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?

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

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.

gandhig wrote:

Probably not related to your case, still, just throwing it out in the open. […]
Show full quote

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.

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.

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 […]
Show full quote

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.

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.

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.

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.

Could it be related to the scheduling issue that Gemini described here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGg06HMPASg

skitters wrote:

Could it be related to the scheduling issue that Gemini described here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGg06HMPASg

Nah, it happens every other second.