Intermittent stutters

[Reonu]

First of all, here's my setup:
- Ryzen 5800X
- RTX 3070
- 32 GB RAM
- Router: TP-Link Archer AXE75 (using WiFi 6E), in the same room as the headset, within line of sight. No other 6 GHz networks around me.
- Quest 3

Lately, I've been using Steam Link to play Beat Saber because, unlike Oculus Link, it supports 120 Hz, and it feels smoother and with less latency than Oculus Link.

There is a huge problem though: intermittent stutters. I'm talking random, big suttters that happen at seemingly random times. Like, sometimes I can play for half an hour without a single stutter and sometimes I will get 4 stutters in the same song. There is no rhyme or reason to it. This is extremely frustrating, as sometimes the sutters ruin a good run of a difficult song. These stutters do NOT happen with Oculus Link, or with Virtual Desktop for that matter.

Any ideas on how to fix it?

[Hoss]

Same problem here. Ryzen 7950X, RTX 3090, 64GB RAM. Host PC hardwired, WiFi 6E to a Quest3 4ft from player. Smooth most of the time, pixelated or laggy stuttering every so often, but ESPECIALLY in the middle of a song :’)

I’m assuming it’s network problems, somehow? Running all Ubiquiti gear, setting Quests as the highest priority devices in UniFi. SteamVR graph shows spikes that correspond with the problems with no rationale. Still smooth as butter on the host, but the Quest is struggling to keep up.

[charlesl]

A few questions:

For @Renou:
Are you using "Auto" bandwidth in Steam Link settings? Do you see any behavior change when specifically trying to use a low bandwidth target?

In general - there are a multitude of issues that can contribute to jittery play, but we've found a lot of fixes from our users. We've updated our FAQ under "Troubleshooting" -> "If you're experiencing performance issues" https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E2C-406B-9135-38A4

You may also benefit from using a graphical ping tool, like cnping: https://github.com/cntools/cnping/releases/tag/1.0.0 and ping your headset while things are running to identify the glitches and see what operations you perform that may prevent the glitches. You can get your headset's IP from the wireless menu under your network's properties. You would be looking for ping times that exceed 15ms, since sub-15-ms glitches are difficult to notice.

Please let us know what you find during your troubleshooting, so we can continue to improve everyone's experience.

[Reonu]

Originally posted by charlesl:

A few questions:

For @Renou:
Are you using "Auto" bandwidth in Steam Link settings? Do you see any behavior change when specifically trying to use a low bandwidth target?

In general - there are a multitude of issues that can contribute to jittery play, but we've found a lot of fixes from our users. We've updated our FAQ under "Troubleshooting" -> "If you're experiencing performance issues" https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E2C-406B-9135-38A4

You may also benefit from using a graphical ping tool, like cnping: https://github.com/cntools/cnping/releases/tag/1.0.0 and ping your headset while things are running to identify the glitches and see what operations you perform that may prevent the glitches. You can get your headset's IP from the wireless menu under your network's properties. You would be looking for ping times that exceed 15ms, since sub-15-ms glitches are difficult to notice.

Please let us know what you find during your troubleshooting, so we can continue to improve everyone's experience.

Hey. I found out that if I set the resolution slider (the one for foveated encoding) to around 800 and the bitrate to a fixed 80 Mbps instead of Automatic, I can mostly get rid of the stutters at 120 Hz. Not entirely but the stutters that do happen are rare and minor enough that they don't matter even on Beat Saber. It's weird though because Virtual Desktop doesn't have this issue even when pushing 500 Mbps with H264+. Also the issue seems to only happen at 120 Hz, seems to be fine at 90 Hz. I initially suspected that it was the encoder on my 3070 not keeping up at 120 Hz but after checking the encoder usage that's definitely not it, the encoder isn't even at half use with Steam Link unless I bring up the foveated encoding slider to the max which I never do.

I'll try the graphical ping tool and report back.

[Reonu]

Here's a screenshot right after a stutter:
https://u.cubeupload.com/reonu/YWM0lV.png

There was clearly a ping spike. I'm confused though, I can't really see how to make my setup any better. It's a WiFi 6E setup with line of sight to the router, no other 6 GHz networks around me at all, and no other devices connected to the 6 GHz band. What else am I supposed to do?

BTW, this is with bot the bitrate and the foveated encoding sliders set to auto. On a quest 3, at 120 Hz

[Reonu]

Anything else I can do to help?

[charlesl]

@Reonu, Please open a ticket with support, and mention that they should loop me in. We have one thing we would like to test, and we can give you access to a branch to test it privately. Be sure that once the ticket is created you mention back in this channel so we can connect in case support can't get us connected via the ticket.

[Reonu]

Originally posted by charlesl:

@Reonu, Please open a ticket with support, and mention that they should loop me in. We have one thing we would like to test, and we can give you access to a branch to test it privately. Be sure that once the ticket is created you mention back in this channel so we can connect in case support can't get us connected via the ticket.

Done. I opened the ticket. As a "SteamVR" support ticket because there wasn't a "Steam Link" option (or at least I didn't see one)

The ticket number is HT-9GPR-5FYV-XQXC

Thank you very much!

[Reonu]

Just got an automated answer from support. They didn't connect us

[charlesl]

For those watching - we did connect. The changes are now out in the public Beta, so anyone finding this, please update to the SteamVR host Beta + Client Beta, with instructions here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/250820/view/3884982211424067312

Be sure to go under SteamVR Options, turn on Advanced Options, go under Steam Link and toggle "Disable QoS" on to test.

[Reonu]

Bless valve

[revanmj]

There seem to be general issues with Wi-Fi 6 network stability on Quest 3: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Get-Help/Not-Resolved-Known-Issue-Quest-3-PCVR-streaming-micro-lags-and/td-p/1150175/emcs_t/S2h8ZW1haWx8dG9waWNfc3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ufExTUk04V1BQSEpHVk5afDExNTM2MTJ8U1VCU0NSSVBUSU9OU3xoSw/page/10

I also had micro-stutters in Steam Link (or even worse degradation and so far only switching back to AC mode fixed them for me, though based on the above thread this workaround is not working for everyone).

[Alesis]

Hi! I have the same issue even with my RTX4090.
What I've noticed, when I close Nvidia GeForce Experience the stutters almost completely dissappear and game runs perfectly. So try to close it, it's in tray.
Also try to close any other apps that can use CPU, GPU or network on background, Google Drive for expample.

PS. I have Quest 3 and Xiaomi AX3200 Wi-Fi router

[Alesis]

It may sound weird, I forgot to say, this method only works when I record my gameplay with OBS. IDK why.

[charlesl]

I am curious if anyone else is also running into issues with GeForce Experience.

You can configure OBS to use software encoding, but the way OBS does video encoding takes a very long time to encode each frame, and while it's doing that Steam Link cannot encode the frame. You can use low-bit rate, software encoding and that will not interfere with Steam Link, but it will use significant resources.

We mention in our FAQ: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E2C-406B-9135-38A4
"If using screen recording or streaming software like OBS or Discord, make sure to use software encoding inside the software application otherwise it will preempt Steam Link"
Under "If you are experiencing performance issues:"

I urge anyone encountering issues to go through the steps described there when troubleshooting a new performance issue.