Packet Loss w/ New Computer

[jrouth]

So I recently built a new computer about two weeks ago, and ever since it has been giving me nothing but trouble. I'm not too sure if it has to do with hardware or with network, but it seems to be completely related to network. The problem that I have been dealing with is packet loss in any online game that I have played. My old PC never had this problem and if I was dealing with any lag (which was rare) then just resetting the modem/router would always fix the problem.

I apologize for the length of this post in advance, but I would like to be as descriptive as possible.

The specs to my PC are as follows;
OS: Windows 10 64 bit
PSU: Seasonic Focus 750w
MB: ASRock AB350 Pro4 ATX
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080
RAM: 32GB (2x16) DDR4 3000 (clocked at 2933 MHz)
Storage: 1TB Crucial MX300 SSD + 4TB Seagate IronWolf Pro HDD 7200 RPM

I have a Motorola modem and a NetGear Router, not sure of the exact models but I can get that info if need be.

Basically, this is not like normal lag that you experience where your player will usually be stuck in one spot and then will teleport to another, this lag is like constant stuttering. The game is playable, but not enjoyable at all as everything I do feels as if it is a half second behind. The packet loss is most noticeable in games that require quick reaction time such as Counter Strike: GO.

When playing these games, I will activate the net_graph command in the console so that I can monitor FPS as well as any internet connection stats/info. My packet loss is going up to 30% at times. It will usually spike up to 30%, go back down to 0%, and then spike back up + just keep repeating this cycle. However, the stuttering/lag is noticeable even when the loss is showing as 0%. This is happening in any game with an online connection.

As previously mentioned, I just built this computer recently, and have never had any problems with packet loss on my old CPU. I also just recently bought the NetGear router thinking that would solve the problem, which it did not.

What's more strange is that all of my connection tests are showing that there is nothing wrong. The results are typically as follows:
Ping: 6-15 Ms
Download: 10-30 Mbps
Upload: 5-20 Mbps

Other solutions/troubleshooting I've tried:
• Purchase new Router
• Reset + Power Off/On the Modem + Router many times
• Toy with game settings + Launch options that supposedly help with packet loss
• Uninstall/Reinstall Steam and all of my games
• Verify integrity of game cache on all games
• Ping my own IP as well as Google's IP (all packets sent + received, 0% lost)
• Tried various commands in the command prompt on Windows, such as:
- netsh winsock reset
- netsh int ip reset
- ipconfig /release
- ipconfig /renew
- ipconfig /flushdns
- netsh int ip reset reset.log
• Uninstall + Reinstall network drivers
• Edit Firewall settings
• Used the "Network Reset" option in the Windows settings which prompted a restart
• Unplug + Plug back in all cables connected to both Modem + Router
• Troubleshoot the Network in Windows, no issues found

Sometimes resetting the Modem + Router will solve the problem for a few hours but then it will go back to having packet loss. Other times, resetting these devices has no impact whatsoever.

Being that I cannot find any issues in my troubleshooting, and the fact that my old computer didn't have these issues a few weeks ago, all of this brings me to my questions:

• Is it possible that my problems could somehow be Hardware/Driver related?
• If I buy a new modem as well, is there a good chance that will fix my issues?
• My ISP is Xfinity, but being that I do not rent out their Modem/Router will they even be willing to send a technician to diagnose and solve my issues? I figure they will probably give me problems saying that they cannot diagnose a product that isn't theirs.

I really appreciate any and all help. Thank you in advance!!

 

[smorizio]

start with the cheap and simple stuff.
,ake sure the mb bios is up to date to rule out a bios bug.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350%20Pro4/#BIOS
use a new cable that cat 6. if there a lot of noise or cross noise from the pc and the ethenet cable is picking it up can cause issues.
go t oamd and realteck web sites see if the mb xhipset and ethnet drivers are newer then one posted on the mb vendor web page. use msconfig see what running at start up or back ground. amd/nvidia experience acts like spyware. turn it of or remove it.

 

[smashjohn]

I know you ran a ping, but did you run an extended ping? (ping www.google.com -t) Packet loss situations can be very inconsistent and a test should be run for 5-10 minutes.

You can also run use DSLREPORTS website tools to run a SmokePing and Line Quality test to determine if there is a problem on your ISP's side.

 

[jrouth]

start with the cheap and simple stuff.
,ake sure the mb bios is up to date to rule out a bios bug.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350%20Pro4/#BIOS
use a new cable that cat 6. if there a lot of noise or cross noise from the pc and the ethenet cable is picking it up can cause issues.
go t oamd and realteck web sites see if the mb xhipset and ethnet drivers are newer then one posted on the mb vendor web page. use msconfig see what running at start up or back ground. amd/nvidia experience acts like spyware. turn it of or remove it.

Still having the same issues.

I recently updated the MB BIOS, maybe just a week or two ago, so I don't believe that's the problem. Also, I'm using a cat6 Ethernet cable already.

A few days ago I uninstalled the GeForce Experience app if that's what you're talking about because I've heard it can cause some complications and that it's basically useless outside of checking for driver updates. I haven't checked msconfig yet, but I have disabled anything that isn't necessary on the "Startup" tab of the Task Manager.

Yesterday I updated the chipset drivers and that didn't solve the problem. I'm going to check on Realtek's website after work to see if there is an updated version of the Ethernet driver that I am using.

If there is an updated version of that driver, I will be sure to let you know if that solves my issues.

Thanks!

 

[jrouth]

I know you ran a ping, but did you run an extended ping? (ping www.google.com -t) Packet loss situations can be very inconsistent and a test should be run for 5-10 minutes.

You can also run use DSLREPORTS website tools to run a SmokePing and Line Quality test to determine if there is a problem on your ISP's side.

I ran an extended ping test for about 20 minutes yesterday and still the same results. All sent, all received, none lost. Also figured I would mention that I also ran an extended ping test on the old computer (gave it to my dad) and one packet was lost on that test.

I'll check out DSLREPORTS tonight and see if there is a problem on my ISP's side of things.

Thanks!

 

[bill001g]

So where are you actually seeing the packet loss if extended pings shows no loss.

If you are seeing this in some game tool do you see the same loss when you run constant ping from a window in the background. Do you see ping loss if you run a constant ping on a different computer using the same modem/router when the game says you have loss.

It may also depend on what you ping. Generally 8.8.8.8 is good enough to find network issues since it likely tests to a server in a city very close to you. There maybe issues farther away so you could ping the game server but you may not be able to get thing like this fixed if the problem is in devices far away outside your ISP control.

 

[jrouth]

So where are you actually seeing the packet loss if extended pings shows no loss.

If you are seeing this in some game tool do you see the same loss when you run constant ping from a window in the background. Do you see ping loss if you run a constant ping on a different computer using the same modem/router when the game says you have loss.

It may also depend on what you ping. Generally 8.8.8.8 is good enough to find network issues since it likely tests to a server in a city very close to you. There maybe issues farther away so you could ping the game server but you may not be able to get thing like this fixed if the problem is in devices far away outside your ISP control.

I'm not seeing any loss during ping tests, only in game. That's why I've wondered if this problem can somehow be hardware or driver related and that's also why I've been so puzzled. It seems as though there is no issue with the internet yet I am still getting packet loss

I did the extended ping test, ping on my own IP, and a ping on 8.8.8.8. I've received the same results every time...all packets sent, all packets received, 0% lost.

 

[bill001g]

These are really hard to find. If it does not impact a background window then it is not something like a cpu overload or hung driver causing it. It also pretty much says the ethernet driver and all the network stack in the OS are fine. If it was a true network issue the background window would be impacted also. Since a background ping runs fine even when the game is active it eliminates most things.

This leaves the game itself. Although it really doesn't make a lot of sense I have seen multiple people post here that changing video settings fixed their ping problems in various games. Since the video and network are not related since the video does not actually run over the network I would have said that is impossible. Unfortunately games are very secretive about how things work especially related to networking where manipulation of packet delays is a common way to cheat. I would first try to run the video at the minimum options with everything turned off that you can try.

After that I don't really know what to suggest. You could hope the game forums have some ideas. Unfortunately many of the tools to troubleshoot issues like this the anti cheat programs decide are hacking. Then again the anti cheat programs cause issues like this themselves.

 

[smashjohn]

Is it possible that your game is stuttering as opposed to the network lagging? I suspect that this isn't a network issue at all, but rather a performance issue. Not that your computer can't handle it, but rather something is mucking up the works. I'm seeing a lot of posts about game stutter on new Ryzen builds; with simple fixes. Or it could be something else entirely.

 

[jrouth]

Is it possible that your game is stuttering as opposed to the network lagging? I suspect that this isn't a network issue at all, but rather a performance issue. Not that your computer can't handle it, but rather something is mucking up the works. I'm seeing a lot of posts about game stutter on new Ryzen builds; with simple fixes. Or it could be something else entirely.

Even as I was posting on this forum, I didn't believe that this was a network issue in any way. That's why at the end of my original post I asked if this could be caused by any driver/hardware related issues. I posted on the Network forum because literally EVERY post I've read online has attributed packet loss to network and network only.

It's an absolute fact that I am receiving packet loss (1-30%). After many tests where I found nothing wrong with the network, I did start to wonder if there was a piece to the puzzle that was simply just missing.

Now that I've read your post, I am basically going to rule out any network issues as all of my tests within the command prompt have showed no packet loss. Rather, I am going to move on to troubleshooting different components of my build, as well as do some research online to see what others with similar problems have done to solve the issue.

If you can recall any of those posts or perhaps the solution that the OP of those posts found, please let me know, or provide a link if you can. Otherwise, thanks for your response, I believe it's helped me rule out a big question mark in my mind.

 

[jrouth]

These are really hard to find. If it does not impact a background window then it is not something like a cpu overload or hung driver causing it. It also pretty much says the ethernet driver and all the network stack in the OS are fine. If it was a true network issue the background window would be impacted also. Since a background ping runs fine even when the game is active it eliminates most things.

This leaves the game itself. Although it really doesn't make a lot of sense I have seen multiple people post here that changing video settings fixed their ping problems in various games. Since the video and network are not related since the video does not actually run over the network I would have said that is impossible. Unfortunately games are very secretive about how things work especially related to networking where manipulation of packet delays is a common way to cheat. I would first try to run the video at the minimum options with everything turned off that you can try.

After that I don't really know what to suggest. You could hope the game forums have some ideas. Unfortunately many of the tools to troubleshoot issues like this the anti cheat programs decide are hacking. Then again the anti cheat programs cause issues like this themselves.

After reading smashjohn's last post, I really don't even believe that this is a network issue even though I am receiving packet loss. I doubted that this was a network issue in the first place because I wasn't receiving packet loss or bad connection stats on ANY tests that I was doing, whether it be a simple speedtest or a ping test.

I'm pretty much out of solutions as far as network goes, as I've tweaked all kinds of settings + bought a new router and nothing has worked.

Guess I'm going to move on to other things. Thanks much for your help man, really appreciate it.

 

[smashjohn]

Is it possible that your game is stuttering as opposed to the network lagging? I suspect that this isn't a network issue at all, but rather a performance issue. Not that your computer can't handle it, but rather something is mucking up the works. I'm seeing a lot of posts about game stutter on new Ryzen builds; with simple fixes. Or it could be something else entirely.

Even as I was posting on this forum, I didn't believe that this was a network issue in any way. That's why at the end of my original post I asked if this could be caused by any driver/hardware related issues. I posted on the Network forum because literally EVERY post I've read online has attributed packet loss to network and network only.

It's an absolute fact that I am receiving packet loss (1-30%). After many tests where I found nothing wrong with the network, I did start to wonder if there was a piece to the puzzle that was simply just missing.

Now that I've read your post, I am basically going to rule out any network issues as all of my tests within the command prompt have showed no packet loss. Rather, I am going to move on to troubleshooting different components of my build, as well as do some research online to see what others with similar problems have done to solve the issue.

If you can recall any of those posts or perhaps the solution that the OP of those posts found, please let me know, or provide a link if you can. Otherwise, thanks for your response, I believe it's helped me rule out a big question mark in my mind.

The things I've seen recently are related to problems with power management (disable it), software that controls motherboard LEDs (uninstall it), and software that monitors/controls CPU coolers (uninstall it). They all seem to be simple fixes that touch on software/setting you normally probably wouldn't suspect during troubleshooting. Do a search for "ryzen stutter" and see if anything pops for you. Would love to know what you discover when you find the solution.