Weird game behavior (FPS dropping & audio weirdness)

kangkeok

Hi, i got some weird game behavior issue. I started out the game with fairly ok fps around 30 frame. As the game progress, at some point i would freeze a moment followed by a rubberband effect and the fps drop and fluctuate inconsistently around 8-16 fps. I also having issue where each time my game load after changing zone, the fps will drop and it drop further if i enter combat. The sound also giving weird crackling sound during the fps drop as if they are breaking up. Sometime the fps stabilize back to normal after sometime in the map..probably within 5-10min. But sometime it get worse and the audio began to run really fast as tho u are fast forwarding it. Any expert know whats going on? thanks in advance.

Mod edited title for clarity.

krailov

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, @kangkeok . This one is a bit harder, but two things come to mind - one is a poor internet connection, the other is a background process that is interfering with the game window, or possibly a file access or driver issue.
In the game, if you type in "/netgraph 1" (no quotes) at the chat window and hit enter, you will see the net stats - do they also drop when you have this problem? (/netgraph 0 to stop the stats)
To check the other, you will need to run resource monitor in the background and keep switching to it to see what is using up the resources - try to compare when you have the problem versus when the game behaves properly. A good start is: digitalcitizen.life/how-use-resource-monitor-windows-7
They also take about Windows 8, and the same also applies for Windows 10. The resource monitor can also point out file access issues by noting the response time in the disk activity window - a poor response time means the PC is struggling with that file.
Also update your drivers to the most recent versions currently available. This depends on your hardware, so you need to know what you have in your system. This can stop your system from working, so proceed with caution!
pcsupport.about.com/od/driverssupport/f/driverupdate.htm
If you are looking for software that can help you do this automatically, then have a read of this article (I do not recommend paying for this type of software):
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/driversites/tp/free-driver-updater-tools.htm

kangkeok

Thanks @krailov for your advice. i have taken a screenshot on resource monitor when it happen.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/BI8jeHW.png[/img]

Everything went well, then suddenly a dip in the process and the cpu frequency went half while the process shoot back up to a high level. The later part when the process drop and the frequency is back to normal is when i tab out. So ignore the later part.

I wonder what causing this problem.

krailov

OK - the blue line is the % of Maximum Frequency counter in Performance Monitor. For example if you have a 2.5 ghz processor which is running at 800 mhz then % of Maximum Frequency = 800/2500 = 31%. So the processor is running at 31%, or 800 mhz, of the processor's maximum frequency of 2500 mhz (2.5 ghz).

For gaming, you want this to be at 100% (full CPU being used). Your power plan in Windows is part of what determines the frequency as well as settings in the computer's BIOS. I would change your power plan first to high performance before playing - see if that makes a difference. Also check your BIOS for any power saving settings.

kathip

Sorry if my question is out of place as i am a brand new player since yesterday and not allowed yet to write a post of my own. Yesterday the game played fine. When i tried to log in this morning (8 hrs ago) i found that my character walks automatically reaaaaal slow like a turtle and even though i checked all my settings i found nothing to change this. I exited the game and re-entered, still the same. I even created a 2nd character which started with this creeping slow autowalk right away. It is not the Autorun function (T) as i have tried that but to no avail. Do any of you know what the problem could be? Oh, i am playing on a AMD computer, 8GB RAM,. 1TB hard drive.

kangkeok

krailov said:

OK - the blue line is the % of Maximum Frequency counter in Performance Monitor. For example if you have a 2.5 ghz processor which is running at 800 mhz then % of Maximum Frequency = 800/2500 = 31%. So the processor is running at 31%, or 800 mhz, of the processor's maximum frequency of 2500 mhz (2.5 ghz).

For gaming, you want this to be at 100% (full CPU being used). Your power plan in Windows is part of what determines the frequency as well as settings in the computer's BIOS. I would change your power plan first to high performance before playing - see if that makes a difference. Also check your BIOS for any power saving settings.

yea,,my power plan already at high performance plan and i dont have any power setting option in my bios..i suspect it could be overheating..i'll have it test out again and update in here once i cleared my vent..thanks

kathip#4583 said:

Sorry if my question is out of place as i am a brand new player since yesterday and not allowed yet to write a post of my own. Yesterday the game played fine. When i tried to log in this morning (8 hrs ago) i found that my character walks automatically reaaaaal slow like a turtle and even though i checked all my settings i found nothing to change this. I exited the game and re-entered, still the same. I even created a 2nd character which started with this creeping slow autowalk right away. It is not the Autorun function (T) as i have tried that but to no avail. Do any of you know what the problem could be? Oh, i am playing on a AMD computer, 8GB RAM,. 1TB hard drive.

Do u mean your character walking in a slow pace? Could be u toggled the walk mode. Try type "/walk 0" in chat.

krailov

kangkeok said:

yea,,my power plan already at high performance plan and i dont have any power setting option in my bios..i suspect it could be overheating..i'll have it test out again and update in here once i cleared my vent..thanks

Sorry, but if your %Max Freq is changing, you are on a plan that allows the CPU to be throttled - go into your plans, select High Performance, then 'Change Plan Settings'. Now click on 'Change advanced power settings', scroll down to 'Processor power management', click the little plus sign next to it to expand it and see 'Minimum processor state', expand that one and make sure it says 100% - then check the others - Active and 100% (in order ).

If those settings are correct, and you still see the %max freq dropping below 100, you may have a third party power management app/program on the system - don't know if you are on a laptop or PC, but all mainstream manufacturers try to install their bloatware that replicates windows functions - uninstall any 'power' item in your list of programs, it will go back to using Windows. It will be whatever was installed or updated the day you started having probems, so you could sort by date in the Program list to see the possible culprit...

Thanks for assisting with kathip's problem

kangkeok

krailov said:

kangkeok said:

yea,,my power plan already at high performance plan and i dont have any power setting option in my bios..i suspect it could be overheating..i'll have it test out again and update in here once i cleared my vent..thanks

Sorry, but if your %Max Freq is changing, you are on a plan that allows the CPU to be throttled - go into your plans, select High Performance, then 'Change Plan Settings'. Now click on 'Change advanced power settings', scroll down to 'Processor power management', click the little plus sign next to it to expand it and see 'Minimum processor state', expand that one and make sure it says 100% - then check the others - Active and 100% (in order ).

If those settings are correct, and you still see the %max freq dropping below 100, you may have a third party power management app/program on the system - don't know if you are on a laptop or PC, but all mainstream manufacturers try to install their bloatware that replicates windows functions - uninstall any 'power' item in your list of programs, it will go back to using Windows. It will be whatever was installed or updated the day you started having probems, so you could sort by date in the Program list to see the possible culprit...

Thanks for assisting with kathip's problem

yup. I checked both of my min and max process state is at 100% with high performance power plan. I tried to played the game with clean boot to prevent any 3rd party influence but it got even worse. The max frequency is at 40% all the time and my laptop got really heat up. I suspect it might be a feature used by HP laptop product to lower the frequency in preventing overheating. I'll try to do an overall cleaning this weekend to see if it is a problem associate with overheating. thanks for the tips. I'll get back to this thread again once all this is done.

krailov

OK - try checking this out: h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c04609079 HP PCs - Cannot Change the Power Settings in Windows Computers

kangkeok

krailov said:

OK - try checking this out: h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c04609079 HP PCs - Cannot Change the Power Settings in Windows Computers

Thanks for the link. I've check but i dont have the program installed so i have no idea what causing it now. I have clean my vent too and it got better but its still there. I guess i have to accept for what it is then.

krailov

Try installing the program and see if it lets you change the BIOS settings. Otherwise, I would suggest dropping the CPU component of the graphics options down until you get acceptable FPS - may not look as nice, but will play better

kangkeok

krailov said:

Try installing the program and see if it lets you change the BIOS settings. Otherwise, I would suggest dropping the CPU component of the graphics options down until you get acceptable FPS - may not look as nice, but will play better

I think i know what went wrong. The cpu drop i m experiencing is something called CPU throttling. It happen when when ur CPU over perform itself and create additional heat to your system. To fix it is to reduce the max frequency management in your power plan. I reduce it to 85% and it work wonders. i could play the game with stable fps and cpu maintaining its frequency for 6hour now. Despite alot of guide telling to set it 100%, its best to set it at lower value so the CPU doesnt run at top frequency all the time even when it is unnecessary. This help prolong the life of the CPU too. Below is a link that help me solve this problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX-yHV6SIFU

krailov

Great that you solved this kangeok, I am sure it will help a few others as well!

If you are on a desktop system, we would be horrified to throttle our CPU (from a gaming perspective), as we are attempting to squeeze as much as we can - usually our bottleneck is the graphics card, not the CPU. Desktop systems have much better cooling options than laptops however, and it is a trade-off - if you want portability, you have to sacrifice something. By limiting the CPU to 85% max performance, you will not get the heat build-up that forces the system to drop it automaticlly down to lower levels to stop it cooking itself to death. That is traded off against the better settings visually in-game, but at least you can play steady now - see you in game