GTX Drivers

[crc0427]

And I take that back. The stutter has returned with a vengeance. It's these new drivers.. NVidia has done something to their drivers after 3/28/18 or SE has done something to the game that doesn't like the drivers. In 4k only it seems.

[crc0427]

More testing.. new drivers.. If I take off Screen Space Ambient Occlusion and change transparent light quality to normal, the problem disappears quite a bit. If I even have just Screen Space Ambient Occlusion on, the game visibly runs slow. Reverting back to driver 391.35 from march 28 2018 gets rid of the problem completely, but breaks other things that are non-FFXIV, since the driver is so old. Seems to MOSTLY be a light quality issue.

SE - Is this problem with XIV's programming or with NVidia's drivers?

This is happening on 3 different alienware computers.

[crc0427]

Had to revert back to march 2018 driver again.. XIV became unplayable with newer drivers. PLEASE SOMEONE FIX THIS.

[crc0427]

Thank you for the reply.

crc0427, does the crash only happen on Direct X11? Could you try running the game on the Direct X 9? Switch to DirectX 9 mode (select ‘Config’ from the launcher). Check whether the game is running in fullscreen mode, windowed or borderless fullscreen. Fullscreen is generally more efficient when using GPU resources. Please also try lowering the resolution of the game.

Hope to see you online!

Hi there, anything else that can be done? Nothing fixes the issue except reverting the drivers to ones over a year old now, which don’t work properly with other things due to their age.

It’s happening on 3 different computers running in 4K mode.

XIV doesn’t seem to be 4K compatible with Nvidia any longer.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the reply crc0427.

The game doesn't have any known issues with Nvidia drivers or hardware, nor does it have issues displaying 4K. I do have a few questions about how your PC is set up.

How exactly do you have the 1080 ti amplifier set up? Does it exhibit this same issue without that amplifier (you mentioned you have a 1070 on board)?

You mentioned you've tried this one three separate PCs. Are all three of these using the graphics amplifier? What other similarities do they have?

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[crc0427]

Hi there, yes it does exhibit the same issues with the amplifier (1080ti) and without the amplifier (1070).

The first computer is an Alienware 17r4. When it’s on the amplifier it runs on an external monitor. The amplifier connects through the proprietary Alienware port on the back of the laptop.

The second computer is also an Alienware 17r4 with a gtx 1070. Same issue with drivers past 3/28/18. Same results with and without the amplifier.

The other computer is. Alienware aurora. It had a gtx 1070 in it. Same issues- any driver past 3/28/18 was horrible with XIV. I also tried the 1080ti in it with the same results.

Basically I tried swapping in and out the 1080ti and 1070 in all 3, all with the same result- no nvidia driver runs XIV properly past the driver date of 3/28/18. In some cases I can reduce the resolution to get the game running normally, as though it’s “powering through” the issues. Reverting back to drivers prior to the date given result in a perfect running game in 4K max settings. 60FPS with the 1080ti and 35-40 with the 1070.

It’s important to also note that I had two different 1070s over this past year and both had the same issue, so that’s a total of 4 different video cards with the same problem in 3 different computers.

I spoke to some FC members that have the same issue and run in 4K. They all seem to have similar problems except one who runs two 1080ti’s, so it’s probably just powering through the problem.

All really pointing to bad drivers or some sort of programming issue with XIV, it really the only explanation as to why old drivers work and new ones don’t.

[crc0427]

Also recently I tried a fresh install of Windows. Both the 1809 version of Windows 10 and the prior version (before October 2018). Same problem even with a fresh install.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the update crc0427.

I have reservations about it being a programming issue with XIV only because I've tested the game with a with a GTX 1070 with the latest drivers at 4K resolution and couldn't reproduce the the errors you are describing. Having the game run at 4K with the settings at max can be a bit too much to handle for a 1070 (although it shouldn't have stutters). A 1080 ti should have no issues with it. That being said, the PC I used was not an Alienware Model or a laptop.

I'm not sure everything you've tried so far so I'm sorry if I'm repeating some things. I want to make sure these have been done:

-You mentioned that you reinstalled the newer drivers several times. When you did this, did you perform a clean install of the drivers?

-Try a clean boot if you haven't already. Simply open the task manager and select the 'Start up' tab. Disable everything here and restart the PC. This will make sure that no background processes are interfering with the game.

-Make sure not to open any other programs while playing the game. Disable any overlays you might have open (Geforce Experience, Discord Overlay, etc.).

With those 3 PCs, what similarities do they have? Is there a common program that is installed on all three or is something running in the background on all three?

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[crc0427]

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, clean install on the times that it wasn’t a fresh copy of Windows.

2. I’ve tried a clean boot

3. No overlays open

4. All the PCs are / were Alienware

I’m aware that the 1070 cannot run the game at 60FPS max settings, however there is a HUGE difference between max settings at 30ish FPS with the March 2018 drivers and any driver after that at max settings. With the good drivers from last year it runs smoothly at 30-40FPS max settings with 4K. With any driver after, it stutters and crashes.

As for the 1080ti at max settings in 4K, the old drivers run silky smooth at max settings. Any driver past that date, choppy and stutter but still showing 60FPS, as it’s not an FPS issue. Some of the drivers take a bit of time to show the problem. If I swap to BLM and start nuking away on something, it occurs almost immediately. It’s almost as though it doesn’t like the lighting affects.

Again - old drivers good. New drivers- stutter. If this was an overlay issue or something running in the background issue, it would happen with the old drivers too, but it doesn’t. Just with newer drivers... therefore it’s a programming issue on either SE’s end or Nvidia’s end.

This happens with a fresh install of Windows with nothing but windows and final fantasy installed.

Nvidia has acknowledged the issue and are aware that it exists, and is a driver issue or software issue. The support guys that I have been talking to for months don’t know if it’s a problem with XIV’s coding after March 2018 or with their drivers but they know that it’s nothing in the background of Windows and not a hardware issue. They’ve literally had me test everything from fresh to reinstallations.

A few of my fellow FC members are having the same issue. They have reduced their resolution out of 4K as they don’t have access to the old driver.

Please work with NVidia to get this fixed, it’s so frustrating, and I’m not the only one with the problem. It’s mentioned several times on this support forum, and on nvidia’s support forums. Same issue.

I don’t think there is anything more I can possibly test. Fresh windows, clean install, nothing else running... old drivers work in 4K, new don’t. Not an FPS issue. It’s a stutter issue and a crash issue. It can appear to be running smooth for 10 or 15 minutes and then it just all goes bad.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the update crc0427.

What I was trying to make sure of in the previous post is the possibility of a driver conflict. There may have been some program that interferes with the newer drivers but not the older ones.

Going back to the System Report you provided, which of the three PCs what this for?

Can you elaborate on what Nvidia support mentioned? You said they were working on a known issue. What exactly were they referring to and how long ago was this? Was it specifically with FFXIV? What exactly did they have you do?

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!