Micro Freezes in EVERY game, different in each

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NarbiusTheGreat

NarbiusTheGreat

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Aug 16, 2014
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I have been having this problem for... well let's just say a month or even longer. It is one of the worst nightmares I have ever went through. It is so bad. I have posted on this forum before, but without a picture.

Part list at the end.

http://imgur.com/0WSUcrH (This is taken while playing Team Fortress 2)
http://imgur.com/jwbDiK3 (This is taken while playing Garry's Mod)

These ANNOYING lag spikes. Or should I say freezes, where my fps just goes to zero for not even half a second, and it can become REALLY annoying, and screw me up. They are very noticeable, and sometimes the frametime can get up and hit the top of the graph! I tried doing so many things-

-Heat? No. CPU can get to 40-50 degrees celsius while gaming. GPU can get to 70, but it really depends on the game. In TF2 it is around 40-50 celsius. There is barely any dust inside, I got this computer like 3-2 months ago.
-CPU core parking? I doubt it would even cause it, and no.
-HDD? I tried it on a SSD and HDD with the same exact lag spikes happening.
-Software? I reinstalled Windows. That means deleting everything with it. So no.
-Replace the GPU? Tried it, didn't do anything. Same lag spikes occur using the iGPU (Intel HD 4600)
-Take USB devices out? Tried it, didn't do anything what so ever.
- Updating drivers? Already did update every driver. Also tried downgrading a couple with no luck.
- Updating BIOS? Already did it.
- Setting everything to max performance, not power saver? I disabled Speedstep, I enabled Max Performance in Power Options, everything (I believe).
- Ram Errors? I did a memtest in Windows. Didn't find anything, and I tested each stick individually with no luck.
- Internet issues? Well it happens on my Laptop, but not on my Brothers laptop. What's up with that?
- I don't think it is Steam, Google Chrome, or anything else causing it.
- Virus's? Malware? lagspikecauser.exe? Nope. I have MSE and MalwareBytes. I also tried disabling both of those in-game with no luck.
- Wireless Adapter? Using Wired networking doesn't change, nor fix the issue. I also tried it without installing my wireless adapter's driver and using wired, didn't fix it.

Some peoples suggestions: Send in the motherboard, test with someone else (don't have anyone else)

I can't think of anything else causing it. Sorry about the long list. It really feels like this problem is impossible to solve. I don't really like testing to see if it is a certain piece of hardware causing it.

Has anyone, ANYONE had this exact issue before? It drives me crazy.

Part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/topguythegreat/saved/hLMwrH
All parts are being used except one of the fans which makes a weird sound for some reason.
 
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According to that first picture, those spikes are on the CPU temp line, correct? You might have better luck launching a game then alt+tab'ing out and watching in Task Manager, which process spikes to 100% CPU usage(only for a second) then returns to normal. Something is causing the spike & its probably software related if it is happening on your laptop too.
 
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Ah sorry. This is taken in MSi Afterburner, and the spikes are shown in Frametime. I can reproduce it simply by playing the game. I will check CPU usage to see if there are spikes, but I believe I already seen if it was caused by CPU usage. Be back in about 1-5 minutes.
 
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just open Task Manager and click on Processes tab

Then sort the column so you can see highest usage at the top. If a process spikes... it will appear at the top of the list momentarily. Then you can trace the process to its application.... if it isn't easily identifiable, google it.
 
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Well here is an image of CPU usage while playing Garry's mod: http://imgur.com/7imlAkv
There is text showing what is what.

Will check task manager in a moment.
When the lag spike occurs, things taking highest CPU usage is usually- MSIAfterburner.exe which is usually around 07-10 usage, never changing anything out of that
hl2.exe at around 08-11 usage, never goes higher unless loading into the game.
dwm.exe really random, but around 01-02 usage.
chome.exe at 01-00 usage.
Everything else is around 00.
 
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Anyone have any ideas? I don't want to RMA part by part, and then find it. That would take months. (Sorry I am impatient 😛)

I do of course realize that there should be some lag spikes occuring, but not one every 2 seconds while standing still in a game.
 
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Bump #2.

New news: Apparently these lag spikes don't occur on small maps in TF2 very much at all, infact they don't even happen. But on big maps... they happen quite a bit. This seems to be some type of issue with performance, but I can't fix it.
 
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Wait. So absolutely, 100%, no one has this issue? Not even close to this issue? Or has fixed this issue?

I gave all the information I could, to try to get the best response. If someone could help in some small way, or suggest something, I would be willing to try it.
 
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If it happens on your PC and also on your laptop but not your brothers laptop, this must be software related.

Run MSE - Full scan
Run MalwareBytes - Full scan
Run CCleaner - Registry cleaner and scanner
Run SuperAntiSpyware - Full scan

After all that, get a learning software firewall like Comodo. It will be a pain in the butt at first but as you allow more processes in/out, I believe you will be able to associate one of them with the 2-second pulse since it is so reproducible.

I don't know what else to try if everything in your OP is true.
 
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Thanks for the reply! Will try all those.
 
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Did try the first 4. I don't believe a new firewall would help my problem as it isn't a virus, and it isn't a network issue (I get ping around 30). It seems the lag spikes change everytime I install Windows 7. Why is this?

Alright I am gonna test out Ubuntu. Gonna see how it works/if it works better than Windows 7. If it does work better, then I bet it is my SSD causing these problems (I'm installing ubuntu on a USB Flash drive)
 
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The software firewall is for your applications. The first 4 steps should remove any malware/viruses. You need the firewall to prevent other programs from running without your permission. I suspect there is a program that is causing this spike via some sort of communication handshake or "keep alive" trigger.

If the problem was with your SSD in your PC, why would laptop also be doing this? This can't be a hardware issue within your PC if your laptop also produces this symptom...(is why I said if everything in your OP is true).

The only common link between your laptop and your PC is your network router/switch, which you said your brother is also using and his laptop is fine so we should assume your network router is OK also.

You've re-installed Windows and it still spikes? Did you wipe the drive or just install Windows on top of the old image?
 
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Complete Wipe, and installed Drivers, then installed Steam, and tested game. Still spiked.

I DID NOT delete anything from my HDD

Alright I will try the firewall.
 
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I guess I don't know what you mean by complete wipe if you didn't delete anything off your hard drive. Did you delete the partition table in Windows Setup and then recreate it for the install or did you just re-install Windows?


Complete wipe would be something like a DoD approved 3-Pass wipe( zeros, ones, zeros again)- Make a backup or ELSE!

Deleting the partition table before Windows is re-installed is usually OK, but no guarantee with viral/malware/corrupted files

Just re-installing Windows right on top of Windows only fixes system files and leaves all your data alone(not recommended for this)
 
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Installed Firewall, didn't fix the lag spikes. I tried changing some BIOS settings and my PC wouldn't start up (Stuck on the Asus logo screen, without having an option to go to bios.) Never trying that again, had to reset the CMOS battery.

Ugh I just wish my PC problems were easy to solve. This is so annoying. I have been trying to fix it for months by now. Other people have simple problems, this? Ugh there is nothing showing it. Apparently LatencyMon shows that I have problems, but it doesn't tell me what is causing it.
 
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The firewall shouldn't fix the spikes but I was hoping to prevent them upon install until you could allow it to happen knowing what caused it. If you are getting the spikes after a reboot with Comodo, it won't help you either, unfortunately.

Are you absolutely positive this is the same thing you are seeing on your laptop? Does LatMon give a report code? More importantly, does LatMon give you the same report on your laptop as it does on your PC?
 
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Sorry, got lighted up after completely becoming stupid when I was talking with an EVGA employee over the phone. Apparently one of my motherboards pcie graphics card slots doesn't work. Weird. Well. Fixed something, but still didn't check the lag spikes. Be back soon.
 
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Well, that still wouldn't fix your laptop..... Changing or fixing a piece of hardware on your PC won't fix your laptop spikes. I am beginning to think this isn't an issue.
 
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Alright. Here is something. The lag spikes are still here. But at a lesser amount? Guess adding the GPU into a different slot fixed it a bit, but right now, Asus. I am coming for you Asus. This is Asus's fault all along, and I know it. This is going to take a while to RMA (It's Asus, they have bad customer service I heard, plus when I called them they said they would email me after a long call with them. No email.) Not calling now because... well still testing this, plus it is the weekend. Hopefully I can solve this issue with replacing the motherboard, and then never have to come back here for this issue again! Thanks so much for all the replies!
 
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Hm... The thing is it doesn't happen on my brother's laptop. That is the big problem. I am going to probably return the motherboard to Asus for a new one in hopes that the new one works better.

Sorry I am barely answering your questions. I am gonna go and check my HP laptop's latency spikes to see if it is different.

Here is the error report on my PC:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:02:05 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: CLASSIFIED
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
Hardware: All Series, ASUS, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC., Z97-A
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors: 4
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8133 MB total

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 3500.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 4087.0 MHz (approx.)
Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.
Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 6969.889888
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1.703553
Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 160.328240
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0.477719

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.
Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 103.3780
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.211413
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation
Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.277075
ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 351633
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.
Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 321.613714
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 337.88 , NVIDIA Corporation
Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.271616
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: iusb3xhc.sys - Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation
Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.543250
DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 1126104
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 16
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.
NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.
Process with highest pagefault count: msmpeng.exe
Total number of hard pagefaults 1269
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1256
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 8687.884286
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.048432
Number of processes hit: 4

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.510567
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 103.3780
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 1.394065
CPU 0 ISR count: 351633
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 321.613714
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 2.600647
CPU 0 DPC count: 1075097
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.583872
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 100.046857
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.050859
CPU 1 DPC count: 15224
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.400952
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 103.311429
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.044957
CPU 2 DPC count: 17788
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.380293
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 250.1480
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.036824
CPU 3 DPC count: 18011
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That is fairly old. Gonna do a new one.
 
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New latencymon info:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:11:54 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: CLASSIFIED
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
Hardware: All Series, ASUS, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC., Z97-A
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors: 4
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8133 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 3497.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 3666.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 8204.882004
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1.659171

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 5021.055235
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0.605034


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 101.586503
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.277263
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.350397

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 1800143
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 306.614813
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 344.11 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.248724
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: iusb3xhc.sys - Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.549394

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 5996608
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 5
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: msmpeng.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 6323
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 6292
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 18637.537032
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.059889
Number of processes hit: 10


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 29.855550
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 101.586503
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 10.020264
CPU 0 ISR count: 1800143
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 306.614813
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 14.818002
CPU 0 DPC count: 5679648
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9.159456
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 120.607378
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.429315
CPU 1 DPC count: 106885
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 8.205138
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 110.376894
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.193156
CPU 2 DPC count: 93910
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.054645
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 124.896769
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.270494
CPU 3 DPC count: 116170
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
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