Massive Fps Drops

[John Dime]

Thank you all very much for your help; we have achieved what we have been working on for months upon months.

The Phenom II x4 955 95w TDP edition is indeed covered in the Dell A11 BIOS for the Inspiron 546. I simply installed it and placed my new fan from one of my previous links into the system.

I had some issues with getting the fan lock on, but it works and very well I must say. It fixed my massive fps drops I am so happy and thankful for all the help I have obtained.

(...)

I plan on doing some stress testing that NewEgg.com suggests; they included a program suggestion in their instructional video.

http://youtu.be/vLVHFaokdgA


Well thanks again friends, I will keep you updated as far as the RAM upgrades; I don't feel this is over yet, because personally I don't want it to be. This has been quite the rush haha

Good news!

I'm pleased to know you've obtained satisfactory results. Even though 3 to 7 minutes is a frankly small interval, those 22º C are a good indication to begin with. Don't forget to stress-test the CPU with either one of the suggested programs. Do report the results, if you will, so we know everything's A-Okay.

If you need a hand with anything else, ask away! Good gaming!

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Good news!

I'm pleased to know you've obtained satisfactory results. Even though 3 to 7 minutes is a frankly small interval, those 22º C are a good indication to begin with. Don't forget to stress-test the CPU with either one of the suggested programs. Do report the results, if you will, so we know everything's A-Okay.

If you need a hand with anything else, ask away! Good gaming!

JD

Thank you friend,

I agree that 3-7 minutes is a fairly small time frame, but I have tried a few other games with decently happy reviews; I also plan on running the stress tests also. Some games work better than others, but I have a new problem:

While some games run very well, it seems like quite a few of them(Fallout 3 & Saint's Row The Third, etc.) have what seems to be input lag; the reason I assume this is partly because I notice it more frequently when moving then when not, although I am unsure if it is still active when standing still(haven't done enough testing yet). Now I must clarify that FPS are at 30 on some and 60 on others with very few FPS drops; the FPS are limited by a program called DXTORY ( http://exkode.com/home-en.html ).
This lag is a very quick, but frequent, as in every few seconds; it becomes very annoying after awhile.
I have had issues with Dead Island when it came to input lag, I would simply plug in a controller though and it would help performance tremendously, still does in fact, and along with that I have also realized that my mouse and keyboard that plug in via USB are "OLD" Logitech wireless devices . My front USB hub is connected inside to a USB 1.0 power plug, which leads me to assume it is the same for the back hub; my wireless mouse is plugged in to the front and my keyboard in the back. Do you think that USB could be my issue?



I still experience these bits of lag regardless of the FPS, even if it is 100% stable for a few seconds, and by that I just mean a steady 30 or 60 fps without moving up or down.

Now these bits of lag seem to be very much on a timed schedule, happening almost 3-4 seconds apart. Recently I have learned a little about FSB and was wondering if my CPU is in the right range of mhz or ghz (sorry, I am still new to this and not quite sure I understand) for my MOBO.
Do you have any knowledge on this? I believe we actually went over this at one point in time.

I was thinking that it may have something to do with the FSB, because it seems like it is almost on a type of cycle and from what I am to understand buses run on cycles, correct?

And last but most expensive, the RAM; I believe you suggested that, am I right? Could the speed of my RAM also be an issue?; to remind you, I have DDR2.

While I had noticed some glitching while using DXTORY, I don't believe it to be the culprit. Oh and to rule out background services: I use GameBooster almost every time to kill background processes.

Thanks again friends, and by the way The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is running almost a set 60 fps on 1280x720, and seems to be running almost flawless but I haven't really tested it much.


Edit: This just in: What is going on here? (Left to right: Current, Minimum, Maximum,Average)[hwinfo32 used for testing]

(Courtesy of tinypic.com [pictures] and HwInfo32 for software: http://www.hwinfo.com/download.php )
I am currently stress testing and this is what comes up: Why are my GPU values so low? I seem to recall an article, something about clocks not pushing correct speeds in someone's rig; could this be my issue?



Also, does this mean it is seriously taking 90% of my CPU usage just to put out 60 fps on that small randomly rotating box?(Below)

(Courtesy of HeavyLoad: http://www.jam-software.com/heavyload/ )


On another note sometimes I have noticed even the smallest frame change causing issues, for instance 60-61 or 60-59, but these are much more noticeable.

 

[John Dime]

While some games run very well, it seems like quite a few of them(Fallout 3 & Saint's Row The Third, etc.) have what seems to be input lag; the reason I assume this is partly because I notice it more frequently when moving then when not, although I am unsure if it is still active when standing still(haven't done enough testing yet). Now I must clarify that FPS are at 30 on some and 60 on others with very few FPS drops; the FPS are limited by a program called DXTORY ( http://exkode.com/home-en.html ).
This lag is a very quick, but frequent, as in every few seconds; it becomes very annoying after awhile.
I have had issues with Dead Island when it came to input lag, I would simply plug in a controller though and it would help performance tremendously, still does in fact, and along with that I have also realized that my mouse and keyboard that plug in via USB are "OLD" Logitech wireless devices . My front USB hub is connected inside to a USB 1.0 power plug, which leads me to assume it is the same for the back hub; my wireless mouse is plugged in to the front and my keyboard in the back. Do you think that USB could be my issue?

I recently read a topic here about how using a mouse causes what I suppose is the same you're experiencing (this is the thread), whereas a controller, as you put it, helps/solves the issue. However, that's a build with two GPU's and having only one running does not replicate the problem. You can check lavaheadache's videos on the same topic, the OP (hopefully he won't mind me mentioning this), to compare with your issue. Unfortunately, as of now, he still hasn't solved the problem and I don't have much to contribute here. If you plug the controller in the same hub you plug the mouse in, I would not consider it the culprit. Even though the issue isn't transversal to every application, I would give another mouse a go, since we're on it.

On another note sometimes I have noticed even the smallest frame change causing issues, for instance 60-61 or 60-59, but these are much more noticeable.

I still experience these bits of lag regardless of the FPS, even if it is 100% stable for a few seconds, and by that I just mean a steady 30 or 60 fps without moving up or down.

One last thing, while I had noticed some glitching while using DXTORY, I don't believe it to be the culprit. Oh and to rule out background services: I use GameBooster almost every time to kill background processes.

If you read the thread I linked, you'll notice the OP mentions the same concerning those slight FPS variations. Again, this pertains to a build with two GPU's, but I'm trying to establish some common ground anyway, in order to figure what may be going on. Have you tried running the games without DXTORY running alongside? Also, give it a go without Game Booster. I understand these are supposed to aid, but I would instead utilize the v-sync feature in-games, whenever possible, and dismiss the former. You can resort to the Task Manager to close unneeded applications and thus exclude the need for the latter. Try this and report back, please.

Now these bits of lag seem to be very much on a timed schedule, happening almost 3-4 seconds apart. Recently I have learned a little about FSB and was wondering if my CPU is in the right range of mhz or ghz (sorry, I am still new to this and not quite sure I understand) for my MOBO.
Do you have any knowledge on this? I believe we actually went over this at one point in time.

I was thinking that it may have something to do with the FSB, because it seems like it is almost on a type of cycle and from what I am to understand buses run on cycles, correct?

Well... You could say that about practically every component, if not all hehe but yes, it runs on cycles. Search the famous encyclopaedia for more information. The FSB likely doesn't have anything to do with what you're experiencing. Moreover, if it had, I'm afraid you couldn't do much. The CPU runs at a clock multiple times higher than that of the FSB, by action of the so-called multiplier. By raising either one (multiplier or FSB), you increase the clock-speed of the CPU and there you have it: over-clocking. The reason why you couldn't do much, were this the problem, is because your motherboard doesn't allow FSB/multiplier tweaking, from what I gather. In any case, the problem most certainly doesn't lie here.

And last but most expensive, the RAM; I believe you suggested that, am I right? Could the speed of my RAM also be an issue?; to remind you, I have DDR2.

Rather, the quantity would be the issue, meaning that (we've explored this) the amount of RAM could be insufficient, even though you probably have around 4 GB of usable RAM after installing the new OS. Is that so? You can always check for RAM usage by leaving the Task Manager running on the background while gaming. Either Alt+Tab occasionally or check the graphic immediately after you're done.

If it were a RAM issue, however, the repercussion wouldn't be this subtle. For this, I'm more inclined towards some sort of stuttering induced by DXTORY. Again, try resorting to in-game v-sync and, whenever possible, triple-buffering and reduction of input lag. Some games offer all these three features.

Thanks again friends, and by the way The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is running almost a set 60 fps on 1280x720, and seems to be running almost flawless but I haven't really tested it much.

It would be beneficial if you gave more samples a go for the sake of narrowing the issue down to certain titles, rather than to games in general, so I appreciate more input like the aforementioned.

Edit: This just in: What is going on here?

(...)

I am currently stress testing and this is what comes up: Why is my GPU values so low? I seem to recall an article, something about clocks not pushing correct speeds in someones rig, could this be my issue?

(...)

Also, does this mean it is seriously taking 90% of my CPU usage just to put out 60 fps on that small randomly rotating box?(Below)

By the looks, if you captured both images while running the program illustrated below, you're running a CPU stress-test. The GPU is left out of it, which is why the load is so low. If you want to stress the GPU as well, give this a go. But be careful, as it will raise the temperature to unprecedented values. You can run those two concurrently.

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hello friend, I have been doing a lot of testing, reading, and comparing(Xbox 360); Unfortunately I do not have the time to compile all of the information that I have gathered. I did review your post and will be responding with full test results and relating research.

Thank you for your patience friend.


Edit: I have been testing rigorously, hours upon hours have passed, but I am not yet done; I very much appreciate your patience.

Edit: March 25, 2014

Hello again friends, I am still currently running tests; I can't even begin to explain to you all the things I have tried with little to no effect, but I still want to note this research for future gamers alike.
I have made many notes after almost every test and will be compiling them into one single post; so hopefully you forgive my tardiness.

Edit: April 01, 2014

Still working on solutions friends, I am very close to being done. See you soon.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hello friend,



Thank you for your patience and forgive me for not directly addressing specific questions or statements in order.


It has been awhile since I have posted and this is why:


Haha, first things first, I realized afterwards that it was a CPU test and not a GPU test, my apologies.


Concerning the cycles, I will soon learn more about this as it is most likely a requirement for Comptia A+ Certification.


As far as background tasks are concerned, there are a lot them that I am unsure of their function; but GameBooster narrows down most (if not all) of these tasks and tells you what is unnecessary, allowing you to select them and cut them off at the source and then return them when you are done gaming; very simple.


In one forum one person or more claimed that BattleField 3 worked better without virtual memory- What do you think about this?


Another forum claims that XPS viewer in Windows 7 could be the problem; what do you think?


As far as motion blur or interlace emulation programs are concerned, do you think they would be beneficial? ; Some of my tools may do this. Do you have any program suggestions? (I read a few things concerning how interlace would not work well with progressive scan.)



Some believe accessing your BIOS and enabling HPET (High Precision Event Timer) will also help.


Some claim that setting PROCESSOR SCHEDULING TO PROGRAMS helps; do you believe this to be an issue?


So considering Windows 7 32 bit has a limited amount of accessible memory, does this mean that even virtual memory is pointless past 3.25 GB and what about 64-bit, would Ready Boost make a significant change in gaming?



I set Painkiller to max settings, runs flawless on 60 fps (even works well with RadeonPro {multiple uses including fps capping}, DxTory, and Gamebooster [separately] ); almost as if stop lag doesn’t even exist, just the same as Shogo, another old title. If it is happening, it is so minute that it’s almost impossible to see. These are older games requiring less RAM. Deus Ex: HR was also a problem, and I consider RAM to be responsible. Stop lag happened regardless of FPS drops and was far worse than Saint’s Row 3. At one point in The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts I noticed that settings were to blame for some of the stop lag and I started to turn options off and down, (Dxtory didn’t seem to be picking up fps drops, where FRAPS seemed too, almost as if it was hiding the fps drops. ), but that was the only way to fix it partially. One to three fps drops can cause this stop lag, and it seems to happen even in a constant 30 fps.






I found this in the SR3 ini: # * Lighting detail has a major effect on memory usage: Seems to be my problem in The Walking Dead: SI when I turn on certain lighting, just the same as shadows having issues at higher settings: such as State Of Decay, higher settings cause distortions, such as half a shadow(Unless this is GPU related). Stalker being at 9MB in Task Manager also seems to be a part of this, but the lack of RAM effect over this game is tremendous; causing such a lag that seems like the screen is flickering when I walk. After running programs I usually have fairly decreased RAM, due to background services that even GameBooster doesn’t shut off; eventually my OS declines to a very low amount of RAM(almost like a RAM leak). I tried CoD MW 1 and I still see the stop lag even at 100-200 fps; also when Vsync is on.




As far as RadeonPro goes : I tried turning Vsync off, using Dynamic Framerate, using Double Vsync, Forcing 30hz through RP while using DxTory with RP set to Default Driver for Vsync, along with CCC being set to Vsync off: Didn’t help.





As far as CCC is concerned: I tried multiple settings; again nothing helped.




I’ve disabled every useless HID device in my Device Manager (Computer/ (right-click) Properties) and re-enabled them after; during though it didn’t help (BECAREFUL READERS: DISABLING SPECIFICS WILL RENDER YOUR DEVICES USLESS). GameBooster does this by default and safely.




I changed some things in CCC (temporarily); particularly surface optimization and I turned off Vsync and triple buffering, but all had a very negative affect even with a constant 30 fps, again I believe RAM responsible; Although turning certain setting off seemed to smooth some lag(not stop lag) that was occurring even during 30 fps constant or 60 fps constant.




I forced 30hz refresh rate through the Saint’s Row: The Third .ini and made it Read Only to avoid the program changing it back to default settings: This didn’t help.
I forced 2 cores through affinity in processes located in Windows 7 Task Manager- that didn’t help; in fact it made it worse.
I tried DirectX9, DX 11, and I lowered multiple settings. I even turned some completely off in game, in CCC, in RadeonPro, and also in .ini’s and other configurations: None of this helped as far as stop lag was concerned.
I even changed system Virtual Memory to 7400MB (suggested by a forum poster) which only seemed to make gameplay worse(Properties/Advanced System Settings/System Properties/Advanced (Tab)/ [Performance] Settings/Advanced (Tab)/Change). I also in the same area (Visual Effects) turned on Adjust For Best Performance; that also didn’t help. This makes sense if Windows 7 32-bit limits RAM usage.




I disabled Stereo Mix as this has caused issues with games I have played before, but it did not solve my problem this time. (This change must be followed by a restart normally to make a difference.)
I used Prio to set my game priority to high; using this program I can do this permanently: This also didn’t help.
I tried FXAA tool on Saint’s Row: The Third and all I obtained was a black screen.
I tried SSAA tool, didn’t help.
I found another fps limiter, but I believe it was for DirectX10, it was named: Fps Limiter 0.2; I doubt I will be using this.
I tried disabling Windows Firewall momentarily and I disabled my anti-virus program temporarily through the options it gives; again didn’t help the stop lag.
In DxDiag my Page File is 1185MB out of 5467MB, shouldn’t this be way higher? Is this the virtual memory that seemed to harm my gameplay when I increased it?
In msconfig, under the Startup tab, I have minimal processes; I keep a very clean PC, but this doesn’t help my case.
In a trial of AVG tune up there seems to be a few registry issues that CCleaner doesn’t pick up, but I am not ready to install this software just yet.
DriverBooster by the GameBooster creators seems to be promising. Perhaps I should use this; what do you think?

All of my tests were various methods-DxTory was used, and not used at points; as well as Gamebooster and RadeonPro. Vsync was turned on and off during these separate/together processes.

I thought about plugging in my television set, but this would be another issue due to the fact that it is a 60Hz television.
Okay, so knowing that certain games stress different parts of the GPU, should I try to find a better GPU? ; do you have some suggestions? I have looked, but it has been hard to find out what is best.





I also used two other GameBooster options that I don’t normally use: Launch from Desktop and Kill Explorer; Killing Explorer in the past helped some of my old games that had color issues (In the past I used a batch file to do this, but now I use DxWnd for most old titles.), but neither options helped the stop lag.
I ran Disk Defragmenter, Defraggler, CCleaner, Disk Cleanup. After I ran Disk Defragmenter I ran Defraggler and it picked up twelve fragmented files, 4.4GB worth; I’m glad I have both programs, but none of the above programs helped.

Forgive me, but I am going to try to sum this up:


I tried an elevated cmd that was supposed to increase physical memory recognition, and it may work as it seemed to help Skyrim for quite some time when I was having purple texture issues and random crashes, but it is not being read in my computer/properties/ ; Instead it still says 3.25GB of usable RAM out of 4GB, I tried Windows Classic Theme, I tried 3D Analyze 2.36 on default setting, disabled visual themes, disabled desktop composition, disabled display scaling on high DPI settings (right clicked the programs/properties.), changed audio frequency and bitrate both higher and lower (16bit 44100hz and higher) I tried to make sure .ini’s were set to the same frequency and bitrate that I chose via Windows 7 sound settings, but I could find nothing in the one game I tested this on, I turned off Windows 7 Sound Equalizer, ran games at different fps limits (30, 40, 59, 25, 38 [vsync on and off] ), ran different compatibility modes, (I use DVI) I turned these options on and off, followed by a restart: Alternate DVI operational mode and Reduce DVI frequency on high-resolution displays. I swapped keyboard, mouse, and controller USB ports to front and back randomly and separately at points, also disconnecting all other USB devices, (lag especially prominent in left and right movement, but in COD MW 1, it is present in all movement, but not while stationary; leads me to still wonder about input lag, although it seems it has been eliminated in Dead Island or been added to the controller .) In services.msc (run or start bar) there is a program called background intelligent transfer service- I have set this to manual; some have said this helps, but it was set this way by default, tried no mouse and keyboard and also a no controller method: None of the above helped at all as far as my stop lag issue is concerned.
Weirdly enough it seems that stop lag is not present when I am stationary in any game; just to add to the above theory.
It’s strange, Dxtory seems to be taking all of the lag, focusing it, and then cycling it every few seconds, which seems less stop laggy perhaps and games without DxTory are doing the opposite, as in releasing larger fps drops or stop lagging even when frames are at 30 fps constant.


I also tried DxTory in a different compatibility mode and tried GameBooster in a different compatibility mode, both with Disable Visual Themes, Disable Desktop Composition, Disable Display scaling on high DPI settings, and Run this program as an administrator all checked(this last one I tried on games also): None of that helped either.



I also tried Xbox 360 vs PC comparison and sadly due to my RAM, Xbox360 won; had my RAM been updated my system would stomp the Xbox360, I am almost 100% sure of this. I have been watching countless videos where fps drops are very active; contrary to what some gamers believe (A lot have a common misconception that frames are locked; a quick youtube.com search will fix that issue right away.) and my system seems to be a bit more fluent and definitely better looking.
I watched the video about the input lag and it is similar, but I am not sure that I would consider it the exact same issue, due to the fact that it seems a bit worse; although I won’t throw the theory out the window because I do feel that Dead Island could use me unplugging the keyboard and mouse and using only the controller to see if there’s a difference (this is what I did before).----(Also although I get the point of what’s going on in that video, my video runs at 30 fps which is 5 fps lower than what he is running, if I recall, so it is almost laggy regardless.)
I didn’t quite understand the graph, but I monitored the Free MB section and RAM is almost always low; I’m talking 0-18 MB (when accessing Task Manager with Ctrl+Alt+Delete while playing most of my games.). Even at 70+ fps with Vsync off I still experience stop lag. RadeonPro has helped a lot in the past, but even it couldn’t help this.
I thought to turn off Mouse Acceleration located in the Control Panel options (I believe), but no need to do this since, most likely, because it happens with a controller also.

I cleaned my PC very well on the inside, which took my GPU temperatures from 104C (after a minute or two of both FurMark and HeavyLoad) down to 100C (within four minutes), would you consider that bad, if so I can use RadeonPro to manually control Fan Speeds, CCC may also have this option; temps are normally around 42-60C+ when running games(GPU), I believe. This, however, did not help my stop lag issue. Should Vsync be enabled when I am stress testing?
And a strange question: Would lag be noticed less on a smaller scale, as in Twitch.tv streaming gameplay on a mobile device? If you’d like join my page and attempt on your mobile device to check differences, if you are willing it would be a learning experience for both of us. http://www.twitch.tv/deathbestowerx


Darksiders in the past, if I recall, had issues with MediaPlayer; would having this set as a non-default video player cause any issues or do you think it would simply be ignored as most applications target a specific file?
How do I check my FSB cycles; would these be included in HwiNfo32? How can I be sure that I can’t change my cycles? I found this in a forum:
“PCI Latency Timings
In some rare cases, the PCI Latency is a setting that can affect your system in such a way that you may experience "stuttering" or a looping sound crash while playing the game. There are various ways to go about adjusting your PCI latency timings to troubleshoot the issue. Please follow the directions included in the example below:
PCI Latency Tool provided by Guru3d.com”
I think it may be what I am looking for, but I will have to re-find the link if I haven’t stored it.


While I am at it, does a partitioned drive affect performance, such as programs/drivers related to the game being in a Local Drive (C and games being on a partitioned drive such as (X?


One thing that I realized is that CCC Vsync, regardless of being set to Always On, still tears if I turn it off in game; what does that say for my CCC program? Could this have anything to do with priority; does that mean it will run faster or does it mean it takes priority over things like CCC?

Also I have read something about DVI and how there is a Dual Data Rate, is there a chance I am using outdated equipment and regardless, how do I find this out?
Would any of the options in Windows features cause issues?
When I run games from my secondary drive (partitioned) should system memory be set to a specific amount; would it help in 32-bit or 64-bit?

I found this statement in a forum:
“Yeah, you usually do NOT want drivers from Windows Update. I don't know if the situation is any different these days, but the last time I got video drivers from WU they didn't include proper OpenGL support, which would definitely cause problems here.”
Perhaps I shouldn’t have updated, but it is hard to resist.
By the way, I made sure to check Read Only when I changed .ini settings, because if you don’t do this certain games will reset the .ini back to default settings every time you change an in game setting.



In conclusion I believe a lot of the stop lag comes from lack of RAM and this causes decent drops that are very evident; Dxtory may either be picking these jumps/lows up late or perhaps just hiding them. I have noticed a lot of games are on a 64-bit kick lately (as in exclusive), so RAM could totally be my main issue.
In contradiction to the above statement, attempting to run the ROM of the game EarthBound (SNES) (Original copy given to me when I was younger and I still own it to this day) I noticed that regardless of RAM (700MB+) I am still getting stop lag; now, I assume this is due to this specific program, a program on my OS, or the fact that it was originally ran at what I believe used to be 25-30 fps(I lean towards 25 fps) and it is pushing far too fast considering no options for limiting fps is available(not even DxTory helps this, maybe it’s an OpenGL application, in which I believe has no support on DxTory, I could be wrong though.). I noticed also that Fraps ran it at 59-61 fps, kind of sporadic, but constantly these numbers and I still see horrible jumping/stop lag and it doesn’t seem as smooth as I recall. It would be nice if my problems were due to a program issue, but I highly doubt it. This stop lag reminds me of the lag I got with The Walking Dead: SI that started my first forum post; almost as if the problem didn’t stop but smoothed itself out with the new processor, taking 10-20 fps drops to about 4-6 fps drops (but as I said before even constant frames and locked frames bring stop lag). That is another reason why I believe RAM is the issue for most of my games.
I am also considering the USB 1.0 being a problem also:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=589344
I noticed CCleaner has a Scheduled Task bar and other options that could help me turn off any lag making issues; what do you think about these?

And concerning Temps again: I noted that on a 955BE description that Max temp was 62C; I may go over this while gaming at points. Also a side note: It says Memory Bandwidth (DDR2-1066) + 16.0GB/s HT3-; although this is a Black Edition description, could that be an issue? And also on that same page it states: ”955BE…True Quad Core x86 processor” ; What exactly does that mean, because it claims it is 64 bit capable?

I have also noticed artifacts that I don’t remember from before and I am wondering if I should obtain a new GPU, or if this is a new issue.

To quote COFFEEJUNKEE from the first page of this forum:
"Then keep in mind the 5770 is an older midrange card, so it will struggle in newer games. If that happens, turn settings down, starting with AA. "
Thank you COFFEEJUNKEE; this is a good indication that a GPU upgrade could benefit my system.
Another thanks I would like to state: 0___________0, I am pretty sure you were the first to state CPU as the bottleneck issue, in which BigChickenJim(Thank you also) furthered; It definitely helped quite a few of my issues, and thank you kindly, because now I can at least play Saint’s Row 3, and not to bad regardless of the horrible stop lag that occurs.
One last question: Does my memory clocks seem normal, I have heard of people having issues with this, but I believe I have all options set correct in the BIOS (PCI-E x 16 instead of PCI-E x 1).

Now as far as my solution goes: I am going to try 64-bit; Hopefully this will help recognize the Video RAM on my card and any extra Virtual Memory applied, along with Ready Boost if necessary. I also hope it allows my OS to open up the restrictions on the 2GB of memory address space; as one person claims (just as another claimed that 5GB will be addressed after the 64-bit installation).
I hope I covered everything and thank you for those suggestions in that last post; I did not cover all of my research, but this should be a good start.
Thank you again for your patience, and feel free to opt out at any time; haha, as this is epically long.(Also sorry if it runs together at points, I copied and pasted using Word 2010.)

 

[John Dime]

Mary, Mary... All done? Hehe

Good initiative. Let us see if I can be of any service.

Rather than acknowledge and address each point as by tradition, I'll attempt a general reply. I will leave questions unanswered, as my vagueness has betrayed the purpose of enlightening previously and considering the amount of information that would have to be put forth, I reckon the achievement would then have been to entertain further curiosity, and while the thought charms me dearly, a succinct and proficuous reply seduces my heart. Onwards.

I would like to see an image of your RAM usage while the games are running. Can you post a screen-shot of the Resource Monitor, displaying the Memory tab? If you have trouble Alt-Tab'ing out of games, run them on windows. Also, please do the same for both Disk and CPU tabs. Try and allow the maximum space possible for the graphs (set to Large), while preserving the last four columns (Commit/Working Set/Shareable/Private); columns PID and Hard Faults/sec are irrelevant here, therefore you can hide these if space is of concern.

Even though you are gaming at 720p, correct me if mistaken, and running titles the HD 5770 can still theoretically handle, top-notch visual effects aside, there may very well be a limitation on that part that is manifesting itself precociously. For this, I would like you to log the GPU's activity with GPU-Z and make the .txt file available for me to download and inspect it. Alternatively, you can check the GPU usage column yourself, I believe that's the nomenclature, where values will range from 0 to 99%. To my knowledge, you can't log this information with HWinfo, not with the 1 second intervals that enable a thorough evaluation.

A side note: given that the GPU reached over 100º C, make sure the fan will surpass the 32% threshold it's showing on your HWinfo screen-shot. Unless it's too loud for you, I would have it reach at least 50% of its total speed when running applications that maximize GPU usage. Furthermore, if it hits 100º C again, it's best to forfeit the exercise, as that temperature is not safe. And as far as the memory clock goes, everything looks dandy. Normal, normal.

Concerning RAM recognition past the 4 GB limit, I'm assuming you had a go at enabling the PAE feature. I think you mentioned having a 64 bit version of Windows 7 at hand. I would opt for the installation of said OS if you haven't yet, as this will prove a definite solution and a solid long-term one, where RAM is concerned. You can create a partition, install the new OS, and keep the old data on the old partition(s), while booting from the new one. To clarify your question pertaining to this, there shouldn't be any problem with accessing/running the OS from partition A and running applications that are installed on partition B. In fact, many follow this route while utilizing HDD and SSD solutions on the same system.

I'm trying to simplify when we have a few points to address at the same time, for which I'll ask you to forgive me if at some point I'm proving to be more inclined towards the proven solutions in detriment of mere tweaks that, although more accessible, may not result as expected. Following this, I would discard suggestions such as altering HPET values and disabling the XPS viewer as potential solutions for your system's shortcomings.

Regarding USB, what happens is that the host/hub, when responsible for multiple ports will share bandwidth between them. See this and subsequent page(s) for more information. The case of connecting a USB 1.1 device to a 2.0 port slowing down every other port associated to the same host/hub to USB 1.1 speeds, should not take place. Rather, you will not manage USB 2.0 speeds from every device connected to the same host/hub, for the aforementioned reason. This is my understanding, but even if that was the case, a keyboard and a mouse should not saturate the host/hub up to a point where it would cause input lag. Unlikely.

FSB cycles and further details concerning the inner-workings of the CPU: due to motherboard limitations, I don't think you are able to fiddle with these. In any case, as I believe I've stated before, your CPU shouldn't be the culprit. However, I would be thankful if you could provide the screen-shot from Resource Monitor, as requested above.

Still pertaining to the CPU, changing the affinity will not sort anything if the software isn't optimized to utilize multiple cores. Most likely, many of those games are single-threaded, which means the extra cores will be addressing other processes. That written, unless patches specifically correct this single-thread dependency, there isn't anything you can do to better make use of your CPU, while running these games.

I may get back to it, but for now I will wait for the requested data, if you don't mind. In the meantime, if an extraordinarily pungent question arises, let me know.

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hello friend,
I apologize for not writing sooner, I have been extremely busy lately; I hope to be on soon to reply. I'm leaning towards my GPU not being very powerful.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hello friend,

I apologize, but I must do this in parts; I have had very little time lately.
I will send you the pics first.

I must note,however, I had to try settings one more time with Saint's Row The Third as I noticed it helped when I lowered everything and ran in windowed mode on Deus Ex: HR; the stop lag seemed to disappear. Doing those things, even through the ini, did not help(regardless of fps, consistently the same or not). I noted that even at 100+ fps on older games the lag still persists, again regardless of vsync at 60 consistently or not.

EDIT: How can I get such a huge text file to you? (GPU-Z Sensor Log)

Just attempted Prototype-640x480 60fps almost constant- and it seems like there is no issue, unless frames drop rapidly....I think we found our problem: GPU.

 

[John Dime]

Thanks for all the visual clues.

If you could upload it somewhere and provide the link here, I could download and analyse. Something like Microsoft Onedrive should work: https://onedrive.live.com/about/en

Especially after you mentioned that lowering everything did help, evidence towards an under-powered GPU came to be yet more notorious. I reckon we did call it out somewhere in the midst of this growing compendium of information, that the GPU would not serve you well where running modern games at high resolution and with exquisite visual effects is concerned. On the other hand, it's also peculiar that you had to go as low as 720x480 to notice an acceptable rate of frames without said lag. On this note, at which resolution does the lag come into play?

Finally, while you mention that 100+ FPS are obtainable on older titles, you also input that said lag still exists. The easiest way of figuring out whether your GPU has some issue would be to try another. Do you happen to have a secondary, or do you have an acquaintance/friend that you could borrow one from?

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Thanks for all the visual clues.

If you could upload it somewhere and provide the link here, I could download and analyse. Something like Microsoft Onedrive should work: https://onedrive.live.com/about/en

Especially after you mentioned that lowering everything did help, evidence towards an under-powered GPU came to be yet more notorious. I reckon we did call it out somewhere in the midst of this growing compendium of information, that the GPU would not serve you well where running modern games at high resolution and with exquisite visual effects is concerned. On the other hand, it's also peculiar that you had to go as low as 720x480 to notice an acceptable rate of frames without said lag. On this note, at which resolution does the lag come into play?

Finally, while you mention that 100+ FPS are obtainable on older titles, you also input that said lag still exists. The easiest way of figuring out whether your GPU has some issue would be to try another. Do you happen to have a secondary, or do you have an acquaintance/friend that you could borrow one from?

JD

Hello Friend,

I apologize it has taken this long to respond, I'll try to get the upload to you as soon as possible.

Concerning another GPU: I actually kind of a hermit, so I don't have a friend who will let me try one. The strange thing about this is that the resolution changed nothing for this game (Saints Row 3); only by windowing Deus EX HR DR was I able to see a change in the stop lag (very present lag) regardless of frames staying constantly at 60 fps or lower. Sorry, I should have been more clear. I am starting to think that Saint's Row 3 itself had a problem, I uninstalled it, perhaps I should of updated it first (So much to do must have slipped my mind). The other games seems to be fairly smooth in windows mode, but perhaps I just am not seeing this jitter due to the size. I will attempt Call Of Duty 4 again and see if windowed mode eliminates this annoyingly small stutter every 10-15 seconds or so.

Thanks again friend, I appreciate your help.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/1038238/file.html

Large orange button on the right Thanks again bro.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

So it seems there is very little stutter if any for COD4:MW in windowed mode; although, this could be an illusion due to size.

 

[John Dime]

Thanks for the log.

It stretches for 9 minutes of activity and the highest are likely spikes during or preceding loading screens. It never reaches the 70% threshold (GPU Load [%] column) during actual gameplay. Whatever game you were running there, your GPU can manage it without trouble.

Every other graphic you made available doesn't allow me to identify anything wrong either. Could it be the monitor acting up? Because every other piece of hardware appears to be working fine and the fact that windowed mode erases the effect... But wouldn't it be noticeable on the entire monitor, if it was the culprit? And you could just as well get a similar effect from watching a video. Also, you mentioned that the lag went away when you plugged in a controller. I'm out of my depth here and I'm afraid the data is too limited for me to form a more poignant accusation.

If it were a case of, say, DPC latency, it should be present in every game and it would manifest itself while listening to audio and watching videos too. Over-reaching, they call this! Windowed mode reducing/erasing the effect, points towards a GPU issue, which frankly is the most likely object. You should conduct further tests yourself and run whatever games, under whatever conditions they originate the effect, while GPU-Z logs everything so you can study the data yourself. Go from there, is what I suggest. Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

Good luck!

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Thanks for the log.

1. It stretches for 9 minutes of activity and the highest are likely spikes during or preceding loading screens. It never reaches the 70% threshold (GPU Load [%] column) during actual gameplay. Whatever game you were running there, your GPU can manage it without trouble.

Every other graphic you made available doesn't allow me to identify anything wrong either. Could it be the monitor acting up? Because every other piece of hardware appears to be working fine and the fact that windowed mode erases the effect... But wouldn't it be noticeable on the entire monitor, if it was the culprit? And you could just as well get a similar effect from watching a video. Also, you mentioned that the lag went away when you plugged in a controller. I'm out of my depth here and I'm afraid the data is too limited for me to form a more poignant accusation.

2. If it were a case of, say, DPC latency, it should be present in every game and it would manifest itself while listening to audio and watching videos too. Over-reaching, they call this! Windowed mode reducing/erasing the effect, points towards a GPU issue, which frankly is the most likely object. You should conduct further tests yourself and run whatever games, under whatever conditions they originate the effect, while GPU-Z logs everything so you can study the data yourself. Go from there, is what I suggest. Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

Good luck!

JD

1. I don't believe it's the monitor, but it could be. I have noticed this while watching videos, the stutter is present in everything until it's smaller, in which I assume at points hides this stutter; I will say however, lowering all setting in Deus Ex HR DR and setting it in windowed mode seemed to fix most of the stop lag (heavy). The lag seemed to (at one point with a controller) go away before until the new processor was installed, but now it's all the same(Dead Island). Most of the jumps come from RAM decreasing, but some come from the GPU; at least this is what I assume. Going left to right and reverse, regardless of controller, still causes this stutter, which seems more present left to right and right to left than forward or back (not the annoying stop lag tho that is cured by windowed mode).

2. I believe this could be an issue also, if not my main issue (aside from my thoughts on GPU power lack, USB 1.0, and RAM) ; what exactly is DPC latency? I have noticed audio cracking and other distortions while recording audio and video, both audio and video skips simultaneously. This happens in games also.
Thanks again

 

[John Dime]

My [attempt at a] layman's explanation of what Deferred Procedure Call is: whenever your computer is processing audio, for example, the data is buffered so it's made available in a timely manner for the hardware to process. This happens because Windows isn't a real-time operative system and subsequently relies on these small pools/buffers, to ensure there are no interferences and that the audio playback, in the exemplified case, runs smoothly. If there happens to be a poorly written driver or software causing invulgar amounts of access to the disk, the audio processing loses its priority and the drop-outs happened. This is what the latency refers to. Translated to the user, it may result in cracking sounds. I experienced this first-hand when a software was periodically accessing the disk, causing an activity spike and consequently, the described effect. In my case, it was, as mentioned, periodical, which allowed me to eventual narrow it down to the culprit. At first, I used a simple DPC latency checker, but because it didn't give much information on the way what could be causing it, I downloaded LatencyMon: http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon. Visit the Download page and scroll-down. There's no need to insert your e-mail address. As for deriving any data from the program, you'll want to begin the monitoring and run software that's known to cause those lags. After you've experienced them, check the Highest reported DPC routine execution time bar, for any unusual occurrence it might give away. If it's on the red, report back with the culprit. Check the Drivers column as well and report if you have more than one entry with over 1 ms of execution time (Highest execution time (ms) column).

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Thank you for that explanation.

Aha! I believe we have found the issues:

1. I recently was able to download Saints Row: The Third on Xbox 360 and guess what, I was right to have the theory of programing lag This game is riddled with lag regardless of consistent fps at 30 or 60, whatever it decides, because in the video from a past post, it is evident that the fps fluctuates on consoles; so therefore there's that solved.

2. When I turned COD4:MW's settings down using optimal settings, I realized that it ran almost identical to the Xbox 360 counterpart; therefore my GPU is an issue when trying to max out settings and such.

3. I notice the huge fluctuations in (10-20 fps drops) when RAM is low; this you and others have taught me, so RAM is an issue that can be temporarily solved by ReadyBoost.

Now I have a question concerning virtual ram on my system:

I have heard that increasing this can cause issues and I believe I have noticed this myself when increasing(BF4 forums hold this problem); the recommended amount for me has been 1.5x physical RAM, but this seemed to harm my system more than help it.

What do you recommend?



Thank you for all your time and effort; thank you also for your patience and perseverance. Thank you for the knowledge my friend.

 

[DeathBestowerX]

By the way this is what I had ran before your suggestion; does this help? Seems good to me Ran YouTube, COD4:MW and a few other things.

 

[John Dime]

Seems good to me as well. No concerns to be had with DPC latency, it appears. I didn't recommend that reader because it's too simple for us to determine anything other than whether the system is running latency-free or not. When it's latency-free however, it serves just fine, as it did.

Concerning virtual memory, if your system is running a 32 bit version of Windows, it won't benefit from having more than a total of 4 GB, between virtual and physical memory. If it's a 64 bit version (I forgot this detail; long periods of time span between our exchanges, long enough for me to lose track), the 1.5x recommendation is viable. Again, the problem of relying on virtual memory is that the system will be limited by the disk's speed when making use of said memory, given that disk's are far slower than RAM (physical memory), especially HDD's.

That wrote, because you've already ascertained that your system is running low on RAM, the fix won't supplement what is due: a RAM upgrade, especially since you're already dedicating a few GB's worth of disk space to virtual memory, and you aren't seeing any further benefit, as stated.

Concerning SR's performance, I'm glad you've checked that one off the list.

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Seems good to me as well. No concerns to be had with DPC latency, it appears. I didn't recommend that reader because it's too simple for us to determine anything other than whether the system is running latency-free or not. When it's latency-free however, it serves just fine, as it did.

Concerning virtual memory, if your system is running a 32 bit version of Windows, it won't benefit from having more than a total of 4 GB, between virtual and physical memory. If it's a 64 bit version (I forgot this detail; long periods of time span between our exchanges, long enough for me to lose track), the 1.5x recommendation is viable. Again, the problem of relying on virtual memory is that the system will be limited by the disk's speed when making use of said memory, given that disk's are far slower than RAM (physical memory), especially HDD's.

That wrote, because you've already ascertained that your system is running low on RAM, the fix won't supplement what is due: a RAM upgrade, especially since you're already dedicating a few GB's worth of disk space to virtual memory, and you aren't seeing any further benefit, as stated.

Concerning SR's performance, I'm glad you've checked that one off the list.

JD

Hello friend!

Thank you for confirming that. I have to state though, that as a temporary fix ReadyBoost seems to be keeping my RAM quite high, 1500 -2000 MB, occasionally dropping lower after running a lot of processes; I will, however, be buying a RAM upgrade soon. (I run 64bit by the way, I don't blame you for forgetting though as this has been quite an experience and I have forgot a bit myself.) I will also be buying a new USB hub for better performance in all programs, when I get the money of course .

Thank you for your time and I will fill you in on the details of my new upgrade as soon as I have a chance to purchase them.

By the way how is ReadyBoost's memory allocated; after or during physical RAM?

 

[John Dime]

There are multiple hubs/controllers addressing a set number of USB ports, internally, the number varying with how feature-rich the motherboard is. This is also valid for SATA ports, where the HDD/SSD's are connected. Each of these hubs/controllers is limited to a certain standard (as examples, USB 2.0/3.0 and SATA 3 Gbs/6 Gbs), while the bandwidth provided by each standard is shared by every port assigned to each hub/controller. Therefore, if you connect an external USB hub to a USB port, you will be sharing the maximum theoretical speed of its standard, let's say USB 2.0, between every device you connect to the external hub. To be accurate, you won't saturate its bandwidth with a mouse and a keyboard, or a gaming pad, but it's something to keep in mind, nonetheless.

By the way how is ReadyBoost's memory allocated; after or during physical RAM?

I haven't read much about it. Probably should have, to be able to provide a more thorough reply, but from what I understand so far, the OS dedicates the ReadyBoost cache to, among other things (?), store SuperFetch data, which simply put is a Windows feature that keeps track of which programs are frequently ran, allowing the OS to pre-load them into memory to allow for faster load times. Because it would otherwise be loaded into the main RAM, it alleviates the load by relying on the Flash Drive, freeing up some memory.

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

Hello friend, thank you for the provided information, I will be able to respond sooner than later and hopefully with the new RAM I desperately need. In the meantime, could you help me with this, I will respond using your previous post and the future post: "What GPU can compare to my HD 5770 and still not cause much of an issue?"

 

[John Dime]

I take it that by, a GPU that compares to your HD 5770, you're referring to one equally placed where potency is concerned, by today's standards. In which case, and I'm somewhat rusty on hardware nowadays, you likely are looking at a R7 260X, or a GTX 750 Ti. The latter is slightly superior, but unless you go with the GTX 750 (non-Ti), which from what I understand, only one brand sells, those two are the lowest from the most recent range, by AMD and NVIDIA.

As far as prices go, I reckon you're within the $100/150 window, with the GTX 750 Ti being slightly pricier. Check for yourself, though.

I never visited, but there's a sub-forum here that handles sales and trades. Alternatively, you may want to visit that and check for cheaper deals and/or cards from previous generations. However, be advised that the R7 260X itself isn't too far from your HD 5770 and that purchasing a GPU in between, like a HD 6850, may not yield sufficient gains.

 

[cytg111]

athlon x2 ~ core2quad right? I had that experience with my core2quad, i played through crysis3 as a slideshow (gtx580 for gfx).

 

[John Dime]

I have to mention, cytg111: I had an E8500 and I managed ~18 FPS in the Welcome To The Jungle scenario (Was that the name? The most demanding one, I gather). That was the bare minimum, I recall. In fact, I'm pretty sure I completed the game with that CPU. It wasn't until I did, that I got a superior one. Don't ask me about resolution, however... 900p? It escapes me.

The GPU was inferior to yours, an HD 5850; not that it would matter, however, given that both our CPU's (Which C2Q is/was yours?) limited the system.

On the other hand, I'm with you as far as CPU limitation is concerned. I confess I over-looked that consideration on my previous post, so thanks for bringing it up.

DeathBestowerX, from what I invoke, the log you shared pertaining to GPU activity did not demonstrate an over-zealous percentage on the GPU load column, did it? I actually still have it here and the maximum value registered was ~65%. With that in mind, I'm now wondering the reason as to why you brought it up in the first place. My apologies if we had ascertained that the GPU does indeed not suffice in other games, but the posting here is so sporadic that I tend to forget these details.

In any case, you now have enough information to derive further conclusions.

Do keep us posted!

JD

 

[DeathBestowerX]

I just worked eight days in a row without a day off; I've been, to say the least, very out of it. I apologize, what I meant to ask was: What GPU ( mine is a HD 5770. ) would be better than mine, but still compatible with my current specs, or with some work which one(s) would?

Thank you all for your contributions