"If I enable HAGS, I get micro stutters

[Nirexis]

Good day,

First, to my system:

• Notebook: Asus Rog Strix Scar 16
• CPU: Intel Core i9 13980hx
• GPU: Geforce RTX 4080 Mobile
• RAM: Kingston Fury 32 gb 5600mhz Ram Module
• OS: Win 11

To my problem:

For months I have had problems with micro stutters, I have already tried everything possible:

• No Gsync / no Vsync
• Gsync / no Vsync
• Gsync + Vsync
• Each option with FPS Limit + without Limit
• FPS Limit in Nvidia driver, Ingame Engine or MSI Afterburner or Rivatuner.
• I have formatted the computer several times
• GeForce Experience installed / uninstalled
• Different power plan options
• Different graphics settings (from everything low to everything high)
• Different resolutions
• Game Mode on / off
• Fullscreen / Windowed / Borderless
• Current BIOS / older BIOS version
• Overlays of any apps On / Off
• The temperatures of my components are all within the normal range
• New RAM
• Other monitors with 240 hz
• All drivers for all components up to date / older drivers also tried
• Different mouse polling rate
• Different mouse
• Resizable Bar is automatically on, I don't think I can deactivate it anywhere either

Now after months I finally had the idea to deactivate HAGS (Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling) and I couldn't believe my eyes. Everything runs incredibly smooth and the micro stutters are gone.

The big problem now is that you have to have HAGS activated to activate Frame Generation... In some games, not even Dlss 2.0 works. Does anyone know the problem and could solve it? Games like Immortals of Avenuen are hardly playable without Dlss... Unfortunately, you also have to restart the PC when changing the HAGS setting, which would be extremely annoying... especially since more and more games with Dlss 3.0 are coming out.

[Nirexis]

This message persists even with Vsync disabled and no other tabs open. Interestingly, the image exhibits stuttering similar to that observed in games. Sry for my poor english, i'm from german ^^ 

[hexaae]

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@Nirexis  ha scritto:

This message persists even with Vsync disabled and no other tabs open. Interestingly, the image exhibits stuttering similar to that observed in games. Sry for my poor english, i'm from german ^^ 

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Thanks for testing and confirming is a common problem for all us SCAR 16/18 users... sigh...

[hexaae]

Another question: is it normal in Ultimate mode (i.e. dGPU only, checked also in the BIOS 328), the iGPU is always active and running??? Looks like is constantly in Adv Optimus mode...

You can check the iGPU from HWiNFO Summary page, or GPU-Z (lower left to switch GPU). I thought iGPU should have been unavailable while in dGPU Ultimate mode.

[Nirexis]

I'm not sure. Google says it is not normal igpu runs on ultimate mode 

[hexaae]

ChatGPT 😉 says it depends on the laptop... One thing is sure: it stays on here, still listed under Device Manager, GPU-Z, HWiNFO and I wonder if can be the cause of stuttering: maybe dGPU Ultimate mode is buggy and still uses the iGPU to present frame buffers on the screen??? This could explain bad sync (slow) and problems with G-Sync... but would be a HUGE issue ASUS or other users should have already noted (got this laptop just by 2 weeks)!

[Nirexis]

I don't think Gsync has much to do with it... I'm using an external monitor and I have the same symptoms. I'm glad I figured this out with HAGS, so I can play most games smoothly. I also tested CapframX with and without Gsync and there was no difference. I never use Ultimate Mode because the fans are way too loud. Maybe 5-7% more performance, but it's not worth it for me, I always use Performance Mode. I've had the laptop for a year and still haven't been able to find a real solution....one can only hope that Asus will eventually release a BIOS that fixes the problems. Or an Nvidia driver. in turbo Modus my fans up to 6200rpm (Gpu and Cpu) on Performance mode my Cpu fan goes to 4500 rpm and my gpu fan goes to 5100 rpm is this same with you ? 

[hexaae]

Well, if dGPU is not directly handling the monitor with iGPU involved in last frame presentation to screen, this can make a HUGE difference. G-Sync tech is a HW/SW component to make GPU <--> monitor sync at ANY refresh rate (well the max the screen get up and down): this grants perfect smoothness even with FPS dips, or for emulators like MAME where old arcade games used weird resolutions at 55.7x..Hz or 57.xx etc. and without G-Sync you'll notice for sure micro-lags because common non-VRR monitors have fixed refresh rate (e.g. 60Hz). In short keeps FPS = Hz at any moment. Hence G-Sync helps a lot and keeps monitor/GPU synced with incomparable visual smoothness at any refresh rate or fps.... (but probably you knew this already).
Now, if dGPU STILL PASSES THROUGH iGPU even in Ultimate mode, that's a problem for perfect sync as G-Sync is supposed to interface GPU with monitor directly!
The Thunderbolt port on these laptops is the DP1.4 port (DisplayPort) where you should always connect your external monitor to, at the monitor DP port, to make G-Sync work on external monitors (not HDMI).

I'm very sensitive to screen smoothness, much more important than "very high fps" to me (60 G-Synced are still perfectly fine for me).

About fans speed we need to find a common base point: please download GPU Caps Viewer. In the Demo tab there are some OpenGL/Vulkan demos useful to test GPU loading (and any coil whine problems ;)). Let's try with them.

while playing the VK Geomechanical 3D Demo.

[Nirexis]

Oh my gosh, I think I found the solution!!! You need to disable the Nvidia sound drivers in the Device Manager. I also disabled the Armory Crate interface in the BIOS, and now everything is running smoothly 🙂 

[hexaae]

Micro stuttering still present here (G834JY) even disabling those 2 NVidia devices.

A issues collection in this thread: SCAR 18 G834JY oddities and issues - Republic of Gamers Forum - 1019880 (asus.com)

[Nirexis]

In one other post I read that the Asus software is responsible for this, uninstall Armory Create and try it. LightningService.exe can also be a cause, end this in the task manager. Disable the Armory Create interface in the BIOS.