FPS Drop Preview/Record. Need help.

AnKaranirThanagor

AnKaranirThanagor

New Member
LOG <<<
Example video 00:25

Hi everyone,
I'm facing an issue that I've been unable to resolve for a long time. During both the OBS preview and the final recording, I experience unexplained periodic FPS drops/micro-stutters that last for about a minute and then disappear. On a 1-hour video, this behavior occurs roughly 5 times.

I have tried literally everything: tweaking BIOS settings, testing various driver versions, and modifying various Windows settings. I have thoroughly searched the forum history dating back to 2019, which is when similar issues first started appearing in threads.

Crucially, this problem occurs identically across all recording software (not just OBS). It is not an OBS-specific bug, but I'm posting here because this community has the best expertise in capture pipelines. In my opinion, this is either an Nvidia driver flaw or a deeper DXGI issue. It seems Nvidia managed to mitigate this on the 30 and 40-series GPUs, but the new 50-series is suffering from it again.

Please do not suggest basic troubleshooting like disabling HAGS or running as admin; all of that was tried a long time ago. I have completely swapped out my hardware over time: the monitor, M.2 drives, GPU, and motherboard have all been replaced. At this point, the only remaining original components are the CPU and RAM. I have cycled through every possible combination of OBS, Windows, and Nvidia Control Panel settings, and almost nothing has any impact on the issue, except maybe V-Sync.

My System Specs:
  • Setup: Dual-monitor setup, G-Sync is completely disabled.
  • Monitors: Main monitor is 240Hz, secondary is 120Hz.
  • Motherboard: Previously MSI B760 Tomahawk Plus WIFI, currently Gigabyte AORUS Z790M Elite.
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-13500
  • GPU: Previously RTX 5060 Ti, currently RTX 5070 Ti.
  • RAM: 32 GB DDR5 @ 6000MHz.
  • Storage: Kingston SKC3000 1TB (System drive) + an identical Kingston SKC3000 1TB (Dedicated drive for recordings).
  • OBS Settings: Canvas/Output set to 60 FPS, AV1 encoder on Medium presets.
Since the hardware has been almost completely refreshed, I am starting to suspect either a deeply hidden CPU/RAM instability or a fundamental architectural flaw in how the OS handles multi-refresh rate monitors alongside Nvidia's newer architecture during capture hooks.


Any advanced technical insights would be highly appreciated.
 
It could be your different refresh rates. I had a similar problem on my OBS using a five monitor setup. Not quite as severe as yours but all monitors were set to 60 except one that was 59.86. Once I changed that monitor to one that supported 60, the problem went away. If you can match the refresh rates, I would try that and post another log file.
 
ProSouth said:
It could be your different refresh rates. I had a similar problem on my OBS using a five monitor setup. Not quite as severe as yours but all monitors were set to 60 except one that was 59.86. Once I changed that monitor to one that supported 60, the problem went away. If you can match the refresh rates, I would try that and post another log file.
Click to expand...
Okay, I have already tried this before, but Iet's test it again.

Test 1: The secondary monitor was completely disconnected (the cable was physically pulled out of the GPU). The main monitor refresh rate remained at 240Hz. LOG

Test 2: Same as above (single monitor setup), but with the refresh rate dropped down to 60Hz. During the first minute of recording, everything ran perfectly—exactly how it should always be. However, right around the 1:10 mark, the FPS drop/stuttering began again. LOG
 
Leave it @ 60HZ & try a different source. I did a quick search, the game you are playing is notorious for bad frame pacing. When the source isn't up to snuff, OBS will stutter as it's not getting the input data in a timely (consistent) fashion.
 
60FPS test video if you would like to give it a try. If your system displays & encodes it without skips or duplicate frames, it's running just fine. I have a 120FPS tester too if you want that as well, let me know.

www.filemail.com

Secure File Sharing - Filemail

Share files of any size, any format, any type, securely
www.filemail.com www.filemail.com
 
These can be disabled
20:54:09.732: Game Bar: On
20:54:09.732: Game DVR: On

I took a look at the first log. Assuming the stuttering is handled (source), when you hook the 2nd monitor back up, only run (1) of them @ 120HZ. If you notice any weirdness, go to 60 on both.
 
Preset P5 will speed your encode up a few ms with no quality loss. Also try zeroing B frames, lookahead & visual tuning. Compare the encode to a recording with them. You'll see a difference. CQ Level is your Quality setting so just drop that # to up the q.
 
rockbottom said:
Preset P5 will speed your encode up a few ms with no quality loss. Also try zeroing B frames, lookahead & visual tuning. Compare the encode to a recording with them. You'll see a difference. CQ Level is your Quality setting so just drop that # to up the q.
Click to expand...
Okay, I tried your video — played it fullscreen via VLC and did a screen capture for 5 minutes. Then I watched it back in VLC at 0.1x speed and I can see the arrow skipping sometimes even over several divisions on the recording. I'm not sure if this is normal or not. I wanted to make a GIF to show you, but all online converters seem to have limited FPS, so I'll just attach the original file. Take a look if you want, it starts around 1:00. You'll really have to strain your eyes though. Here log. Here file.

Also, I tested two other sources.
  1. Metro Last Light: Everything is fine until the 6-minute mark. There were two stutters (a door and a poster on the wall), but those are in-game lags — I saw them on my monitor too, so it's the game's fault and can be ignored. The issue we're talking about starts at 06:15, where you can see an FPS drop. metro log.
  2. Witcher 3 Wild Hunt: Here, the issue happened at the 3 and 6-minute marks. There were also 1-second in-game lags which I saw on my end as well. witcher log.
I'll also attach a screenshot from FPS Monitor. Frametime isn't always stable, sometimes bouncing between 14 and 18 ms.
FPS Mon Witcher3.webp
 
No lag in the log & the test video is definitely skipping. It should not be skipping.

Rig may be the issue or that screenshot at the end of your post just may be the clue.

Known Application Conflicts | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.
obsproject.com obsproject.com

Anytime the frame-rate drops below 60, even for a ms or 2, there will be stuttering. The game is clearly dipping below 60FPS

1782373996821.png
 
rockbottom said:
No lag in the log & the test video is definitely skipping. It should not be skipping.

Rig may be the issue or that screenshot at the end of your post just may be the clue.

Known Application Conflicts | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.
obsproject.com obsproject.com

Anytime the frame-rate drops below 60, even for a ms or 2, there will be stuttering. The game is clearly dipping below 60FPS

View attachment 120197
Click to expand...
There is nothing like that under that link except for FPS Monitor, but it was turned off during recording. I took the screenshot when I wasn't recording anyway. I also took another one using PresentMon. It shows the data a bit differently, but you can clearly see the dips in the 1% low. So, does that mean the 0.1% low always needs to be at 60 for a stable recording? What kind of hardware do I need for this, and what is wrong with mine...
present mon.png
 
Yeah, the 1% below 60 is your issue & causing the stuttering. Although it doesn't explain why the test video is stuttering too. That's your rig, could be a driver or something else, like a NVMe in the wrong slot on your mobo.
 
I went through some of your encoding of the test video frame by frame. Skips started right before the file looped @ 1 minute. There's other skips, & duplicates after. Just keep in mind there will be a few skips when the file loops & re-loads but during that minute there should be no skips.
 
rockbottom said:
I went through some of your encoding of the test video frame by frame. Skips started right before the file looped @ 1 minute. There's other skips, & duplicates after. Just keep in mind there will be a few skips when the file loops & re-loads but during that minute there should be no skips.
Click to expand...
Well, it seems I’ll need to swap my CPU for a more powerful one, like something from the X3D series maybe. I'll bump this thread when it happens to share if it helped.
 
You're gonna need a new rig if you go AMD. You can install any 12th to 14th gen Intel CPU in your current set-up.

Honestly don't think the CPU is the issue. I would start by firing up DDU & check to see if there's a driver conflict on the system.
 
rockbottom said:
You're gonna need a new rig if you go AMD. You can install any 12th to 14th gen Intel CPU in your current set-up.

Honestly don't think the CPU is the issue. I would start by firing up DDU & check to see if there's a driver conflict on the system.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I get it, looks like I'll have to replace the cooler too... But it seems like me and Intel just don't get along. While I was picking out a CPU and reading about what 1% low means, I stumbled across RTSS and tried capping the FPS with it. Nothing changed in FPS Monitor, but the numbers in the RTSS overlay itself are totally different — it shows a stable 60 FPS and 16.6 ms. I'm so confused. Internet says it might depend on where the frame is being measured, like at the start of the pipeline or somewhere else. I don't know what to do next. I made a test recording with RTSS enabled just for game, but there’s no difference.
fpsmonitor +rtss.webp
rtss overlay.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top