I have a similar problem but since Im out in the black its only happening on / near planets. As soon as the glide starts there is stuttering. On the surface its getting unplayable to the point where the game freezes every other moment.
The strange thing is that its not tied to any graphic settings that I changed. It doesnt matter if I play on low settings or high, its basically the same. The only real difference is vsync. Its a bit less bad when vsync is on.
I have a xeon 1230v3, rx 590, hdd 7200rpm, 16gb ram (and win7). I should get buttersmooth 60fps on medium or even high settings but thats not the case. What I also notice, just lke you, is the somehow lack of gc usage. Its as if the gc is idle. I dont hear the fans, the temperature barely goes over 45°. Where the hell is the work load?!
I run ed in borderless with medium settings at 1080 but with now low settings for terrain. Furthermore I tweaked the graphics a bit:
XML:
<GalaxyBackground>
<Low>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_LOW;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>1024</TextureSize>
</Low>
<Medium>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_MEDIUM;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>1024</TextureSize>
</Medium>
<High>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_HIGH;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>2048</TextureSize>
</High>
</GalaxyBackground>
<GalaxyMap>
<Low>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_LOW;</LocalisationName>
<NebulasCount>10</NebulasCount>
<NebulasInBackgroundCount>40</NebulasInBackgroundCount>
<LowResNebulasCount>16</LowResNebulasCount>
<HighResNebulasCount>1</HighResNebulasCount>
<LowResNebulaDimensions>64</LowResNebulaDimensions>
<HighResNebulaDimensions>256</HighResNebulaDimensions>
<LowResSamplesCount>25</LowResSamplesCount>
<HighResSamplesCount>128</HighResSamplesCount>
<MilkyWayInstancesCount>6000</MilkyWayInstancesCount>
<LocalDustBrightness>0.13</LocalDustBrightness>
<MilkywayInstancesBrightness>3.0</MilkywayInstancesBrightness>
<MilkywayInstancesSize>1.3</MilkywayInstancesSize>
<MilkyWayInstancesOffscreenRTEnabled>true</MilkyWayInstancesOffscreenRTEnabled>
<StarInstanceCount>2000</StarInstanceCount>
</Low>
<Medium>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_MEDIUM;</LocalisationName>
<NebulasCount>20</NebulasCount>
<NebulasInBackgroundCount>40</NebulasInBackgroundCount>
<LowResNebulasCount>16</LowResNebulasCount>
<HighResNebulasCount>1</HighResNebulasCount>
<LowResNebulaDimensions>64</LowResNebulaDimensions>
<HighResNebulaDimensions>256</HighResNebulaDimensions>
<LowResSamplesCount>30</LowResSamplesCount>
<HighResSamplesCount>110</HighResSamplesCount>
<MilkyWayInstancesCount>10000</MilkyWayInstancesCount>
<LocalDustBrightness>0.13</LocalDustBrightness>
<MilkywayInstancesBrightness>3.0</MilkywayInstancesBrightness>
<MilkywayInstancesSize>1.3</MilkywayInstancesSize>
<MilkyWayInstancesOffscreenRTEnabled>false</MilkyWayInstancesOffscreenRTEnabled>
<StarInstanceCount>2000</StarInstanceCount>
</Medium>
<High>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_HIGH;</LocalisationName>
<NebulasCount>30</NebulasCount>
<NebulasInBackgroundCount>40</NebulasInBackgroundCount>
<LowResNebulasCount>16</LowResNebulasCount>
<HighResNebulasCount>1</HighResNebulasCount>
<LowResNebulaDimensions>64</LowResNebulaDimensions>
<HighResNebulaDimensions>256</HighResNebulaDimensions>
<LowResSamplesCount>35</LowResSamplesCount>
<HighResSamplesCount>138</HighResSamplesCount>
<MilkyWayInstancesCount>12000</MilkyWayInstancesCount>
<LocalDustBrightness>0.13</LocalDustBrightness>
<MilkywayInstancesBrightness>3.0</MilkywayInstancesBrightness>
<MilkywayInstancesSize>1.3</MilkywayInstancesSize>
<MilkyWayInstancesOffscreenRTEnabled>false</MilkyWayInstancesOffscreenRTEnabled>
<StarInstanceCount>4000</StarInstanceCount>
</High>
</GalaxyMap>
</GraphicsConfig>
These settings lower the amount of stars in the galaxy map - which now takes up to 5 seconds to open. And it greatly changes the brightness, which is how I imagine space would be. Full of bright stars blinding you (actually the setting is still tame, I experimented with settings above 6)
I will now test things I have not yet tested, maybe its gone when I deactivate the fx.
Oh I forgot to mention Im using reshade but that does nothing.
First text fx off, terrain medium, material as well, fullscreen: reduced amounts of freezes. As soon as I am near my ship the freezes start to happen more frequently. For me there is no real work going on in the gc. Temperature dropped 1° as soon as I played.
Second test fx off, borderless, terrain medium, materials low: still happening, more often around my ship. Gpu temp 51°
Third test fx off, borderless, terrain med, materials low, draw distance reduced to minimum: like the second test.
Foruth test: like above and changed the fx trail feature in the GraphicsConfiguration.xml to 0 for all settings: no change.
Fifth test: no reshade: no change.
Installed msi afterburner. Gpu usage is below 50%, Cpu below 40%. Freezes happen even if I dont do anything. I just sit in my ship on a planet surface. No moving things. Freeeeeze.