Hi everyone. I'm trying to figure out what is causing a very strange stuttering problem in GTA V.

Video: https://youtu.be/kTYf3et7wkY?si=zuaVC6_rUkLEtZae

Screenshot: https://kommodo.ai/i/ykMMl3y2kQSPdzxSEE3f

My PC:

• Intel Core i3-7100U @ 2.40 GHz
• Intel HD Graphics 620
• 8 GB DDR4 2400 MHz dual-channel
• 250 GB SSD
• Windows 10 x64
• GTA V version 1.0.3725.0 (FitgirlRepack)

The problem:

GTA V is actually playable on this PC. At 1280×720 I can get around 30–35 FPS depending on the scene. However, the game has a very noticeable stutter roughly every 2 seconds.

This is not simply low FPS. If I could maintain a consistent 30 FPS without the periodic frametime spikes, I would be completely fine playing at 30 FPS.

The stutters happen regardless of the graphics settings. I've tried very low settings, higher settings, different resolutions and different FPS limits, but the periodic stuttering remains.

Things I have already tried

I have spent a lot of time trying to determine whether this is a Windows, driver, hardware or power-management issue.

Windows versions:

• Windows 10 1507
• Windows 10 1607
• Windows 10 1809

The problem persists across all of them.

Intel graphics drivers:

I have tried different Intel HD Graphics 620 driver versions, including the driver recommended for my HP model. Changing the graphics driver does not fix the stuttering.

I also completely reinstalled the graphics driver, but the problem remained.

Power/performance settings:

• High Performance power plan
• CPU minimum processor state: 100%
• CPU maximum processor state: 100%
• Intel Graphics power plan: Maximum Performance
• PCIe Link State Power Management: Disabled
• USB selective suspend: Disabled
• Wireless power saving: Disabled
• CPU stays at approximately 2400 MHz while gaming

Devices/drivers I have tested:

I also tried disabling different devices to see whether one of them was causing DPC/interrupt latency problems, including:

• Audio devices
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• Intel Management Engine Interface
• Storage/SATA-related devices
• Other unnecessary system devices

None of this eliminated the GTA V stuttering.

I also changed the SATA AHCI driver to the driver recommended specifically for my HP model. The stutters remained.

System conditions

Temperatures are stable and not excessively high:

• CPU: below ~86°C
• GPU: below ~86°C

CPU and GPU are not constantly at 90–100% usage.

I also have plenty of available RAM. Windows starts with only around 700 MB of RAM in use, and I have only around 38 processes running after startup.

I will include screenshots of my processes, RAM usage, CPU/GPU usage and LatencyMon results.

LatencyMon

LatencyMon does report DPC activity involving drivers such as:

• dxgkrnl.sys
• storport.sys
• iaStorAC.sys
• ndis.sys
• Wdf01000.sys

However, I have not found a single driver that consistently explains the stuttering, and disabling the related devices/drivers did not solve the problem.

The most important part: other games are fine

This problem only happens in GTA V.

For example, I can play Mortal Kombat 9 at 1280×720 with all graphics settings at maximum at a stable 60 FPS, with no periodic stuttering.

This is why I'm having trouble believing that the problem is simply that my i3-7100U and HD 620 are too weak.

GTA V obviously pushes the hardware much harder, and I understand that this is a low-end system. I'm not expecting high FPS.

I would be completely happy with a stable 30 FPS at 720p.

The problem is specifically the recurring hitch every ~2 seconds.

I have also tried different GTA V graphics configurations, but the behavior remains.

At this point I'm wondering if this could be related specifically to GTA V's world/resource streaming, frametime behavior, storage streaming, gameconfig, or something else inside the game engine.

What could cause GTA V to produce a stutter at such a regular ~2-second interval when:

• FPS is otherwise playable
• CPU/GPU are not constantly maxed out
• temperatures are stable
• RAM is not full
• multiple Windows versions were tested
• multiple Intel graphics drivers were tested
• power management has been configured for maximum performance
• storage/SATA drivers were changed
• audio/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/storage devices were tested/disabled
• and the problem only occurs in GTA V?

I'm specifically looking for someone who has experienced this exact type of periodic GTA V stutter, rather than general advice to lower the graphics settings.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I just want to get GTA V running at a consistent 30 FPS without the recurring stutters.