Valve Index stutter ideas?

[Kris]

I have recently purchased a Valve Index (full set with base stations). In about 80% of the sessions I start I get terrible stutter that distracts and nauseates me. The other 20% I get almost no stutter.

Of course this means that if I am patient and keep on restarting everything for long enough, I generally do get it to work, but it sometimes takes up to 30 minutes to get there. Sometimes I can’t get there at all. This means I never play VR games anymore because of how impossible it is to start up a good session.

In bad sessions I get everything: yellow bars (reprojections) and red bars (one-third frame rate) every few seconds and pink bars (display error) occasionally. In good sessions I only get the odd reprojection.

My specs:

• Alienware Aurora R16
  
• Windows 11
  
• i9-14900KF
  
• RTX 4080 SUPER
  
• 32 GB RAM
  
• Everything on SSD

PC is hooked up to an LG G3 in addition to the VR setup.

What I have already tried:

• Minimising everything but SteamVR
  
• Removing all Alienware and Dell software (I had nothing else installed that could interfere, like RGB software)
  
• Updating my graphics drivers
  
• Updating Windows
  
• Decreasing the resolution and refresh rate of the headset
  
• Decreasing the resolution and refresh rate of the TV (also unplugging it)
  
• Changing the DisplayPort and USB ports that the headset is hooked up to
  
• Disabling SteamVR Home
  
• Experimenting with various other SteamVR settings

Does anyone here maybe know of something else I could try? I am reaching out here as a last resort before contacting support. Any input is appreciated.

[Bob Loblaw]

Check SteamVR support wizard https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithGame/?appid=250820

If you still need ideas after that, there's been a lot of different causes:

===snip===
Prior confirmed causes of stutter in the forums:
1) Resolution set too high
2) USB congestion from lighting apps like Asus Aura, Corsair iCUE, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, TT RGB Plus

2b) USB congestion from a webcam ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3723945543089828606/ )

3) GPU monitoring apps like Afterburner, Aorus Edge View (once a second one-frame stutter) ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3381662461615185982/?tscn=1662951659 ), also SteamVR's GPU monitoring ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/4411920671411791425/?tscn=1719585881 )
3b) disable razer cortex, a gaming "optimization" app ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/5371139102170147464/ )

4) NVMe drive stealing bandwidth from the GPU's PCIE bus (here's an archived link to this deleted thread https://web.archive.org/web/20221129043940/https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/1815422173043032484/ )
5) PCI-e 4.0 and USB conflict (also causes intermittent tracking loss) (change BIOS to use PCI-e 3.0 protocol)
6) Rift S + open OVR Advanced Settings ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3112519935867753855/ )
7) This huge thread on amd cards/drivers/chaperone/motion smoothing, etc, possible causes AMD ReLive for VR (Wireless), High Precision Event Timer, ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/2970650017901586073/ ) It can be your nvidia driver also ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3781373416983040459/?tscn=1678668390 )
8) minimize game desktop window ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3058490685012602825/ ) (win 11/4070ti https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3781373416979903352/ )
9) Windows 11 wrong window focus (try the game window or SteamVR control panel)
10) Wrong OpenXR runtime setting (SteamVR, Oculus, WMR) (oculus example https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/6406956248970801032/ )
11) Multiple monitors at different refresh rates. Test with just one, at 60. ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/6406956248963113090/ )

12) Windows 11 stop HolographicsShell ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3396302157195505846/?tscn=1667747866 )

13) Oculus tweaks for laptops ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/2960544821853447875/?tscn=1668915856 )

14) Test on stable releases (steam & steamvr), unless the beta notes specifically address your case and be sure to submit a bug report if the beta was the problem. ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3601219829885362953/?tscn=1669578882 )

15) Check task manager for mining trojans ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3720565944177228084/ )

16) disable fTPM in BIOS ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3717188878648710440/?tscn=1670642848 )

17) disable third-party SteamVR overlays ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3717188878662474883/?tscn=1670859457 ) ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/6087244427733807036/?tscn=1705191527 )

18) GPU congestion from broadcasting software ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3781373416983040459/?tscn=1679006745 )

19) Razor synapse conflict with WMR and SteamVR ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3825286438464577842/ )

20) late start from overclocking, or 3rd party overlays, others ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/2/3806152724344338509/?tscn=1687779526 )

20b) late starts fixed by increasing laptop ram from 16 to 32GB ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/4036979713107386112/?ctp=2 )

21) under win 11 update 22H2, disable nvidia overlay, or disable HAGS, or disable windows game mode, or disable core isolation ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PETR3t6StU )

[Kris]

Thanks a lot for the info dump, most of it was not applicable in my case up until the very last one... I think it was HAGS. Turns out it was on by default on my system and I never noticed it. As soon as I rebooted with it off, my VR performance improved dramatically. I've been able to finish HL Alyx with reasonable performance thanks to this. There still are occasional frame drops, which I find very strange on a nearly maxed-out PC config and 90Hz, but I guess I'll just have to accept that that's probably as good as it will get. Thanks again!

[2⊛2]

Sounds good but what is HAGS ?
Guess it is a Windows 11 crap. I´m still on Windows 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWiSkSH1OI

Found another good explanation of that feature in German. Idea of "Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling" sounds good but ...

https://www.pcwelt.de/article/2349710/sollten-sie-die-hardwarebeschleunigte-gpu-planung-in-windows-11-aktivieren.html

[Bob Loblaw]

Originally posted by 2⊛2:

Sounds goof but what is HAGS ?
Guess it is a Windows 11 crap. I´m still on Windows 10.

Win 10 has HAGS too.

[2⊛2]

Never seen in Win 10. But yes, since 2020 it is implented in Win 10 also with update 2004.

GPU-Z says: Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling Off (not supported)

[Kris]

For anyone reading this in the future: on my system it turns it the reason was not only HAGS. It was two things: HAGS and SteamVR Home. After many hours of buttery smooth gameplay I turned on SteamVR to help “onboard” a friend to VR. It started lagging immediately. Turning it off solved the issue just as quickly. Turning HAGS on / off does the same thing. As a layman I really cannot comment on the reason behind this or how the two could be connected, but at this point I am sure that both are breaking VR for me. I’m just glad I have finally been able to isolate the issues.