stuttering issues with windows 11 23H2 - (Possible Fix)

[leonero.h]

TLDR: If you think your fps stuttering (acceptable fps value but frequent drops and stutters) started after windows 11 23H2 and if you are on high performance mode, set it to balanced. I dont know what they changed but it seems to be broken.

I got a new system for work and played some cs2 to test it. At first it was flowing like butter.
Then yesterday it started to stutter every 3 seconds.

I reverted all overclock/tuning I made to see what caused the problem. After 5 hours of testing various options I tried to check things with rivatuner and saw %1 lows were going below 10fps with average of 800fps (dust2 no bots, 2k low no fsr) I tried everything and it did not get any better. Even main menu was having random fps drops below 10.

Finally when I was about to give up I reverted the windows 23H2 update and magically %1 lows were back to 200+. I see a lot of people complaining about stuttering issues with good systems already (mine is i9 14900kf + rtx 4070ti now) so be aware before you do this update on a windows 11 system or share if it has affected your game performance in a different way.

MM lowest fps values when stutter happens;
FPS -> 800+
%1 lows -> 10~
%0.1 lows -> 10~

Also caused inconsistent framerates in many other games;

---FINAL UPDATE---
The main problem was not with 23H2, the problem begins when you update from an older version of windows 11 (21H2 to 23H2 and 21H2 to 22H2 both caused stutters). I've made a clean install of 23H2 and I'm no longer having any stutter issue.

---FINAL FINAL UPDATE!---
Fresh install of 23H2 was okay but it got ruined when I did extra updates. I made a recovery point before I turned updates on so reverted back to that.

FINAL^3 UPDATE:
23H2 started stuttering even with updates turned off. I had to fresh install 21H2 from a USB I made a while ago. Gonna wait until 23H2 is stable and cant do more tests because I use my computer for work.

ANOTHER UPDATE:
I gave a break to cs and updated to 2h23. Not having too much problem in other games for now. Might test again in a few weeks idk.

POSSIBLE FIX/SOLUTION!
I've spent another day testing whats wrong with my system that goes nuts with windows 11 23H2. I decided to disable all services and it fixed my issue. So I reactivated a dozen of them and tested each time.

What was causing the stutters for me was "Power" service. Stutters comeback when it is enabled. I've now enabled everything else and stutter is not present.

Also for valve's information; the value that was spiking up when my fps went down was the value right after the one labeled as [Ping/Latency in ms] in the related reddit post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/17ckxnp/lets_reverseengineer_new_client_informationstamp/

Shown between * below;
MMM DD hh:mm:(m)s - X xx-*xx*-xx-xx-xx x:x:x:x:x xx-xx-xx

[심장을 파고들어 넌]

Windows 11 is very bad for CS2, it was bad at half year ago and now nothing changed.
Now i'm on Windows 10 and eerything is fine.

[leonero.h]

Originally posted by Facerolled:

Windows 11 is very bad for CS2, it was bad at half year ago and now nothing changed.
Now i'm on Windows 10 and eerything is fine.

I've never had an issue even on my older system. 22H2 even fixed some stuttering and added good features. Windows 11 is quite stable besides 23H2 and there's no need to resist change calling it very bad out of box. There are many examples of Windows 11 being better than windows 10 when VBS is disabled but thats another topic.

The thing here is just this available update is probably still in development and there's no hotfix for the problem I had besides going back. Community and valve should know so I opened a discussion for someone to find it if they feel lost.

(Also f u reddit r/globaloffensive autodeleting the post I made since it sounded personal to automoderator)

[Ph@ntomR]

I have the same issue here. After installed the update ALL the games on my laptop (i9 13900HX + rtx 4090) stuttering really badly. running benchmark and frame rate drop to 3-5 FPS from 200++FPS!! The issue went away after I uninstalled the update.

[leonero.h]

Originally posted by Ph@ntomR:

I have the same issue here. After installed the update ALL the games on my laptop (i9 13900HX + rtx 4090) stuttering really badly. running benchmark and frame rate drop to 3-5 FPS from 200++FPS!! The issue went away after I uninstalled the update.

Yeah glad it worked for you, r/globaloffensive literally didnt let me post this, big L.

I've tried to go back up to 22h2 after downgrading from 23h2 (windows iso I installed was 21h2 and it is lacking many useful features I normally use for work) and got the same problem after manually upgrading to 22h2 too. So I'm going to do a fresh 23h2 install to see if the problem persists (there goes another weekend)

[X]

Turn on vsync. Fixed my issues.

[leonero.h]

Originally posted by FORTYSCENT:

Turn on vsync. Fixed my issues.

I hate people who comment about things they dont have a clue about. What does vsync have to do with a problem that is %100 softare related.

How will vsync fix sudden fps drop from 800+ to 8? Its like putting a bandaid over someone that got hit by a nuke.

[X]

I don't know why but it works. However I sucked last night and I think it was the input lag. So yeah a band aid fix but not worth it for me. Try it, it may work for you.

[X]

Also work on your manners. I hate people who think they know it all but don't.

[leonero.h]

Originally posted by FORTYSCENT:

Also work on your manners. I hate people who think they know it all but don't.

I didnt wanna be rude but I'm literally a computer engineer.. Getting "turn on vsync" to a "possible fix for a problem more people may face in the near future" kinda offended me.
Vsync would only work if your fps drop value is above your refresh rate. And 8 fps, lets round it up for your sake and say 10fps. That means 100ms of wait time and when that drop happens even a 60hz vsync setup will have 6-7 frames lost. It will be a lot more noticable on higher refresh rate monitors because it will flow better until it stutters. Plus input lag is worse than stutter because with stutter you can actually play for about 3-5 seconds until the fps drop happens and game's stuck for about 100ms~ which is better than buttery crosshair.

---FINAL UPDATE---
The main problem was not with 23H2, the problem begins when you update from an older version of windows 11 (21H2 to 23H2 and 21H2 to 22H2 both caused stutters). I've made a clean install of 23H2 and I'm no longer having any stutter issue.

[TheLevelCap]

That's why I don't leave Windows 7

[X]

I turned off vsync cause it sucks and for some reason the video setting was on windowed but running fullscreen. I changed it to fullscreen windowed and issue fixed. Weird.

[leonero.h]

FINAL FINAL UPDATE!

Fresh install of 23H2 was okay but it got ruined when I did extra updates. I made a recovery point before I turned updates on so reverted back to that.

[Just Guy 0_0]

Originally posted by leonyxan:

FINAL FINAL UPDATE!

Fresh install of 23H2 was okay but it got ruined when I did extra updates. I made a recovery point before I turned updates on so reverted back to that.

What update? I have newest windows 11 version with optional updates and no issues.

Is it something super specific you updated?

And a bit confused how you have 800 fps and then only 200 for 1% fps.

Shouldn't it be like 650 fps for 1% ??

Mine 1% fps is = to my fps - 100-150

[leonero.h]

Originally posted by HIZ:

Originally posted by leonyxan:

FINAL FINAL UPDATE!

Fresh install of 23H2 was okay but it got ruined when I did extra updates. I made a recovery point before I turned updates on so reverted back to that.

What update? I have newest windows 11 version with optional updates and no issues.

Is it something super specific you updated?

And a bit confused how you have 800 fps and then only 200 for 1% fps.

Shouldn't it be like 650 fps for 1% ??

Mine 1% fps is = to my fps - 100-150

Major 23H2 update. After updating that and enabling normal updates that are available only for 23H2 really random 3-5 second interval stutters appear. I've tested it on my old pc and it seems fine as you mentioned. There's something weird going on with the software/hardware relations but I havent found it yet. Looking forward to some kind of bios or windows update that might fix it in the future but I will have updates disabled until then.

Basic specs:
i9 14900KF
RTX 4070TI
2x16 GB DDR5
2+2 TB 7000MB/s SSD

Depends on the game. Really well optimized games will have more consistent frametimes.
But for cs2 there are many variables that might spike frametimes.

%1 lows means the average of lowest %1 of frames. So lets say with a 800 fps game this only checks about 10 of those frames where you might have slightly longer frametimes. And %0.1 lows means average of lowest %0.1 of frames which only shows about a few lowest frames in that whole 800.

Also 200fps is around 5ms for each frame to generate. And 100fps is around 10ms for each. So since the average fps is around 800 I can assume that most of the frames get generated between 1-2 ms but some minority of them can take about 5 to 10 ms which is not perfect but really difficult to notice.

Here's an example benchmark (1:32);
https://youtu.be/XMVu3pB4DI0?si=1KXl5yO6l3ti-LEZ&t=74

[hannah]

I'm sadly still having stuttering issues with 23H2 even after doing a clean install from a bootable USB. I never got the option to roll back to 22H2 in Settings and I'm beyond frustrated. Screw Microsoft. If anyone ever finds a fix please report on it.