Does the Xbox One wireless controller sometimes feel slow or laggy when playing certain games?
Does the Xbox One wireless controller sometimes feel slow or laggy when playing certain games?
Hello! I need some help. My Xbox One wireless controller is acting weird. The sticks are slow and unresponsive. I first found this out when playing Horizon Zero Dawn through Steam. After reinstalling the game, checking file integrity, resetting settings, and testing different combos, nothing helped. I tried everything with no luck. Today, even trying to play Assassin's Creed Origins makes it impossible to play, which is sad for gamers.
What's weird is that I could play ACO before upgrading to Windows 10 without any problems. There were no hardware changes. Here are some more details: my CPU was an Intel Core i5-4670K running at 3.40GHz with 16 GB of RAM, running on Windows 10 Pro (fully updated), and I had a Nvidia GeForce GTX1080 GPU with all drivers and programs updated.
At first, I blamed the controller or settings issues. I messed around with Steam's settings (like dead zones), reinstalled, updated everything that could be updated, including the controller drivers and the GPU drivers, etc. Even I asked for help in the games forums and even directly on HZD website. My Xbox One controller pairs with the official Microsoft dongle for PC. Both work perfectly fine as always have done before when playing other games. The same problem happens if connected with the original USB cable or any other cable.
I've played with this controller for over 5 years without issues until now, and then it started only with certain games. The batteries are brand new. I haven't dropped or smashed the controller in any way. It hasn't been chewed by my cat. Most of the hardware is the same as always. The only recent change was the OS—I recently upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro. There was a fresh installation, using the same SSD and HDs. This happened about a month ago.
I have tested with some of my favorite games, including some very recent ones and random ones, to see what happens. So far, the results are:
- The Witcher 3 - Played before and now, no problems.
- Horizon Zero Dawn - Unplayable in Windows 7 by default, unplayable now due to horrendous lag.
- Assassin's Creed Black Flag - Playable before and now, no problems.
- Assassin's Creed Origins - Perfectly playable before, horrendous lag now.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 - Unplayable in Windows 7 by default, playable now without issues.
- Super Mega Baseball 3 - Playable before and now, no problems.
- Dungeon of Naheulbeuk - Playable before and now, no problems.
- Jurassic World Evolution 2 - Playable before and now, no problems.
- Far Cry Primal - Playable before and now, no problems.
- Armello - Playable before and now, no problems.
- Resident Evil Village - Unplayable in Windows 7 by default, playable now without issues.
Naturally, I thought it was only HZD's problem at first. That until today, when I tried to play ACO again and found the same problem—which did not happen before. It puzzles me that an old game like ACO behaves like that. The games themselves perform fine on their own; the problem is when the Xbox One controller is involved.
I am able to play all of them with M+KB without problems. What do I mean "laggy and unresponsive"? It's only the sticks, not the buttons. All buttons work fine. Imagine you push forward the left stick so that the character starts running. Then you want to look left, so use the right stick accordingly. The order takes half a second to register, so the camera does not turn left at once. But then you release the left stick and the character stops after one full second—the time varies. Then you give the right stick a small nudge to look left again. You push and release carefully because you don't want a full 90° camera turn; only about 15° to the left is needed. The game behaves as if the stick is fully pushed, and the camera starts rotating on its own fast. You are no longer pressing or touching anything, but the camera keeps orbiting like crazy. It will stop after 4 seconds or more. Impossible to move, impossible to aim.
So it's not an entirely consistent "input lag"; it is not a fixed-time delay. Rather, the input works erratically. But only in these two games and who knows which other ones too. Also, it's only the sticks, not the buttons.
What do I believe so far? It might have something to do with Windows 10 or the way it interacts with certain games—perhaps something about the configuration for each one. Not really sure, but it was the only change and a major one. Could it have something to do with the graphics or video options?
I did not have any problems before with AC games while using Windows 7. Any insight is appreciated. It's driving me nuts. Thank you!
When starting a troubleshooting post, it helps to share your full system details. Make sure to list them this way: CPU: Motherboard: Ram: SSD/HDD: GPU: PSU: Chassis: OS: Monitor. Since you told me you're running Windows 10, tell us exactly which version of the OS you have (not just the edition). Also, please share the BIOS version for your motherboard. You say it's a brand new install? Where did you get that installer from?
Thanks for getting back to me! At first I didn't think my monitor or computer case would make a difference, but maybe they could have caused the problem, and you are absolutely right. I added those two things in with what was asked, here is what I set up: CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K running at 3.40GHz Motherboard: ASUS B85M-G R2.0 (BIOS updated on 03/25/14) Ram: Two Kingston HyperX sticks of 8GB each, fast DDR4 RAM CL15 SSD/HDD: A Crucial MX500 500GB drive and a Seagate Barracuda 2TB hard drive for games GPU: An Nvidia GeForce GTX1080 by Aorus with 16GB of video memory (driver version 511.79) Power Supply: 525 Watts from Cooler Master Extreme 2 The case used was the HAF 912 by Cooler OS: Windows 10 Pro, which is a big six-part computer version called 64 bits and running on version 19044 of my system. My monitor is an HP W9S97AA Omen Gamer screen with a resolution of 32 inches that can handle 2560 by 1440 pixels at 75Hz. I am using the same big six-part computer version called 64 bits and running on version 21H2 of my system, which is also compiled in 19044.1526. This whole thing was bought right from Microsoft's website back around last November and installed early January 2022. I've taken care of the computer since then so it's all up to date now. Thanks a bunch!