Serious stuttering whilst panning the camera around.

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its.chloe567

Private
Feb 3, 2023
18
1
Specs of PC the screenshot was taken on:
i7 13700KF
RTX4090
32gb 6000Mhz RAM

A while ago i reported i was struggling with significant stuttering throughout the game when unpaused. I am still affected by this and as a result i havent been able to play stellaris in months. This occurs on 2 devices with wildly different specs (laptop and desktop) on both the steam and microsoft store versions of stellaris. The game runs fine until i unpause, i start getting regular stutters and spikes on a frametime graph. Attached is a screenshot showing the frametime graph at the beginning of a game on a large map on the fastest speed. Every single spike there is a noticeable stutter, to the point where the game is unplayable. Hopefully someone has found a fix for this before and can assist!

I have seen reports about the in-game music having this effect, however pausing the music does nothing to help.
 

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Has this always happened ever since you've had the game? or is was okay up to some point?

Right click on stellaris.exe , properties, compatibility. Tick "disable fullScreen optimisations" untick every other box in that dialog, Apply and exit.
Then in the launcher Game Settings menu, select fullScreen display mode, Vsync off, refresh rate 60.


If that does not help:
DXDIAG is a program you run from the Windows search box on the task bar. After running it will open a window and start collecting info with a progress bar in the lower-left corner. When it completes click the 'save all information' button and save it to a file then attach that file here.

Please attach here your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/logs/ folder, attach here system.log , error.log .
 
Has this always happened ever since you've had the game? or is was okay up to some point?
This has not always happened, been happening for at least 6 months though id say.

Right click on stellaris.exe , properties, compatibility. Tick "disable fullScreen optimisations" untick every other box in that dialog, Apply and exit.
Then in the launcher Game Settings menu, select fullScreen display mode, Vsync off, refresh rate 60.
Doesn't help unfortunately. As a side note, whenever i launch the game in fullscreen mode the main menu is completely unresponsive and i have to alt-tab out and back in to fix it.

DXDIAG is a program you run from the Windows search box on the task bar. After running it will open a window and start collecting info with a progress bar in the lower-left corner. When it completes click the 'save all information' button and save it to a file then attach that file here.
File attached is named DxDiag.txt

settings.txt, pdx_settings.txt, system.log and error.log all attached below
 

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whenever i launch the game in fullscreen mode the main menu is completely unresponsive and i have to alt-tab out and back in to fix it.
The "disable fullScreen optimisations" step I gave you should fix that. Have you done that?

This has not always happened, been happening for at least 6 months though id say.
With this same hardware?

Please revert to the 3.4.5 game version in the Steam Betas tab for this game, which would have been the version in use back then. Rename the Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ folder for the time being, start a new test galaxy and see if you still get this problem. If you do then there is something outside the game causing this.


Also, back with the current version and Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ folder, In your Steam Library right-click on this game and choose Properties. In the Launch Options line, paste this in there:

-dx11

Is that any better?
 
The "disable fullScreen optimisations" step I gave you should fix that. Have you done that?
Yes, I did.
With this same hardware?
Actually no, I started having issues on my laptop which is a fully AMD system. I got a desktop and hoped it might have fixed it but the problem persisted. I also tried the Microsoft store version of stellaris (where I have no DLC) and the issue appeared there too on both my laptop and desktop.
Please revert to the 3.4.5 game version
I actually tried going all the way back to 2.0 a few weeks ago, which didn't help. I have disabled all DLC and unsubscribed from all mods with no change in stuttering

I have a recording of the stuttering up on YouTube if that would help at all?
 
If you get this problem now in a game version you used 6 months ago that did not show the problem then, the problem must come from outside the game. How that gels with seeing it on two separate computers is hard to understand though!

As you have ticked the "disable fullScreen optimisations" box for stellaris.exe I cannot understand how you can have the fullScreen issue you describe. What if you run stellaris.exe by itself, does that still happen?

You mention mods; please disable or preferably unsubscribe from ALL mods while we work on this.

Do you actually see an fps rate of 60 or lower in the game? This is to confirm the settings we did have taken effect.
 
If you get this problem now in a game version you used 6 months ago that did not show the problem then, the problem must come from outside the game. How that gels with seeing it on two separate computers is hard to understand though!
Honestly I have no idea. I tried thinking of commons between the two. Internet connection, paradox account, even my monitor.

I tested on a different Internet connection, no change.
I tried signing out of my account (though haven't tried a new account), no change
I disconnected my laptop from my monitor, no change.

What if you run stellaris.exe by itself, does that still happen?
what do you mean by this? Run it by clicking on stellaris.exe in the folder it's kept in instead of the shortcut?

You mention mods; please disable or preferably unsubscribe from ALL mods while we work on this.
I already unsubscribed from all the mods I had a couple of weeks ago when I was doing some testing.

Do you actually see an fps rate of 60 or lower in the game? This is to confirm the settings we did have taken effect.
Enabling fullscreen, disabling Vsync and setting the framerate to 60 in the launcher I get an fps of 150ish at 4k on a 1000 star galaxy at the start of a game. (Using MSI afterburner to measure fps and see the frametime graph)

Whilst paused, I can pan around seemingly complete fine. As soon as I hit space bar and pan the camera it starts stuttering. Increasing the speed makes the stuttering significantly worse.

The stutters appear to occur at regular intervals, almost like its every couple of in game days. As the speed increases, days pass faster and as a result the stuttering increases.

I really appreciate your assistance with this! Hopefully we can get it fixed in time for First Contacts! (Very excited for that DLC)
 
what do you mean by this? Run it by clicking on stellaris.exe in the folder it's kept in instead of the shortcut?
Double clicking on it in File Explorer, yes. That bypasses our launcher and Steam, and 100% ensures no mods are in effect.

Enabling fullscreen, disabling Vsync and setting the framerate to 60 in the launcher I get an fps of 150ish at 4k on a 1000 star galaxy at the start of a game.
Okay, that is a problem! I haven't seen evidence of it before but ISTM that must be a game bug. I'll see if the anyone in the back streets knows about that, but it's probably worth making a new thread in Bug Reports on that; attach there your settings files, dxdiag.txt , and screenshots showing the actual rate you get. Thanks!

You mention the MSI app; please try unloading all components of that, and undo any overclocking you might have enabled. Any different?
 
Double clicking on it in File Explorer, yes. That bypasses our launcher and Steam, and 100% ensures no mods are in effect.
Doing this launches the game but doesn't immediately display it, it stays on the toolbar at the bottom of my desktop and I have to physically click on it there to be able to see it on screen (not sure if this is intended). Once I click on it, the menus work fine.

Launching it a second time did the same thing as it did before launching it from the file explorer. It appears on my screen but none of the menu options can be interacted with and the resolution looks a bit skewed. Alt-tab fixes it as usual.

When the game first pops up and the menus aren't interactable, it seems to mess with nightmode. Because it's late at night where I am, I have night mode enabled on my computer which warms the screen up to reduce blue light. When stellaris first launches it doesn't show as night mode, just the usual bright screen. Alt-tabbing to desktop shows that night mode is also not active on the desktop. Going back into the game fixes the menus as usual but also reactivates night mode, both in game and on the desktop.
Okay, that is a problem! I haven't seen evidence of it before but ISTM that must be a game bug
Is the problem that I shouldn't be seeing fps above 60 with those settings? I play on borderless windowed usually, not fullscreen, and there was no change in stuttering between either setting.
You mention the MSI app; please try unloading all components of that, and undo any overclocking you might have enabled. Any different?
I only downloaded the msi afterburner to check my stats a week or two ago. I was having issues before downloading it and never even attempted any overclocking.

Whilst I was opening the game through the file explorer I loaded into a game and had a look at the frametime graph again. I mentioned in an earlier comment that the stutters were happening at regular intervals. Looking at it again, that regular interval is every in-game day. It spikes when a day switches to a new one (so when it ticks over from 2200.01.01 to 2200.01.02). Hence why there are no stutters when the game is paused and why they happen much more often on higher speeds (because the days are passing super quickly).

I'm aware I have introduced so many more issues than the initial stuttering, but maybe they're all connected?
 
Is the problem that I shouldn't be seeing fps above 60 with those settings?
Yes; with vsync off, fullScreen and RR cap of 60 you should never get fps over 60.

I'm not clear if you are saying running stellaris.exe directly had any effect on the stuttering issue though?

I am puzzled by your valious video/graphics anomalies though. I can only guess they are connected with the game problem, yes. Does galaxy size make a difference?


If you make a new Windows user and log into Windows as that, and start a new unmodded test galaxy, does the problem happen there too?
 
I'm not clear if you are saying running stellaris.exe directly had any effect on the stuttering issue though?
Apologies, there was no effect.
If you make a new Windows user and log into Windows as that, and start a new unmodded test galaxy, does the problem happen there too?
So upon first launch (default settings, borderless window) it appeared to be better. Still a bit of stuttering but it seemed fairly playable.

Second launch (this time with fullscreen enabled, vsync off and 60fps cap) I loaded into the game and had the same unresponsive menus as before. Loading into the galaxy, the stuttering returned with basically identical looking frametime graphs. I also experienced some crazy coil whine from my gpu which I've never had before (along with framerates in the 800+ range)

Third launch (back to default settings, same as first launch) and the stuttering remained.
 
I also experienced some crazy coil whine from my gpu which I've never had before (along with framerates in the 800+ range)
Okay, we definitely have a refresh rate problem here. Why this is affecting your particular setup so badly I do not know, but please go ahead and report the failure to cap it as a bug, thank you.

Then you'd want to limit the refresh rate/fps by some other means, to prevent possible damage to your GPU. I'm not sure if GeForce Experience or the MSI apps have a way of doing that?
 
Okay, we definitely have a refresh rate problem here. Why this is affecting your particular setup so badly I do not know, but please go ahead and report the failure to cap it as a bug, thank you.
Reporting just now. I dont think it is related to the stuttering as i asked a friend of mine to replicate the same settings on a different device and they reported similar wild framerates to me, however they get no stuttering.

It is definitely a bug, but fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) it doesnt seem related.
Then you'd want to limit the refresh rate/fps by some other means, to prevent possible damage to your GPU. I'm not sure if GeForce Experience or the MSI apps have a way of doing that?
Yes, MSI Afterburner has an option to limit the fps with RivaTuner

Whilst testing the frame limiter to make sure it had worked, i enabled some more statistics and saw that my fps lows were awful.
1% lows were 32fps
0.1% lows were a measly 5fps

the framerate dips massively whenever an in-game day passes, and it dips even more when an in-game month passes.
 
Whilst testing the frame limiter to make sure it had worked, i enabled some more statistics and saw that my fps lows were awful.
1% lows were 32fps
0.1% lows were a measly 5fps

the framerate dips massively whenever an in-game day passes, and it dips even more when an in-game month passes.
That seems to imply that the game's regular calculations, which of course are done by the CPU, are affecting your GPU somehow. It is hard to imagine what could possible cause this in modern hardware!

Please install and run the free utility Speccy.Send its output to a text file and attach that here, thanks.

I'm also now going to call in my colleague who is vastly more knowledgeable on hardware than I am - @jpd can you comment on what we are seeing here please?
 
Drops in FPS are to be expected when the game does it's next-turn calculations (which happen when it ticks over from one day to the next), as frame rendering is halted until all these calculations have completed. However, such massive drops in FPS are not. It's like the next turn calculations require more real time than they should, especially in a game that's freshly started, and only has a couple of handful of colonized planets.

Could you please download HWmonitor, install/unzip it on your system, and have it running while you run Stellaris. It will capture a whole range of critical values on your system, and record the min/max values reached on each of these. That could reveal latent hardware related issues you might have.

Amongst other things, that will reveal the min and max temperatures of your CPU, your GPU and your disk drives. As well as their min and max frequencies. And how much power they draw. If there is a bottle neck somewhere, it (hopefully) will reveal it.
 
That seems to imply that the game's regular calculations, which of course are done by the CPU, are affecting your GPU somehow. It is hard to imagine what could possible cause this in modern hardware!
Not to mention what could cause the same issue on 2 different systems!
Please install and run the free utility Speccy.Send its output to a text file and attach that here, thanks.
attached file named Speccy020323.txt
Could you please download HWmonitor, install/unzip it on your system, and have it running while you run Stellaris. It will capture a whole range of critical values on your system, and record the min/max values reached on each of these. That could reveal latent hardware related issues you might have.
attached file named HWMonitor020323.txt
i opened it and left it running whilst playing stellaris for 10ish minutes, hope it worked!
 

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At the moment you made the HWmonitor dump, I notice that none of the temperatures are anywhere near the danger zones. However, your video board is running at about 1/3 of it's max capacity.

When you inspect the UI of HWmonitor, what does it specify under the max column for your GeForce 4090? Specifically, the clock speeds, power draw, voltage, temperatures and fan speed.
 
When you inspect the UI of HWmonitor, what does it specify under the max column for your GeForce 4090? Specifically, the clock speeds, power draw, voltage, temperatures and fan speed.
hopefully the attached screenshot helps? i couldnt find any way to expand some of the values that display ... at the end. the final column is max values.
i couldn't find any voltage measurements, unless theyre on the motherboard section?

At the moment you made the HWmonitor dump, I notice that none of the temperatures are anywhere near the danger zones. However, your video board is running at about 1/3 of it's max capacity.
could that be because its not recieving enough power? i have seen it reach 100% utilisation when the fps was uncapped, during the test i capped it to 60fps.
 

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The numbers in the max column indicate it has reached higher clock speeds, close to or at the max speeds it can reach (right column). However, the current values are only a fraction of that (left column). Did you take that screen shot with the game still running? If you run the game in borderless window, both the game and hwmonitor will be visible on-screen at the same time, and you will see the values as they are under active load from the game in real time. If you run the game full screen, switching to hwmonitor forces the game display into the background. Which halts any rendering, and the GPU will respond with more or less going idle.
 
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The numbers in the max column indicate it has reached higher clock speeds, close to or at the max speeds it can reach (right column). However, the current values are only a fraction of that (left column). Did you take that screen shot with the game still running? If you run the game in borderless window, both the game and hwmonitor will be visible on-screen at the same time.
i have taken a second screenshot with the game running, as seen below. hopefully that is better!
 

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