Struggling with micro stutter after changing preferences.

[Numiah]

Hi guys,

 

I always could play everything I threw at my cabinet without ANY stutter.
So figured, why not test what the button "Set for High End PC" does.
Well, it obviously made my system crawl. 
I took notice to the settings I used before changing. So reverting should have been easy right?

However....
No matter which setting I pick, try or experiment with. Even setting everything for low end PC. There is stutter on every single table.
Even with the absolute minimal settings with every option turned off, the issue persists.
Force full screen doesn't make any difference.

I am on a loss on where to start looking next.
What else changed when pushing that button?

I'm using an i7 16Gb, fast nvme for OS and a SSD for games. GTX 1660Ti 8Gb in 4K.
 

Any of you have any clues or tips on what to try next?
Thanks much!

[Thalamus]

Hmm. Odd, but, I have never used that button myself. Now, I won't. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask Toxie in the beta channel if he could "document" what it does. I could maybe look into the source code, but, I'm not sure I would be able to figure it out with 100% certainty. A "magic" button like that, should be documented imo, the same for the low I guess.

 

What I recommend for everyone - always is at some time, when the machine is setup as you want it is to make a registry backup for both Visual Pinball and Pinmame. Unless the button changes ANYTHING that is in the registry it should be pretty easy to get back. In some cases, I guess a reboot might be needed.

[kds70]

Could you post a screenshot of your settings please?

[Numiah]

8 hours ago, kds70 said:

Could you post a screenshot of your settings please?

Sure I can. I'll also include the Nvidia settings.
At this moment everything is set to an absolute minimal.
Last thing I experimented with was the pre-rendering. To no avail.

I reverted back to 10.7.0 but that didn't make any difference.
@Thalamus, backing up the register would have been an awesome idea. Eek!

Edited November 30, 2022 by Numiah
typo's

[Thalamus]

Yeah, well, if you can't resolve this. It might be a good thing to simply use the standard uninstall program, delete the registry completely, then install 10.7.2 with the all in one. Of course, you would have to adjust a few settings manually, but, I'm quite confident that you will be back up and running without too much trouble. Essential part here is of course, deleting the whole registry hive. If you are scared to do it, why not just export the hive, before deleting. That way you will always be able to get back to where you are; as long as you re-install to the exact same location. Restoring the registry will most probably just get you back to where you are right now .. so, kind of redundant, but, you are least will feel safer

[Numiah]

You are right sir.
Albeit the last resort perhaps, cleaning up the installation and registry are going to be the next step. (exporting is a good idea, thanks)
Unless someone pulls a rabbit out of his hat and has a miraculous solution of course hehe.

And with the knowledge my system is (was) capable of running all these amazing treats that have been released lately, I am not afraid to do so.

I'll post my findings when I'm up and running again, for future reference for other users.
 

[SmedleyB]

Did you try setting FPS Limiter to 1? What FPS is VPX reporting during your games?

Otherwise, when I hear of micro stutter on every table, my first though is VPX isn't in fullscreen mode. I know yuou said you tried fullscreen, but when you have fullscreen enabled and you alt-tab, do you see an empty playfield in list of programs that pops up?

[NewPin2019]

Can you check the FPS while you playing? 

In the Nvidia settings i would try this:

 

Power Management mode -> prefere maximum performance

 

Have you set the "Low latency mode" in the nvidia settings? When yes, you have to set "Maximium pre rendered frames" to 0 in vpx 

[kds70]

I would say following / try it please and report back:

 

1) Nvidia Settings set to this:

 

 

And these settings both to 1 (one) and FORCE exclusive Fullscreen to ON

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by kds70

[Numiah]

On 11/30/2022 at 4:33 PM, SmedleyB said:

Did you try setting FPS Limiter to 1? What FPS is VPX reporting during your games?

Otherwise, when I hear of micro stutter on every table, my first though is VPX isn't in fullscreen mode. I know yuou said you tried fullscreen, but when you have fullscreen enabled and you alt-tab, do you see an empty playfield in list of programs that pops up?

Average FPS is 118
When setting to either 1 FPS is stable at 60 of course. 
And... No micro stutter? Huh? What just happened here?

Alt-tabbing only shows the backglass and dmd

So with FPS limiter on 1 she is butter smooth. Strange as it was always set to 0.

Thanks heaps for your help!

 

On 11/30/2022 at 4:45 PM, NewPin2019 said:

Can you check the FPS while you playing? 

In the Nvidia settings i would try this:

 

Power Management mode -> prefere maximum performance

 

Have you set the "Low latency mode" in the nvidia settings? When yes, you have to set "Maximium pre rendered frames" to 0 in vpx 

 Without limiter at 118.
Max performance didn't make a difference. 
Setting low latency to on or ultra idem dito.

 

22 hours ago, kds70 said:

I would say following / try it please and report back:

 

1) Nvidia Settings set to this:

 

And these settings both to 1 (one) and FORCE exclusive Fullscreen to ON

Nvidia settings didn't make a difference.
However setting the limiter to 1 solves all isssues.

Raises the question why do frames need to be limited?

Thank you guys for your help and time so far!

[NewPin2019]

22 minutes ago, Numiah said:

Nvidia settings didn't make a difference.
However setting the limiter to 1 solves all isssues.

Raises the question why do frames need to be limited?

Could it be that you have vsync on in the nvida settings? According to my understanding you have to set up as follow:

 

Nvidia vsync on -> Limiter  1 or 2

Nvidia vsync off -> Limiter 0

 

 

 

[SmedleyB]

Did you maybe change your monitor frequency setting? What's the max freq your monitor runs at - is it 60Hz?

Edited December 1, 2022 by SmedleyB

[Numiah]

2 hours ago, NewPin2019 said:

Could it be that you have vsync on in the nvida settings? According to my understanding you have to set up as follow:

 

Nvidia vsync on -> Limiter  1 or 2

Nvidia vsync off -> Limiter 0

 

 

 

I double checked, but it was off.
However, the biggest result is achieved when setting limiter to 1.
Even better, I can max out all settings and still have smooth performance.
 

I know for sure it was always at 0 since I took a screenshot of all settings before pushing "max setting".

 

[Numiah]

40 minutes ago, SmedleyB said:

Did you maybe change your monitor frequency setting? What's the max freq your monitor runs at - is it 60Hz?

 

It's set at 60Hz. I tried changing and the gfx card switches accordingly. Of course I reverted back to the native 60Hz.

Not sure where the difference is why limiter has to be set, but I don't mind if it does.
For now the stutter is completely solved and that's what counts 😊

[SmedleyB]

2 hours ago, Numiah said:

 

It's set at 60Hz. I tried changing and the gfx card switches accordingly. Of course I reverted back to the native 60Hz.

Not sure where the difference is why limiter has to be set, but I don't mind if it does.
For now the stutter is completely solved and that's what counts 😊

Cool, regardless of what might have worked before, I think you have the ideal settings now. There's not much use of having your machine generate 118FPS when your monitor can only show 60 FPS (at least for virtual pinball). I've got a g-sync monitor & card and I still run w/ the monitor locked at 120 and VPX Limiter setting at 1.

Edited December 1, 2022 by SmedleyB