Poor performance - stuttering, low FPS, wobbly images

Edited

Overview

If you're experiencing poor performance with your Beyond, there can be a variety of reasons why.

The Beyond itself won't impact performance, but there's a variety of software settings or interactions that can harm performance.


SteamVR settings

Resolution Per Eye

If you're experiencing poor performance, one primary cause might be the render resolution the headset is set to. By default, if left to "Auto" setting, SteamVR may try to supersample your headset (>100% resolution) which can be very performance demanding.

  • Head to SteamVR>Settings>General>Render Resolution

  • Set it to Custom = 100% (3560x3560 in 75hz mode, 2688 x 2688 in 90hz mode). Reduce/increase as desired from there, depending on the app and your graphic card's capabilities.

Motion Smoothing

This feature is designed to help improve the visual experience when SteamVR isn't hitting its native refresh rate.

Unfortunately, there are a number of issues with its implementation in recent versions of SteamVR, and they can cause visual artifacts, stuttering, or other odd behavior.

Best to leave this turned off.


Applications and processes known to cause stuttering

There's a variety of programs that sneakily run in the background, seemingly harmless until you play a VR session and notice tiny, annoying stutters. Here's a list of some culprits!

Hardware monitoring software

Software that monitors your system's performance can cause stutters, such as...

  • HWinfo

  • HWmonitor

  • MSI Afterburner

RGB Control software

Software that controls lights on your PC can cause stutters in VR - yes, really! Such as...

  • Corsair iCue

  • NZXT CAM

  • Asus AuraSync/equivalent from other boards

Overclocking software

Overclocking software can cause stutters too. Such as...

  • Palit ThunderMaster

  • eVGA PrecisionX

  • MSI Afterburner

  • And any similar tools

HAGS (Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling)

Check to see if your Windows is using Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (A.K.A. HAGS). It may change from build to build, but for some people having it on may cause issues in VR. To change this setting, navigate to the Windows display settings, and scroll down to the Graphics tab. You should see an option labeled "Change default graphics settings" at the top of that window. From there you can disable HAGS.

  • Do note that turning off HAGS will also disable the ability to use AI frame generation in games that support it (DLSS 3.0)!

Other Misc. culprits

Other software/settings known to cause stutters at times:

  • F.Lux

  • GSync/Freesync

  • ReBAR (Usually only with NVIDIA cards. BIOS setting)

  • Citrix


Was this article helpful?

Sorry about that! Care to tell us more?

Thanks for the feedback!

There was an issue submitting your feedback
Please check your connection and try again.