Weird frame stutter after 6.1/6.2 patches

My Problem:

Since 6.1 I've been experiencing what I think is called a 'frame rate stutter'.

When I travel around zones, for a brief second, the screen will 'catch' on a frame, and then continue as normal. Frames dropped from 40fps to 35fps in these moments.

It was infrequent enough at first that I could ignore it, but when 6.2 got installed, it got so much worse, and far more frequent.

How busy a zone was didn't matter (Limsa vs The Dravanian Hinterlands). Time of day (traffic) made no difference either.

I had no issues at all in 6.0 and the game ran perfectly on high-ish settings. I've lowered some graphics settings but that didn't help.


Useful Info???

I've always played with a frame cap at 40fps, and always used v-sync by default. My game is installed on my HDD. All of my drivers are currently up to date. I'm also connected directly to the ethernet cable with Sky Broadband (EU player).

HP PAVILION GAMING 17-CD0033NA
screen: 17.3” Full HD (1920x1080)
processor: Intel® Core™ i7-9750H CPU @ 2.6 GHz, 4.5 GHz Intel® Turbo Boost, 12 MB cache, hexacore.
graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, 6GB VRAM
memory: 16GB RAM (upgraded), 512GB SSD, 1TB HDD

I have a larger monitor connected to laptop too: MSI 27" MAG274QRF-QD 2560x1440
Even though it can reach 144hz, everything is set to 60hz.

I usually play in Windowed Mode.



I'm not sure what's changed, or if anyone else has experienced something similar to me, but I figured it's worth sharing.

If your desktop is 144hz it needs to be 120hz instead as it'll cause stuttering.

Vsync also does nothing if you aren't in fullscreen mode. Windows buffering applies in windowed modes.

I've also noticed this stuttering after 6.2 launched. Usually the game is buttery smooth but now it is hitching all the time, especially noticeable when flying around zones. Changing the graphics settings does not help (highest or lowest, it still occurs), nor does setting the display refresh rate to 120hz. It does seem to be worse in borderless windowed mode than full-screen, though.