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GTA IV Stuttering Issue.

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First post, by MrEWhite

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Don't know if this is "old" enough (9 years) but might as well try.

I'm having an issue with GTA IV. Basically, the game stutters like hell with the mouse cursor skipping, and this occurs only if I don't turn the Steam FPS counter on, but if I have it on it works fine. The issue still persists if I disabled the Steam overlay.

Also, this problem doesn't occur EFLC, which runs perfectly at max settings 60 FPS.

Here is an example of the issue. As you see, when I get a message on Steam or anything involving the Steam overlay occurs, the stuttering stops.

In addition to this, completely closing Steam and launching GTA IV still has the issue.

This also does not occur on version 1.0.7.0, but you need to use 1.0.8.0 to play multiplayer.

Here are my specs:

GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid
CPU: i7 7700k @ 4.8 GHz
CPU Cooling: EVGA CLC 280
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM <--- Installed on this
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO 512GB NVMe M.2
MB: Asus Maximus VI Code
RAM: 16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB @ 3600 MHz
PSU: EVGA Supernova 1000 P2

Reply 1 of 11, by gandhig

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Probably not related to your case, still, just throwing it out in the open.

After reading a lot about Witcher1's infamous stuttering online, recently started using Microsoft's GPUView for trying to make sense of the stutter in Witcher1. On preliminary analysis, cpu usage drops abruptly as the witcher process, sort of hiccups and disk access(mine is not SSD) too looked abnormal. Switching core affinity around improved it a bit, but didn't make it disappear completely.

As you mentioned that the issue was not in a previous version and if you are interested to dirty your hands,

a) install gpuview & read the help file for sure (it does look complicated)
b) run the old game version and take a trace during the stuttering period (few seconds will be sufficient)
c) run the new one and take a trace
d) compare both the trace and identify the differences to get an idea

On a completely separate note, is your HDD activity LED blinking during the stutter? Even if it isn't, maybe install the game on your SSD and check it out, worth a shot. Also try switching the core affinity of the game process to other cores, who knows?

Dosbox SVN r4019 + savestates Build (Alpha)
1st thread & the only one related to the forum(?)...warning about modern-retro combo
Dead, but, Personal Favourite
Replacement for Candy Crush...Train the Brain

Reply 3 of 11, by MrEWhite

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DosFreak wrote:

Didn't Rockstar push out an update for that game fairly recently? Implies they still support it....

It's this update that caused the issue.
And it was mainly pushed because the online didn't work.

Reply 4 of 11, by MrEWhite

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gandhig wrote:
Probably not related to your case, still, just throwing it out in the open. […]
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Probably not related to your case, still, just throwing it out in the open.

After reading a lot about Witcher1's infamous stuttering online, recently started using Microsoft's GPUView for trying to make sense of the stutter in Witcher1. On preliminary analysis, cpu usage drops abruptly as the witcher process, sort of hiccups and disk access(mine is not SSD) too looked abnormal. Switching core affinity around improved it a bit, but didn't make it disappear completely.

As you mentioned that the issue was not in a previous version and if you are interested to dirty your hands,

a) install gpuview & read the help file for sure (it does look complicated)
b) run the old game version and take a trace during the stuttering period (few seconds will be sufficient)
c) run the new one and take a trace
d) compare both the trace and identify the differences to get an idea

On a completely separate note, is your HDD activity LED blinking during the stutter? Even if it isn't, maybe install the game on your SSD and check it out, worth a shot. Also try switching the core affinity of the game process to other cores, who knows?

Well, I don't think it's a hardware issue because using any portion of the Steam overlay fixes it, but I don't want an FPS counter on there 100% of the time.

Reply 5 of 11, by gandhig

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MrEWhite wrote:

Well, I don't think it's a hardware issue because using any portion of the Steam overlay fixes it, but I don't want an FPS counter on there 100% of the time.

Never implied that it was a hardware issue, what with your game-screaming specs 😀 and all.
There is a very good chance that the issue is with the game itself w.r.t modern systems. Maybe it isn't properly optimized for multicore systems coupled with the changes that have happened at driver/OS level currently in comparison to what it was when the game was originally released. If that is the issue, gpuview is an excellent tool for analysing the bottlenecks albeit requiring some knowledge about the graphics thing as a whole.

FWIW, witcher1 performed a lot better under XP than 7 in my system. Perhaps you could try the different compatibility modes.

Maybe someone with the game, preferably not a digital one, can check it out with the latest patch applied to rule out steam for sure. Reading GTA forums threw lots of similar issues even before the latest patch.

Dosbox SVN r4019 + savestates Build (Alpha)
1st thread & the only one related to the forum(?)...warning about modern-retro combo
Dead, but, Personal Favourite
Replacement for Candy Crush...Train the Brain

Reply 6 of 11, by MrEWhite

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gandhig wrote:
Never implied that it was a hardware issue, what with your game-screaming specs :happy: and all. There is a very good chance th […]
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MrEWhite wrote:

Well, I don't think it's a hardware issue because using any portion of the Steam overlay fixes it, but I don't want an FPS counter on there 100% of the time.

Never implied that it was a hardware issue, what with your game-screaming specs 😀 and all.
There is a very good chance that the issue is with the game itself w.r.t modern systems. Maybe it isn't properly optimized for multicore systems coupled with the changes that have happened at driver/OS level currently in comparison to what it was when the game was originally released. If that is the issue, gpuview is an excellent tool for analysing the bottlenecks albeit requiring some knowledge about the graphics thing as a whole.

FWIW, witcher1 performed a lot better under XP than 7 in my system. Perhaps you could try the different compatibility modes.

Maybe someone with the game, preferably not a digital one, can check it out with the latest patch applied to rule out steam for sure. Reading GTA forums threw lots of similar issues even before the latest patch.

I also have a physical copy and it still occurs.

Reply 7 of 11, by gandhig

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Then, if not done already, please raise the issue with the game developers. However, good luck on getting a fix from them for a relatively old game.

Have you tried the core affinity and compatibility thingies? To a lesser extent, try SSD install too. If you are hellbent, try gpuview too. However even if you do identify the issue, there is no guarantee that it can be fixed by those other than developers/nvidia/microsoft.

Dosbox SVN r4019 + savestates Build (Alpha)
1st thread & the only one related to the forum(?)...warning about modern-retro combo
Dead, but, Personal Favourite
Replacement for Candy Crush...Train the Brain

Reply 8 of 11, by SpooferJahk

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Going to take a stab in the dark and say it might be the game itself, since GTA IV was never really a stable darling even at release. I would not be surprised if Rockstar borked something in the process.

Reply 9 of 11, by MrEWhite

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SpooferJahk wrote:

Going to take a stab in the dark and say it might be the game itself, since GTA IV was never really a stable darling even at release. I would not be surprised if Rockstar borked something in the process.

It worked fine before I upgraded my machine though, hm.