I'm getting quite sharted off lately with CPU lag. It's really quite intolerable. When it gets pretty bad, I get kicked for PB heartbeats, handshaking, etc.

Here is an example:

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/5818/usage.jpg

 

See how both cores max out for about 10-15 seconds, then good for 10-15 seconds, then maxed out for 10-15...

 

I close down just about everything before playing, so nothing else should be using much of the CPU. PR doesn't really take much to run, and never has used this much. This is really giving me the irits, and is preventing me from enjoying PR.

 

I've not done any changes as of late, and have scanned for viruses, etc.

 

If anyone has any experience with this, or any ideas of what may be the cause, I would love to hear from you.

Regards,

Numbers

If you have dual screens, watch Task Manager's Processes tab while you're playing. Sort it by CPU and when you get these spikes, find what process it is. Once you know what process it is, find out what executable it belongs to and go from there.

Unfortunately I do not have multi monitors, I tried watching the processes tab whilst alt-tabbed, but in the action, but nothing abnormal shows up there.

system hasn't overheated recently? been hotter than normal?

Can you post up your specs please numbers?

 

Don't think it's anything to do with them though, if you have been playing for ages with no problem. Is there anything you have recently installed that could be causing it? Or better yet, how long has the problem been going on for?

 

Maybe a defrag + Cclean could work?

Check to see if any harmful programs are sucking up all your power e.g. viruses , malware ect...

Check to see if any harmful programs are sucking up all your power e.g. viruses , malware, shady ect ...

 

^ Lol

 

You most likely have some kind of nasty virus on your computer like shady said

Or your virus checker is too active and scanning while you play.

You could try playing windowed with task manager up and see what progs are using all your cpu cycles and lagging your game.

I suspect its your antivir .

:hi:

system hasn't overheated recently? been hotter than normal?

 

Yes, it was rather hot today. When it gets hot on days like today, I usually make sure the intake is clear of dust, and I also prop the back of the lappy up with a book to ensure there is enough airflow underneath. Had no problems last summer when it felt like it would melt.

 

Can you post up your specs please numbers?

 

Don't think it's anything to do with them though, if you have been playing for ages with no problem. Is there anything you have recently installed that could be causing it? Or better yet, how long has the problem been going on for?

 

Maybe a defrag + Cclean could work?

 

It's an Asus F3Jv T7200 2.0GHz, 2GB Ram, 32-bit Vista Business latest updates etc. I have it scheduled to do a defrags and virus scans every week.

 

The problem has been getting gradually worse, starting from the BF2 1.5 patch and the PR 0.874 release. It would drop down to about 15fps but only for one or two seconds, and only every minute or so.

 

I had trend micro internet security installed at that point in time, and that did put a bit of extra strain on the processor. I recently uninstalled trend micro and installed the free AVG. There was a noticable improvement in performance, but still the usage spikes. And since then, the problem has gotten exponentially worse - makes me think virus, but how/why?

 

Or your virus checker is too active and scanning while you play.

You could try playing windowed with task manager up and see what progs are using all your cpu cycles and lagging your game.

I suspect its your antivir .

:hi:

 

The above should answer your question too. I'm not sure that is AVG going bananas, but I'll try windowed mode and see. There was once that I found windows defender was doing one of its stupid scans that takes weeks to complete.

I used to have AVG on my lappy (Asus M50VC - 2.3ghz, 2GB RAM, 9300M) but I switched to Avast just because it apparently picks more things up.

 

I myself had no problems with AVG when playing, except when I forgot I had the scans set to my school timetable, and when I came home I would be playing with a scan running.

 

Try starting windows in safe mode then running a scan using AVG (When in safe mode, it doesn't let non-essential programmes run, or something like that, and the virus can't hide as easy + AVG has a safe mode scanner built in so it's a win win situation)

Yeah boot into safe mode and scan it.. I recommend Malwarebytes as well.. Saved me many times

 

www.malwarebytes.org - Gets rid of the Nasties

 

www.ccleaner.com - Clean up all your PC, may be affecting it as well.. also fixes your registry

 

www.kessels.biz/JkDefrag/ - A VERY good Defragger (imo)

Edited October 18, 200915 yr by f00bear

Haha Shady, as soon as I saw your post I remember this particular episode of an awesome show.

 

Not gonna link it here cause it is too rude etc. but I'll send you a PM.

Strange enough, I've had a similar problem. Anytime doing something my CPU usage for my Quad core would jump to 100% with no extra processes or applications. It used to take around 5-10 minutes to drop again.

 

All I did to fix was MAJOR HDD cleanup. Uninstall every game and every "non-serious program(stuff like Nokia connectivity, video editing programs etc..)"

and cleanup of My Documents. Basicly huge reorganise.

 

Then defrag, ccleaner(cleaned up 1GB of unused computer files like temp files and windows components), virus scans with Spybot, COMODO, AVG & Adaware.

 

Re-install all games on another partition drive. Everything running smooth, not one stall.

So last night after the server died, I went on in windowed mode and had a little play around.

 

Is it just me, or does it run heaps better in windowed mode?

 

Here is the resource monitor after about an hour of play:

 

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9778/usage2.jpg

 

Things to note:

BF2.exe only requires about 50% CPU. Highest I recall was about 60%.

PnkBstrB.exe - what a bitch. I think some of the problem lies with this guy. PB will hog up to about 20% whenever it wants. Not sure if that'll change depending on the number of players on the server.

sqlservr.exe - seems to want to have peaks like PB, but only half as often.

Also, an executable called audiodg.exe wanted to use about 20% every now and then. I was a little suspicious as I had never seen it before. I closed it, and sure enough, the sound stopped - so that's my audio driver.

 

I think the biggest problem is that blue line on the CPU graph. CPU Throttle. I noticed that the system seems to decide how much power it wants to give the CPU, whenever it wants. At some stages, it even thought it could get away with 33%! Even though I have the following settings in the power options:

 

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5729/powermanage.jpg

 

So I thought that if it is overriding the system settings, then it must be because it is getting a bit warm. So I picked up the lappy and gave it a few good puffs (like the old Nintendo cartridges), and sure enough, it throttled up. I did this a few times, just to make sure it wasn't a coincidence.

 

So it looks like I might have to invest in some sort of cooling regime if I am going to play PR this summer. The alternative is to buy a proper rig, which is six months off yet.

Gawd, I'm an idiot. I should've thought of that as soon as you said you were on an ASUS laptop.

 

Does your laptop have POWER4GEAR - HIGH PERFORMANCE in the power settings? Turn that on if it does. My computer can't even run movies properly on the low setting.

 

Also, get yourself one of those laptop cooler things, they look like a drawing board, but they have a couple of fans in the bottom and they plug into your USB slot and run off that.

Gawd, I'm an idiot. I should've thought of that as soon as you said you were on an ASUS laptop.

 

Does your laptop have POWER4GEAR - HIGH PERFORMANCE in the power settings? Turn that on if it does. My computer can't even run movies properly on the low setting.

 

Also, get yourself one of those laptop cooler things, they look like a drawing board, but they have a couple of fans in the bottom and they plug into your USB slot and run off that.

 

Yeah, I pretty much always have it on the entertainment or game setting, which is fully maxed out performance wise. High performance is pretty much the same, just with different sleep timers and on battery settings.

I noticed that the CPU throttle does jump back to 100% when switching to a new power setting, but I don't want to be sitting here changing power settings all the time, especially if it is throttling for a good reason.

 

Thanks for your suggestions and replies guys. If anyone knows of a good fan board like Xavo described, please let me know. Cheers.

Something from here maybe numbers,

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=207_142

 

I reckon go for something in the price range that your comfortable spending, all they are essentially is a piece of aluminium or what ever, that have fans blowing cool air into the bottom of your notebook.

 

Maybe try and find one that has the fans as close as you can get to the grills on the bottom of your notebook.

 

I wouldn't mind this one for $45 - http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_142&products_id=6045

Edited October 18, 200915 yr by BaseJump