In-Game lag and stuttering

Justin13

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
14
0
10,510
Hi all

Lately I've been experiencing a lot of lagging and freezing in some games that are demanding, especiallly BF: Bad Company 2 (1650 x 1080 with Low quality).

I ran a Prime95 Torture test with no problems. I've also previously run a 3D Mark 11 Test which seemed to go okay. I get great FPS on games but then randomly it will drop and the game will temporarily freeze, this happens on many games :/

These are my specs:
Mobo: Asus M4A87TD-V EVO (Latest BIOS update installed)
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 Quad Core 3.2ghz
GPU: ATI Radeon 7950
RAM: Patriot Viper Xtreme 8gb dual channel 1600mhz
PSU: Novatech 750watt

Here's a screen showing the speeds and temperatures my hardware reached after playing BF:BC2 and running Prime95 Torture test.
http://i49.tinypic.com/6yjzo3.jpg

Anyone got any ideas on how i can fix this issue?
 

Justin13

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
14
0
10,510
As you can see in that pic. My CPU gets to 80 degrees C under full load, I did some research and appears thats a big problem.

I will have to check the heatsink and probably take it off, clean it, reapply it with new thermal paste. So I may just by a new heatsink as the one i have at the moment is a stock one and I want to overclock.
 

X79

Honorable
80C for a CPU is indeed a tad too high.

You can try to both lower the room temperature, in case the room your PC is in, gets warm.

Adding more fans is also an option, as well as upgrading to a better case.

Shelling out on a good solid case, can last you anywhere from 3-4 builds forward.

A good case allows for better cooling and more upgradeability.



If you're really exotic, you could even go for a water-cooled solution. Though it's highly advanced.

Water-cooling does have huge benefits though. For one, it cools massively. Secondly, it's silent.



CPUs can come with software that tells the CPU to lower performance if too high a temperature is

Detected. This is done in order to protect the CPU from damage. So cooling is definitely something to try out.

If you're wanting to overclock, you'll definitely be needing to add extra cooling to your system. Try reach the

50-60C range.
 

RobCrezz

Expert
Ambassador


What watercooling solutions are silent? Most I have seen are just as loud due to the fans on the radiator and the sound from the pump.

 
It may be down to the thermal paste being old and inferior grade so it kind of crystalizes, try repasting after giving a nice clean down. If you need a low cost cooler and depending on the chassis you are using the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo is cheap and exceptional and you will see notable temperature drops.

I have heard that beta 13.2 drivers are also very buggy and cause stuttering and lagging, if you hare using 13.2 drivers try going down to 13.1 stable drivers.
 

Justin13

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
14
0
10,510
Thanks for the advice guys.

Room temperature: 21 degrees C.

Case: Some Antec case, it was rather cheap. It has 1 fan blowing in air from the top and 1 fan blowing out air at the back. The cabling inside isn't the tidiest to be honest. There is plenty of room around the case so its not enclosed. The case could do with a clean.

Can you suggest any good cases for £50 or below? That's what I'd likely spend if I got a better case. Water cooling I guess would cost another £100 on top which I would prefer not to spend at the moment haha. You're right a better case would definitely help.

Sarinaide your advice is perfect I had just ordered the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo just before your post having done some research. I got one for £28 which is great. I've also ordered some compressed air and some thermal compound. I think you're correct, I haven't checked the heatsink properly but i had a feel of it late last night and the CPU was burning hot. My current heatsink is a stock AMD one and like you said the thermal paste is probably in bad condition and needs to be re-applied.

Is it easy to roll back the AMD catylyst drivers? Or AMD Vision Engine Control Centre as its called now!

As a temporary fix I am going to try to reduce the clock speed of my CPU and try to increase the heatsink fan speed (this will probably not have a effect if the thermal paste is bad), I shall let you know how it goes.

If I can get the CPU temperature to sit at 60 degrees C or below on full load then in theory the throttling and consequential lag should be removed. Let's see....
 

Justin13

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
14
0
10,510
I used the core multiplier to reduce my CPU core speed to 2.8ghz and then 2.6ghz but temperatures were still rising to 69 degrees C.

Is it worth me trying to lower the voltage too? Or are there any other ways I can try to reduce my CPU temperature before my thermal paste Andrew heatsink arrive?
 

Justin13

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
14
0
10,510
Currently heatsink fan is running at 3140-369RPM.

CPU core speed is currently 2.8ghz rather than the stock 3.2ghz.

I have opened up the side of my case and I'm getting max temps of 62 degrees C while playing BF:BC2 (1680x1050 Low Quality)

Thermal paste has arrived, new heatsink should arrive tomorrow. I fear my games will still stutter/lag but at least if i get my CPU to a good temp i can raise the core speed to 3.6ghz maybe more and search for the problem else where.

How important is it that components recieve good clean power from a decent PSU? I don't rate my PSU at all but its 750w and does the job...
 

Justin13

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
14
0
10,510
Took off my existing heatsink (AMD stock one), cleaned it with almost a full can of compressed air. There was A LOT of dust in it.

Cleaned off the old thermal paste, applied new thermal paste, fixed the heatsink back in place.

I'm now getting 36degreesC at idle and 52degreesC during a prim95 torture test. So there should be no reason for lag and stutters in-game now...
 

JimF_35

Distinguished


Your CPU has very little to do with giddery games. Its your GPU that you should be focused on.

What's clock Freq and Temps of your GPU?

Have you tried turning off the Anti-Aliasing in the Game's Settings?

If you are talking about your GPU then why are you running Prime95, because it only tests CPUs. You should be using FurmMark for GPUs.

http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/
 
Its a HD7950, from my experiences with HD7950's they can play BF3 at 1080+ Ultra settings 4XMSAA, 4xAF, HBAO and run over 70+. I have used them with Zambezi and Thuban parts and the lag is most certainly not a HD7950 which is distinctly high end.

His CPU temps fell from 55 to 70+ before cleaning to 35-50+ after cleaning which are very normal temps. At 70*c AMD CPU's will be throttling as that is extremely high.