Somewhat systemic stutters, but NOT with integrated graphics

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nawok
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Joined: 29 Dec 2023, 08:33

Somewhat systemic stutters, but NOT with integrated graphics

Post by nawok » 29 Dec 2023, 09:14

Good day guys,

I have a problem with stuttering when using only dGPU on my Lenovo laptop. I think my problem might be similar to this topic: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=12170. First I thought it might be new buggy nvidia drivers (a lot of reports with similar issues from many people on 546.xx), but I tried a bunch of drivers (536.40 being the oldest), and the issue is still there. Stutters are sometimes systemic, sometimes not, and sometimes there's no stutters for up to 5-10 seconds. And when I switch to integrated mode everything is fine.

But the most interesting thing is when I uninstall drivers with DDU and install with NVcleanstall (there I only check "disable installer telemetry" and "Perform a clean installation"), stutters are completely gone! BUT my GPU starts to only consume 55W of power (gpuz shows PerfCap Pwr). Also I think when I kill NvidiaContainer, for a couple of seconds until it reopens again, stutters disappear, but not really sure about that one.

Sorry if this is not the place to ask, since it's clearly related to Nvidia, but I'm completely out of ideas (Tried different drivers, windows versions, browsers, safe modes; no bloat like rgb of course, latest clean windows 11 install). It is also not related to my place or electricity issues since my other laptop is perfectly fine.

My laptop is Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (Ryzen 9 7945HX, RTX4060). Also I should mention that I don't use Lenovo Vantage since it is kinda resource-heavy.
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NVcleanstall
NVcleanstall
ufo debloated.png (183.55 KiB) Viewed 1225 times
those are very frequent, but not consistent at all
those are very frequent, but not consistent at all
ufo bad 2.png (141.73 KiB) Viewed 1225 times
those are happening not all the time, but once like 10-20-30sec.
those are happening not all the time, but once like 10-20-30sec.
UFO bad.png (195.51 KiB) Viewed 1225 times

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: Somewhat systemic stutters, but NOT with integrated graphics

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 30 Dec 2023, 17:18

This is usually simply to background processing, and this is quite normal for an average gaming laptop.

Browsers are much more sensitive to stutters than games are.

Are these causing any problems for you outside TestUFO?

If not, this type of very occasional stutters is usually not a cause for concern, it can simply be security checks being run by Windows in the background, to other things. You say that it runs smooth for 5-10 seconds. Even things like mouse movements going over a button or title bar, can cause these stutters in browers that never appear in games.

Browsers can be great troubleshooting canaries in coal mine for stutter problems elsewhere in the system, but sometimes they're just generally harmless if it's only affecting TestUFO and no other software. Often a lot of threads in a web browser is running at low system priority compared to other things in a system.

Now, if you have a persistent cyclic stutter (e.g. once a second) and you do feel a tiny stutter in games every second, then you definitely can use TestUFO as a canary in coal mine to try to troubleshoot that out. Even things like running Task Manager can add stutters, since Task Manager queries the system once a second to get data, and the process of system self-troubleshooting itself can add stutters. Even Dropbox/OneDrive/Box/iCloud/etc syncing can add background stutters.

That being said, those are quite large spikes, and there MIGHT be something wrong, but it is not a specific systemic pattern. Does this still happen excessively frequently when you are running in full screen mode with no keypresses/mouse movements, and in Performance Power Plan?

If these stutters are injecting in games even in low-CPU/GPU-utilization games (old engines, etc), then additional diagnostic utilities might help track these down to a specific background software app or service. Temporarily turn off your RGB software and cloud-sync software, as well as other things that automatically run in the background, and see what happens.
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nawok
Posts: 2
Joined: 29 Dec 2023, 08:33

Re: Somewhat systemic stutters, but NOT with integrated graphics

Post by nawok » 04 Jan 2024, 09:16

Thank you for the info! The only reason I noticed something isn't right is because youtube is dropping frames and the whole system doesn't feel quite responsive. Haven't tested a lot in games so I cant say for sure if it's affecting them. And clean drivers fix youtube stutters and system feels better (although it's subjective and I might be wrong). I'm just gonna dig deeper and if I find anything related I'll post here.

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