BF3/4 game hesitation Lag? Crossfire Problem.

[IceCoffee]

Alright so I am scouring the internet to try and get some direction on this issue - been with me for about 4 months now (or when I want to mess with it).

I have a problem when running in either game. Just running straight, my character hesitates (runs in place) then continues to run straight (full/empty server doesn't matter) makes the game unplayable.

BF3 I used to play with one HD 6870 no problems same computer medium settings 50-60FPS

Specs of my system:
AsRock = P67 Extreme 4 Gen 3
CPU = i7 3770K not overclocked so 3.5Ghz
RAM = G.Skill Trident 1600 16GB Cas7
OS = Win7 64bit
SSD = Corsair Force 3 120GB (OS only)
HDD = Seagate Barracuda 2TB (all programs)
GPU = 2 Sapphire HD7870 Crossfire (driver 13.12)
Monitors = one ASUS 23" 2ms and two 19" Dell
PSU = Corsair TX850

of course I only play on the ASUS and this happens in no other game except Battlefield so what is my problem?
I had heard that in BF4 they want you to download the beta driver because of some netcode problem? But why does BF3 do it too?
I give up. I have no clue and have not played this or any Origin game due to this problem.
I have toyed with all the settings MMSO/antialiasing/SSDO (whatever they are called) Low/Medium/Ultra - all the aspect ratios - I get 120FPS so why is my game hesitating when I am running around?
I have played with programs running in the background and without.

With the 6870 I could run a virus scan with little to no lag before.

Speedtest.net says = Ping 12, Down 46.75, Up 11.30
Is there a way to test my connection continuity like a throttling issue?
BF4 self test said I was loosing some packets etc. and it said medium connection for this game.

I will tell you I do not know what the anti-aliasing and MMSO/SSDO settings do? or are for?

any help would be appreciated. Thx

 

[wortwortwort]

It's probably an issue with your internet or the Battlefield servers.

 

[Hazle]

i'm guessing you're experiencing microstutters, which is prevalent in some games/GPUs with an SLI/CF setup.

 

[IceCoffee]

i'm guessing you're experiencing microstutters, which is prevalent in some games/GPUs with an SLI/CF setup.

anymore tests I can run? I did read up a little on that and I switch the cards around but same issue.
I will wait a little more see if there is a solution before I take it over to the manufacturer's website.

I was hoping for a test I could run to see where or what I was loosing (inconsistent frequency) something?
tried PCMark7 but not much info

 

[Hazle]

a connection or software issue is a possibility if this happened with a single 6870, online.

however, if you're still experiencing this even offline on SP, or it doesn't happen with a single 6870, it's possible you're experiencing microstutters.

never looked all that into it, being a single GPU guy, but if you want to confirm it, i recall FCAT being able to record frame time/microstutter, as well as this; http://benchmark3d.com/check-any-game-for-micro-stuttering .

 

[IceCoffee]

a connection or software issue is a possibility if this happened with a single 6870, online.

however, if you're still experiencing this even offline on SP, or it doesn't happen with a single 6870, it's possible you're experiencing microstutters.

never looked all that into it, being a single GPU guy, but if you want to confirm it, i recall FCAT being able to record frame time/microstutter, as well as this; http://benchmark3d.com/check-any-game-for-micro-stuttering .

OK here is the update I have not switched to trying out the 6870 yet.
But I ran those benchmark3D tests:
Oh and this is an empty server me just running straight capping flags. I zoomed the results in to show 200 frames.

Results: (This is 2 times capturing.)

Looks to me like you nailed it. This is only BF3. Now OK what can I do about it?
(beside sell one card) I will agree with you this is my first Crossfire/SLI type config. and I am hating it. Next time I will just buy the one $300 GPU and call it a day.

Anyone else chime in? I want to look around and post my ultimate conclusion to what I did here because I can't find it anywhere else.

Will run some more tests and take some questions over to the manufacturer see what they say?

 

[Hazle]

...actually, the thought just crossed me; what is your monitor's refresh rate? 60hz? 144hz? and did you turn on Vsync? if you only have a 60hz monitor and you're hitting 100+fps, you're bound to experience screen tearing. some people refer to this as lag before.

because i don't think that's microstuttering. a lone isolated spike in frametime is natural, & so does changing frame rate. some examples of microstutter, from TechReport:

note the alternating frame time from high to low.

 

[IceCoffee]

...actually, the thought just crossed me; what is your monitor's refresh rate? 60hz? 144hz? and did you turn on Vsync? if you only have a 60hz monitor and you're hitting 100+fps, you're bound to experience screen tearing. some people refer to this as lag before.

because i don't think that's microstuttering. a lone isolated spike in frametime is natural, & so does changing frame rate. some examples of microstutter, from TechReport:


note the alternating frame time from high to low.

OK I'm back.

Here I put the full results I got from the test:

Test 1

Test 2

You are right it does not look much like the graphs you posted so maybe it is something else?
The main monitor is: ASUS VS238 = i.e. max res. 1920x1080 @ 75Hz refresh
ASUS site:
Signal Frequency
Analog Signal Frequency : 30~80 KHz(H)/ 55~75 Hz(V)
Digital Signal Frequency : 30~80 KHz(H)/ 55~75 Hz(V)

Other monitors Dell E173FP = max res. 1080x1024 @ 75Hz

Catalyst says 75Hz for all monitor refresh.

I turned on/off the V-Sync in game should I try turning off somewhere else.
In the game it make no difference either way (BF3/4)

Screen tearing to me is the break away in the background to polygons with missing surfaces or when lines start to appear in the background. None of this "happened" but it very well could be the same thing with different results.

BTW - temps without games running 44deg C
with a game running Ultra 66deg C

and if I run Fraps while playing a game horrible full lag.

Anyone with a Crossfire have this problem?

 

[IceCoffee]

All right genius's of Tom's HW,

Here is my final solution: (from bftips.com)
Huge thanks to all of you who came to my aide especially Hazle for making me think in some other directions.


Use this console command to limit FPS in Battlefield 3

Why would you want to limit your frame rate in BF3? More FPS is better, right? Not always.

Let’s say your PC is capable of averaging 70 FPS. Most monitors are limited by a refresh rate of 60Hz, which means it’s really only showing you 60 FPS.

Your graphics card(s) will still pump out 10 extra frames per second, even though you don’t see them on your monitor. A system that is running at full load will draw more electricity, produce more heat, and require the fans to run faster/louder.

If you limit your frame rate to 60 FPS, that’s all your computer will render. Your PC will no longer need to run at full load if it’s capable of producing more than 60 FPS at any given time. This means less power, heat, and noise.

First, you should display your FPS ingame. To do so, press the tilde ( ` ) key. Type the command render.drawfps 1 and press Enter. Your framerate will appear at the top right.

If your PC is fairly high-end, you will see the frame rate exceed 60 FPS some of the time you’re playing. This happens most when you’re inside a building without much action going on.

To limit your frame rate, type gametime.maxvariablefps 60 in the console and press Enter. From that point on, the FPS number in the top right should never exceed 60. Your video will look just as good as before, but with less of a load on your PC.

That is just for BF3 I will assume same for BF4 I will look into any other games but now I have an idea for what I am looking at...
If I do not come back then BF4 was the same issue with the same fix.

Thanks a ton guys.

 

[Hazle]

^limiting the frame rate to your screen's refresh rate sounds a lot like a screen tearing issue to me. you said it didn't resolve the problem when you turned on vsync, though if the above method does, then the only thing i can think of causing the issue, which just came to me reading the above, is the Catalyst Control Center App profile, which, to my understanding can override in-game settings sometimes. because i've never really heard of this frame capping issue, at least not in 3, & there's just too much of a coincidence that BF3 & 4 would suffer this from some bad installation file.

honestly, if that doesn't solve it, i don't know what else the issue may be, if you can forgive me, as i'm all out of ideas. i guessed the only thing we didn't delve much into is hardware, which about the only thing comes to mind is the SSD, and monitor. but if every other game is running fine, then this is very unlikely.