Framerate drops 50% when recording certain games

[ShrewdPanda]

System specifications:


Samsung SSD 850 EVO is C:/ drive, WD 1TB Caviar Black is recording drive.

Problem report:

I am trying to record gameplay footage from Payday2 (32-bit only executable). When not recording I run at stable 60 fps, but when I start recording my fps fluctuates at 28-35 fps, going to a maximum of 45 at some times. I just recently upgraded my SSD boot drive and bought the Caviar Black HDD specifically for recording. Before I upgraded, my fps did not drop when recording but low write speed made me unable to record 60 fps footage. I upgraded to windows 10 from windows 7 and set my SATA controller to AHCI mode (it was on IDE before I upgraded).

I've attempted various fixes in my settings but have been unable to arrive at a satisfying conclusion. I'm not sure what other info to include in this post, but I will attach screenshots of my settings and what my hardware usage stats are in-game.

Dxtory video settings


MagicYUV settings


Dxtory advanced settings


HDD write benchmark


In-game status while not recording. At the top left are hardware utilization percentages output by HWinfo64 and RivaTuner Statistics Server. Column 1 contains individual CPU threads. Row 1 contains the following information:

Code Select Expand

Labels         CPU Thread 0        Recording HDD write activity        GPU utilization


In-game status while recording

Code (Environment) Select Expand

[Dxtory]
Version: 2.0.134
UID: 6c1dec5c-a5be-403e-ad36-c708a04fdb03

[Dxtory Files]
InstallPath: C:\Program Files (x86)\ExKode\Dxtory2.0
amd_ags.dll Size: 271,872 bytes Ver:  SHA1: 44ab4f74637e23ca586580c6d746974e86da98e6
AppNames.txt Size: 1,047 bytes SHA1: 40cd39ab435dbcb3d44eba72b737a05b9a14410b
AudioStreamSplitter.exe Size: 38,432 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.2 SHA1: 5195bb906a508f9e7175f3c9c7d62c6c76f8217c
AudioStreamSplitter_ja.txt Size: 134 bytes SHA1: 489a5264d73a47edcce7c92edb131cf63e5e5709
AVIFix.exe Size: 72,192 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.131 SHA1: 8743067b975002d014008cfb0db363dfb606c375
AVIFix_ja.txt Size: 288 bytes SHA1: 9cab20780686687b84f604c77c73aaae3fd8126d
AVIMux.exe Size: 166,432 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.131 SHA1: 434d85edc5d4bb77c64ca703f9790062cc87a117
AVIMuxCore.dll Size: 199,200 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.130 SHA1: 53661b27f6f6f9f3e8316dca872fd4b01da93e49
AVIMux_ja.txt Size: 1,701 bytes SHA1: fa240715d701f450bb95377aa8517a252329b619
CryptData.pup Size: 84 bytes SHA1: cf9d724807f965d372da4d168bebd78c5258d6ae
Dxtory.exe Size: 598,736 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.134 SHA1: 8743faaa780ce0a8dc6f95c9720287f479481c26
Dxtory64.exe Size: 130,112 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.132 SHA1: 4cce60b896a04515767435c7fd29feefed3c1aac
DxtoryCore.dll Size: 8,242,856 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.134 SHA1: cf4dd1ec59ccc2599090760216b77ed47f0c3020
DxtoryCore64.dll Size: 7,950,544 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.134 SHA1: 6c92f64509f5e7082e70869256364a88c54c74a0
DxtoryHK.dll Size: 196,304 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.134 SHA1: 194db8da5ecaa84a7869e5b6bd72c4a5b37294bb
DxtoryHK64.dll Size: 226,000 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.134 SHA1: 19fc633d572f172b339b27ed3fff9c2df23d57b5
DxtoryMM.dll Size: 1,125,952 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.132 SHA1: b0b6fcc47b6b3f326de582975b269d57c2dd0594
DxtoryMM64.dll Size: 1,139,776 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.132 SHA1: 4cc91746487d863e2eea7a572c498c7eddf83817
DxtoryVideo.dll Size: 434,720 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.130 SHA1: 8d1393e8ce7cfd4b5e2a3481308b8410c3730ab7
DxtoryVideo64.dll Size: 473,120 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.130 SHA1: f2c63192dfe94db290be10a9d8b66c7a04949ae3
DxtoryVideo64_Install.bat Size: 28 bytes SHA1: 308ae1e37b5e28ff7134beb319faad48280068b0
DxtoryVideo64_Uninstall.bat Size: 31 bytes SHA1: 3fbf8d3c3a5b375eda07e47a64534b91c8df5139
DxtoryVideoSetting.exe Size: 129,568 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.130 SHA1: ee440e846cfeec2acb4a88f81f589e00c34e825e
DxtoryVideoSetting_ja.txt Size: 1,675 bytes SHA1: e532f36bd5ac6255659d240180637484661f0c83
DxtoryVideo_Install.bat Size: 26 bytes SHA1: b00e69772cc1cae9e86fe2b70ca290c488723fd7
DxtoryVideo_Uninstall.bat Size: 29 bytes SHA1: 0b0202cbc7fba373f42e1a6916fc2ad01edaa627
Dxtory_ja.txt Size: 19,555 bytes SHA1: 6556833be873a4b7648d78ae8fdc838fe05af11f
EULA_en.txt Size: 1,356 bytes SHA1: 340c6b3425ab78d83c6a8bd344b6cc58d152ce8f
EULA_ja.txt Size: 1,814 bytes SHA1: cded0d38ec6a1cb0e86bc264496deaa28082cb51
filelist.txt Size: 279 bytes SHA1: 25a851b1be1fe98be7f99b36819b6e46e284a8e3
filelist64.txt Size: 289 bytes SHA1: 084b27be18abde30c8cf7cf474ebe9e899389190
ignore_module_list.txt Size: 1,130 bytes SHA1: 4907c6da467802a3b42a48f3716e9a88cd5cb920
LicReg.dat Size: 11,776 bytes SHA1: 5d5160b4dc3390ad689eacfaf5ae27fb66cb0728
LicReg.exe Size: 96,816 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.4 SHA1: 0d236ac1394a97d35a67c63ec15e45a80f87db5b
LicReg_ja.txt Size: 707 bytes SHA1: 981af64897276c22867952f4972d9c29c6ee35e7
RawCapConv.exe Size: 208,928 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.131 SHA1: 32b6ec5d2f6649df4a47aedc476965433a8bdec4
RawCapConv_ja.txt Size: 1,869 bytes SHA1: 12086976f07abfc8d435abeee6c450c3cb2b07cd
RCStream.dll Size: 164,352 bytes Ver: 1.0.0.76 SHA1: 31266452f142cd7c856384945ffc410b2c9c8be9
readme.txt Size: 1,322 bytes SHA1: f8b7e31de7927309f7f3e03936374837906a94d9
Src16x10_Dest4x3.png Size: 40,081 bytes SHA1: 3b4f6332b8b3129ee351a9c96a9c4ac7f6f7a4cd
Src16x9_Dest4x3.png Size: 40,179 bytes SHA1: fcec824f4e95f7becf65bbabcc1a99c1470b99a1
unins000.dat Size: 22,166 bytes SHA1: 1ea8f50340c0ea17716c4b7a57e8722f41901b02
unins000.exe Size: 1,198,288 bytes Ver: 51.1052.0.0 SHA1: 5e106b4c76f90bb721c4e7eca823f2866622f07e
unins000.msg Size: 22,701 bytes SHA1: ab7961d64f8b22503c9c7ca4b335fa539b0278a3
UpdateChecker.exe Size: 93,696 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.0 SHA1: 221bd3663f4393b368ebf74d1a892f9379ddbe44
UpdateChecker.ini Size: 238 bytes SHA1: 796da23b4a505bf2ef370dc271d1a80585dff6e2
UpdateChecker_ja.txt Size: 190 bytes SHA1: 969913786a3497f3e448572f7810ee9814314928
UWPHelper.dll Size: 132,672 bytes Ver: 1.0.0.0 SHA1: 73adada2bf2e13b10e775e4e5fb64bb0144869b9
UWPHelper64.dll Size: 157,760 bytes Ver: 1.0.0.0 SHA1: 9e058ebd49070c9e826f954afb9a0994d4729a09
DxtoryCodec.dll 64bit Size: 2,606,144 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.132 SHA1: 7ef69696fe270d8bf353ead32bd58681ee61e5fe
DxtoryCodec.dll 32bit Size: 2,499,648 bytes Ver: 2.0.0.132 SHA1: cd610194e3ddceefa04bc0f28a5f2139fee0d615

[System Information]
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         950  @ 3.07GHz
CPU Instruction Set: MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4.1 SSE4.2
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home x64
OSVersion: 10.0.10586
OSLanguage: 1033
ServicePack:
Memory0: BANK0 2,147,483,648 bytes
Memory1: BANK2 2,147,483,648 bytes
Memory2: BANK4 2,147,483,648 bytes
TotalMemory: 6,442,450,944 bytes
Total Physical Memory: 6,433,124,352 bytes
Available Physical Memory: 1,540,161,536 bytes
Total Page File: 8,177,954,816 bytes
Available Page File: 1,395,204,096 bytes
Total Virtual Memory: 2,147,352,576 bytes
Available Virtual Memory: 1,716,633,600 bytes
PerformanceCounterFrequency: 3001601 (0x2DCD01)
VideoCard: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series Memory: 2,147,483,648 Processor: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6810) DriverVer: 15.201.1151.1008 DriverDate: 2015-11-04 00-00-00
Display0: 1920x1080 32bits 60Hz
Display1: 1680x1050 32bits 60Hz
SoundDevice: AMD High Definition Audio Device Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices
SoundDevice: USB Audio Class 1.0 and 2.0 DAC Device Driver Manufacturer: C-MEDIA Inc.
SoundDevice: ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device Manufacturer: ASUSTeK

[Audio Device]
S/PDIF Pass-through Device (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioOut
Speakers (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioOut
Wave (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioIn, Volume 100
Stereo Mix (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioIn, Volume 100
Aux (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioIn, Volume 100
Microphone (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioIn, Volume 100
Line In (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device) - CoreAudioIn, Volume 100
Microphone (Blue Snowball) - CoreAudioIn, Volume 91

[Video Codec 64bit]
Intel IYUV codec FCC:iyuv
Intel IYUV codec FCC:i420
MagicYUV lossless v1.2rev0 (64 bit) FCC:magy
Microsoft RLE FCC:mrle
Microsoft Video 1 FCC:msvc
RivaTuner Video Codec FCC:rtv1

[Video Codec 32bit]
Cinepak Codec by Radius FCC:cvid
Intel IYUV codec FCC:i420
Intel IYUV codec FCC:iyuv
MagicYUV lossless v1.2rev0 (32 bit) FCC:magy
Microsoft RLE FCC:mrle
Microsoft Video 1 FCC:msvc
RivaTuner Video Codec FCC:rtv1

[Audio Codec]
Microsoft IMA ADPCM
MS-ADPCM
Microsoft CCITT G.711
Microsoft GSM 6.10
PCM
IEEE Float

[License Information]
License: Registered
Expire: Unlimited
LicVerify: 844b884f1f6781452b29ead14a0aef65add0480f

[Additional Information]
Dxtory_log.txt: Empty
ErrorLog.txt: Available Size=1092

[Global Setting]
OptionFlag=SharedJavaProfile

[Ignore List]

======================================================================

[Profile]
Name: Default
Path:

[Overlay]
Position: RightVCenter
Flag: VidoeFPS RecordFPS RecordState SSNotification  Time Warn
Layout: Vert
Color: Sleep FF00FF00, Active FFFFBC00, Movie  FF00FF00, ScreenShot FF00FF00

[Folder]
x G:\Payday  Speed: 172MB/sec  Free: 933,625,032,704 Total: 1,000,202,039,296 Format: NTFS
SSFolder: G:\Payday\Screenshots

[HotKey]
MovieCapture: F11 (0x00000057)
PushToTalk: None
ScreenShotSingle: F10 (0x00000044)
ScreenShotRepeat: None
ScreenShotAuto: None
ToggleStatus: None
MovieCaptureFrame: None
ScreenShotCaptureFrame: None

[Movie]
Clipping:
ClipMargin: 0,0,0,0
ClipSize: 0,0
Scaling: Size 100% 2048x1152
Codec: MagicYUV lossless v1.2rev0 (64 bit), Quality 7500, KeyFrameRate 15, DataRate 0, 64bit
FrameRate: 60
Output: File AVI
Option:

[Audio0]
Enabled: True
PushToTalk: False
Device: S/PDIF Pass-through Device (ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device)
Codec: PCM
Format: PCM 48000 Hz, 16 bit, Stereo

[ScreenShot]
Clipping:
ClipMargin: 0,0,0,0
ClipSize: 0,0
Scaling: Percent 100% 0x0
HighSpeedLimit: 0
RepeatInterval: 1000
Format: PNG
JpegQuality: 97
Option: IncludeOverlay

[Advanced]
DataProcessingOption: ForceCPUProcessing
HookOption:
ThreadCount: 1
ThreadMask: 00000000000000FF
LimitedFPS: False
FPSLimit: 60
DelayHook: False
DelayHookTime: 5

======================================================================

[Profile]
Name: PAYDAY 2
Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\PAYDAY 2\payday2_win32_release.exe

[LastUsingInformation]
DateTime: 2016.04.09 16:32:58
Version: 2.0.134
DeviceType: DX9
View0.Type=DX9
View0.DevType=D3DDEVTYPE_HAL
View0.BhFlags=D3DCREATE_HARDWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING
View0.Format=D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8
View0.Size=1920x1080
View0.HWND=0x00080286
View0.WindowTitle=PAYDAY 2
View0.ClassName=diesel win32

======================================================================
VerifyHash: 595402328f65cbdd1084bccd504bec717441c002


Code (ErrorLog.txt) Select Expand

========== 2016/04/09 16:25:17 ==========
PID:6256     C:\Program Files\HWiNFO64\HWiNFO64.EXE (x64)
PID:6256     TID:4080     TickCount:51891562 HookMonitor::Process DETECTED HOOK OVERWRITE: wglSwapBuffers
PID:6256     TID:4080     TickCount:51891562 AnalyzeHook FAIL 00 30 77 01 80 01 00 00 00 DB E8 FC BD FE FF 85
PID:6256     TID:4080     TickCount:51891562 HookMonitor::Process DETECTED HOOK OVERWRITE: wglSwapLayerBuffers
PID:6256     TID:4080     TickCount:51891562 AnalyzeHook FAIL 78 01 80 01 00 00 00 48 33 C4 48 89 44 24 68 8B


[Takedown]

Goto the Movie tab and under Scaling , push the Percent button and set it back to 100%.  Real-time scaling is a bad idea.
Also try turning on Delay Hook under Advanced settings.

Lastly, if you're careful you can try tweaking the flip queue size to 1 ( 0x3100 ).   It's what AMD calls their "pre rendered" frames setting.
Here is a util that can help with that
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=403389

If the flip queue tweak makes no difference, change it back.

[ShrewdPanda]

Thank you for the reply. I tried implementing your suggestions. The delay hook and no scaling raised my average recording FPS by 8-12, but it is still unstable and not at 60 like it should be. Flipqueue setting changed nothing. I don't know what to do at this point. Maybe I should add that I am planning to upgrade my GPU soon, will that eliminate the problem?

[Takedown]

What is your average fps in Payday without recording ?  If it is 60, is anything capping the fps ?  Was there a big fps difference in this or other games after upgrading to 10 ?

As far as a new GPU, Dxtory tends to have less issues on Nvidia hardware, but that doesn't mean you should avoid a good deal on AMD hardware.

Here are some more things you can try with current hardware :
1.  Turn off force cpu processing, it might make a minor difference
2.  Could try rolling back one version and do a clean install of 2.0.133

[ShrewdPanda]

My average fps is usually a stable 60. I have Vsync enabled as I get a lot of tearing without it. I also have fps capped at 75 in the settings menu in-game. I did try disabling Vsync but it made no difference for the recording fps.

I didn't notice any difference in fps after upgrading other than the game running more smoothly due to it being located on the SSD drive now. No difference in other games either. I've tried recording dota 2 with my current settings and was able to stay above 60 fps consistently.

I turned off cpu processing and did a clean install of 2.0.133 and now my fps is more stable, but it is still at around 38-42.

[Takedown]

I have a couple more suggestions, but I'm almost out of ideas :

1.  Under Advanced settings, if you turn on "Synchronous Surface Lock" and "Wait for available buffer" your recording fps should go up, but your game fps might go down a bit.  If they make things worse, just turn them off again.

2.  You could try old x264vfw in ultrafast and it might do the trick.

Download here ( you can get both, but you would at least need the 32 bit one )
https://sourceforge.net/projects/x264vfw/files/

Change its setting to look like this
https://www.bandicam.com/faqs/vfw-x264-xvid-divx-h264-codec/best-x264-codec-setting-recording.gif