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View Full Version : Stuttering - what fixed it for me...


Masaq
20-10-09, 18:47
Was this:

Masaq"]I've just had a thought though - I'm going to disable the performance/power saving type properties in the BIOS - EIST and the like. I'm just wondering if the problem is caused by the CPU's voltage or multiplyer being changed on the fly.



Just been and tested this. Disabled C1E (Enhanced Halt Step) and EIST (Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology). I left TM2 (Thermal Monitoring 2) enabled, for safety*.

None of the stutters whatsover. The occasional slowing of framerate in busy areas or when suddenly snapping my head around the cockpit, but no sudden/random stuttering/pausing of any kind.

Framerates were also increased, by an order of between 15-40%, depending on scenario.

It looks to me like what's happening is that for whatever reason, Rise of Flight is causing my BIOS to throttle back the CPU. Either for some reason it's allowing HLT commands to still go through, or it's working the CPU hard so EIST is trying to throttle it back. Disabling these CPU functions in the BIOS is preventing the system from automatically reducing the VCore, Multiplyer and FSB of the system; forcing it to run at the clock speed and multiplyer that I've specified. The result is no sudden pauses as processing power is suddenly dropped from underneath the game.


Further testing would probably allow me to double-check if it's C1E or EIST causing it, but it was both noticeable and real; flying 1v1 Russian Roulette (over that little town) used to give me all kinds of little stutters. I was using Russian Roulette as a benchmark for a while - I'd tweak my graphics settings then load RR, to see if stuttering was improved or not.

Looks like I was tweaking the wrong place.




*For safety's sake, leaving TM2 is advised simply because it's the part of Speedstep that will throttle the CPU back if operating temperature goes through the roof. I would also strongly advise anyone who doesn't know their way around a BIOS to refrain from testing this themselves. If you know what C1E and EIST are and how to disable them though, please do try it yourself and see if it has any effect for you.

Tanner
21-10-09, 04:18
Seems more like treating a symptom of the problem rather than the problem. If people's CPU are getting throttled back I would think that has more to do with the game being very CPU-intensive. If I had to guess, I would say that there is some problem in the manner in which the game is utilizing the different cores.

TX-Thunderbolt
21-10-09, 16:00
That could be Tanner, but when I built my new rig a few months back, I turned off speedstep and turbo in the BIOS as part of my overclocking regimen (both are usually "on" by default in most X58 chipset boards). That could also be why I've not had a single stutter. (of course it could be I've got a fast system clocked within a few inches of its life too :redface:)

The core i7 handles these things slightly differently than the previous architecture, but they're still the same in essence.

Sadist_Cain
22-10-09, 11:00
I'm pretty sure that speed step and the enhanced halting are both things that tend to needlessly throttle back the CPU, C1E trys to save energy by "idling" your CPU when it's not being used a lot, so it'll throttle back if there's a lul on the processor load in game, kinda like turning off the engine at the lights :P

speedstep is equally as annoying and will throttle back the CPU in order to cool it down and use less power

I'm pretty sure that's how it works, either way I run a lot faster and more stable with them both off, plus I have the benefit of temperature monitors on the front of my box :P