Asus ROG PG279Q UNSTOPPABLE/ALL GAMES microstuttering!

[CyclopsPewPew]

First and foremost, please help. Review my rig details below, this is a new build. I've been troubleshooting for two hours a day or so for the last three weeks on this issue. Desperation has set in. Someone told me Blur Busters can help.

- Windows 10, 64-bit paired with an ASUS PG279Q monitor, 165HZ with G-Sync.

- ASUS - ROG MAXIMUS X HERO (Socket LGA1151) USB 3.1 Gen 1 Intel Motherboard with LED Lighting - Black

- Intel® - Core i7-8086K Coffee Lake Six-Core 4.0 GHz Desktop Processor.

- CORSAIR - Vengeance LPX 32GB (2PK x 16GB) 2.6 GHz DDR4 DRAM Desktop Memory Kit - Black

- Samsung - 970 EVO 500GB Internal PCI Express 3.0 x4 (NVMe) Solid State Drive for Laptops with V-NAND Technology

- EVGA - 1000W ATX /EPS 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - Black

- CORSAIR - Hydro Series 120mm Liquid Cooling System - Black/Gray

- EVGA - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 SC Gaming 8GB GDDR5X PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card - Black/Silver

- Logitech G203 wired gaming mouse with a standard Razer mouse pad.

With all of that out of the way, review this video of the microstuttering in Planetside 2 (Ultra graphics, Nvidia recommended settings). Please excuse the music, I was as they say... "in my zone" until the microstuttering got to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgkzwopHxHw

Also, my 3DBenchmark score: https://www.3dmark.com/spy/4711914

This is being ran in 165 HZ, G-Sync on, V-Sync off. This same issue occurs in 144HZ, 120HZ, 75HZ, and 60 HZ. It occurs even if the FPS is locked at the same HZ, three below the HZ, or three above the HZ.

If you were to Google "all games microstuttter", I've been through the first five pages, clicked on every single article, and tried all of the recommended steps. That ranges from hardware to software, Windows 10 to physical connections, backend service changes, BIOS changes, and Safe Mode changes. As a side note, all of the articles I went through? 90% were unanswered, the other 10% were poor solutions. "Welp, it must be your motherboard" isn't going to cut it for me.

PLEASE NOTE: With a PS4 controller hardwired in, this issue does not occur. When moving the WASD keys around in-game or watching a movie, Youtube video, etc... the issue does not occur.

Again, please help. Tell me what you need, I'll give it to you. Ask for a screenshot, video, benchmarking test, it'll get done. Thank you.

[RealNC]

Have you tried disabling vsync in-game and enabling it in the nvidia panel?

Also, since it only happens with the mouse, do you have a 1000Hz mouse? Normal 125Hz mice will microstutter at high refresh rates.

Furthermore, is your mouse DPI too low and your in-game mouse sensitivity too high? Pixel skipping (and thus microstutter) is normal with high mouse sensitivity. Lower it. If it's too low for you, raise mouse DPI.

[CyclopsPewPew]

RealNC, thanks for your response, let's dig in.

When it comes to the Nvidia control panel, I have tried every possible flip and cohesion to test VSync and GSync options. I've turned VSync off/GSync on/In-game VSync on and off, no fix. I've done VSync on and GSync off, as well as both off, no changes.

My mouse in particular goes up to 1000HZ, which I currently have it set at. I've dropped it to 250HZ, no dice. Can't even see a difference. There are two "acceleration/accuracy options", one in my Logitech Gaming Software program that's called "Acceleration" and one in Windows 10, "Pointer Accuracy" checkbox under mouse sensitivity. I've tried both of these off, and took turns turning one off, the other on, no changes. Until recently, I've tried to understand DPI and where it should be at. I've always had it around maybe 1200? So I spiked it to my max mouse DPI settings, 12,000 DPI. Just to try it out. Minimized my mouse sensitivity in-game and through Windows 10 so it wasn't uncontrollable, tested, same exact issue. Dropped it down to the lowest DPI, increased in-game/Windows 10 sensitivity, same issue.

Now, I've tried other mice, but none above 1000MHZ or more efficient model than the current Logitech mouse I have. I've thought about going 2,000HZ and read this HZ rate may be needed. Please note, I've tried this issue on a fresh Windows 10 download with zero third party software installed -- issue still persists.

Hope this information helps, thank you.

[mello]

Try this little tool: Intelligent Standby List Cleaner.

[RealNC]

I don't know then. From the video you posted, it looks like it's an issue with the game itself. But you claim this happens in all games, so I just don't know.

Try a different mouse maybe. Maybe it's a mouse issue. Also, try a game that has a "mouse smoothing" option. If that gets rid of the pixel skips, then it might indeed be a mouse issue. Maybe Planetside 2 itself has a mouse smoothing option. If yes, try toggling it.

Also, if the game happens to not use raw input, but uses the standard Windows mouse reporting, then the recommended settings in Windows is setting the slider to the middle (6 out of 11), and disabling the "enhanced pointer precision" checkbox. However, again, most modern games use raw input and that setting does not affect them (raw input means they read the mouse data directly from the device, not from the Windows mouse position data.)

(Mouse smoothing in games was invented for exactly this pixel skipping issue, but it adds input lag and is only useful for normal 125Hz mice. 1000Hz mice do NOT need mouse smoothing, unless the mouse is just... broken?)

[CyclopsPewPew]

Try this little tool: Intelligent Standby List Cleaner.

Wow, out of all my headache-inducing troubleshooting and article review, I’ve never seen anyone mention this software before. This application alone could help HUNDREDS of people that have reported the same issue I have dating back to 2015. I will be sure to share this tool, thank you heavily. Unfortunately I am not home to try it, but I will report back as soon as I test it out.

NC, no problem, man. Thanks for taking a stab at this, it’s definitely a bizarre issue that’s baffled me for weeks.

[mello]

It will help only in certain scenarios, and we still don't know what actually causes microstuttering on your particular system.

You should also try Process Lasso, it works very well, both on low end and high end PC's. Both of these programs are lightweight and use very little system resources, and one or both might help in your particular situation.

You should also try playing games with EVERYTHING set to LOW, just to see if microstuttering is still there.
If none of these will help, then you should start with swapping PC parts, starting with the mouse, then psu, gpu and ram.

[CyclopsPewPew]

Mello, do you have any recommended settings for me to edit or turn on in the Process Lasso application? Some of the customization is... beyond my expertise.

[Chief Blur Buster]

First, let's do a baseline fluidity test to eliminate some possible factors.

1. Are you using single-monitor? No secondary monitors set to a different Hz?
(Temporarily make your highest Hz monitor your only monitor, as primary monitor)

2. Are you using motion blur reduction?

3. Have you tried keyboard strafe left/right? Does it microstutter similarly?

4. Have you tried www.testufo.com? Does it microstutter similarly?

This will help isolate possible areas of microstuttering.

Forget 2000hz for this specific case. Your mouse will probably not be the problem, since you need to see a very clear difference between 250Hz, 500Hz and 1000Hz to begin remotely considering 2000Hz which mainly benefits strobed mode or ultra-high-Hz. And VRR to an extent. But IPS-based 165Hz will not be fast enough to show the nuances of 2000Hz except in strobed mode.

[RealNC]

Chief, he doesn't stutter with keyboard and gamepad. The video clearly shows mouse pixel skipping.