CPU performance hit in 3.2?

[Ashnak]

Hi all,

not sure whether this should even go in DD, pretty sure it's not a bug report (but may be wrong here) and couldn't think of a real suitable subforum, so here we go.

I think I saw a similar rthread regarding 3.2 some days ago, but didn't see this problem on my end at that time. My problem: I get a hit to performance when playing ED (in VR). It seems to be correlated to the number of ships in the instance, maybe the number of objects (don't have time to do a reasonable series of tests). What I see is severe stuttering when e.g. fighting in asteroid belts or (also docked) inside stations. Frame rate drop to 45 FPS is as expected, but that's not it - the image simply stutters when I move my head, as if the tracking has trouble to follow my movements.

Other details:
FPS: stable 45 (i.e. probably ASW)
GPU load in the 60s-70s
CPU load in the 80s (was lower before, thoiugh cannot say how much, ISTR 60s to 70s)

So I think I see an increase in the CPU load, while GPU load is high, but stable.

Picture is fine if I'm not fighting in a ring - trade CG or exploration runs as smooth as ever.

Setup: i5/4690k with moderate OC, GTX 1080, Oculus Rift

It may be the game update, it may be the Windows update/recent HW bug workarounds distributed by MS.

Since this is probably unfixable, short of getting a new rig - has anyone seen a similar behaviour? And if yes, which of the game/graphics options is affecting this behaviour the most?

I'll flag this post for the mods to move into an appropriate subforum, so if anyone reads this [smile], don't worry about this moving around.

 

[the100thmonkey]

The only thing I would suggest is trying a selection of both newer and older GPU drivers.

Personally, with the latest patch, I've seen the return of the half-second "glitch" where the whole game seems to jump. It's a little jarring on a panel (I gave up on VR a long time ago because I can't do simple things like take a swig out of a glass); I imagine that in VR such a thing would be rather more disorienting, especially in combat (provided it's the same issue, of course).

 

[Jenner]

I'll flag this post for the mods to move into an appropriate subforum, so if anyone reads this [smile], don't worry about this moving around.

Since you mention this occurs while playing in VR I'll move it into the VR forum.

 

[rhiz]

Hi Ashnak – I'm not sure that I have anything particularly insightful to add, but I thought I’d mention that I haven’t noticed any issues in VR since the update. I’m running a faster CPU with the i7 7700k and 16gb of ram, but a much weaker GPU in the GTX 1060 6gb (no super sampling) – so you might be on the right track.

A long shot, but I had untold issues when I first bought my Rift. The Rift would start stuttering and having severe tracking issues (freezing, jumping etc). This would occur predictably over time though, regardless of graphical demands, so I suspected some kind of memory leak. In the end it turned out to be an issue with one of my motherboard apps causing serious DPC latency issues, so it's quite possible that an automatic update of some kind is the culprit. In my case, simply uninstalling the offending app solved the issue - Asus swore that their software wasn't at fault, so it may have been conflicting with some other element on my system. It took multiple clean installs and a completely unnecessary replacement Rift before I solved the issue.

Check out Thesycon's DPC Latency Checker to see if your system is having problems in this area – might help to narrow it down.

 

[rhiz]

Tracking issues would suggest the CPU or a problem with your USB to me.

 

[Ashnak]

I have a suspicion... I just fired up EDDiscovery after a computer restart (usually, I have that nminimized) and saw a metric biowasteload of screenshots. Checking in the screenshots directory, there are over 1,000 of them. My guess is that either one of my cats stepped/slept on the screenshot trigger button or the headset cable pushed on it (I have an additional numpad to get a few more buttons), creating a high additional CPU and I/O load.

 

[The Gael]

I have a suspicion... I just fired up EDDiscovery after a computer restart (usually, I have that nminimized) and saw a metric biowasteload of screenshots. Checking in the screenshots directory, there are over 1,000 of them. My guess is that either one of my cats stepped/slept on the screenshot trigger button or the headset cable pushed on it (I have an additional numpad to get a few more buttons), creating a high additional CPU and I/O load.

This is for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdOPBP9vuZA

 

[CylonSurfer]

Depending on how long it has been since you have played your performance loss may be due to the Spectre / Meltdown patches which impact CPU performance.

 

[TorTorden_VR]

Depending on how long it has been since you have played your performance loss may be due to the Spectre / Meltdown patches which impact CPU performance.

There has been no tested or reported drop in gaming performance due to spectre or meltdown.

Unless you where already maxing cpu use to 100% before those patches you wouldn't notice even if they did.

 

[CylonSurfer]

There has been no tested or reported drop in gaming performance due to spectre or meltdown.

Unless you where already maxing cpu use to 100% before those patches you wouldn't notice even if they did.

I was reading this earlier.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/9gr3xs/_i_disabled_spectre_meltdown_patch_and_gained/

Something changed with performance in this game earlier this year, it could be due to beyond updates... it might be Windows updates... something aint right though.

 

[TorTorden_VR]

A lot of things happen in the background with this game.

Pretty during 3.1 I was getting some odd hiccups, mostly around where ASW triggers, and I was mostly running the game with settings tuned to reach 90fps alway.

So no SMAA, oculus tray tool to disable Spacewarp and debug to 1.3.

Anything more, and I might as well lock to spacewarp, and I was still seeing drops sometimes into the 70fps, but no more than a second or so.

Currently to me, 3.2 has been a noticeable improvement, I have enabled spacewarp, Id rather not need it, but when I do I it's a lot better than not. And it seems to trigger a lot less as well.

As for Elite.
Well it can be all kinds of culprits, heck I'm certain even server or random traffic patterns around the internet will affect FPS.

For instance I often get smoother game play on a Wednesday afternoon than I ever do on a Sunday.

And that's even while playing solo...

 

[CylonSurfer]

A lot of things happen in the background with this game.

Pretty during 3.1 I was getting some odd hiccups, mostly around where ASW triggers, and I was mostly running the game with settings tuned to reach 90fps alway.

So no SMAA, oculus tray tool to disable Spacewarp and debug to 1.3.

Anything more, and I might as well lock to spacewarp, and I was still seeing drops sometimes into the 70fps, but no more than a second or so.

Currently to me, 3.2 has been a noticeable improvement, I have enabled spacewarp, Id rather not need it, but when I do I it's a lot better than not. And it seems to trigger a lot less as well.

As for Elite.
Well it can be all kinds of culprits, heck I'm certain even server or random traffic patterns around the internet will affect FPS.

For instance I often get smoother game play on a Wednesday afternoon than I ever do on a Sunday.

And that's even while playing solo...

Networking certainly does play a part. I can have 90FPS on a planet surface in my SRV, if a friend joins me in the same location my frame rate can plumet.

 

[TorTorden_VR]

Networking certainly does play a part. I can have 90FPS on a planet surface in my SRV, if a friend joins me in the same location my frame rate can plumet.

yeah, playing in a wing would cost me about 40% headroom give or take, funny is I have never seen Elite have any more than 5% headroom regardless of settings.

And I'm on an i7 8700k, and a 1080ti.

 

[CylonSurfer]

Indeed - I'm a i7 6700k and a 1080Ti.

I upgraded to a Vive Pro recently which I find actually runs smoother than my Rift when it comes to Elite. Then again I no longer need to run any SS and have even found myself happier to lower most settings as the experience overall looks much better than when I ran it on a Rift with pretty much everything maxed and SS set to 1.3.

ASW and Elite just didn't mix well in my opinion, I think I'm far too susceptible to the slight "jerk" when it enables / disables. It drove me mad, particularly in areas when it would enable / diable in quick sucsession. More often than not ASW enabled when it wasn't need in Elite - I wish you could set the threshold yourself.