Getting terrible stuttering/freezing (game freezes for ~1 second, then speeds up to "catch up")

[Link1429]

PC Specs:

Windows 11 Home
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-12700KF Processor (8X 3.60GHz + 4X 2.70GHz /25MB L3 Cache)
Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 - WiFi 6, ARGB Header (3), USB 3.2 Ports (2 Type-C, 6 Type-A), M.2 Slot (4)
RAM: 32 GB [8 GB X4] DDR4-3600 Memory Module - TEAMGROUP T-FORCE DELTA RGB (RGB LED)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti - 8GB GDDR6X (VR-Ready)

As title says, been getting random freezes (stuttering?) while playing, where it stops for about a second, then speeds up 2x-3x speed to catch up. This can happen up to 5 times before it seems to stop and return to normal. I haven't noticed a pattern to it at all, just happens at random as far as I can tell.

Fixes I've tried so far:

Everything shown in the Youtube videos "How to FIX STUTTERING in DirectX 12 Games"; "ELDEN RING Guide: How to BOOST FPS and OPTIMISE Performance (Fix LAG & Stutters)"; and "Delete NVIDIA Cache To Fix Game Stutter & Performance Issues"

Gone into BIOS to turn off e-cores (no effect, turned them back on)

Turned EAC to "low priority" when running

Ended EAC process while playing (seems to drastically reduce the amount of times the stuttering/freezing/whatever you want to call it occurs, but game won't close properly and requires a system restart to end the process)

The only thing I want to try is disabling CPU cores in "Set affinity" on the game itself, but apparently EAC prevents that from happening (I assume I'd turn off CPUs 16-19?), but other than this, does anyone out there have any permanent solution to this? I just want to be able to play the game and not have to wait 6-8 seconds every couple minutes or so for the game to stop throwing a fit.

[Sparhawk 59]

Sent your thread to DB an IT wizard

[nfinite.recursion]

Have you tried disabling Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator (MDARE) in Windows Device Manager?

[dark-breed]

a friend found this

https://youtu.be/pF8BQW0eA9Q

try if it helps you too if you use a controller.

[Link1429]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

Have you tried disabling Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator (MDARE) in Windows Device Manager?

Trying this now, about 5m in, so far no stuttering/freezing (running around in places it was real bad earlier today)

Maybe, hopefully, fixed? lol

[Link1429]

So, after about an hour, I did notice a couple stutters, but they were much more minor compared to what I was having previously (think I noticed about 4 total and they were maybe 0.3 seconds in length)

I did look at the YT video attached above and turned off the Device Association Service Properties on the off chance using a PS5 controller is causing the stutters (would use an Xbox controller, but I've experienced a lot of "ghost inputs", which is apparently a major thing for Win11 users :/ ).

[nfinite.recursion]

Do you have any streaming devices on your home network like a Roku or Amazon Fire? Wireless printer? NAS or file server?

[Link1429]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

Do you have any streaming devices on your home network like a Roku or Amazon Fire? Wireless printer? NAS or file server?

No, not that I am aware of. My printer has wireless capability, but it's hard-wired

[nfinite.recursion]

Hmm... could be something else on your network or maybe a virtual device that was causing the hard stutters. MDARE is responsible for installing network devices as locally installed ones. ER, DS3, and Sekiro have a bug called the input polling bug that polls ALL Windows devices for input, not just keyboards, mice, and game controllers. If a device is in sleep mode it will cause a stutter while the device wakes up. This also applies to HDDs, USB devices, and Gamepass games.

[YourNotJimmy]

i had very similar issue with my Intel Core i7-10700KF 3.8GHz Comet Lake 8 Core 16 Thread LGA1200 Processor, Asus PRIME Z590-P/CSM LGA 1200 ATX Desktop Motherboard, Asus GeForce RTX 3070 Dual OC 8GB LHR Graphics Card, CRUCIAL CT1000P1SSD8 1TB P1 M.2 INTERNAL NVMe PCIe SSD, Cooler Master MWE WHITE 230V 650W 80PLUS PSU, Karuza V3 Tempered Glass Case with 4 x 120mm LED Fans, Corsair Vengeance RGB RS 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz C16 Desktop RAM, D-Link DWA-582 AC1200 Wireless Adapter, Silverstone Argon AR12 RGB CPU Cooler, Windows 11.

My fix was rather simple i just switched the Window setting from Full-screen to Windowed Borderless *it also fix a touch of input lag i had to*

[Link1429]

Extended session (about 3 hours), only noticed 2 stutters, vastly improved from the nigh-unplayableness of before.

Also seeing the post above, probably should've mentioned I do play in broderless windowed, graphics basically maxed out (minus ray-tracing. I tried it and saw the FPS pretty much get cut by half for no noticeable improvement), and also have the game on a HDD (no idea if moving it to an SSD would help?)

TY to everyone who's posted solutions to things I never even heard about. Doesn't help last time I deep dove into an OS was Windows XP lol

[Piazano󠁳 ⁧⁧[G59]]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

If a device is in sleep mode it will cause a stutter while the device wakes up. This also applies to HDDs, USB devices, and Gamepass games.

I would like to confirm that this was the solution to my problem.
I was having the exact same issue as Link1429. I couldn't move much without big stutters. Exactly as he said, 1-2 seconds, then the game goes fast to catch up, and then repeats after a few seconds.
I wasn't having this issue last night when I played so I was confused, all I did today was play VR for a bit then got on Elden Ring and saw the stutters.
Turns out my Oculus Quest 2 was disconnecting and reconnecting to the charger on my PC over and over. Unplugging the VR headset essentially fixed my problem.
Thanks for bringing this possibility to light, I never would've found it because I couldn't see the lenses lighting up from where I'm at.

God I hate technology.

[nfinite.recursion]

Originally posted by Link1429:

and also have the game on a HDD (no idea if moving it to an SSD would help?)

Moving it to the SSD wouldn't fix the stuttering, assuming that the HDD is the source of the remaining stuttering.

Note that some HDDs won't cause this issue because they only enter sleep mode when you specifically choose to put your entire PC to sleep, or the HDD is configured to enter sleep after a long period of time. Some HDDs will attempt to enter sleep mode after only a few seconds of inactivity.

The only way to test this would be to physically disconnect the HDD and test out ER for those stutters.

[Link1429]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

Originally posted by Link1429:

and also have the game on a HDD (no idea if moving it to an SSD would help?)

Moving it to the SSD wouldn't fix the stuttering, assuming that the HDD is the source of the remaining stuttering.

Note that some HDDs won't cause this issue because they only enter sleep mode when you specifically choose to put your entire PC to sleep, or the HDD is configured to enter sleep after a long period of time. Some HDDs will attempt to enter sleep mode after only a few seconds of inactivity.

The only way to test this would be to physically disconnect the HDD and test out ER for those stutters.

I kinda figured the only difference between SSD and HDD would be loading times (which aren't that long to begin with), but on the 0.1% chance it may, for some reason, fix stuttering...lol

[Link1429]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention a thing that I did when I got this PC:

I did undervolt and overclock the GPU. Would that have anything to do with it? (used this video for reference https://youtu.be/sV0C3zDJETY )

[nfinite.recursion]

Temperature related stuttering usually only happens when the CPU or GPU gets too hot and suddenly drops clockspeed to lower temperatures. Undervolting *shouldn't* lead to stutters as that helps lower temps. Adding overclocking on top of that could potentially result in stutters.

One of the old rules for PC performance and especially stability troubleshooting is to disable all overclocks and verify that you are not overheating.