Stutter at high frame rates

[spoty123]

What happened?

The game stutters when running at frame rates above ~140 fps, forcing players with (high-end) PCs to limit their fps via external software.

I'm aware that disabling the audio frame limiter via the FiveM settings should fix this issue, but it doesn't.

Expected result

The game should not stutter at high frame rates.

Reproduction steps

1. Launch FiveM with a PC which is capable of running GTA 5 at a framerate higher than ~140.
2. Join any server (without any "frame consuming" scripts that would lower your fps below ~140)
3. Your game should now stutter pretty frequently while playing.
4. Limit your fps to 140 or below via an external software and the issue should now be "resolved".

Importancy

There's a workaround

Area(s)

FiveM

Specific version(s)

Not specific (to my knowledge)

Additional information

Please let me know if any additional data could be provided.

[Vivi4n]

Hi @spoty123,

This has already been addressed in a commit a while ago tied to g_audUseFrameLimiter.

You might be able to find more info here as well:

fivem/code/components/gta-core-five/src/GameAudioState.cpp

Line 30 in eac42c1

bool g_audUseFrameLimiterConVar;

Essentially would just be a bug in the base game causing stutters at a higher FPS.

[spoty123]

Hi @Vivi4n,

As I've stated in the initial message, this specific setting currently doesn't solve the issue.

[mcNuggets1]

I have the same issue with my pc, have to limit to 144

[blattersturm]

I can't reproduce this - even at 187 FPS (or even 200+, with synchronous audio toggled) I'm not experiencing this. Can you upload a trace of the issue occurring?

[FlawwsX]

Apparently, this is linked to monitor refresh rate.

I get this on both of my monitors, one being 165hz and the other 144hz.

[spoty123]

Hi @blattersturm, here is the related trace: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/779739506286002196/1164680783286509619/2023-10-19_22-44-07_King_.etl?ex=65bc1101&is=65a99c01&hm=cde91d9dc7ef7fe33ea5b4e7d2ab45d102ba0ca4c4626c9a09195d042a6b6184&

[mcNuggets1]

I

Even happens in default GTA Online or GTA V.
I've tested it with running default GTA V (no FiveM) and running with 180~ fps I've encountered 0.5s-1s lags every few seconds.
With capping it to 144, it solves this problem completely.

It is related to monitor hz rate. That is true.
If you have a 120 fps < monitor, you won't encounter this problem much.

There was a reddit thread about it, with the solution being limiting fps.

[xDope7137]

This can be only reproduced if you have two or more monitors with different refresh rates + windowed borderless.
Once your graphics card reaches 90% usage, it will stutter for 1-2 seconds every 60 seconds or so.

Looped threads in scripts dont help.

I had a full video demonstrating this issue but I lost it somewhere. It was pretty bad for me.

[blattersturm]

This sounds like something that'll be fixed in Windows 11 24H2 whenever it releases as it has a lot of graphics subsystem improvements including native support for monitors with different refresh rates.

Still a curious issue however...

[gottfriedleibniz]

@spoty123 do the above points on multi-monitors + multi-refresh-rates apply to you?

Another subset of this problem was posted on the forums: https://forum.cfx.re/t/fivem-recursive-freezes-hitching-on-clients/4923060/17 and your trace exhibits many similar properties as the one posted there. Things here are a bit difficult to confirm ... and debug for that matter.

[spoty123]

Hi @gottfriedleibniz, thank you for the response.
That's correct, the "tested setup" I could repro it on is a dual monitor, one with 240Hz and one with 170Hz.
(Note that the trace I sent did not come from said "tested setup")

[gottfriedleibniz]

Until those 24H2 changes arrive, it would be quite nice to get this issue documented somewhere given how frequent it seems to be reported.

Note that the trace I sent did not come from said "tested setup"

Ah. Would you happen to know if that trace came from a similar setup (multi-monitors, etc)? Otherwise, that forum thread contains some relevant insight.

[spoty123]

Would you happen to know if that trace came from a similar setup (multi-monitors, etc)?

Hi @gottfriedleibniz, I just checked and the answer is yes,
that setup has two monitors, one 165Hz and the other 144Hz.