Getting stuck in the game is really frustrating!
Getting stuck in the game is really frustrating!
I've been battling this issue for a while now. I've done everything possible—overclocked the CPU up to what the motherboard could handle. Going beyond that would just cause the screen to go black and my keyboard/mouse to shut down completely. The computer sits there, unresponsive to power reset or shutdown attempts. I tried the BF4 CTE client (350Kb/s [2.8Mbps] took three days to download), but it didn’t help. I won’t reinstall the game; that’s been a frustrating day after dealing with my family. I have a dual-boot setup for Windows 7, but even that takes a long time to download. The problem only appears on fully loaded servers (48-64p), while empty servers don’t have it. My internet speed is around 20-30Kb/s, so the main concern seems to be the CPU struggling—only about 75-85% performance, and overclocking didn’t improve things. Testing on high-player counts makes diagnosis harder due to many variables. In BF4, even at 95-100% GPU usage, it runs smoothly on other games, but when BF4 is active, my GPU throttles above 100FPS, dropping below 60 sometimes, especially in crowded multiplayer servers. The specs I have are:
- Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
- AMD FX8350 @4.62 (2x4)
- G.Skill 1866
- Gigabyte R9 290 [un-OCed at the time, usually ~1180 cores]
- 850W Rosewill
- 256GB SSD + 500GB HDD
- Win7 8.1 bootable clone
The in-game CPU/GPU graphs change rapidly—every 0.5 seconds—and I’m using Ultra settings with full screen and DX11 enabled, AA turned off. It’s confusing, and I have no clue what’s causing the slowdown. I feel stuck and don’t know where to start fixing it.
It's unusual with your setup. You mention consistent high frame rates on 280x resolution, but you're experiencing drops below 60 FPS in certain conditions. The CPU performance seems okay under Mantle, though you note occasional bottlenecks. The attached graph suggests potential CPU limitations, and the visuals indicate Mantle is keeping the game running smoothly.
You’ve enabled frame rate unlock and V-sync off, but it mostly stays active during gameplay.
I don’t understand, I kept changing things, but there’s no distinction between them. My duel 6950s didn’t face this problem—they performed well, never dropped in use.
Your memory performance during gameplay varies. 8GB works well, but those with only 4GB experience frame drops because textures swap between RAM and storage. If your system is memory-heavy, this might be the issue.
Explanation: If you lack sufficient RAM to store all active textures, the system must access slower storage, causing delays. Textures not in VRAM can be fetched rapidly from RAM, but limited RAM forces waiting on disk, leading to performance drops. Anything exceeding 16.6ms results in below-60 FPS or noticeable stuttering.
If your processor isn't reaching full capacity, overclocking won't improve performance. An R9 290 won't handle the demands of 64 players navigating a map well. When both internet speed and game settings are set high, frame rates drop significantly. Rendering 64 characters with complex actions quickly drops you below 100% usage, possibly even 60% on a 780 Ti. Your CPU is similar to mine, and the FX series isn't great either. BF4 is also very CPU-heavy, but you're not hitting full load. It's likely a mix of network issues and GPU limitations.
It seems like your GPU is underutilized despite good ping and CPU performance. The issue might be with the GPU itself, especially since it rarely reaches full capacity. Even when it's not at maximum, it still uses a significant portion of its power, which could indicate a hardware problem or inefficiency.