[1.3.1 + 1.4.2] Lag spike every second

[Jimbodiah]

I noticed this in a modded install of 1.3.1 and got so annoyed with it that I actually stopped playing. The game sees a lag spike every second whre the entire game freezes for 1/10 of a second or so, making it very jerky and super annoying. As I thought it was one of the mods I tried removing all the mods and running it stock, but even there I notice this effect although much less pronounced (barely visible, but there), it seems to get worse when you add more mods. I had some hope a fresh install of 1.4.2 would solve this, but it shows the exact same behavior:

 

The performance monitor shows a spike to 278fps but it's rather a dip to 0fps. I normally run 60Hz vsync as my monitor will only handle 60Hz, but the test above was to see if not using vsync would make any difference (it doesn't).

I'm running a 4790K (4x4GHz), 16GB, Samsung SSDs with a GTX970 factory OC at 3440x1440. I doubt the PC could be the issue. Also running KSP in 64bit mode.

 

Has anyone seen similar behavior in KSP and know a way to fix it?



NB: I notice Kerbal Alarm Clock and ScanSat greatly increase this behavior, but as it is there in a stock install, I'm not sure it's entirely related to these mods.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Jimbodiah

[Dafni]

39 minutes ago, Jimbodiah said:

 I had some hope a fresh install of 1.4.2 would solve this, but it shows the exact same behavior

I cannot contribute any helpful info, just dropping by to let you know I have the same issue on 1.3.1. Did not dare to check the latest patch, and the above statement does not bode well. Pretty disheartening. Do you have hope for 1.4.3? Probably not much.

This issue has been the single most annoying thing in KSP for me, ever. This stutter, even the tiny hiccups you get in almost stock installs, irks me a lot. I wish KSP would run perfectly smooth (I have a 8700K, 1080Ti, 32GB DDR4 etc)

Just FYI, in 1.3.1 MechJeb seemed to be the worst offender from my mods list (not a very extensive list, usually less than 5 mods). Moving to KER improved the whole situation, but like we found, even in stock installs it is there.

[steve_v]

47 minutes ago, Jimbodiah said:

Has anyone seen similar behavior in KSP and know a way to fix it?

Yes, and no, not if it's what I think it is.
Install Memgraph and see if it's the well known garbage collection problem.

 

50 minutes ago, Jimbodiah said:

got so annoyed with it that I actually stopped playing.

Indeed, this is what kills my career games. Fixing it is in the "too hard" basket though, as it's a game engine problem.

[Jimbodiah]

@steve_v  Thanks for that tip, running it now. Nothing really strange to see in terms of spikes though. I removed KAC and ScanSat, which seems to have reduced theproblem enormously.  The KSC view has the stutter for the first few seconds but then smooths out, like something is being loaded in fragments at every secondmark. Really weird behavior.

@Dafni  I've tried removing MJ on my install but didn't see any improvements, nbot sure if it's a random thing or maybe some mods conflicting with each other to amplify the stutter. I'm grasping at straws as well.

 

 

[Shadowmage]

This sounds like the common and ever-present GC stutter.  This is caused by Unity/Mono garbage collection. Cleaning up various unused bits of memory.  Mods aggravate this by generating more garbage.  Some mods are worse than others.  Anything using the legacy OnGUI is especially bad (MJ used this recently, and may still be using it).

Try installing memgraph, and use its heap-padding functionality.

 

 

[Jimbodiah]

I stil think Sarbian, you and several other modders should make your own game     Really. The more I play KSP, the more frustrated I get at all the work-arounds and stuff we have to put up with.  All I want to do is build up an infrastructure and not have the game lag, freeze, explode ships, kraken, bend, bounce planetary bases into oblivion, crash or completely corrupt my save-games; is that too much to ask?

 

Edited April 17, 2018 by Jimbodiah

[Jimbodiah]

NB: Smooth as butter now with MemGraph and heap-padding active. Haven't tried ScanSat/KAC yet, kind of afraid to jinx it for now

[Shadowmage]

Good to hear.  You'll still get stutters, even with the heap-padding, but they'll be much further apart.  Adding more mods will increase the frequency of the stutters, but they'll still be much further apart than with the stock settings.