Stutters in VR on low settings with new 4090/13900K/Quest Pro system

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
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Hi all,

I’m struggling to resolve an issue with stutters in VR on my brand new 13900K & 4090 system. These stutters happen even at the lowest possible graphics settings, and my FPS never drops when these stutters occur. My headset is a Quest Pro and I’m connected with the link cable.

A specific scenario is when I’m on the ground in a 787 at a small airfield. With MR disabled and at 72hz, looking down and moving my head towards at the throttles results in the image sort of ‘jumping’ back and forth a few times as I move (even as fps stays constant at 72). Turning ASW/MR on and locking to 45 FPS helps a bit, but it’s still very noticeable.

This also happens when flying over objects on the ground. Even with MR locked to 45fps and at low settings, buildings and tress tend to occasionally ‘skip’ as I fly over them. I’d say this happens around 5-10 seconds but it isn’t regular.

On low settings the oculus debug tool overlay reports ~60% performance overhead. Strangely, increasing graphical settings to high/ultra doesn’t seem to worsen this core stuttering - the performance overhead drops to ~5-10%, but the stutters are just present no matter what.

Things I’ve tried:

  • reducing settings to low across the board
  • clearing shader caches
  • different link cables (including the official link cable) & changing oculus link settings
  • closing as many background processes as possible
  • increasing process priority for the oculus server
  • benchmarking on cinebench/3dmark - results are average for a system with these specs

Graphics settings (for testing):

  • VR low end preset
  • Render resolution 100%
  • 72hz oculus refresh rate, 100% render resolution in MSFS and in the oculus dash.
  • reflex low latency: on + boost
  • TAA

Build specifics:

  • Fresh install of Windows
  • Asus Z790E Motherboard
  • Nvidia 4090 FE
  • 13900K
  • 64GB DDR5 5600mhz
  • xmp is enabled
  • system is on a gigabit wired connection

If anyone has any suggestions I’d be very grateful! Also if anyone has quest pro and has a smooth experience it’d be great to hear what settings you’re using and what your latency timings are.

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RTX 4080
13900K user here

Same problem, it’s MSFS issue and not our system .
They have to take performance and graphic degradation , VERY seriously.

3

Does it still happen with motion blur and depth of field disabled?

If so, try this experiment. Go Into the Nvidia Control Panel 3D settings Global Tab, and disable shader cache then reboot. This will cause the shaders to be compiled into memory each time you load a flight. It takes a little longer to load the flight, but it will eliminate I/O to the disk. You can turn off the Game Settings Rolling Cache next. So, Shader Cache ON, Rolling Cache ON–stutters, OFF, ON–???, OFF, OFF–???, ON, OFF–???

4

Get freeware OCCT for testing to make sure you aren’t throttling. Try DCS freeware which is now OpenXR to see if it happens there

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@OldpondGL Thanks for the suggestion - just tried all the variants of these cache settings - doesn’t seem to make a difference in these stutters whether either one of the caches are on/off.

I ran also ran these experiments in 2d mode (low settings preset in msfs) and realized these same stutters happen there as well - so not sure this is a VR issue anymore. In 2d, I can still see the scenery stutter irregularly if I look to the left as I take off in an airliner at a small airfield.

DCS I can do 72hz in VR and its smooth, except for the occasional stutter low-level on Marianas.

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6

I run with same config.
Oculus tool at 1.5 90hrz
These are my debug settings.

try 1.7 not 1.85
Lod 150
DX12
rest all ultra and max in FS besides traffic.
Runs actually quite good here.
Do you use oculus open xr?
not steam or something?

BTw try DLSS quality Taa is kinda demanding
start with this.

My Quest Pro runs amazingly well in FS
still bit testing but the qualiti is amazing!!

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7

Are you running DX11 or DX12? I believe Reflex mode works better with DX12. Unless you are using DLSS Frame Generation, you can turn HAGS off with Reflex Mode. FG requires HAGS on.

8

I experienced stutters with 4070Ti when I attempted to OC it. It was reaching power limit, which resulted in stuttering.

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I have pretty well the same PC specs (i913900k/rtx4090) and my 9mo QPro works great with MSFS using Link with any decent usb3 cable that gives you at least 2.2Gbps in Oculus desktop app device usb test. After trying zillions of different settings and addons like OpenXR Toolkit I’ve settled on these settings/setups;

First of all, the basics;

OpenXR Toolkit; Not using it anymore. Just adds more unnecessary complexity if you have a high end pc imho.

Win11 latest updates and the latest nvidia driver 536.67, using DDU in safe mode to properly uninstall previous drivers and select the option to stop windows from updating gpu drivers. Also just using the stock windows defender.

Windows graphics; HAGS disabled and Game mode turned off.

Nvidia control panel 3d global settings (no need to apply separate ones for any of my apps); All defaults except power = prefer max performance and change Quality filtering default from Quality to High Performance. No need to muck around with anything else imho.

Oculus Desktop PC app (using latest public beta v56 and headset v56ptc) device graphics settings at 80Hz refresh rate and the res slider full right. Also, Oculus runtime set as the default OpenXR runtime.

ODT settings all defaults/zeros except ASW off, distortion Low, bitrate 650mbps, link sharpening normal, mobile asw disabled, and local dimming enabled.

MSFS settings; DX11 and set overall to Ultra, save and then, lower trees and grass/shrubs to low, clouds to high, windscreen effects to medium, and increase AF to 16x. If you aren’t applying any super sampling with ODT (pixel density) or OTT (what I use) then use TAA (depending on aircraft/senery complexity) at 80-95 with RP off. Actually, DLSS seems to improve with every nvidia driver update with my 4090 so DLSS/Quality or Balanced with MR enabled also works pretty well now.

Traffic settings as low as you like (I use around 10%) and clear rolling cache after updates, then set it to 20-30Gb max. Rest pretty stock standard. Even with the best settings, if you move your head quickly in the cockpit (or do crazy yaw commands) you will always get a little lag with any streaming VR headset like your QPro. Move your head smoothly and take advantage to the QPro’s edge-to-edge pancake lens clarity which allow you to move your eyes around quite a bit anyway. Also, all msfs config settings at defaults.

If you want a little better/smoother results try applying 1.5x super sampling and switch to dlss/performance and RP to Depth. This is what I’m currently using. The 1.5x SS together with dlss/performance gives me very good cockpit clarity, bit smoother performance, and helps minimize distant AA shimmering (TAA without SS still works very though). If you find that ASW kicks in once in a while you can just press ctrl+num1 to turn it off (numeric keyboard 1, not top row 1). One of the reasons I use OTT is to set this up as a game profile to make sure it’s off and to also set the SS at 1.5x to avoid this staying too high for other apps. After exiting MSFS it reverts automatically back to my OTT default (= 0).

Anyway, these are the settings that I’ve found work best with MSFS. I suggest you give these a try and see how you go. Also, I suggest you avoid fixing framerates, mucking around with latency settings, and over-monitoring performance graphs. If you must know, I get a very nice, smooth 40fps, lol! Just concentrate on getting the best clarity and smoothest performance. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder imho.

As an Aside; I mainly use Air Link and although distant objects lose a little clarity and/or pop in a little later, I still prefer the freedom of being wireless. I use an external 10000mahr 30w battery with a short 1m battery cable with right angle connectors, placed in my front shirt pocket for nice long runtimes. Together with a front to back top strap my QPro is comfortable enough for any long runtimes.

I use exactly the same setting as I do with Link except I set the bitrate in the Rift home dashboard menu (far left icon) bitrate to 200mbps Dynamic (not fixed). I also add 5mbps dynamic bitrate offset in ODT and find that this helps stabilize my bitrate to around 160-170mbps. Nothing fancy with my 1gig router/wifi setup, just the standard recommended ethernet wired with dedicated 5Ghz/80mHz wifi close by (2-3m away in my case). I’m the only 5Ghz user in my house and everyone else in on 2.4, with band steering disabled, and I find/use a the best fixed (not auto) channel selection (ch36 in my case). Also, with Link or Air Link it’s best to minimize any unnecessary usb and BT devices while playing any PCVR games/sims.

Also as an aside for other SteamVR apps; I set global visuals Manually (not auto) to 100% and disable advanced super sample filtering (makes distant objects a little too blurry).

I hope this helps. Good luck mates and cheers.

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10

I’m having an similar system 5800x3d an 4090 with 32GB Ram.

There are only two things that deleted those stutters for me. The first one could be a plecebo but it was making a custom resolution with the exact refreshrate of my headset for my monitor using an app called CRU, custom resolution utility.

The second one, and that was the key for overall smoothness without full motion reprojection: Limiting framerate via RivaTuner. Not via any other tools or the driver. Limiting to 45FPS in Riva together with the custom refersh rate and using the depth Reprojection of MSFS gives me everything I wanted.

You still have to find the graphic settings you like and that fit’s your style of flying. Airliners are different than little GAs. I love the eye candy and fly mostly GAs. I’m running at 205% render resolution with DLSS Balanced. This gives me some dips beneath the 45FPS in heavy areas. But I’m fine with that. If I wanted to have it smooth everytime and everywhere with a set and forget system, I needed to reduce the render resolution and maybe tune down the terrain lod. Don’t understimate the impact terrain lod has on your CPU load. And don’t run clouds on Ultra, this kills easily 6 to 10 FPS in comparisson to high when you are in the clouds. These frames are hard to get back any other way.

If you are flying mostly Airliners, I would suggest using TAA rather than DLSS, it is better with glass cockpits. Render resolution 100%. Tune down the ambient occlusion and the terrain lod. running an airliner is a CPU heavy task, your stutters are most likely the CPU needing a break. So reducing the CPU load is helping a lot together with the framecap smoothing it out.

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Did i understand correctly that you are locking to 45fps@72hz? This would of course cause stutters. You should only run fps at or at half the refresh rate for best results. Ideally 45fps@90hz, unless you can do the full 72 (very possible with some planes in some areas and the correct settings).

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If using 72hz lock it at 36fps

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Sorry but I kinda don’t follow all that mate.

First of all, your 5800x3d cpu is not nearly as good as an i9 13900k so it probably is going to bottleneck a little more.

Secondly, you don’t say what VR headset you’re using. Since this thread is aimed at the QPro/i913900k/rtx4090 with Link, I guess we can assume you have a QPro and are using Link. Still worth confirming that imho.

Thirdly, I have played a lot with different PC monitor refresh rates and I’ve never noticed any differences in PCVR performance. Maybe a very little bit if I knock my PC gaming monitor refresh rate down from 144Hz to 120Hz, but nothing if I take it any lower, even to 60Hz and/or try to match my headset refresh rate. PC monitor mirroring typically doesn’t have any significant effect in PCVR performance. Maybe a little if you have a very low end PC.

Lastly, I’ve found limiting any PCVR headset framerate doesn’t significantly help smooth out performance with msfs (or xp11/12). Still worth trying but I’ve found it’s best use native headset software to do this. With native SteamVR headsets like the Index or my VP1 there is an option to do this within the SteamVR visual options. With Oculus/Meta headsets you can easily do this with ASW options in ODT or OTT, or even just using on the fly keyboard ctrl+num# commands.

For Oculus/Meta headsets running PCVR the following num#'s work great (#'s on your numeric keyboard, not top row #'s btw);

1= ASW off, 2= ASW off and framerate set to max 1/2 of your headset refresh rate, 3= ASW on and 1/2 refresh rate limited, 4= ASW auto (default). BTW, these will not work if you’re using Virtual Desktop to run msfs because VD does not have the official Oculus sdk’s. Also, with VD you need to set SteamVR as your default OpenXR runtime. You can use VD menu options to set different framerates but you cannot do these on the fly.

Sorry if I seem to be a little overcritical mate.

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I’ve found using 80Hz refresh rate and limiting framerate to 40fps seems smoother for me than 72Hz/36fps, and still allows me to crank up the visuals. Probably depends on your PC setup and settings, and def worth trying both ways, maybe even 90Hz/45fps imho.

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Read up on processors and specific programms your running mate. Watch the Video in this post and you are going to recognize, that the 5800x3d is better on average FPS and most importantly in VR in th 1% lows in MSFS.

This is the outcome of all Benchmarks out there for MSFS.

Im running a Reverb G2, ran a Quest 2. There is no difference in that regard between Meta and WMR Headsets.

The sim produces a lot of stutters, limiting your framrate via RivaTuner smoothes it out. Try it, it’s been established in this forum in other threads. It helps espacially if you are not using motion reprojection like ASW. But even with ASW limiting with RivaTuner helps to keep it more stable.

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Running an overclocked 13700K, 32GB and STRIX 4090 here with a Quest 2 over link cable and DX12. I find that performance is intermittent - for example my flights (C172 using NeoFly 4) can be absolutely butter smooth one day then a stuttering mess the next.

I run at 72Hz full resolution, I use Oculus Debug Tool and the Oculus Tray Tool to set things such as link sharpening:Quality (ODT only), 1.2 pixel override, default codec (ODT), 400 link speed - I use OpenXR Toolkit to set Turbo mode (no MR), 90% CAS sharpening and colour correct. HAGS and Game Mode on, RBAR enabled and configured for MSFS using Nvidia Inspector. I run DLSS Quality (using the latest DLSS .dll’s), Frame Generation disabled in the PC settings and Reflex disabled (definitely gave me stutters with this on) and sensible in game settings (TLOD 130, OLOD 110, Clouds High, most settings set to high or medium except Off Screen Pre-Caching which is at Ultra). Rolling cache disabled and I also delete the DX shader cache before each launch of MSFS.

Couple of things I’ve tried / noticed that have helped me:

  • Do the Nvidia PowerMizer registry entries - gets rid of the DPC issues as seen in Latency Mon.
  • Disable VSync for the monitor mirror view.
  • Run ParkControl to stop CPU cores parking.
  • Minimal driver install using NVInstall, I only install the driver itself.

I installed the latest Nvidia driver yesterday, the one that’s supposed to reduce DPC latency for Ampere (I know we’re on Lovelace) - it was better than the previous driver when watching LatencyMon but still not good enough - with the PowerMizer reg entries it eliminates the DPC issue entirely. The fix has been around for years, dunno why Nvidia can’t integrate it into the newer drivers :person_shrugging: Flight was butter smooth yesterday - can’t tell if it was the new driver (with PowerMizer settings added) or if it was just a good day.

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Those benchmarks are 1080p PC not PCVR so kinda meaningless imho.

Anyway, you think a 5800x3d outperforms a i9 13900k in PCVR. You also think that there is very little difference between WMR headsets like your G2 and the Q2 (which you’ve tried in the past), and all that is transferable to the Quest Pro (topic of this thread). You also think that the RivaTuner app does a very good job limiting PCVR framerates, thereby giving you smoother results at 45fps.

We all know that PCVR comparisons are very subjective. So, rather than simply dismiss your findings, I think it’s best for me to just respectively agree to disagree with you mate. Cheers.

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CPU benchmarks are always low res. The whole point is to factor out GPU bottlenecking effects. They’re not meaningless to VR at all.

Getting a smoother VR experience by limiting fps is an effective and well-established practice, independent of headset.

And the x3D Chips are known to be the best for MSFS smoothness thanks to the huge L3 vcache.

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Sorry but 1080p benchmarking seems pretty meaningless, to me anyway. I believe that bottleneck analysis can, and is also done for higher than 1080p.

I can’t say for sure because I don’t use AMD, but others I’ve discussed this with don’t seem to think that 5800x3d is as good as a i9 13900k with PCVR, including msfs. The 7800x3d sounds like it comes a lot closer, and may even be better in some cases.

I think it still comes a lot down to cpu speeds for the best PCVR right now. The 5800x3d is avg 4.2GHz while the i9 13900k avg is 5.5GHz. Maybe the x3d vcache can help smoothness but it’s unlikely to perform as well with msfs imho.

Whether or not you find frame limiting useful depends on a lot of factors and, like most things in VR, comes down to personal preferences. It’s always something worth trying both ways. I’ve just found that with my new high end PC it’s not as useful anymore. Same goes for OpenXR Toolkit. I’m not saying that it may not be useful for some, esp. those with lower end PC’s.

In any case, you think whatever you like mate but I doubt that many PCVR users would trade their i9 13900k/ddr5 MB’s for a 5800x3d/ddr4 MB. Anyway, as usual, kinda getting a bit off topic and I don’t think I can add anymore settings suggestions to this thread’s original purpose, so I’ll sign off now. Bye and cheers.

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That quote is actually quite helpful as it confirms there’s not much point in discussing topics like this with you as you seem to prefer your opinion over facts.

For anyone else who might end up reading this thread and is interested:

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The 7800x3D is of course better still.

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