CPU parked cores causing our stutters FIX inside up to 8 core CPU

[dvrocc]

Edit - Read this - http://allisterb.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-saga-of-muticore-cpus-core-parking.html and remember this game is DirectX 9 , which is why installing the following linked directx redist (even on win 8) also helps by ensuring the D9Ex exist - http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=8109

 

D3D9Ex - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ee890072(v=vs.85).aspx

 

Nice find on the CoreParking, I didn't realize windows 7 was that much at fault when parking a core and then leaving it and that was my whole issue was having a qaudcore go AFK and stay AFK even on Apps that promote more core usage, I will add that link to the top OP since it has a better description, thanks D

[dvrocc]

I have been running have had seen zero change. Also it cannot cause lag, lag is a product of you server connection which has nothing to do with you cores.

Yeah some less tech savy folk confuse FPS lag with Server Lag which are totally different issues, I will try to clarify!

 

FPS lag: Imagine you have a nice looking restored 1970 Mustang with a 1000 horsepower V8 engine ( this is your low end PC), you want to save money on gas so you remove that 1000 horsepower engine and put in a 15 horsepower lawnmower engine in its place, this is FPS lag and it just can't handle it and will be very slow.

 

Server lag: When you are playing swtor and you see people running in place for about 7 seconds then take off at super sonic speed like nothing you have ever seen before they are just, this is server lag and even though the server has the decided spot of the actual character the PC doesn't because of the delay and then everything tries to catch up causing the super duper superman speed.

[captpickles]

This only applies to cpus in balanced and power saver mode.. If you run your system in 'power mode' the cores will be "on" according to the process scheduler at all times.

 

simply check your power settings, and check the processor minimum and maximum frequency settings in the control panel for windows.

 

one note, if you are running a OEM copy of windows, with the system manufacturers "power control" features... you may see benefit from this if it is horribly written. but a clean install of windows in ''power'' mode should leave the cores alone unless another software package edited the cpu profiles. (i have 3 systems, all do not need this park tool to pass the test)

 

Secondly, this applies more to AMD than Intel. AMDs bizarre hybrid fake 8 core 2-integer cores+1 fpu per module system does not run well on this beta version of the hero engine Swtor is based on. The compiler for the hero engine was Aplha'ed BEFORE piledriver was mainstream\released. So while the compiler for hero can have additional switches added to support BD\PD\SR cores it is less than ideal and cannot undo some of the poor 32bit optimization present still. not AMD's fault... purely Bw's fault.

 

And that brings up a important faq. swtor is 32bit, it can only use 2-gigs of ram (user space). it has nothing to do with dx9 or dx12. it swaps textures **alot** out of the local vram and into system ram and finally your hard drive. flip on resource monitor and select disk, and then ride your bike around fleet with 100+ peeps at the trade networks.. if your on a amd system you will see the stuttering, also like on a heavy war zone.. go back to the disk monitor and you will see the spikes immediately following the stutters. *thats* your source of frame issues. the engine cannot maintain the textures in vram and Dumps them to disk because of the 32bit limitations and drops your fps.

 

now for for reasons I can only speculate on.. intel systems do not suffer the same ''dump to disk'' issue as much.. as long as the gpu has 2+ gigs of real ram (NOT SHARED RAM) they seem to maintain a much better lower frame rate. I suspect it is because of how the engine uses vram.. and thinks some 'shared ram' is local ram and has issues trying to use it.... again not a amd issue, hero engine issue.

 

lastly we will never see a dx12 version of swtor. requires a full re-write, which costs money, and we all know how Bw likes to invest in its fan base.

Edited November 17, 2014 by captpickles

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Which in turn makes you think about the future of the game or other more aging MMO's in general.

 

Will they ideally launch a sequel to this one day or will they code up upgrades to the existing game in terms of it's technology etc? Ideally one or the other will have to give sooner or later one would think as it will start to look somewhat aged fairly quickly.

 

I'm not too in the know on MMO technology but what about games like WoW, did they ever upgrade their engine or technology or what not or just continually use the same engine and patch it up as much as they can though will have to hit a road block one day?

[Satanski]

Back in the day, the usual way of fighting stutterring in SWTOR was SWTOR Unleashed. Helped me a lot.

http://www.metasharp.net/index.php/SWTOR_Unleashed

[Icykill_]

This isn't totally correct, the game will create easily 20+ threads across the two 32bit processes, but it will be limited to 3/4 cores edit - least for intel cpu , amd maybe slightly different due to the core architecture and is likely 6

 

Start task manager, right mouse click on the task bar and select "start task manager" , then click on the performance tab and then click on the resource monitor, then on the CPU tab when the game is running look for swtor.exe (will be 2 of them) and have a look at the number of threads running on the cores)

 

Yes I already did that... Only 2 threads even with the parking software... Unless I'm doing it wrong?... I also have a paid copy of the full Lasso process software... Which I don't run anymore... But I can check those settings even more and it still shows 2 threads

 

There must be an underlying reason for the blue screens , my setup here with 16Gb can/does operate just fine with no page file on Win 7 (did so for over 6 months, however there is no real reason/benfit to disable the pagefile on Win 7 for most people (even using SSDs not so much now either)

 

I don't use that system now... So I can't check... Maybe it was a problem with the ram itself... I just never found it as stable as running it with a pagefile...

 

Also I tested the parking software again yesterday in pvp after reading the responses that it doesn't effect it... Well it does for me... I tested it on and off over 6 hours of play... I can say that there is a noticeable difference for me (however small) when I was running it, to when I wasn't...

 

Before anyone says it's my system... Here is what I run -

 

Intel i7 4770k, Corsair H100 cooler,

G.Skill Trident 2666 8gb

Asus WS z87 MB

3x intel 520 SSD

Sapphire HD7970 ghz VaporX 6gb

ENERMAX gold standard PSU 1250

 

My system is also optimised for gaming... I have all non essential services and back ground apps disabled...

[OwenBrooks]

This only applies to cpus in balanced and power saver mode.. If you run your system in 'power mode' the cores will be "on" according to the process scheduler at all times.

 

.

 

I know my Win 7 64 bit is set to High Performance , and my cores still do park ( i7 3930K )

 

Only 2 threads even with the parking software... Unless I'm doing it wrong

 

Just went and checked my resource monitor again with the game running, as soon as the game is loaded I have 20+ threads on each swtor.exe (2) process

Edited November 18, 2014 by OwenBrooks

[BrintoSFJ]

Which in turn makes you think about the future of the game or other more aging MMO's in general.

 

Will they ideally launch a sequel to this one day or will they code up upgrades to the existing game in terms of it's technology etc? Ideally one or the other will have to give sooner or later one would think as it will start to look somewhat aged fairly quickly.

 

I'm not too in the know on MMO technology but what about games like WoW, did they ever upgrade their engine or technology or what not or just continually use the same engine and patch it up as much as they can though will have to hit a road block one day?

 

WoW is older than swtor, they have been using dx 11 for over 3 years now. they are currently working on adding both dx12 and mantle, not sure how that is possible though..

[Glower]

You can do this without third-party software, i.e. only with regedit:

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/windows-7-micro-stutter-fix-core-parking.159864/#post-2536021

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583

1 > 0

 

edit: Don't forget about the picture in the first quote, you need to set it to 100% after regedit!

Edited November 18, 2014 by Glower

[Malorey]

You can do this without third-party software, i.e. only with regedit:

 

That was easier, thanks.

[Orizuru]

WoW is older than swtor, they have been using dx 11 for over 3 years now. they are currently working on adding both dx12 and mantle, not sure how that is possible though..

 

Blizzard invested in a 64-bit client several years ago to make that possible. BioWare has not developed a 64-bit client as of yet.

[Orizuru]

I know my Win 7 64 bit is set to High Performance , and my cores still do park ( i7 3930K )

 

 

 

Just went and checked my resource monitor again with the game running, as soon as the game is loaded I have 20+ threads on each swtor.exe (2) process

 

You might have an OEM version of Windows then. Or you have some other proprietary software running that is managing your power management settings and over-riding the settings you make directly in windows.

[Glower]

That was easier, thanks.

 

Don't forget about the picture, you need to set it to 100% after regedit!

[dvrocc]

The registry tweak is around on the web for the tech savvy folks who like to streamline the PC they game on and maximize performance and having all cores up and running is a win win, but like I mention is the OP it will either help or it wont and not every game uses all the CPU cores and some like swtor use core 1 and core 3 out of my four cores at least for me anyway xD

 

to clarify: my cores are labeled as Cpu 0, Cpu 1, Cpu 2, Cpu 3 according to my Resource Monitor.

[dvrocc]

Been running the Park-Core tool for 10 days with Ops and I am happy with it, i don't have those annoying stutters pop up when I am moving through the planet via speeder when you change zones or parts of the game come into view at a distance, those transitions are way smoother with minimal to no stutters what so ever, for some reason swtor hardly uses any CPU more then 2 cores on windows 7 I am assuming it is windows 7 that is stuborn.

 

On other games most use all four cores or just two cores much more efficient, like I mentioned in the OP it may or may not help you but it is worth a shot.

[dvrocc]

Just getting the word out, you can reduce those stutters.

[dvrocc]

Been using a little over a month now and enjoying the little to no stutters in-game, now if the harbinger lag would just get fixed........

 

Anyway, I created a max gaming profile and tied in the parkedcore tool so it automatically unparks the parked cores when I change from balanced to max gaming profile, I have the power options icon on my desktop for quick access.

 

Why did you use "ParkedControl" tool again?

Reason: In-game stutters with multi-core CPUs

how come? windows 7 turns off a couple of the unused cores of a CPU and doesn't turn them back on so the end result is stutters because the active cores need to wait for the CPU to finish what it was doing before starting a new task.

 

When i had performance monitor open and watching the CPUs as i was out and about on planets 2 of my 4 cores would stop and start over and over which was causing the most annoying stutters like a pause every 30 seconds most noticeable when you are on a planet for example and you change zones from one to another and you would get that 3 second hesitation and this tool basically removes that so its smooth from one zone to the next.