Stuttering: What It Is and How to Fix It

What is stuttering?

Stuttering comes from the similar English word that means “stuttering” and it is, without a doubt, one of the most annoying problems that we can run into while playing. It’s about the momentary stops that interrupt the gaming experience.

occurs when the frame rate per second (FPS) does not match monitor refresh rate (Hz). On a 60Hz monitor we will need to have at least 60fps to avoid stuttering, on a 144Hz monitor we will need 144fps… and so on. Why? Because if the monitor has to send a new frame but the computer is not able to provide it, it sends the previous one again, so the image freezes.

For example, we can be enjoying our favorite game at 200fps, but also have stoppages of a second, perhaps less, totally ruining the video despite seeing in our resource monitor (such as the well-known MSI Afterburner) that we are quietly squeezing 200 frames per second.

It’s better to see it than to read it, so here you have the famous UFO Test applied to stuttering, where you can check what it is like to have it or not, or compare stuttering to low frame rate.

microstuttering

Microstuttering is nothing more than stuttering but with shorter durations. For example, stuttering could last 1s and microstuttering 0.2s. It is difficult to 100% remedy stuttering, so in many cases microstuttering is present, but at intervals so small that they are not noticeable. There are people who consider both stuttering without further ado, but if the distinction is made, it’s good to know what the other person is referring to, usually to say that microstuttering is acceptable but stuttering ruins the gaming experience.

How to Fix Stuttering

Change vertical sync (V-Sync)

For those who do not know it, V-Sync is a technology that is especially applied in the field of gaming. Who wants to better understand how it works here has the corresponding definition, but for now we are only interested in how it affects us in stuttering.

The purpose of V-Sync is synchronize the refresh rate of the monitor with the rate of images per second produced by the computer. From the explanation above, it is easy to understand that this on paper would be the ideal solution. However, it has its weaknesses:

• Not a perfect solution. This is a software implementation that will not always fit the frames perfectly.
• To synchronize the refresh rate and the frames, what is done is alter the framerate and make it match the refresh rate of the monitor. Therefore, to be able to play at 60hz with V-Sync, we need to be able to play at 60fps or more, since the framerate can be reduced but to increase it you need to have more powerful hardware or lower the graphic quality.
• Although the severity of this issue varies greatly between users, V-Sync is prone to inducing input lag.

For these reasons, the recommendation to avoid stuttering is usually deactivate the V-Sync, do not activate it. Disabling vertical sync is having a potential tearing problem.but on many occasions it occurs with such a low degree that it is less annoying than stuttering or it does not appear at all, solving both things.

Improve PC performance

This is a double solution. The first thing is that by having higher performance, either freeing resources (closing external programs, lowering the graphic quality…) or updating the physical components, we make sure we don’t fall below the refresh rate of the monitor. The second is that, as we have already said, having many frames per second does not always ensure avoiding stuttering, but it does give us more peace of mind to activate the aforementioned V-Sync, which can be of great help.

Check possible errors

Sometimes the stuttering has nothing to do with the amount of available resources, and only needs a system update or graphics card drivers because it was an error. It can also happen that it is due to poor optimization of the video game in question.

Here we would be seeing a more complicated case because it is not up to us to release an update with patches that solve the stuttering. The best we can do is search the internet if there are other people suffering from the problem, if possible with hardware similar to ours, as to confirm that it is a software problem. If we confirm it, we will probably have to update to the latest version or do a clean installation with the determined version that does not have the problem, waiting for them to solve it in future versions.

Freesync/G-Sync

If you can access this option, it is probably the most reliable. Not only that, if you are considering changing your graphics card due to stuttering issues, then you should consider this option more than ever.

Freesync and G-Sync are the implementations of AMD and Nvidia respectively for monitors that seek the same thing: to eliminate stuttering and tearing. Freesync works one way and G-Sync another, but both are superior to V-Sync.

Due to the nature of both, Freesync monitors are usually cheaper and more accessible than G-Sync, although especially if you have an Nvidia graphics card, G-Sync may be a superior option. Also thanks to the relatively new G-Sync Compatible certification, it is easier than ever to benefit from this technology.

And how do they help to solve stuttering? Well, G-Sync and FreeSync are the superior version to V-Sync although the function they fulfill is the same, Synchronize the monitor’s refresh rate with the graphics card’s frames per second and that is why they make use of VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) technology. The superiority comes because instead of reducing the fps and making them match the game, the refresh rate of the monitor is altered, so as long as we are playing in the range of the refresh rate of the monitor, it is not necessary to activate anything, it will be the peripheral whichever fits.

Also, being much more serious implementations than V-Sync (G-Sync has historically required additional dedicated hardware), they are saved from the problems which could lead to not synchronizing the rates correctly and even manage not to introduce input lag in the process.

Is it difficult to get rid of stuttering?

As we have seen, stuttering is a fairly common problem. Normally it comes in the form of microstuttering and maybe we are not even realizing it, but what is clear is that when the moment comes when we realize those stops, it is impossible not to want to get rid of them at all costs.

Before we rush to spend the money to buy a new graphics card or upgrade our monitor to one with Freesync or G-Sync, we should consider the other three possible solutions that we have presented.

Test with V-Sync deactivated it doesn’t cost much, you only need to access the game configuration, in the worst case it will ask to restart the game. Improve performance can be a bit tedious depending on our current situation, but there are always ways to try, and check update status (with special emphasis on graphics card drivers or game version) is a procedure that will always help us, not just with stuttering, so it’s good to get into the habit. Finally, it would be ideal to check if our graphics card and monitor are compatible with Free Sync (or even G-Sync), because if it is an option, it will be the most comfortable and effective.

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