NFS Most Wanted stuttering

[CP5670]

I am finding that this game seems to somehow stutter and the motion is never quite fluid, even when the framerates (as reported by Fraps) are in the 70s. I tried running at 640x480, using a single card (to eliminate any possible SLI related issues) and having vsync both on and off, but it occurs regardless of what I do. Is this somehow normal for this game?

 

[Praxis1452]

probably poor programming EA made I think...

 

[darXoul]

I read a few reports where people claimed the stuttering went away after replacing a dual core CPU with a single core one. However, I don't really think this is the real cause since apparently, some people with single core chips also experience this issue.

 

[jayanath]

whats ur video card

 

[Lonyo]

Do you have AA turned on? That messed it up a bit for me IIRC.

 

[martensite]

I had the exact same problem with NFS:MW and had made a thread about it a while ago.
Turning down the graphics settings never helped.

EDIT: here is the link to that thread Text

However, I found out that my problem was related to heat. Wierd I know, considering that none of the other games behaved that way, and I dont o/c my system.

When the ambient temps were > 30 deg Celsius, (my room is non a/c) the game would stutter every 20-30 seconds, unfailingly. However, when it was cooler in the night, or raining outside, and temps were < aprrox 26-29 deg C, it would run smoothly.

I am currently running it at 1280x1024, 4xaa/8xaf, medium world detail, visual treatment low (reduces the ugly bloom), shadows off and all car details maxed. I get between 35-70 fps depending on the map area, with City being smoothest and Camden/Refinery the lowest.

I do think that the coding is inefficient. The graphical effects are not so great that a 7800gt would have to struggle through this game.

 

[CP5670]

It occurs more frequently than every 20-30 seconds, more like every 1/4 of a second. It's pretty subtle but still noticeable when the framerate is over about 50. It almost seems like the physics engine is struggling to keep up with the framerate. I'll try downclocking my system to stock speeds though and see if helps.

I am using 1600x1200 wih 2x AA on two 7800 GTs and the framerate is always above 70, but I get this stuttering at any graphics settings. It seems to be more noticeable when there is a lot of physics related stuff going on, things like crashes or skids (even though the framerate remains good).

I guess weird problems like this are to be expected with an EA game.

I read a few reports where people claimed the stuttering went away after replacing a dual core CPU with a single core one. However, I don't really think this is the real cause since apparently, some people with single core chips also experience this issue.

Yeah, I have a single core in any case.

Do you have AA turned on? That messed it up a bit for me IIRC.

I use the lowest AA setting, which I think is 2x, but I turned that off and it doesn't make any difference.

 

[Chadder007]

In for answer.
Have anything running in the background taking up memory/cpu ?
Is the CPU Cool and Quiet enabled?...have you tried turning that off?

 

[CP5670]

I always have only the bare minimum of background services running and don't use CnQ, which doesn't work well when overclocking.

 

[fbrdphreak]

You have a 3GHz OC'd Opty, SLI 7800GT's, and 1GB RAM???? Did it ever cross your mind you're eating into your swap file?

If you have multiple disks, move your swap file to the non-OS HDD and defrag all of them.

I have 2GB RAM and a slower (single-threaded wise) system with no issues.

Also of course, uninstall/reinstall NFS:MW with latest patch & latest NV drivers. Could try nForce drivers as well

 

[CP5670]

I thought about that possibility but it never shows any hard disk activity during the game. This is not the usual prolonged stuttering you get when it starts thrashing to the page file, but rather a quick frameskip that occurs between very short intervals, similar to what Doom 3 sometimes does. It's mainly noticeable when the framerate is above 50, which leads me to think it may be a synchronization issue between the physics ticrate and the fps (which is what causes it in D3). Although I have a 2GB pack on the way in any case.

I'm using the latest nforce 6.70 drivers, although the XG 84.20 graphics drivers may be very slightly out of date. I will try updating that and see if it does anything.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
You have a 3GHz OC'd Opty, SLI 7800GT's, and 1GB RAM???? Did it ever cross your mind you're eating into your swap file?

If you have multiple disks, move your swap file to the non-OS HDD and defrag all of them.

I have 2GB RAM and a slower (single-threaded wise) system with no issues.

Also of course, uninstall/reinstall NFS:MW with latest patch & latest NV drivers. Could try nForce drivers as well

My 2450MHz AMD64/7800GT and 1GB RAM doesn't have stuttering issues.
Settings are high, res is 1280x1024 (monitor limit), so I doubt for him 1GB RAM would be too much of an issue.

 

[moonboy403]

i have the latest patch installed and playing at 1280x1024 with everything on high with my rig below

i get stuttering issues too
so i guess it's the game?

 

[CP5670]

Yeah, I think it's just some quirk specific to this game. I guess I'll just live with it, as the game is a lot of fun otherwise.

 

[MADMAX23]

Yeah guys, it's the game...I have already tested it with a high-end Pc (FX-60, DFI SLI-DR, 2Gb Ram, 7900GTX, 2 WD Raptors raid 0) and the stuttring is there...no matter what you do...
What's more, no other game stutters like this one....even with slower Pcs

 

[yacoub]

Sometimes when the game needs to cache a bunch of stuff it causes your harddrive to access like crazy. If you pause the game, it will continue and finish caching and then you can unpause and you're good to go.

 

[Bull Dog]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
i have the latest patch installed and playing at 1280x1024 with everything on high with my rig below

i get stuttering issues too
so i guess it's the game?

Its the game. I have 2GB of ram, a X1900XT and a 2.6GHz (OCed) Opty 165. It stutters very slightly at 1280x960, but at 1600x1200 its worse an intorerable. I have tried editing the registery to increase the amount of ram NFS:MW is allowed to use but it hasn't helped. So I've stuch to 1280x960 with everything on max.

 

[pg22]

shadows shadows shadows.

Turn them all the way off and watch what happens.

 

[JRW]

I had the same problem with this game regardless of settings, I even tried disabling one of the CPU cores which DID help somewhat but the stuttering was still there.

I downloaded the Xbox 360 version (demo) and it also has this same stuttering but not as often, I think that pretty much proves its the game engine itself.

 

[lavaheadache]

LISTEN, I had this problem. Stuttered very often and in this game only. Never in FEAR, COD2 Halflife2 or anything else. I finally figured out it was that my hard drive was not up to snuff. tried my spare drive with just a simple ghost of the existing OS install and problem was solved. Swapped back in the original drive and had the studdering again. hence Maxtor drives really blow ass

 

[JRW]

Originally posted by: lavaheadache
LISTEN, I had this problem. Stuttered very often and in this game only. Never in FEAR, COD2 Halflife2 or anything else. I finally figured out it was that my hard drive was not up to snuff. tried my spare drive with just a simple ghost of the existing OS install and problem was solved. Swapped back in the original drive and had the studdering again. hence Maxtor drives really blow ass

Wierd, I have my games installed on a Slaved 250GB (8mb cache) 7200rpm Maxtor. I can try installing it on the boot drive (160GB WD) but I doubt it will help.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: JRW

Originally posted by: lavaheadache
LISTEN, I had this problem. Stuttered very often and in this game only. Never in FEAR, COD2 Halflife2 or anything else. I finally figured out it was that my hard drive was not up to snuff. tried my spare drive with just a simple ghost of the existing OS install and problem was solved. Swapped back in the original drive and had the studdering again. hence Maxtor drives really blow ass

Wierd, I have my games installed on a Slaved 250GB (8mb cache) 7200rpm Maxtor. I can try installing it on the boot drive (160GB WD) but I doubt it will help.

haha, that was the same exact drive I was getting the stuttering on, a 250 gig maxtor 8meg cache

 

[CP5670]

I am actually using a Maxtor drive too (and a relatively old PATA one at that). I really don't think this is hard drive related, but I'll try putting the game on a 40GB Seagate (of a similar speed) I have lying around and see if it helps.

Just to be clear, what I am referring to by "stuttering" is almost the same thing as the frameskipping problem in Doom 3 (and possibly also Quake 4), not the stuttering caused by sudden hard drive activity.

 

[Stumps]

I have the same problem on my A64 3000+@2400MHz, Asus 6800GT, 1GB DDR400, 2x WD1200JB in Raid 0.
It stutters every 10 seconds or so, I'm only using 1024x768 with medium settings, as anything higher cause the stuttering to be a lot worse.
and yet I can run NFS:U2 at 1600x1200 full detail and it runs as sweet as.

my guess is dodgy game

 

[JRW]

Originally posted by: CP5670
I am actually using a Maxtor drive too (and a relatively old PATA one at that). I really don't think this is hard drive related, but I'll try putting the game on a 40GB Seagate (of a similar speed) I have lying around and see if it helps.

Just to be clear, what I am referring to by "stuttering" is almost the same thing as the frameskipping problem in Doom 3 (and possibly also Quake 4), not the stuttering caused by sudden hard drive activity.

Yea im not seeing my HD led flash during these pauses either so Im not sure its even HD related, I also have 2GB ram so the game shouldnt be fetching from my HD so often.