[SOLVED] AC Valhalla gets laggy after PC is on for a while [Not a temp issue]

[PRusov]

Hello everyone,
As the title says, after my PC is on for a few hours, Valhalla gets microstutters, like screen tearing, and input lag. Now, this only happens when I play that game, but it is the most demanding title that I have. Now, this has nothing to do with play time, meaning I can play for hours with buttery smooth performance (when I start up the game after a restart), or, if I enter it after my PC's been on for hours, like after online school, I get the aforementioned lag. FPS seems to be a bit lower in those periods. I have very good framerates otherwise, and I'm really enjoying the game, but this is pretty distracting.
I have a R5 3600, RX 5700xt - undervolted, 16gb of RAM, temps are always reasonable (eg. GPU<75 C under full load).
I'm guessing this has something to do with some background process that starts up after a while, and it's the thing that pushes the system over the edge, but I really don't know. Would appreciate some help with this.

 

[Lutfij]

Can you please add a little more information for us?

What is the OS version(assuming you're on Windows 10)? What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard? What driver version are you on for your motherboard? You might want to also open up Task Manager and see what your startup items are. You can disable the items that show up as high in resource consumption.

Perhaps shoot us a screenshot of the startup items in Task manager window?

 

[PRusov]

Can you please add a little more information for us?

What is the OS version(assuming you're on Windows 10)? What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard? What driver version are you on for your motherboard? You might want to also open up Task Manager and see what your startup items are. You can disable the items that show up as high in resource consumption.

Perhaps shoot us a screenshot of the startup items in Task manager window?

NOTE:

Before I add the technical info, I noticed that, if I play for long enough after a restart, a bit >3 hours or so, haven't really counted, the lag comes on. So basically, from the moment the system is on, I have a few hours until the choppiness comes on. Doesn't matter if I use the PC or not, or if I game or not. That further leads me to believe that it is in fact, a background process that starts after some time. I just don't know which one, and task manager doesn't show any abnormalities (I toggled it on when the lag set in). I may be wrong, I'm out of my depth here.

Okay, so, here it goes:

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 20H2
Installed on ‎24/‎06/‎2020
OS build 19042.867
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0
(Copied and pasted straight out of the settings)

I'm not really sure what you are looking for in BIOS info, but my MB is Asus TUF B450-Plus Gaming, and dxdiag shows BIOS as 1804, if that is of any help.
Radeon drivers version 21.3.1, the newest one.

I can't seem to attach a screenshot in this response, however, enabled programs with startup are:
OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, Radeon Settings: Host service, RealtekHD Audio Universal Service aand Windows security.

Now, I have other non-windows apps that are disabled, so here they are:
CCXProcess (Adobe client, I use PS and Dreamweaver), Setuplauncher (bitdefender's remnant, it's currently uninstalled, but I can't get rid of that .exe in startup, can't open containing folder, since it is not there, but it is disabled), Skype, and Xbox app services (which are of no use to me, they aren't supported in my country).

Multiple antiviruses (Bitdefender, Malwarebytes, Windows deep scan thingy) all confirm my system's clean. As I said, this only happens with Valhalla, so it may very well be the game's fault. Full disclosure, it is a non-genuine version. But that's never been the issue, virus wise, I always get my apps from credible sources. But again, scans might very well be wrong.

Anywho, I hope that helps, any suggestions are welcome.
In the meantime, I'll just go and restart my PC and get back to raiding villages.

 

[PRusov]

[UPDATE]

I figured it out. Kind of. I noticed the "Activate Windows" watermark appearance corresponds to the input lag. Forced Vsync was the culprit. Called up MS support and they sorted out the activation problem. Thank you anyway, this was a stupid one.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

[UPDATE]

I figured it out. Kind of. I noticed the "Activate Windows" watermark appearance corresponds to the input lag. Forced Vsync was the culprit. Called up MS support and they sorted out the activation problem. Thank you anyway, this was a stupid one.

That's unusual. Never have seen that happen before.

 

[PRusov]

That's unusual. Never have seen that happen before.

Me neither, I thought the watermark was just a stupid annoyance to make you buy Windows, but I googled it specifically and, sure enough, watermark pops up 3 hours after startup, and it introduces some sort of a vsync lock. The timings add up, and are in line with what I expected. Weird for sure, but hey...C'est La Vie.

Thanks for taking an interest in my inquiry regardless.