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

semichaud1

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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...
pull odd ram. run your matched pairs in the proper slots.

check tessellation settings in game. turn them off or to lowest possible settings. tinker with shadow settings.

go to windows update. install updates, especially any netframework updates. after the machine reboots. go back to windows update.

after that, and while you're still at that site, go to the search bar and look for DX updates.
 

semichaud1

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Thanks for the reply.

Game like AC Revelations, Arkham City, etc. lags even on lowest settings with everything off and resolution at 800x600.

I have already tried running the games with the 8gb ram stick only (tried each of both slots) and have also tried 2 x 2gb ram matched pairs. Also on my previous desktop with different components (see specs above) Arkham City, Deus ex HR, etc. were stuttering just like on my new build.

Will try again for windows updates and will search for dx updates. Thanks
 

semichaud1

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I did the windows updates but the stuttering is still there. I forgot to mention that Amnesia a Machine for Pigs also stutters like crazy and I don't think that should be happening with a HD 7870 and FX-6100 6 core CPU.
 

semichaud1

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Thanks but the desktop build is brand new including motherboard and cpu.

Stuttering in video games might just be a fact of life, a bit like death. :) You just have to accept it, can't fight it.
 
reset cmos........... don't care how new the machine is. if everything was running right you shouldn't be having those problems.

you may also need to work inside the CCC and in the games control panel.

you may also have a sound driver conflict.............. remove or disable hdmi sound.
 

semichaud1

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Thanks for your replies and advice. Appreciate it.

I am quite apprehensive about messing with cmos or bios because I have spent a lot of money on the components and don't wish to see any of them unable to function at all because I am inexperienced when it comes to cmos and bios.

For sound I am using 7.1 surround Gamecom Plantronics headphones and it connects to the pc via usb. The stutter still occurs whether I am using a headphone with mini jack connected to the pc or hdmi connected to the hdtv. I have tried disabling all playback and recording devices except for the plantronics headphones, games still stutter.

I have tried disabling all settings in CCC. No luck.

If you have AC revelations or Amnesia a machine for pigs, do you get stuttering as well? There a lot of people getting stutters in Amnesia for example. There is a youtube clip showing how to modify installation files to stop the stutters in amnesia. Doing research on the net I see that other people are complaining about stutters in the same games I get stuttering in. Could this mean there is nothing wrong with my desktop pc but rather something wrong with these games?
 
if you're not using the sound associated with the on board sound, here it comes, disable it in the BIOS.......... do it after you reset cmos.............. resetting cmos does nothing but set machine back to "stock" configuration. and I don't care if you didn't touch anything during assembly.

or you can try disabling the onboard sound ( realtek maybe? ) in the device manager. ( start-right click computer-properties-device manager. )

you can also look in control panel/sound......... make sure device you are using is enabled/not pointing to realtek or hdmi.
don't know anything about Amnesia.............. just can't remember.......haha.
 

semichaud1

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Thanks again. I tried everything you suggested except for reseting cmos. I really prefer not to mess with that. I know it will only reset to default but I would go mad if I were unable to use my pc. I have been programming an rpg for some time now and am quite scared of the pc not starting for whatever reason as a result of me having messed something up. I've got back ups of the program of course but I prefer to use my desktop than the crappy laptop I have. Sorry. Besides there are a lot of people experiencing the same stuttering in the same games as I am and all the forums seem to be saying that the developers need to patch the games. But of course they seldom do so. If I want a lag free game guaranteed I guess the best option these days is a console. Thanks.
 

semichaud1

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Hi, thanks. Temperature is at 27 when not gaming and at 37 when gaming according to msi afterburner. I also have my casing open and a usb fan pointed at the gpu and cpu constantly. I really think it's either a software or driver issue because there does not seem to be anything wrong with hardware. Plus I had stuttering on a previous build with completely different components. It sucks after working my behind off to have bought a HD 7870 at over £200 and a cpu at £200 and motherboard at almost £200 and ram at £60 and still experience stuttering when my hardware is way above recommended specs for the games in which I experience stuttering even on lowest settings and resolution. I'm losing faith in any man made stuff but mostly in the pc gaming industry. I used to be a console gamer (ps3) back in 2008 then I switched to PC in 2009 and started assembling my own desktop pcs from 2009. The only time I have not experienced stuttering in a game was when I used to game on my GTS 250, my first gaming card. Then when I started buying more powerful cards: HD 5770 and HD 7870 then the stuttering started happening. I even get stuttering in arkham asylum using HD 7870. Go figure.
 
shut down windows auto updates.
shut down auto driver updates.

is the 7870 the only card you used? did you have nvidia installed before? did you uninstall the nvidia drivers before you installed and ran drivers for other card? try uninstalling your drivers ( amd ) and even nvidia if they are there.

when machine reboots let windows find it. then do a custom/advanced install and only install the graphics drivers. nothing else. what happens?
 

semichaud1

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Yeah, I have the auto updates off in windows. It only updates when I chose it to. I used an HD 5770, GTS 250 and GT440 in previous builds. Currently I am using a HD 7870 with my new build (new motherboard, new cpu, new psu, new hdd). Whenever I install a GPU I completely remove all graphics drivers and install the ones for the new GPU. There are no nvidia drivers left on my HDD since I have swapped the GT440 I was using with a HD 7870 and installed the drivers for that card.

I had already tried uninstalling all amd drivers and letting them reinstall a few months ago.
 

semichaud1

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Thanks. I'll give it a shot. I remember that my nvidia gt440 was stuttering after installing the drivers on the cd and then updating the drivers on the internet. It was only after I uninstalled some other video capture and gpu monitoring programs that was on the cd and got installed automatically when I installed the nvidia drivers for the first time. After uninstalling those programs the stuttering was gone. I read online that the video capture program was causing this.

Regarding amd drivers though I did not notice anything other than the video drivers installing when I installed them for the HD 7870. I'll give your suggestion a shot.
 

semichaud1

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Thanks again. No luck however with the resintallation. Months ago I went into msconfig and disabled all startup programs except for antivirus, ccc, and 7.1 surround usb headphones drivers gamecom sound program. All services are ticked and load on boot. I tried disabling all services except for all microsoft services. No difference in performance in games. Tried enabling all start up programs still no difference in performance in games only thing the pc takes slightly more time to start.

I have been reading a lot on the net about stuttering. There is an article which basically states that micro stuttering affects high end system specifically, even single gpu set ups and no one knows, not even the game developers, why stuttering happens on certain systems and not on others. Just yesterday I got Shadow Warrior. Bran new game and just came out. No stuttering at all. It is running perfectly on my system at maxed out settings at 1920 x 1080, 60 Hz. But Assassins Creed Revelations, Arkham City and all these games I mentioned previously they still stutter constantly. I wish a professional could play on my system and see what I'm talking about. It is ridiculous because the stutter happens even on lowest settings possible at 800 x 600. Can you imagine a HD 7870 and FX-6100 (6 core 3.31 GHz) not being able to run Modern Warfare 3, AC Revelations and Arkham City without stutter on lowest settings with every graphics effects turned off at 800 x 600? I think something is definitly wrong with these games and not my system.
 

semichaud1

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Yeah I tried that already. Still stutters.
 

semichaud1

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Yeah but how can I have a cpu bottle neck with a CPU that has 6 cores 3.3 GHz each core (19.8 GHz in total), and running a game at lowest settings with everything turned off and on very low and with resolution set to 800 x 600?? That makes no sense. By the way the frame rate is at 60 Hz constantly except micro stuttering occurs and the game freezes for a fraction of a second every time I move or look in another direction by then the frame rate drops quickly then comes back to 60 Hz.