Random Stuttering in Games

[puffleboi]

Does anybody know how to fix this?

Here is some context:
This didn't happen to me before but right now, it's annoying. Whenever I'm playing Doom (or any other games, especially FPS ones), it randomly stutters everytime. It makes dealing with enemies a pain. Normally I would ignore this when playing on a modern shooter cuz my laptop is jank but when it stutters on a game like Doom, that's when it get concerning. I tried most "fixes" found in Google but none of them worked. I just want this gone so I can get back on enjoying Doom.

[Kappes Buur]

That could be caused by a number of various processes which your computer performs while it is powered up. When you mention that it worked okay before but not now, it makes me think first that the ram memory is encroached upon. To test my theory you could run CCleaner Free Version, first Custom Clean and then Registry, to get rid of a lot of clutter. And as an additional step Wise Registry Cleaner Free version.

If that does not help, take a look at how hot the CPU and GPU are running. Laptops are notorious for heating up when they suck in all kinds of dust and clog up the fan over time and cannot dissipate that extra heat to an acceptable level. Anything under 50°C is good. 60°C to 70°C is concerning, over 70°C would mean to check the airflow immediately or, as a temporary measure, operate your computer in a walk-in freezer.

Other than that, do not have other apps open at the same time when playing GZDoom.

[puffleboi]

That could be caused by a number of various processes which your computer performs while it is powered up.

I checked out task manager to see if there are any processes using high amounts of memory and I think I found 2 culprits, Antimalware Service Executable & Desktop Window Manager.

Can you stop leeching my memory FOR 5 MINUTES??

Screenshot (11).png (8.61 KiB) Viewed 3596 times

To test my theory you could run CCleaner Free Version, first Custom Clean and then Registry, to get rid of a lot of clutter. And as an additional step Wise Registry Cleaner Free version.

I'm not exactly game on downloading 3rd-party software, especially CCleaner..
You or someone else can tell me whether or not these 3rd-party software are safe.

If that does not help, take a look at how hot the CPU and GPU are running. Laptops are notorious for heating up when they suck in all kinds of dust and clog up the fan over time and cannot dissipate that extra heat to an acceptable level. Anything under 50°C is good. 60°C to 70°C is concerning, over 70°C would mean to check the airflow immediately or, as a temporary measure, operate your computer in a walk-in freezer.

Here is what it came out, hope it helps.

Other than that, do not have other apps open at the same time when playing GZDoom.

That was the first thing I did when it started stuttering and sadly didn't work.

[Kappes Buur]

Temps are fine, nothing to worry about there.

I've been using CCleaner Free since 2007, when it was called CrapCleaner, without any ill effects. However, as with any other app which has been around for so long they have added other stuff like CCleaner browser, Driver Update, AVG antivirus, etc. If you decide to run CCleaner I would not let them install these other offshoots. That's just me, I don't need them. With more recent versions it suggests to me to run CCleaner when clutter accumulation is excessively high.

On the other hand, I only recently started using Wise Registry Cleaner Free. From what I have read about it, it seems to be a trusted app. But, as usual, use at own risk. However, it cleaned a boatload of registry entries which CCleaner Free did not find.

Intel UHD Graphics 605, that sounds like trouble as far as GZDoom is concerned. Many have reported issues with Intel graphics drivers. Do a forum search for Intel or Intel graphics to find a possible solution.

[puffleboi]

Intel UHD Graphics 605, that sounds like trouble as far as GZDoom is concerned. Many have reported issues with Intel graphics drivers. Do a forum search for Intel or Intel graphics to find a possible solution.

1 year ago, I had a "Doom Spree" where I would test addons, mods, and map to see if it runs well in my setup and I have never encountered a stuttering when testing.
I even finished testing all 14 addons, 88 gameplay mods, 10 maps I downloaded before I got bored.

From what I can scrounge up on the Intel forums, it's some sort of "memory leak". I don't know what caused it but that's a little too close for comfort.

[Kappes Buur]

I did a bit of digging into the specs of your graphics card.

While it says that OpenGL 4.6 is supported, it appears that the implementation seems somewhat questionable as far as GZDoom is concerned. Have you udated the drivers?
Possibly an older version of the graphics driver may offer a better experience.

However, Vulcan 1.2 is also supported. Give that a shot, many have reported that Vulkan runs quite well.

[Graf Zahl]

Vulkan should work better on any modern Intel GPU.

[puffleboi]

Have you udated the drivers?

I'm not really keen on updating or downgrading drivers. I just let the system do it automatically.
I don't know whether my drivers were updated or not.

[puffleboi]

Vulkan should work better on any modern Intel GPU.

Unfortunately, Vulkan doesn't seem to remedy this. In fact, it feels slightly choppier that OpenGL.
Also it still stutters.

[puffleboi]

Here is an example of the stuttering. I don't think this would help much but it's what is looks like.

[PlayerLin]

Since Intel graphic card are integrated graphics, I think its "shared memory by using system RAM" would be a source caused stuttering as system may busying at processing something but not sure...

If your problem can keep happens on playing then I think you can enable show status by doing "vid_fps 1", "stat rendertimes" and "stat think" (all of them without quotes) in GZDoom's console, and record the game while these status on showing on screen like this: https://i.imgur.com/gksiLr1.png

Maybe those info would helps finger out what happens...or not.

[puffleboi]

I wish I can record a video but I ran into problems..

1. As the title said, the stuttering is random. It's hard to keep anticipating on a stutter when playing E1M1 20 times. Even though the stuttering is occasional, it's still bugs me and I want it gone.

2. Whenever I play Doom, I get a medium of 60 - 65 fps but when I record my screen when I'm playing Doom with OBS, it hits me with 20 - 25 fps.

3. I tried playing Doom without OBS, stuttering. Playing Doom with OBS, for some reason it doesn't stutter.

[puffleboi]

I think I'm on to something..
After weeks of torment and an app recommended to me from another person.
I may have caught the culprit, I think..
Turns out, it wasn't my CPU going nanners.

It was my GPU, for some reason.

gotcha!

I'm still finding a fix for "GPU Dips" but if know one, please let me know.
I just want the stuttering to stop..

[Guest]

Was having this issue, also had the Nvidea control panel's vsync enabled globally, because I always get screen tearing without some form of vsync and often find nvidea's to be optimal. When I disabled the nvidea vsync for gzdoom this problem disappeared. This seems to track with OP's discovery of it being GPU bound, which is what got me on the thought thread that led to the discovery of my solution (so thanks for that).

Hope this helps OP or anyone else who comes looking for a solution to this obnoxious issue.