or other parts) are faulty or doing well?

Ok, well, I would still run DDU and perform a clean install of the GeForce drivers, I've had a GTX1070 for a year now and have had to run this same operation at least half a dozen times because of stupid driver issues, it's just a fact of life with PC gaming. But it doesn't take long, 10 minutes or less.

A 550W PSU should be more than fine, Pascals are frankly pretty economical compared to earlier GPUs; a 1080 only uses b/t 230 and 280W and a Haswell i5 isn't going to be that big a load. I'm not sure it's not hardware, no, but software is the culprit at least 9 times out of 10 in these situations. Try the complete uninstall of all nVidia via DDU and a clean reinstall, and make sure to do it right, don't skip any steps or reboots. It may clear things up by itself.

 

[Dreamweapon]

Display Driver Uninstaller. https://www.wagnardsoft.com/content/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu-v17078-released

I'm not sure as to testing, I always just use whichever game I happen to be actively playing which is reasonably resource-intensive and which features an easily accessible frame counter, and for the past year for me that's been Overwatch. I'm sure there are free benchmark programs you could use too, but newer games should be fine IMO.

Alright! What's a DDU btw?

Also what's the best thing to test if my GPU (or other parts) are faulty or doing well?

 

[roguelvlup]

Yea It's just that I do not know whether the FPS I get is normal or not. The GPU costed more than the monthly average salary of a person here, so I expected it to run EVERYTHING on ultra, and if not on ultra, at least without stutters... Those 0.2 sec stutters are a pain in the ass while playing.

Display Driver Uninstaller. https://www.wagnardsoft.com/content/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu-v17078-released

I'm not sure as to testing, I always just use whichever game I happen to be actively playing which is reasonably resource-intensive and which features an easily accessible frame counter, and for the past year for me that's been Overwatch. I'm sure there are free benchmark programs you could use too, but newer games should be fine IMO.

 

[roguelvlup]

Just realised I forgot to install the motherboard driver. That could be the issue? Also is there any driver besides nvidia and mobo?

Display Driver Uninstaller. https://www.wagnardsoft.com/content/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu-v17078-released

I'm not sure as to testing, I always just use whichever game I happen to be actively playing which is reasonably resource-intensive and which features an easily accessible frame counter, and for the past year for me that's been Overwatch. I'm sure there are free benchmark programs you could use too, but newer games should be fine IMO.

 

[TB14]

HDD

 

[Dreamweapon]

Just realised I forgot to install the motherboard driver. That could be the issue? Also is there any driver besides nvidia and mobo?

Wait, what now? Back up, when you say mobo driver are you referring to the chipset drivers or integrated HD or something else? Definitely all of your system drivers should be installed, no exceptions, check Device Manager (you can just type it into the search bar and it'll pop up) and make sure there aren't any red or yellow indicators; if so go the support site for your mobo manufacturer and download and install the latest versions of the corresponding drivers for your OS. Have you run DDU and reinstalled your GeForce drivers?

HDD

With 16GB RAM? I guess it's possible, but it'd have to be a real POS drive, even old 5400rpm SATA II spam like the default PS4 drive should be plenty sufficient.

 

[roguelvlup]

I did what u said, went in safe mode, uninstalled everything with DDU, then downloaded again from Nvidia. Stutter still exists. Just tried PUBG, not sure what to say but I can't maintain a stable 60 FPS on max settings (sometimes I get 35 , sometimes 75). Same on Watch Dogs 2. It's just really annoying.

I have a 7200 RPM HDD, not sure if that's the problem.

Wait, what now? Back up, when you say mobo driver are you referring to the chipset drivers or integrated HD or something else? Definitely all of your system drivers should be installed, no exceptions, check Device Manager (you can just type it into the search bar and it'll pop up) and make sure there aren't any red or yellow indicators; if so go the support site for your mobo manufacturer and download and install the latest versions of the corresponding drivers for your OS. Have you run DDU and reinstalled your GeForce drivers?

With 16GB RAM? I guess it's possible, but it'd have to be a real POS drive, even old 5400rpm SATA II spam like the default PS4 drive should be plenty sufficient.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I checked MSI afterburner stats. There are sometimes when both CPU and GPU are on 100% usage. Is that normal?

 

[Dreamweapon]

I did what u said, went in safe mode, uninstalled everything with DDU, then downloaded again from Nvidia. Stutter still exists. Just tried PUBG, not sure what to say but I can't maintain a stable 60 FPS on max settings (sometimes I get 35 , sometimes 75). Same on Watch Dogs 2. It's just really annoying.

I have a 7200 RPM HDD, not sure if that's the problem.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I checked MSI afterburner stats. There are sometimes when both CPU and GPU are on 100% usage. Is that normal?

Go into GeForce Experience and try setting each of the games at optimal settings, just let the software pick the settings, and see how it runs then. If it's still shitty, I guess I would go ahead and try sending it back for another board, as it's new it shouldn't be any cost to you, and better safe than sorry. If it works, great, problem solved. If not, you'll know with reasonable certainty that some other factor is at play. Personally, I don't think I see a hardware-based reason why it shouldn't be smooth at 1080p/60Hz; I only have a 1070 and have no issues running anything at very high or ultra settings at 1440p/144Hz (granted it's a 6700K, but it doesn't make that much of a difference). Other people say the 4460 won't seriously bottleneck at a 1080 (http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3172864/4460-bottleneck-gtx-1080.html), and a 7200rpm HDD is not a problem; I have a 950 Pro NVME but install all my games to my Seagate mechanical, it just doesn't make a significant difference for gaming.

 

[roguelvlup]

Damn Do you mean a new GPU or new motherboard. Cause my GPU is from the US , newegg (it was 250$ cheaper there) and I am from the EU. I got it through my uncle. I have the documents of it, but it really would be a hassle to try sending it back there. Not talking about the costs.

Thank you very much for trying to help me.

I don't know why but I have a feeling that it's the mobo's issue (and cpu). But if I spend another 500$ for that as well, and still won't work, I would jump out the window.

Also when I got the GPU one screw from the middle was out. I just put it back but I don't think this caused all these issues.

Go into GeForce Experience and try setting each of the games at optimal settings, just let the software pick the settings, and see how it runs then. If it's still shitty, I guess I would go ahead and try sending it back for another board, as it's new it shouldn't be any cost to you, and better safe than sorry. If it works, great, problem solved. If not, you'll know with reasonable certainty that some other factor is at play. Personally, I don't think I see a hardware-based reason why it shouldn't be smooth at 1080p/60Hz; I only have a 1070 and have no issues running anything at very high or ultra settings at 1440p/144Hz (granted it's a 6700K, but it doesn't make that much of a difference). Other people say the 4460 won't seriously bottleneck at a 1080 (http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3172864/4460-bottleneck-gtx-1080.html), and a 7200rpm HDD is not a problem; I have a 950 Pro NVME but install all my games to my Seagate mechanical, it just doesn't make a significant difference for gaming.

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

Damn Do you mean a new GPU or new motherboard. Cause my GPU is from the US , newegg (it was 250$ cheaper there) and I am from the EU. I got it through my uncle. I have the documents of it, but it really would be a hassle to try sending it back there. Not talking about the costs.

Thank you very much for trying to help me.

I don't know why but I have a feeling that it's the mobo's issue (and cpu). But if I spend another 500$ for that as well, and still won't work, I would jump out the window.

Also when I got the GPU one screw from the middle was out. I just put it back but I don't think this caused all these issues.

Honestly, that last part is a bit concerning and would possibly point to the GPU being damaged in some way. Between what I would assume is it being shipped from newegg to your uncle and your uncle to you, it could have gotten damaged and screws shouldn't just be popping out by themselves.

 

[BIGTom-]

EDIT: Forgot to mention I checked MSI afterburner stats. There are sometimes when both CPU and GPU are on 100% usage. Is that normal?

I began experiencing stutters in a few games after the most recent nVidia driver, especially in Destiny 2. What I found online was to remove the MSI Afterburner monitoring of Power% under the settings, monitoring tab. This eliminated the stutters on my Gigabyte 1080ti

Also you mentioned that you were getting drops to 30-35 fps on some titles. I would disable Vsync and try again. If Vsync is enabled and the system cannot maintain FPS equal to the monitor refresh, it will feed at half the monitor refresh to maintain the Vsync.

 

[roguelvlup]

Honestly, that last part is a bit concerning and would possibly point to the GPU being damaged in some way. Between what I would assume is it being shipped from newegg to your uncle and your uncle to you, it could have gotten damaged and screws shouldn't just be popping out by themselves.

Any idea how can I find out if it’s really damaged or not?

 

[roguelvlup]

I began experiencing stutters in a few games after the most recent nVidia driver, especially in Destiny 2. What I found online was to remove the MSI Afterburner monitoring of Power% under the settings, monitoring tab. This eliminated the stutters on my Gigabyte 1080ti

Also you mentioned that you were getting drops to 30-35 fps on some titles. I would disable Vsync and try again. If Vsync is enabled and the system cannot maintain FPS equal to the monitor refresh, it will feed at half the monitor refresh to maintain the Vsync.

I tried both vsync on and off, same shit. Sometimes even Overwatch had FPS drops. Btw I noticed some weird things: CPU is at 95-100% even when I only download a game from steam, for example. Then I watched the usage for gpu and cpu at PUBG. GPU was at 70% at first when CPU was 100%. After some time, CPU was 80%, GPU was 100%. Then after a few minutes both dropped to normal, gpu 60-70%, cpu 70%. Tried switching to normal settings, it was still stuttery.

The way the cpu and gpu behaves is really weird.

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

Any idea how can I find out if it’s really damaged or not?

You know anyone who has a system you can pop your card in and test it there? That'd be the easiest way to test it. That or do you have your old card? Pop that back in and see if it gives you any similar issues. If the old card gives the same issues then it's probably something else.

 

[roguelvlup]

You know anyone who has a system you can pop your card in and test it there? That'd be the easiest way to test it. That or do you have your old card? Pop that back in and see if it gives you any similar issues. If the old card gives the same issues then it's probably something else.

Yea but then I’d have to uninstall 1080 drivers, maybe 950 drivers are okay. Someone told me that 1080p requires more CPU than 2k. And that the stutter issue is because of this, and if I had a 2k monitor it would be much smoother because gtx1080 is so powerful and it would definitely use less CPU

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

Yea but then I’d have to uninstall 1080 drivers, maybe 950 drivers are okay. Someone told me that 1080p requires more CPU than 2k. And that the stutter issue is because of this, and if I had a 2k monitor it would be much smoother because gtx1080 is so powerful and it would definitely use less CPU

Okay, but haven't you reinstalled a ton of stuff already? I don't think your CPU is bottlenecking. It might be a bad GPU and this would be a good way to test it. Preferably if you can put it in another computer to see if it then starts having those issues on the other computer.

I don't know why 1080P would require more CPU than 2K.

 

[archibishopthedoge]

PUBG is a bad game to run tests on because its poorly optimized to begin with.  I have a 1080 and an FX-8350. I get minor bottlenecks in badly optimized games, but its completely game dependent and 9/10 times the power of the 1080 defeats the bottleneck but its all dependent on the game. I'm not even utilizing its full power most of the time b/c Im only running in 1080p and have yet to upgrade other parts. Not every game is optimized the same. PUBG performance for me is erratic. Sometimes Im above or around 60 FPS the entire match (my settings are generally widely varied, with the only thing Ultra being draw distance), but I'll see drops when people are around or its a place like Georgepol with lots of buildings, but this is largely because of server performance too.  Other times I'll see poorer performance, but this usually happens when we're playing on far away servers (i.e. Asia). Its just a generally unstable game unless you have the newest hardware in all respects. HDD vs SSD matters a lot too. My HDD is 7200rpm, but its almost always 80% full, so that affects my performance too. 

Check your performance in well optimized games too. Things like DOOM and GTA 5. Rise of the Tomb Raider is another good one to push things.

Definitely test the GPU in another PC if you can, preferably one with an equal or greater CPU. You can also try to stress test things or use utilities like 3DMark (demo is free and its on Steam) and you can compare your benchmarks to people with the same components. If your scores are markedly lower than the baseline, you may have an issue. Download GPU-Z and keep on eye on temps when gaming.

You can also go here:

http://www.userbenchmark.com/

Input your exact components or download their tool and it will run some tests and tell you if anything is off or where you rank compared to others with the same components.

 

[roguelvlup]

Okay, but haven't you reinstalled a ton of stuff already? I don't think your CPU is bottlenecking. It might be a bad GPU and this would be a good way to test it. Preferably if you can put it in another computer to see if it then starts having those issues on the other computer.

I don't know why 1080P would require more CPU than 2K.

Yea true, tho I would have to wait a few weeks until I can get to my friend. Nobody around with a decent PC :/

 

[roguelvlup]

PUBG is a bad game to run tests on because its poorly optimized to begin with. I have a 1080 and an FX-8350. I get minor bottlenecks in badly optimized games, but its completely game dependent and 9/10 times the power of the 1080 defeats the bottleneck but its all dependent on the game. I'm not even utilizing its full power most of the time b/c Im only running in 1080p and have yet to upgrade other parts. Not every game is optimized the same. PUBG performance for me is erratic. Sometimes Im above or around 60 FPS the entire match (my settings are generally widely varied, with the only thing Ultra being draw distance), but I'll see drops when people are around or its a place like Georgepol with lots of buildings, but this is largely because of server performance too. Other times I'll see poorer performance, but this usually happens when we're playing on far away servers (i.e. Asia). Its just a generally unstable game unless you have the newest hardware in all respects. HDD vs SSD matters a lot too. My HDD is 7200rpm, but its almost always 80% full, so that affects my performance too.

Check your performance in well optimized games too. Things like DOOM and GTA 5. Rise of the Tomb Raider is another good one to push things.

Definitely test the GPU in another PC if you can, preferably one with an equal or greater CPU. You can also try to stress test things or use utilities like 3DMark (demo is free and its on Steam) and you can compare your benchmarks to people with the same components. If your scores are markedly lower than the baseline, you may have an issue. Download GPU-Z and keep on eye on temps when gaming.

You can also go here:
http://www.userbenchmark.com/

Input your exact components or download their tool and it will run some tests and tell you if anything is off or where you rank compared to others with the same components.

Thank you very much for the advice! In 2 days when I get home I’ll surely try it.

BTW, it’s not the FPS which bothers me. If only FPS was the issue, I would be more than sure it’s not the gpu. The most annoying issue is the freakin stutter, which means the game stops for a really really short time, and then acts like nothing happened. LoL, OW, games where the stutter shouldn’t happen. I just don’t understand why. Another issue is this screen tearing, when moving the mouse quicker to move around I see those horizontal lines on the screen, really intensively, which is also bothering af.

 

[archibishopthedoge]

Thank you very much for the advice! In 2 days when I get home I’ll surely try it.

BTW, it’s not the FPS which bothers me. If only FPS was the issue, I would be more than sure it’s not the gpu. The most annoying issue is the freakin stutter, which means the game stops for a really really short time, and then acts like nothing happened. LoL, OW, games where the stutter shouldn’t happen. I just don’t understand why. Another issue is this screen tearing, when moving the mouse quicker to move around I see those horizontal lines on the screen, really intensively, which is also bothering af.

Right I understand, you need to see if it happens in better optimized games too and definitely in the benchmarks. If it happens in those, then you most likely have a problem. What you're testing on is important. If you're testing it in badly optimized games, its bound to happen. I get occasional stutters like that in PUBG, but its server related 99% of the time. Watch Dogs 2 is also not optimized extremely well. You just have to do a lot of trial and error testing. Settings may be more sensitive in some games more than others.

Try games like Doom. These are cream of the crop titles in respect to wide ranging functionality. If those cause same problems, then you need to look deeper.

 

[BIGTom-]

remove the MSI Afterburner monitoring of Power% under the settings, monitoring tab. This eliminated the stutters on my Gigabyte 1080ti

Did you try this?

 

[roguelvlup]

Did you try this?

What does this actually do?

If you guys mean the MSI afterburner causes the stutters, no. I had it since when I first installed the card and had no monitoring programs on it.

 

[TacoSpartan177]

I'm just wondering, are you using Window's 10 by any chance? 

The Auto-Update Window's 10 Spring Creator's update caused stuttering issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/6oubum/nvidia_confirms_stuttering_fps_drops_lag_problems/?sort=new&st=j9p55v3m&sh=de86dcab

I had the issue in Overwatch and PUBG to even League of Legends for months till I recently downloaded and install the fall update manually and updated my graphic card drivers

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

At least I'm not personally having any issues after using the Fall update.

 

[roguelvlup]

I'm just wondering, are you using Window's 10 by any chance?

The Auto-Update Window's 10 Spring Creator's update caused stuttering issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/6oubum/nvidia_confirms_stuttering_fps_drops_lag_problems/?sort=new&st=j9p55v3m&sh=de86dcab

I had the issue in Overwatch and PUBG to even League of Legends for months till I recently downloaded and install the fall update manually and updated my graphic card drivers

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

At least I'm not personally having any issues after using the Fall update.

Yes! I do have a Win10. You sure it's Windows problem? Cause the post as I can see is 3months old. Guess they've fixed it already? But I really don't know.

 

[roguelvlup]

Right I understand, you need to see if it happens in better optimized games too and definitely in the benchmarks. If it happens in those, then you most likely have a problem. What you're testing on is important. If you're testing it in badly optimized games, its bound to happen. I get occasional stutters like that in PUBG, but its server related 99% of the time. Watch Dogs 2 is also not optimized extremely well. You just have to do a lot of trial and error testing. Settings may be more sensitive in some games more than others.

Try games like Doom. These are cream of the crop titles in respect to wide ranging functionality. If those cause same problems, then you need to look deeper.

Quick update: I have just installed DOOM, put everything on ULTRA, and played like 10-15 mins without a single stutter, with vsync adaptive I had constant 60-61 fps, maybe just one time 59 and without vsync I had between 145-155 fps, without any drops.

EDIT: Doom's main menu is not really optimised as I had like 35 fps there, and lags lol.

 

[TacoSpartan177]

Yes! I do have a Win10. You sure it's Windows problem? Cause the post as I can see is 3months old. Guess they've fixed it already? But I really don't know.

Yep, this was ongoing problem that was never truly fixed.
I would try downloading the Fall Creators update manually and update your graphic card drivers to the newest version if you've haven't yet.

Seems far more stable now that I've done the update

 

[roguelvlup]

Yep, this was ongoing problem that was never truly fixed.
I would try downloading the Fall Creators update manually and update your graphic card drivers to the newest version if you've haven't yet.

Seems far more stable now that I've done the update

Downloading it now, since it says I didn't have the latest Win version installed.

Also, yea I have the latest nvidia driver, and I read lots of complaints about it on forums. Someone suggested to uninstall the driver, and install an older one.

Also, I checked Watch Dogs 2 again, didn't really get stutters, but fps was still between 45-50 on ultra. Sometimes I even had 75. But that's with 0% extra details, just plain ultra settings.

 

[roguelvlup]

Yep, this was ongoing problem that was never truly fixed.
I would try downloading the Fall Creators update manually and update your graphic card drivers to the newest version if you've haven't yet.

Seems far more stable now that I've done the update

Played like 2 hours of OW, first hour was okay. Then I had some FPS drops to 45.... Is this a CPU bottleneck then? I really hope I didn't pay 500$ to get lag the first days already. Can't even imagine what's going to happen after 3 years.

 

[ezelkow1]

What is your cpu usage looking like while this happens? It quite possibly is a bottleneck. Friend of mine returned his 1080 because he had the same proc as you and it couldn't keep up with the card and was doing the same thing

 

[BIGTom-]

Driver 388.31 released. Try it

FIXED:
Micro-stuttering occurs in games when GPU monitoring tools are monitoring GPU power (“Power” monitoring enabled).