Why do some games lag on my PC despite meeting the recommended specs.

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680
Hi everyone.

My desktop PC specs are:
GPU: Sapphire HD 7870 OC 2GB GDDR5 (down clocked to 1000 MHz core clock and 1200 MHz memory clock with MSI Afterburner)
CPU: FX-6100 (6 cores 3.3 GHz) (factory default not OC)
Motherboard: GA-78LMT-S2P
RAM: 10 GB DDR3 (8 GB DDR3 + 2 GB DDR3)
HDD: SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA 1TB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

All the components previously mentioned are brand new.

I am getting mirco stuttering whereby the game seems to pause for a fraction of a second and then resume. This occurs regardless of graphics or resolution settings (whether low or ultra) in games like Assassin's Creed Revelations, Modern Warfare 3, Deus Ex HR and Arkham City. It does not occur in games like Crysis 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist and Dead Space 3.

Otherwise fps is at 60 and sometimes drops to 45. I am using a single GPU and do not have a crossfire or SLI set up. All the drivers are up to date. The same problem occured on another desktop PC I had which specs were: HD 5770 1GB GDDR5, Triple core CPU (3.2 GHz) can't remember the name, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, can't remember the make of the motherboard.

It seems to me that everytime the game needs to load something (textures or objects) from the HDD this stuttering occurs. For example, when I move the camera to look at somewhere else or make the character move in Assassin's Creed Revelations the stutter happens. In Modern Warfare 3 it happens regardless of whether I am moving the camera or not. I have defragmented my HDD three times now.

Does anyone know a solution to this? Bear in mind the same thing occured on another desktop I had with completely different hardware than what I have in my new build. The issue could be either a badly optimized game or badly optimized drivers, or some incompatibility between drivers and the game. All drivers are up to date as mentioned before though.

Thanks.
 
Solution
Look, you are getting the correct answers, why are you so damn resistant to accept them? Do you think this rant is going to give you a result other than what has been said?

Consoles run at 30 FPS, they use a very inaccurate and forgiving controller, so you don't notice hickups as much, and in some cases, ports are not optimized to run well on the PC.

In some cases, they play exactly as intended, but the dev's intended you to play at 40-50 FPS, and not higher and did not try to avoid CPU bottlenecks. This is the type of game you've run into, and you have a slow CPU on a core per core basis. You can OC if you want more performance, or you can get a better CPU. Complaining about is not going to help.

Clock for clock, the hardware on...

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


For an example take Assassin's Creed Revelation recommended system requirements:
AMD CPU: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ (2 cores, 3.1 GHz each core, total 6.2 GHz)
AMD GPU: HD 5670 512 MB
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Win 7 32
Directx: DX 9
HDD space: 12 GB

Now compare this with my specs:
AMD CPU: FX-6100 (6 cores, 3.31 GHz each core, total 19.86 GHz)
AMD GPU: HD 7870 2GB GDDR5
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
OS: Win 7 64
Directx: DX 11.1
HDD space: 1 TB

Now why do I have micro stuttering in this game when running it on all lowest settings at 800 x 600?

Makes no sense. I have no program running in the background. All drivers up to date. It's also been the same thing on another PC I had which had a HD 5770, 4 GB, quad core.

This has been the biggest mystery of my life so far.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


I've set affinity to 2 cores then 3 cores. The stuttering is still there except then game looks like a slide show.
 
For an example take Assassin's Creed Revelation recommended system requirements:
AMD CPU: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ (2 cores, 3.1 GHz each core, total 6.2 GHz)
AMD GPU: HD 5670 512 MB
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Win 7 32
Directx: DX 9
HDD space: 12 GB



only an idiot would believe this............ I have games from 2008 that wouldn't play on those specs.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


I see. Even so why would it not run properly on my system with the specs I have on lowest settings and res? I really think the problem is not with my hardware but with the software, in other words, with the game itself not my PC. Because bear in mind in some games I do not have any stutter whatsoever. Such as in Dead space (all of them) and Shadow Warrior just came out a few days ago. No micro stutter no lag at maxed out settings and res. Played for an hour no prob. In games where I get micro stutter it is apparent as soon as the game loads.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


Before building my new desktop, the one I'm using now which has the micro stuttering, I had another desktop which also had micro stuttering. That is why I built a new desktop thinking that I would not have this issue. I have used none of the hardware or software from the other desktop when building this new one.

The other desktop I had had a HD 5770 and quad core CPU. The OS was Win 7 64 bit.

Do you think my HDD could be causing the issue (see name of HDD at the top of this post)? Is the HDD too slow. I have read on other forums about people having the same micro stuttering as I am having. They have upgraded to a SSD. That did not solve the problem.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


Sorry but I don't have a SSD. I was just mentioning that I have read on forums that some people tried to use one in order to eliminate the micro stuttering but it did not work.
 

trogdor796

Distinguished
Nov 26, 2009
998
0
19,160
Playing on lowest settings doesn't reduce the need for a good CPU. It makes the GPU do less work, leaving most of it to the CPU. You have six cores at 3.3GHZ, but there's more to it than that. You can't just add up all the speed and get 19Ghz or whatever. It doesn't work like that. Performance per core is a big deal too. The bulldozer CPU's by AMD have REALLY BAD performance per core. So if something doesn't put all 6 cores to use, you are gonna have terrible performance since it's only using a core or two and those cores each suck at gaming.

If lowering resolution and settings doesn't help with the problem, my first guess would be CPU bottleneck. Use task manager or core temp, and I bet if you check the load on your CPU one or two cores will be insanely high while the rest are doing next to nothing.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


Each core is 3.31 GHz and there are 6 cores. Is that not enough for a game to play decently on lowest settings. I spent at least $960 to build my desktop. I can't beleive this. How much will I have to spend $30000000000 just to play AC Revelations or Arkham City on lowest settings at 800 x 600. Come on. My system is not the problem. It's the game.

And how come I can play Crysis 3 at very high textures and the rest high settings at 1920 x 1080 with 60 fps with no stuttering. And I can't play AC revelations or arkham city on lowest settings!! There is definitely something wrong with the game not my system.
 


It doesn't matter if you have 1000 cores if the game only uses 4 of them. For the most part, the CPU work needed in a game is not effected by settings (not 100% true, but mostly true). Some games will not perform well on a slow AMD hexacore CPU without overclocking. Some games even give the best Intel processors a slow down (down to 45 FPS in Crysis 3 I hear).

45 FPS is still playable. It just isn't ideal for some people.

You went the route of a budget CPU, which is fine, but you do have to live with budget performance some times as a result.
 

trogdor796

Distinguished
Nov 26, 2009
998
0
19,160
Like bystander said, settings all on low and a really low resolution still resulting and bad frames and dips specifically points to a CPU bottleneck. Lower settings doesn't make it easier for the CPU.

Budget CPU = not so great performance. My recommendation of overclocking still stands.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


How can the xbox 360 which has a triple core 3.2 GHz cpu run ac revelations without any frame skipping and freezing or micro stuttering whatever it's called and my system which has a 6 core 3.31 GHz can't even run that game on lowest settings at 800 x 600 resolution. It makes no sense. But wait yes it does. It would make sense if the answer was the game on 360 is optimized and therefore mostly bug free but the pc version is bugged and hence the micro stutter I'm experiencing. Hence the problem is not with my system but with the game.

And again how come I do not experience any micro stuttering in Cyrsis 3 at very high textures, high settings, 1080p? Wait I know the answer. Unlike AC revelations crysis 3 doesn't have any bug that will cause the game to micro stutter. Hence again the problem is not my system but the game. If my cpu could not handle AC revelations it certainly would not handle crysis 3. But it does handle crysis 3 without the micro stutter I am experiencing in AC revelations. If you say it is because crysis 3 is better optimised then yes it is. And once again the problem is with AC revelations and not my system.
 


You could get the same console experience if you want. Just set your refresh rate to 30 and turn on v-sync. Or use adaptive v-sync (half refresh rate) with Nvidia, or use RadeonPro and use dynamic v-sync with a FPS cap of 30.

Consoles generally run at 30 FPS. It doesn't matter if their CPU cores are slow as molasses, they only have to deliver FPS at 30. It is the jumping around that is making it feel uncomfortable.

Your system can deliver 30 FPS at any resolution you choose. Your system can achieve 30 FPS at near max settings, which is many times more demanding than the console version and many times better looking.

Stop bellyaching, you got what yo paid for. If you want better performance, you would have bought a better CPU, or you could overclock your existing one. I run into similar issues when I use my i7 920 at it's stock clocks of 2.67Ghz due to how old it is. However, with it overclocked to 3.9Ghz, it runs quite nicely.
 

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


You could get the same console experience if you want. Just set your refresh rate to 30 and turn on v-sync. Or use adaptive v-sync (half refresh rate) with Nvidia, or use RadeonPro and use dynamic v-sync with a FPS cap of 30.

Consoles generally run at 30 FPS. It doesn't matter if their CPU cores are slow as molasses, they only have to deliver FPS at 30. It is the jumping around that is making it feel uncomfortable.

Your system can deliver 30 FPS at any resolution you choose. Your system can achieve 30 FPS at near max settings, which is many times more demanding than the console version and many times better looking.

Stop bellyaching, you got what yo paid for. If you want better performance, you would have bought a better CPU, or you could overclock your existing one. I run into similar issues when I use my i7 920 at it's stock clocks of 2.67Ghz due to how old it is. However, with it overclocked to 3.9Ghz, it runs quite nicely.[/quotemsg]

I have already tried capping the fps at 30 with Dxtory. Tried vsync enabled and disabled. The micro stuttering does not stop. Does it make sense to you that a game on lowest settings would require more than a six core cpu to run? Perhaps I should make myself clear about what I mean when I say micro stuttering. In some games I get this behaviour where the game runs at a constant 60 fps or above, if I disable vsync, but then as I make the character move forward or move the camera I experience freezing for a fraction of a second and the frame skips. As though the pc paused for a fraction of a second to load something in the game. Otherwise it runs at 60 fps. This freezing also happens on lowest settings and resolution. I do not know what you should call this behaviour but it is at its worse in Modern Warfare 3 even on lowest settings.

Now please explain why modern warfare 3 at lowest settings and all settings off at 800 x 600 should freeze for fractions of a second as though it cannot stream or load what it needs to fast enough, on a system as I described at the top of this post. As I said Crysis 3 i have no problem of micro stutter or freezing the game runs at 1080p very high textures and high settings smooth. Why would it not run proper for modern warfare 3 on lowest settings and res??

The problem is not the hardware but the software. Everyone who replies to this post seems to neglect the fact that my systen runs crysis 3 without micro stuttering but less demanding games such as modern warfare 3 or AC revelations get micro stuttering. Please take into account that my system is not shit. It can run crysis 3 on very high textures and high settings. That is not negligable so stop telling me that I get what I pay for.
 
Look, you are getting the correct answers, why are you so damn resistant to accept them? Do you think this rant is going to give you a result other than what has been said?

Consoles run at 30 FPS, they use a very inaccurate and forgiving controller, so you don't notice hickups as much, and in some cases, ports are not optimized to run well on the PC.

In some cases, they play exactly as intended, but the dev's intended you to play at 40-50 FPS, and not higher and did not try to avoid CPU bottlenecks. This is the type of game you've run into, and you have a slow CPU on a core per core basis. You can OC if you want more performance, or you can get a better CPU. Complaining about is not going to help.

Clock for clock, the hardware on a PC is far superior, but a console is exactly the same as the next one, so dev's can fine tune software to get the most out of a console, where as PC's have very general code that requires drivers in between the hardware and software to function. Because of the 1000's of possibilities, there will be some cases where things don't perform optimal. In general, Intel CPU's get more attention as they are by far the most used.
 
Solution

semichaud1

Honorable
Aug 4, 2013
132
0
10,680


My point exactly regarding everything you just said. Thanks. Conclusion some pc games are not optimized enough for my system and others are. This is what I was trying to get at this whole time I was "ranting".
 

rm5081

Reputable
Sep 8, 2014
10
0
4,520
Unless it's a typo, you you have a 1TB ATA drive? That can not be. You have this: Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA-3G.

Either way, it could very well be your input device - mouse. I had an Evoluent USB wired mouse, that started to fail. What it would do was lose connection with the computer for a second, and the driver would need to be reloaded. One would never know it was happening unless you were looking at the mouse icon on the task bar the moment it happened. I got the mouse replaced, and the hiccup no longer occurred.

That problem happened with everything though, your's seems to be with some software. Perhaps you have a bad install of some gaming mouse driver, it's software, a programmable keyboard, webcam, etc. Check your input devices, maybe pull them and replace with standard vanilla versions and check for your hiccup. Also uninstall any special input software for peripherals like mouse, KB, CAM, external HDD, etc.

You've exhausted internal hardware, look at your external peripherals and their settings.

Another possibility, check your Advanced Power Management settings, though it would affect everything, perhaps you are running in balanced mode instead of High Power, Gaming etc. Just worth the 5 second look.

Best of luck!