FPS problems (continued)

[HitmanN]

I posted about this problem in the HWA build 251 thread earlier. I already thought I found a solution but apparently not.

So, I'll try to summarize. A week or so back, I was happily using MMF2. Applications set to framerate 60 ran just fine, with the debugger showing a steady 59-60 for FPS. Then I took a break, returned to using MMF2 a few days later, along with a HWA build 251 update. After that, all applications I run in MMF2 runtime, non-HWA or HWA, even if just an empty project, have a jumpy/twitchy fps that usually flickers between 58 and 64, skipping roughly every 10-20 frames (hard to say exactly). This problem occurs when not using v-sync. However, I want to repeat, I never needed to use v-sync before for the fps to be fine, and I don't intend to use it in any of my current projects.

At first I thought it was a HWA-only issue, so I tried reverting back to old version, which didn't work. Since then I've also tried a full reinstall of MMF2 and HWA, which didn't help.

Yesterday I noticed that switching my monitor's refresh rate to 60hz (from the default of 72hz) seemed to help. Things ran fine again. Today, it's the other way around. 60hz+60framerate gets me a jumpy FPS of 58/64. Switching the refresh rate to 72 and applications' framerate to 72 makes the fps steady now. Seriously, I can't go on switching refresh rates and framerates constantly.

So... what on earth could've happened that suddenly makes my FPS crazy like that? One observation I made today is that if I set the framerate in an MMF2 project's runtime properties to anything below 59 or above 63, makes the fps much more steady, sometimes normal. It's almost as if the FPS refuses to be anything between 58 and 64.

Some hardware/software info:
CPU: Core2 Duo E6600
GPU: Geforce 8600 GTS
OS: Windows XP Pro 32-bit, SP3

Not the latest and greatest, but has worked fine until this dreaded FPS problem.

What I've tried so far:

• Reinstalling MMF2
• Reinstalling display drivers
• Updating display drivers to latest version
• Updating DirectX
• Obviously several reboots have been made by now
• Checked for malfunctioning hardware. Couldn't find any, and other games/applications seem to function fine.
• Applications I've removed lately: Trillian, Fences. Neither of these is exactly graphics related, so I doubt either is the culprit. Fences does affect the desktop though, so I suppose there's a very remote possibility there.
• Applications I've installed lately: latest version of Trillian. Again, not graphics related, so doubtful there's a problem there. Turning off the program also doesn't help.
• Turned off majority of applications and processes (Not thoroughly though, just the ones I knew for sure to be safe to turn off).
• Checked for malware/spyware with Spybot S&D and Anti-Malware.

Any other interesting things I could try? Can anyone think of anything that could somehow affect the FPS, outside the already listed and tried things? I'd rather spend another two weeks searching for a solution than two weeks configuring a fresh Windows installation. >_< This issue is driving me nuts, as I can't properly test my project(s) when the scrolling twitches, unless I use options that were not supposed to be used at all... which is also something I don't see as a proper solution.

[Phi]

Did you get the display driver from Microsoft Update or from the display card makers? I found the latest display driver from MU crashed randomly while I was playing Minecraft, and the most recent one from the makers worked perfectly.
(Make sure you hide the update in Microsoft Update, or it'll continously ask you if you want to install it)

[HitmanN]

Downloaded straight from Nvidia's site. I've had this problem with three different driver versions I've tried, ranging from about a year old drivers to the latest.

I have windows update set on notify only, so nothing installed unless I approve it.

Also, I just noticed that the problem isn't constant. I had the twitchy FPS for a moment, kept running the runtime for a moment, then it turned normal again, for a little while. Next time I started the runtime, twitchyness again. The oddest thing I've had in ages.

[Anders]

Have a look at your task list and see if there are any applications that take up all the CPU time. Like a rogue virus scanner in an infinite loop or something.

[HitmanN]

There's nothing unusual consuming CPU at a quick glance. And I'm not sure if CPU consumption could cause framerate to deny having a number between 58 and 64. I can have a framerate of 70, or a framerate of 50, but whenever this twitching strikes, I can't have a framerate of 59, 60, 61, or 62. :p

But there is a certainly the possibility that the problem is caused by one of the processes running that I haven't tried turning off yet. I'll have to go through them all in detail later.