Anyone on high-end PCs have occassional/frequent stutter?

[Tommysonic5]

What are your specs and OS Version? What stutters did you experience?

I found this article stating Windows 11 22H2 could cause unexplained stuttering in games:
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-youre-seeing-unexplained-stuttering-while-gaming-you-may-want-to-roll-back-the-latest-windows-11-update/

I've been on 22H2 in the release preview channel since June so I'm not sure if stuttering in this game is due to the OS or game optimization issues.
So what is your CPU/GPU/RAM/Storage device, and what's your OS version? Resolution too? Any details on stutters you experienced?

I have AMD 5800x/EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra Gaming/3200MHz 16GB RAM/WD Black SSD, on Win11 22H2 and I played at 1440p.

Personally I noticed a short consistent stutter in the first cyberspace at the triple spring. (I completed the level about 5x)
There was also occasional stuttering in the open world, noticeable when starting a boost sometimes. I only played 50 min before refunding and don't use a frametime monitor so I can't remember any other specific instances of stuttering.

Edit: From the Reddit post linked in the article, supposedly Geforce Experience 3.26 fixed the 22H2 issue a while back, according to
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/nvidia-geforce-experience-beta-fixes-windows-11-22h2-gaming-issues/
So am I the only one with stuttering?

[SecularStoner]

I have a 5900x/6900xt/3600mt 32GB RAM on an m.2 and I have almost 0 stutter at 144 fps. On windows 11, too. Don't know the exact version. 3440x1440.

[:3 warrior]

i have frequent stutter
RTX 3050 Ryzen 5 5600, 8gb ram, W11 22H2
Playing 1080p.

[Kaldaien]

The thing you're linking to is for GeForce Experience's latency monitor. Special K uses the same part of Windows that GFE does, you just need to update any software using it -- that's mostly CapFrameX, GeForce Experience, Special K.

[Lily ❤]

My game freezes for around five seconds every now and then, but always in the same places.
The first Cyberspace area is one of the worst, a freeze around every 15 seconds. Other Cyberspace areas are bad too with freezes around every 30 seconds. Some Cyberspace areas are fine. The open world is mostly fine, rarely (like twice an hour) it will freeze for a few seconds when attacking an enemy, but otherwise everything runs fine.

This happens regardless of graphics settings. The highest and lowest settings have the exact same performance on my PC (a good performance), and freeze in the exact same places at the exact same time. Other demanding games (like Elden Ring) I can run at 50-60hz, but no freezing.

This freezing is everything on my PC. If I am listening to anything, it pauses, if I am talking to my friends, they can't hear me, etc.

I have tried solutions like using Fullscreen vs Windowed. I have tried enabling V-Sync in the Nvidea control panel. I have tried other external performance increasing tools but with no difference.

In Resource Manager, it appears as if my GPU is not affected much by the game, but when the game freezes, the GPU jumps up to 100%, followed by 0% and then back to a steady whatever%. That to me says it is a problem with GPU, and not some other PC part.

It is very frustrating, but luckily I can still S Rank most Cyberspace stages quickly enough where I can still progress through the game.

My Specs are (with more than probably needed):
OS: Windows 11 Pro, Version 21H2, OS Build 22000.1219
GPU: RTX 2060 (on latest drivers: 526.86)
CPU: Intel Core i5-8400
STORAGE: Crucial MX500 SSD
MEMORY: 2x Kingston KHX2400C12D4/8GX 8GB
MONITOR: AOC G2460F (1080p, 144hz - although Frontiers is capped at 60hz), and a AOC e950Swn second monitor, although I do not play on it.
MOTHERBOARD: ASRock B360 Pro4

Edit:
Spoilers: The final boss suffered so much from freezing. Near the end, the game froze literally more frequently than every two seconds. This made the boss fight less climactic, because otherwise this is my favourite boss in a Sonic game. I am a big fan of Ikaruga which seems to have been a big inspiration for the final boss, I hope to experience the final boss without freezing in the future.

[BubbieRooskie]

I had stuttering/freezing every 5 seconds or so using windows 11, regardless of settings in game, running in admin or in compatibility mode. Ended up having to refund before I hit an hour in game troubleshooting, which stinks because this is the first sonic game I’ve wanted to play since adventures 2. I’m running with an RTX 2070 super, so no reason I shouldn’t be able to run it silky smooth.

[MaverickZX12]

Most likely because of Denuvo as that causes performance and stuttering issues

[Lily ❤]

It sure won't help, DRM sucks. I know that one of the new Resident Evil games lagged a lot in a specific spot, but pirates removed the DRM and then it ran fine. Pirates get the better experience. I think Monster Hunter World or some other similar game also lagged like crazy with Denuvo.

I still can't find any resources on dealing with the lag. Searching online I get bot written blogs (or at least bot like), stating obvious things that might improve FPS by one frame at most (like lowering graphics settings, setting priority, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ around with Vsync or whatever), but not talking about the huge freezing. Freezing that is similar to lag, but does not due to intense graphics but what I believe to be a bug in the game.

I do believe that it is some interaction between Sonic Frontiers and Windows 11, as I have yet to see this issue discussed by someone without Windows 11. Perhaps it is how Denuvo interacts with Windows 11? I don't know how Denuvo works, but perhaps it checks for ownership at set points in the game, since I assume it is an intensive action.

I don't think its a problem with any other hardware or software, because I can't see anything in common.

I am hoping that this will be resolved when they do some big update to the game, but I doubt it.

[Shadic]

Originally posted by Jordan:

It sure won't help, DRM sucks. I know that one of the new Resident Evil games lagged a lot in a specific spot, but pirates removed the DRM and then it ran fine. Pirates get the better experience. I think Monster Hunter World or some other similar game also lagged like crazy with Denuvo.

I still can't find any resources on dealing with the lag. Searching online I get bot written blogs (or at least bot like), stating obvious things that might improve FPS by one frame at most (like lowering graphics settings, setting priority, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ around with Vsync or whatever), but not talking about the huge freezing. Freezing that is similar to lag, but does not due to intense graphics but what I believe to be a bug in the game.

I do believe that it is some interaction between Sonic Frontiers and Windows 11, as I have yet to see this issue discussed by someone without Windows 11. Perhaps it is how Denuvo interacts with Windows 11? I don't know how Denuvo works, but perhaps it checks for ownership at set points in the game, since I assume it is an intensive action.

I don't think its a problem with any other hardware or software, because I can't see anything in common.

I am hoping that this will be resolved when they do some big update to the game, but I doubt it.

capcom drm layered on denuvo not denuvo.

[lukaself]

Originally posted by Shadicluigi:

capcom drm layered on denuvo not denuvo.

I see that repeated a lot but I can't find any conclusive evidence it's the case. From what I read on the topic it's the combination of the two which seems to have caused issues, not one or the other. It's not the first time CAPCOM used their proprietary DRM is it?

[☢FarCry☢]

Windows 10 21H2, never updated since that. 0 stutter or hickups.

[Strider]

I had bad stuttering at first on my RTX card. Turns out some setting was blocking the GPU fans from turning on to save energy. Turned it off and set the fans to activate at set temps and game has been working fine ever since.

[Lily ❤]

Originally posted by Strider One:

I had bad stuttering at first on my RTX card. Turns out some setting was blocking the GPU fans from turning on to save energy. Turned it off and set the fans to activate at set temps and game has been working fine ever since.

My previous GPU was an RX 480. At around 90°C it would freeze, and cool down a couple degrees then unfreeze. The card was reaching those temperatures on non demanding games despite the fans being clean, the case having good airflow etc. I assume the card was faulty, as others seemed to not be having issues with it. Due to this, and having had a bad experience with two Radeon cards in a row I switched to NVidea.

NVidea has its own issues, I don't like the company nor prices for one, but my current card is way better than my old one, I have never had my RTX 2060 reach such high temperatures, despite demanding games.

The freezing occuring in Sonic Frontiers is extremely similar to that of my old GPU used to overheat. However, I did some tests just now and Sonic Frontiers is freezing every few seconds in the first Cyberspace level at 44°C, which as far as I know, is cold. Afterwards, I played Elden Ring for 15 minutes to compare, and it was running withing any freezing at around 60°C.

My conclusion is that my GPU is not overheating.

It is possible that the game is sending some bugged graphics instructions to the GPU. Something not defined. The GPU sees this, freaks out, and restarts or something.
When I program in OpenGL, there is a scary number of GPU drivers that do not follow the specification. Furthermore, there are many games that do not follow the specification either. GPU Drivers sometimes make specific updates for games, rules to hack the game into sending GPU instructions that the GPU can actually interpret properly.

It is possible that something like that is needed for Sonic Frontiers, that the developers did not program some new graphics features properly, or even that the GPU drivers do not interpret these programs properly. Hell, maybe it's a driver issue + Windows 11.

I think it would also be interesting to test the game on a fresh installation of Windows 10 + drivers, and a fresh installation of Windows 11 + drivers.
I do not have the storage space, nor desire to do so, but it would answer whether the operating system was an issue or not.

[Mario209]

Running it on RTX 3050. I get stutters sometimes. Other than that, the game runs fine for me.

[Lily ❤]

How long must a stutter be before it is considered freezing? Perhaps we are having the same issue?
It turns out that the freezing I am talking about can be recorded. This is a quick recording the freezing I am talking about: https://youtu.be/APrsQ5KaiK0
The final boss would be a better example as my freezing occurs more frequently there but I would rather spoil the first cyberspace level than the final boss.

Is this freezing similar to anyone elses?
Once again, for me this only occurs frequently in some Cyberspace levels, the final boss, and infrequently elsewhere. This is regardless of graphics settings, my PC can otherwise run more demanding games flawlessly.

[Strider]

Mine was more akin to hiccups compared to that. If you aren't having issue with any other demanding game I would gauge it's Sonic to blame.