FPS Spiking.....

[kilj]

So it started after I installed diablo 3 and played for a while. But Ive never lag'd in wow like ever...... But now when I go in to raid its spiking like 60 fps to 7 to 15 to 30 to 7 to 60 and so on and so on.... Could diablo 3 finally been the nail in the coffin? I mean it seem'd to run hotter when playing diablo 3 than wow. But I figured it was becuase diablo 3 demanded more out of it.

My comp specs are the following

AMD Phenom II x 4 @ 3.4 Ghz
Asus Mv2 motherboard
Nvidia Geforce Gtx 560 1.5G
8 Gigs of Ram

If someone has any insight on the reason being its doing this. My guess is the hard drive or MoBo. But if it was the MoBo wouldnt my comp not run at all?

[Mythricia]

Those specs should technically not have any major issue with either of the games. Large spikes like you talk about are usually signs of a more significant problem, rather than a lack of hardware power.

Harddrives being stupid tend to strangle the entire system, especially if the drive is having access issues, like read/write errors or bad sectors. Motherboard issues aren't that likely imo.

Is it a disk drive, or an SSD? In any case, it could be worth re-seating the cables for it, on both the disk and the motherboard. If that doesn't help, try opening the command line (start menu -> search "cmd.exe" and hit enter) and typing;

chkdsk c:

or whatever drive letter you use. If you have several drives, try all of them. If you're not comfy with opening your PC and playing with cables, run the chkdsk tests first.

If the CHKDSK gets stuck for a really long time, then that's a problem with the drive. If it finishes and reports a problem, you can fix it by running the command again like this;

chkdsk /F c:

or again whatever drive letter you're wanting to fix. It doesn't do miracles, but it can help.

If all else fails, a complete reinstall could help, or it could not. A new hard drive could help, or it could not... Etc. You'll have to try stuff.

[Milkshake86]

So it started after I installed diablo 3 and played for a while. But Ive never lag'd in wow like ever...... But now when I go in to raid its spiking like 60 fps to 7 to 15 to 30 to 7 to 60 and so on and so on.... Could diablo 3 finally been the nail in the coffin? I mean it seem'd to run hotter when playing diablo 3 than wow. But I figured it was becuase diablo 3 demanded more out of it.

My comp specs are the following

AMD Phenom II x 4 @ 3.4 Ghz
Asus Mv2 motherboard
Nvidia Geforce Gtx 560 1.5G
8 Gigs of Ram

If someone has any insight on the reason being its doing this. My guess is the hard drive or MoBo. But if it was the MoBo wouldnt my comp not run at all?

Mobo issues can be random so no your pc would not just fail 100% completely, beyond that HDD could cause some issues but they usually wouldn't be as prominant a lot. What I am thinking is some addon or addons is acting up. Run 0 addons and see how it plays then add back in 1 by 1.

[kilj]

I will def try the hard drive test, and as far as 0 addons I did try that, Im also in the midst of reinstalling again haha

Just finished the check it said there was no problems found

---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 03:59 PM ----------

just read in another thread to make sure your comp is trying to use onboard graphics instead of the card how do I check the settings. Also I have updated to the recent nvidia card updates

[Mythricia]

Just to clarify, the CHKDSK test coming through clean doesn't at all mean there can't be a problem with the HDD. It's just a quick check to see if there's anything wrong with the file system. Still worth seeing if you can try a different disk or try re-seating cables and such.

It just sounds too familiar to pass up. I've had it happen many times through the years - stuttery performance issues, and many times it ended up being a hard drive problem of some kind.

[Deleted]

Could you post some load temps?

[kilj]

how do I do that and I will get it done and post em

also currently running a malwarebytes detection so far 182k objects scanned and counting 40 malwares detected supposively

also if it ends up being my hard drive and I have to replace it, Im going to have to buy a new windows 7 since It came preloaded, or can I get around that.

[Fading Dimension]

High cpu temps will definitely cause throttling, hitching, lock ups.

Programs running in the background.

HHD fragmentation or failure.

First think I would do is run chkdsk, free up hhd space, run disk cleanup, run malware/virus scan, run defrag. Ensure all unnecessary background apps are shutdown before starting up WoW.

Could be a specific addon also. If you're using 32bit WoW check your memory usage. If your ram is capping out then it could be using the pagefile which will cause large hitches.

[kilj]

Whats a good program to show temps while playing wow, Im in the midst of reinstalling wow, I did just get rid of 60 objects of malware.

I rand a chkdsk said no problems plan on reseating the cables after I install wow and run a defrag disc cleanup.

Also I was running 64 bit wow since my comp is a 64 bit, I did have like 30 MBs of addons running ingame so Ill prob end up going back to just the basic few (7mb) and see how that works.

---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 04:57 PM ----------

also to not my nvidia drivers are 304.12

[Fading Dimension]

how do I do that and I will get it done and post em

also currently running a malwarebytes detection so far 182k objects scanned and counting 40 malwares detected supposively

also if it ends up being my hard drive and I have to replace it, Im going to have to buy a new windows 7 since It came preloaded, or can I get around that.

In all my experience manufactures include a disk with windows and all default applications on it. May be labeled as "restore" on the cd(s)/dvd(s).

For temps get this http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/1.19-setup.exe

Small light safe program.

It will open up one window which displays temps/voltages/fan speeds. Look for something like "AMD Phenom II X4 ___" and "Nvidia Geforce GTX 560". Temps for these devices will be listed. Take a note of temps at idle. Run this while playing WoW. Tab out and check your CPU and temps while playing and then after playing check the "max" temp column which displays the maximum temperature reached. Post the degrees in Celsius.

Ideally your CPU won't go above 55C. 62C is the max operating tempurature according to AMD. You GPU should stay under 90c.

If your temps are higher than the recommended amount then you'll need to open up your case and clear dust out. Ensure the cpu heatsink fan is operating. Ensure your GPU fan is operating. Use some canned air (or mouth without spitting) to blow dust out of your GPU and CPU heatsink. Check for dust clogging the intake/outtake case fans.

[kilj]

---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 09:06 PM ----------

I dont knw how those look tbh

---------- Post added 2012-05-31 at 12:59 AM ----------

Spent 30$ on pc duster 3 whole cans it was like a blizzard in my computer of dust like O M G. Im going to drop a can into it every 2 weeks now its running fast now on the web. But I still got to download wow again and see how it does. /crosses fingers

[Fading Dimension]

Those cpu temps are fine for full load. However, if thats just idle/light load then they're definitely high. Again the comfortable max you really want to see on the CPU cores is 55c and you're close to that. Keep in mind just running WoW while standing around in game isn't going to fully load your CPU. Best to check after a good long session of raiding especially when you start to experience the problem.

Glad to hear you got the dust bunnies out.

Just noticed you're from Boston. I Grew up in Massachusetts. Was obsessed with Bruins as a child of the 80s. It was wicked pissah dood. Ray Bourque at the GAHDEN!

Goodluck with your computer.

[Fiddycen]

i have the same processor Phenom x4 965
and i have the Gtx 550ti
i get Lagspikes in Bf3, 50-60fps on the 550ti with medium settings then jumps down to 10-20 for 1 or 2 seconds, before installing the 550ti i had amd 6670 ran on medium setting at about 40fps and never had any lag spikes.
i think it's an Nvidia driver issue.

[kilj]

@ fading, gotta love bean town and thanks ya getting the dust out def helped it!

@ fiddy I think so 2, but from what I've heard and exp with nvida I think my next card will be an ATI