TF2 and WoW constant stuttering and low frames

[KeithTalent]

Hey all, need a little help here.

I have been playing both of these games pretty consistently for a while now on the rig in my sig, except I always had Crossfire disabled since it caused problems in those games.

I was always able to play at 1920x1200 with everything maxed out and my frames never got low (I didn't actually measure them, because it was never an issue) but now my FPS dips down to 10-15 in TF2 even when I turn all of the settings down to low or disable them all together.

Things actually started slowing down unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago and I went through and did all of the normal cleaning, defragmenting, virus scans, etc. to no avail. After that I opened up my rig and cleaned out some of the dust and actually removed one of the video cards (which I have now sold). Again, no change.

Finally today I decided to do a completely clean install of Windows because I could not think of anything else to try. But I just played TF2 again and it is exactly the same, so I'm really at a loss here. The games are unplayable like this.

Does anyone have any tips or advice as to what else I can try? I'm completely stumped.

Thanks.

KT

 

[lupi]

did you upgrade video drivers recently?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: lupi
did you upgrade video drivers recently?

More than once. Today I added the 8.12s, prior to that I had the 8.11s, then I even reverted back to the old 8.7s to see if they would help, but nope.

KT

 

[zerocool84]

You have Xfire and at low fps, from everywhere I've read, they studder. Did you disable Xfire after the fresh install or remove one card all together?

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
You have Xfire and at low fps, from everywhere I've read, they studder. Did you disable Xfire after the fresh install or remove one card all together?

he said he just reformated after having gotten rid of one of the cards, so i don't think that could be a problem.

 

[KeithTalent]

lupi's got it. One card had been disabled for months as I did realize it was causing some stuttering, but the second card was removed completely a few days ago, so this should not be an issue at all.

Thanks for trying though.

KT

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
lupi's got it. One card had been disabled for months as I did realize it was causing some stuttering, but the second card was removed completely a few days ago, so this should not be an issue at all.

Thanks for trying though.

KT

Wonder why it stutters. As in, what they need to do in the drivers to change this.
For what it's worth, my 9800GT stutters like crazy in WoW if I have the view distance set past 50%.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Check your CPU usage.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
Check your CPU usage.

What's the easiest way to do that in-game?

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

So I checked my CPU usage (just with one of the Vista gadgets, so I'm not sure how accurate it is) doing some normal things, like tansferring some songs around with Zune and whatnot and it does appear my CPU usage is quite high.

The problem is I have no idea why that would be since it was never a problem before and I thought things would be better after a clean install of Windows.

Anyone have any bright ideas I can try?

Thanks.

KT

 

[ivan2]

new video card.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: ivan2
new video card.

I think a 2900XT, even though it is old now, should be able to play these games just fine, I am thinking it is more a CPU problem.

KT

 

[wheresmybacon]

Does the slowdown happen after a little bit of gameplay, or does your fps suck as soon as you fire up a game?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: hungfarover
Does the slowdown happen after a little bit of gameplay, or does your fps suck as soon as you fire up a game?

It's pretty much right away. For example if I am playing Gold Rush and getting ready in my team's holding tank, the frames are kind of ok, but once I head out the gate they plummet down and then fluctuate all over the place from 10 up 40 or so, depending on what I am doing, but very slow on average and to the point where I cannot react quickly enough to attack/defend.

There is no artifacting or anything like that, so I do not think it is a heat issue.

KT

 

[AmberClad]

It's been months since I played Gold Rush, but I recall certain stages being very slow and laggy at the beginning of the match. I don't remember exactly why anymore (maybe because of dozens of stickies being set off at once?).

Assuming that's not the cause, then maybe check to make sure your CPU fan hasn't stopped or seized up, if you haven't already.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
It's been months since I played Gold Rush, but I recall certain stages being very slow and laggy at the beginning of the match. I don't remember exactly why anymore (maybe because of dozens of stickies being set off at once?).

Assuming that's not the cause, then maybe check to make sure your CPU fan hasn't stopped or seized up, if you haven't already.

It's funny, I did have an issue with my CPU seizing up a couple of weeks back. I opened up my case and noticed my heatsink fan was completely clogged with dust. I cleaned that out and I stopped getting the errors, so thought it was ok, but maybe it got fried along the way?

I'll open it up again when I get home to see if everything is spinning. I have noticed it seems to be sometimes hit 75-100% CPU usage when doing some relatively mundane things, so there has to be something wonky there.

KT

 

[Oakenfold]

Amerclad's suggestion is where I'd start, make sure that Fan is running smooth. Take the side of your case off and see if that helps (i.e. if there is some sort of heat issue). If you have any monitoring software try to get some temps for your proc.

What applications do you have running besides the game? (i.e. you sure that you aren't running an A/V scan by accident while trying to game? Hey it happens.._)

You don't have an extra proc laying around you could swap in? If so, try it.

 

[KeithTalent]

Unfortunately I don't have an extra CPU kicking around, so can't do that. I have my case open right now and all of the fans seem to be spinning.

However, I have Speedfan running now and it is showing my core temps at 80+, which seems insanely high, considering I barely have anything going right now, though it shows usage spiking up to >70%. It says Fan 2 is at 0 RPM, but I'm not sure which is fan 2 as all of the fans I can see are running.

<-- stumped.

I guess I'll pull the heatsink off, throw some more paste on it, then reseat it and see how that goes.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Didn't work. I even lowered the resolution on TF2 waayyy down and it still dropped to 9 FPS regularly.

I don't have anything extra running in the background. I'm on a fresh install now, with the minimum amount of stuff loaded.

The chip looks fine, everything looks and sounds fine, I guess I just need to grab a cheap CPU to test it out now.

So freaking annoying. I can't play anything it's so bad.

KT

 

[zagood]

Go into your bios, and disable CPU Fan Control (looks like it's under Advanced > Boot Configuration Menu). That will force your CPU fan to run at 100%. Then check your temps again.

 

[AmberClad]

While you're in the BIOS, you might want to check vCore to make sure that didn't somehow get changed to something insanely high.

 

[Xavier434]

80+ is insanely high so you need to fix that first. If disabling the CPU Fan Control does not resolve the issue then I recommend looking into a new and better heatsink as your x-mas gift to yourself this year.


Also (this is kinda a long shot but it's worth a try), I would attempt to both uninstall and then reinstall your video driver while in safe mode. I had to do that once with Vista a while back and it resolved some video problems I was having. Do this:

1. Download the install file for your driver.
2. Reboot to Safe Mode.
3. Uninstall current driver.
4. Reboot to Safe Mode again.
5. Install the driver.
6. Reboot to normal mode.

The above procedure is general good practice when updating drivers anyways even though I realize it is less convenient.

 

[KeithTalent]

Thanks all, I'll try all of this when I get home from work today. I have a feeling I may just need to spring for a new CPU, but we'll see.

The help is very much appreciated.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Ok, tried all of this and also flashed my mobo with the most recent BIOS, all to no avail. My frames are actually a bit better now (I was able to play TF2 for a little while) but after quitting the game SpeedFan still showed my CPU at 85 degrees.

So have I exhausted all of my options with this CPU?

KT

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Ok, tried all of this and also flashed my mobo with the most recent BIOS, all to no avail. My frames are actually a bit better now (I was able to play TF2 for a little while) but after quitting the game SpeedFan still showed my CPU at 85 degrees.

So have I exhausted all of my options with this CPU?

KT

Thats one hot CPU, new cooler perhaps?