Battlefiled 4 Crazy CPU Spikes

[apcs13]

I think it's a safe to say that even now BF4 is still big-riddled and fairly poorly optimized, but I also feel that there should be a solution to a certain issue I am having with this game. I used to think there was an issue with my GPU not being strong enough, or not having enough VRAM, but after a bunch of rigorous testing and analysis, I concluded that I shouldn't have any issues in either area, and was dumbfounded until I looked at the in-game chart for GPU and CPU usage and saw my CPU usage drastically spiking very frequently.

You can very easily tell by looking at the green (GPU) and yellow (CPU) usage lines that the CPU is spiking all over the place, and it makes the game near unplayable when it happens. Does anyone know how to fix this issue? I have used a few different display drivers with fresh clean installs each time, reinstalled BF4 twice, and done a few other "solutions" like manually installing DirectX from the BF4 _Installer directory, none of it to any avail! My specs are on my profile and in my signature, and a link to a specific example (ignore bad gameplay) is below. Thank you!

Link to video: http://youtu.be/BNf1NM3ma8o

 

[slimething]

Ahh...

I've posted about this in another thread and nobody even bothered to read what I posted. Here is the issue you're having: HardOCP.

If you are looking towards the perfect video card for this game right now, it seems AMD video cards do have the advantage under Windows 8.1. We experienced overall smoother performance, especially during the performance drops or dips that happened from explosions, debris, or lots of smoke.

Much like with TITAN, the GeForce GTX 780 also experienced significant frame rate drops during the run-through, while the R9 290 did not.

When playing at the 4X MSAA level on TITAN, we noticed that the frame rate would take a significant dive when there was a lot of action happening on the screen. During the frame rate dive, the experience remained playable, however, with such big drops occurring we feel that 2X MSAA is the safer option.

Much like TITAN and the GTX 780, the GTX 770 and GTX 760 also experienced the significant fluctuation in frame rate when there was a lot happening on the screen.

It's an nVIDIA driver issue. Not a DICE issue. Not an AMD CPU issue (AMD CPUs do well in this game). Not a buggy game issue either. It is an nVIDIA driver issue. Now I wish people would accept that. Almost makes me think that NV fans are a lot like Apple fans. Never accepting that their preferred product has "issues". Like the iPhone 4 antennae issue for example: "You're holding it wrong".

You can trust me when I say I am NOT an Nvidia fanboy, I do like their products but before my AMD GPU failed me out of the box I was much more pro-AMD, and after trying to get another 280X, a GTX 770 was a lot cheaper, so I went with that. Actually, up until I got my 770, I was kind of against Nvidia, mostly because a friend of mine talked them up so much and bashed AMD. But, you can see I have an AMD CPU, so I clearly have nothing against AMD.

I didn't really think much about it being a driver issue due to it being CPU spikes, but I did see that a new Nvidia beta driver was released today and some users (especially those with GTX 760's and 770's) got a lot of improvements with the stuttering issue I have. However, equally many have had other issues with the beta driver, so I am reluctant to opt into this particular beta. Do you think it is worth it to try?

Also, I don't know if this would help, but what about updating my chipset drivers? My current ones are the ones that came with my motherboard, version 6.1.7600.16385 , but I think the newest version is 8.0.9.... something. Would updating that help at all? Also, how would I go about doing that? I went to AMD's site but it seemed to either try to get me to download graphics drivers or just SATA and USB drivers (which I updated and didn't change the chip driver version). Thank you!

I'm not calling you a fanboi It was a general comment mean't to voice my frustrations towards many folks, not yourself, who ignore this review by HardOCP yet exhibit much of the same symptoms.

AMD Chipset Drivers: HERE

The CPU spikes only happen to people running nVIDIA Graphics cards (for the most part you will notice). It occurs on all kinds of CPUs from either Intel or AMD... all the way up to even the 3930K. This would indicate, to me, that the issue is not CPU related. It does not happen for users of AMD R9 cards (for example) who use the same CPUs.

It could be that the game is too demanding on the Compute capabilities or that the nVIDIA driver just has issues with some of the compute code (not properly optimized yet). Either way it appears to have been documented by HardOCP.

That is exactly why I sent the 770 back and got the 280x, using i7 4770k. I didn't wait around for nVidia to fix it.

With the inflated prices for the 280x (paid $300 in Nov) these days however.....

I actually did the exact reverse... XD
My 280X was broken, and I heard that tons of users went through 2-7 cards before they got a working one, and I had neither the time, patience, or willingness to foot the shipping bill that many times (yes, the company made me pay shipping return, and it was a reputable company too), so I got the GTX 770 instead. The only game I have had issues with is BF4, ever other game runs smooth as anything, I love my GTX 770.

When I ordered the 280x from Newegg, the box had be opened, but by then they were all sold out and it ran fine so I kept it. I think many cards were used as experiments and I suspect gpu mining as well, then returned. Fortunately the voltage is locked on my card so it wasn't likely abused. No problems so far, and as I mostly play BF4, that's all the matters to me.

Having a 1080p monitor, below is precisely what I experienced and posted about several times on other threads. http://www.hardocp.com/images/articles/13843169587BDRCzsGHb_5_2_l.gif It was worse on MP maps with intense fighting.

Apparently my picture posting privileges have been suspended; too many graphs and charts I guess.

 

[Mousemonkey]

As BF4 is an AMD sponsored title and "only" has issues on Nvida cards maybe its being nobbled on purpose. 😗

You know, I wouldn't put it past them, corporate greed knows no bounds. However, I have found something that helps a lot for now: With the new beta drivers, once you are in game, set bf4.exe to low priority in task manager. You may have heard of this before, but for me personally, it never helped before these drivers. Now I am usually problem/stuttering free 85% of the time while playing, so it is a good temporary fix. I hope DICE and Nvidia figure something out, I really want to play 95% or better smoothly!

Well if it was TWIMTBP title and AMD cards were having issues then you can be sure that the accusation of crippling performance on purpose would be made against Nvidia and in this case AMD are purported to have paid out 8 million bucks so it wouldn't look good if Nvidia cards still came out on top would it?

 

[footbrake4life]

As BF4 is an AMD sponsored title and "only" has issues on Nvida cards maybe its being nobbled on purpose. 😗

Wrong, I am having this same exact problem with my FX-8120 paired with an 7970 TF

 

[Mousemonkey]

It's an nVIDIA driver issue. Not a DICE issue. Not an AMD CPU issue (AMD CPUs do well in this game). Not a buggy game issue either. It is an nVIDIA driver issue. Now I wish people would accept that. Almost makes me think that NV fans are a lot like Apple fans. Never accepting that their preferred product has "issues". Like the iPhone 4 antennae issue for example: "You're holding it wrong".

Wrong, I am having this same exact problem with my FX-8120 paired with an 7970 TF

That can't be, it's an Nvidia driver issue!

 

[footbrake4life]

It's an nVIDIA driver issue. Not a DICE issue. Not an AMD CPU issue (AMD CPUs do well in this game). Not a buggy game issue either. It is an nVIDIA driver issue. Now I wish people would accept that. Almost makes me think that NV fans are a lot like Apple fans. Never accepting that their preferred product has "issues". Like the iPhone 4 antennae issue for example: "You're holding it wrong".

Wrong, I am having this same exact problem with my FX-8120 paired with an 7970 TF

That can't be, it's an Nvidia driver issue!

Well apparently its not. I am running my FX-8120 with a 212 evo and I never go above 30c and my build powers through ever other game. Now when the spike happens my ping just goes right to 999 then when the spike stops my ping goes down to 40-60

 

[Mousemonkey]

It's an nVIDIA driver issue. Not a DICE issue. Not an AMD CPU issue (AMD CPUs do well in this game). Not a buggy game issue either. It is an nVIDIA driver issue. Now I wish people would accept that. Almost makes me think that NV fans are a lot like Apple fans. Never accepting that their preferred product has "issues". Like the iPhone 4 antennae issue for example: "You're holding it wrong".

Wrong, I am having this same exact problem with my FX-8120 paired with an 7970 TF

That can't be, it's an Nvidia driver issue!

Well apparently its not. I am running my FX-8120 with a 212 evo and I never go above 30c and my build powers through ever other game. Now when the spike happens my ping just goes right to 999 then when the spike stops my ping goes down to 40-60

That's good to know, maybe it is a DICE issue after all, although that would mean that someone in this thread is talking cobblers when they say its an Nvidia driver issue wouldn't it?

 

[footbrake4life]

It's an nVIDIA driver issue. Not a DICE issue. Not an AMD CPU issue (AMD CPUs do well in this game). Not a buggy game issue either. It is an nVIDIA driver issue. Now I wish people would accept that. Almost makes me think that NV fans are a lot like Apple fans. Never accepting that their preferred product has "issues". Like the iPhone 4 antennae issue for example: "You're holding it wrong".

Wrong, I am having this same exact problem with my FX-8120 paired with an 7970 TF

That can't be, it's an Nvidia driver issue!

Well apparently its not. I am running my FX-8120 with a 212 evo and I never go above 30c and my build powers through ever other game. Now when the spike happens my ping just goes right to 999 then when the spike stops my ping goes down to 40-60

That's good to know, maybe it is a DICE issue after all, although that would mean that someone in this thread is talking cobblers when they say its an Nvidia driver issue wouldn't it?

Lol, I really hope they fix this. Better yet I hope it is just a driver issue on my end and it gets resolved before DICE takes forever and fixes it.

 

[WhiteSnake91]

I get bad fps dips with a 3570k and hd7950 on ultra 1080p, under 30fps into the 20s on the new china rising dlc maps using the newest amd beta drivers,maybe it's because I have windows 7?

bleh...really don't feel like reinstalling everything I have when getting a new OS, that really the only fix to get win 8.1? I turned msaa off, even turned off ambient occlusion and post processing and same stuff bad fps dips

I've been pulling my hair out watching youtube vids of people with worse cpus like i3 and worse gpu like regular gtx 660 play 64man conquest on ultra fine...only difference them having windows 8

so apparently you can run bf4 on ultra on lower end hardware as long as you have windows 8 >_>

 

[Mousemonkey]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you mate. Maybe the Mantle driver will be released in the next 24 hours or so and that will fix everything and although there have been rumours that it will be delayed again they are just rumours.

 

[footbrake4life]

I get bad fps dips with a 3570k and hd7950 on ultra 1080p, under 30fps into the 20s on the new china rising dlc maps using the newest amd beta drivers,maybe it's because I have windows 7?

bleh...really don't feel like reinstalling everything I have when getting a new OS, that really the only fix to get win 8.1? I turned msaa off, even turned off ambient occlusion and post processing and same stuff bad fps dips

I've been pulling my hair out watching youtube vids of people with worse cpus like i3 and worse gpu like regular gtx 660 play 64man conquest on ultra fine...only difference them having windows 8

so apparently you can run bf4 on ultra on lower end hardware as long as you have windows 8 >_>

I despise windows 8! I am so angry that the only way supposedly not to lag is to have windows 8, FIX IT DICE.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I get bad fps dips with a 3570k and hd7950 on ultra 1080p, under 30fps into the 20s on the new china rising dlc maps using the newest amd beta drivers,maybe it's because I have windows 7?

bleh...really don't feel like reinstalling everything I have when getting a new OS, that really the only fix to get win 8.1? I turned msaa off, even turned off ambient occlusion and post processing and same stuff bad fps dips

I've been pulling my hair out watching youtube vids of people with worse cpus like i3 and worse gpu like regular gtx 660 play 64man conquest on ultra fine...only difference them having windows 8

so apparently you can run bf4 on ultra on lower end hardware as long as you have windows 8 >_>

That would suck, I have had a couple of run ins with W8 and being an old fart I didn't like it and won't be migrating anytime soon that's for sure.

 

[WhiteSnake91]

yeah I don't like windows 8 either. Although it does boot very fast on my laptop's sucky slow 5400rpm.

The MESSED up thing is, plenty of people with higher end rigs on the battlelog with windows 8 or upgraded to 8 say that it still has bad fps dips for them, which is why I don't want to waste 100 bucks on the OS....lol

 

[footbrake4life]

I will never run windows 8, the tile interface is a joke for desktops.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Here's a thought for you, will Mantle work better with W8 or will it be OS agnostic?

 

[apcs13]

Here's a thought for you, will Mantle work better with W8 or will it be OS agnostic?

Mantle will most likely be OS agnostic (as long as it is a newer version of Windows, most likely Vista or newer) because of the nature of it being a low-level API. The main reason that people claim Win8/8.1 works better with BF4 and other games is because of DirectX 11.2, which helps reduce CPU overhead and boosts performance (that's the claims anyways). Mantle should eliminate this, with a low-level API that eliminates the need for DirectX, and should boost performance much more than anything else you could do. Unfortunately, I have an Nvidia GPU, so I don't know if Mantle will help me at all with my AMD CPU, I can only hope.

Regarding other users who made comments about Windows 8 VS Windows 7, some users saw massive performance boosts when upgrading (almost double FPS), others saw a small increase (5-30 FPS boost), while others saw no improvement in performance at all. Personally, I will not be getting Windows 8 any time soon, as my rig is new and with a fresh Win7 install, and I don't want to waste any more time and money. BF4 runs OKAY for me right now, not perfect, but playable. I'm going to fiddle around a bit more and hope for the best.

 

[WhiteSnake91]

I didn't even know the 7950 supported dx 11.2 till reading and searching and seeing this

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=380680

I'm going to wait until the mantle update comes out, I don't feel like starting over on everything I have with a new OS, plus, I'd be mad if it didn't help me any, but apparently it helps lower end hardware haha like i3 and regular gtx 660

 

[killakallies]

Windows 8.1 is very well optimized and a great OS. I know that one issue they fixed was the issue involving 8 core FX processors, I remember their having to be a hot fix from Microsoft I had to download/install in order to fix performance issues that wasn't pushed out through Windows Update as it's just a hot fix. Honestly though I hated 8.1 at first but after just using it for a few months I can navigate it just as well as Windows 7. I imagine Mantle could either take off and be the next big thing or... a total flop. One upper hand is that AMD APU's already are equipped in the new consoles, so you would think that it would make designing the PC version of the game much more AMD optimized.

I do somewhat feel bad that Nvidia folks can't utilize Mantle. But we still have yet to see if and what gains it provides the game play with R7 and R9 series cards and if it's even something to be sad about not having! Hey maybe they will make a Mantle add on card like Nvidia did PhysX, wouldn't that be the day haha!

 

[Mousemonkey]

So Mantle has arrived, no driver and the initial results are somewhat interesting to say the least but apparently its here so all your troubles are over!

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/dice_releases_battlefield_4_directx_vs_mantle_performance_numbers.html

 

[footbrake4life]

So Mantle has arrived, no driver and the initial results are somewhat interesting to say the least but apparently its here so all your troubles are over!

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/dice_releases_battlefield_4_directx_vs_mantle_performance_numbers.html

No way, I was just reading about it earlier. That's awesome!!!

 

[Mousemonkey]

So Mantle has arrived, no driver and the initial results are somewhat interesting to say the least but apparently its here so all your troubles are over!

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/dice_releases_battlefield_4_directx_vs_mantle_performance_numbers.html

No way, I was just reading about it earlier. That's awesome!!!

I thought it was interesting rather than awesome but that depends on your POV and what your initial expectations were I suppose.

 

[WhiteSnake91]

wonder how long it'll take for them to come out with the catalyst driver so I'll see improvement

 

[Mousemonkey]

wonder how long it'll take for them to come out with the catalyst driver so I'll see improvement

It would make sense to have the driver release at the same time wouldn't it?

 

[WhiteSnake91]

maybe tomorrow or something 😛

"The Battlefield 4 patch with Mantle support was just released. Unfortunately, AMD does not have a driver ready today. As explained in our previous Mantle article, only in CPU limited situations you will gain performance with Mantle. DICE just released some numbers as well, these are their own internal tests showing performance differences in-between DirectX 11.1 and Mantle. "

 

[apcs13]

maybe tomorrow or something 😛

"The Battlefield 4 patch with Mantle support was just released. Unfortunately, AMD does not have a driver ready today. As explained in our previous Mantle article, only in CPU limited situations you will gain performance with Mantle. DICE just released some numbers as well, these are their own internal tests showing performance differences in-between DirectX 11.1 and Mantle. "

I hope Mantle really is as good as they are saying, it should really help AMD out in the future, and I really like AMD and they are on kind of tough times right now I think. Unfortunately, it won't help me at all at least for a long while, since I have a GTX 770 and it is really only for GPU's not CPU's yet, and while it will still help CPU overhead and management, I still won't be able to use it for now.

Getting back to the original topic of the thread, my results are all over the place. On some maps (Golmud Rail, Rogue Transmission, Operation Locker, Dawnbreaker most of the time) I have pretty smooth performance, but on others (Siege of Shanghai, Flood Zone, Zavod 331, Sometimes on Lancang Dam) I get low FPS and more often spikes, although they are much less common now. Still, a lot of people have this weird issue, and a specific person I saw on YouTube has a GTX 780 and an i7 3770K overclocked and still only got a few FPS better than me on Siege, so something is still up with either the game or Nvidia drivers.

 

[vmN]

maybe tomorrow or something 😛

"The Battlefield 4 patch with Mantle support was just released. Unfortunately, AMD does not have a driver ready today. As explained in our previous Mantle article, only in CPU limited situations you will gain performance with Mantle. DICE just released some numbers as well, these are their own internal tests showing performance differences in-between DirectX 11.1 and Mantle. "

I hope Mantle really is as good as they are saying, it should really help AMD out in the future, and I really like AMD and they are on kind of tough times right now I think. Unfortunately, it won't help me at all at least for a long while, since I have a GTX 770 and it is really only for GPU's not CPU's yet, and while it will still help CPU overhead and management, I still won't be able to use it for now.

Getting back to the original topic of the thread, my results are all over the place. On some maps (Golmud Rail, Rogue Transmission, Operation Locker, Dawnbreaker most of the time) I have pretty smooth performance, but on others (Siege of Shanghai, Flood Zone, Zavod 331, Sometimes on Lancang Dam) I get low FPS and more often spikes, although they are much less common now. Still, a lot of people have this weird issue, and a specific person I saw on YouTube has a GTX 780 and an i7 3770K overclocked and still only got a few FPS better than me on Siege, so something is still up with either the game or Nvidia drivers.

They are reporting a 14% performance increase on a APU, so expect less on a CPU with dedicated GPU.
I think 14% is a little to low...