Performance Bug in last few versions, and partial fix

TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
After build 243 I started getting some significant performance issues. My input would feel "laggy" compared to how it used to feel, and it was throwing me completely off. Even though my FPS was respectable, it still felt wrong. I tried the usual suspects of making sure everything was closed before hand, etc, but nothing worked. After launching a bunch of times, I came into the game and it felt fixed, so I figured I had closed or changed something that made it better. My input felt normal and I could play normally. I figured it was fixed, but I was wrong. Coming back another time the lagginess was back. So the issue was intermittent. Basically what I found out is that if I join an empty server and the ready room FPS is not close to 200 FPS, I will experience this laggy issue. If I close and relaunch NS2, after a few times I'll be able to get the 200 fps. Here are screenshots that show it from the same map, both empty, but with significantly different fps. No settings were changed, I just relaunched a few times and finally got 200. This works for me because I know when performance is normal, FPS will show up as 200. Anything less and I'm experience this "bug". For other people with lesser systems, this will vary.

The following image shows the lower FPS. If I try playing with that fps (even though it's respectable), it will feel laggy, almost like my input is completely lagged behind. Also it will look and feel choppy, almost like the CPU is really straining.

aycutns.jpg

The next image shows my FPS when things are normal. If I play the game after seeing FPS like in this screenshot everything will feel fast, crisp, and no laggy input or choppiness.

xouPfyc.jpg

While I have a somewhat beefy system (overclocked with dual vid cards), I can only imagine that if others experience this, it will be a lot more a lot more pronounced, and may be the source of some of the complaints people have about performance.

Comments

  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Hmm, I'm sure Matso would love to see the performance logs for both instances (200FPS and laggy FPS). To do this, boot up a game and type the following in the console:

    plog_all

    And record it for about 30seconds for both the smooth and laggy FPS. You can then find the plog files in your "%appdata%\Natural Selection 2" folder called xxxx.plog.
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    It was p_logall and p_endlog. Interestingly enough I tasked out to see if the files were being written, and when I tasked back in during a time it was laggy, the lagginess had disappeared. So tasking out of the game and back in appears to fix the issue. Kind of a strange bug. I have plogs of both situations though.
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Mind posting your comp specs and the contents of your log.txt when the lagginess occurs?
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    Here's a combination of cpu-z and dxdiag. And before it gets mentioned, ever driver is up to date, as that is the first thing I checked.

    cpu-z dump of cpu:
    Name Intel Core i5 2500K
    Codename Sandy Bridge
    Specification Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
    Package (platform ID) Socket 1155 LGA (0x1)
    CPUID 6.A.7
    Extended CPUID 6.2A
    Core Stepping D2
    Technology 32 nm
    TDP Limit 95 Watts
    Core Speed 4596.6 MHz
    Multiplier x FSB 46.0 x 99.8 MHz
    Stock frequency 3300 MHz
    Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, EM64T, VT-x, AES, AVX
    L1 Data cache 4 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    L1 Instruction cache 4 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    L2 cache 4 x 256 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    L3 cache 6 MBytes, 12-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    FID/VID Control yes

    dxdiag of vid cards:
    Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series (x2)
    Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6738)
    DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
    Display Memory: 4095 MB
    Dedicated Memory: 3072 MB
    Shared Memory: 1023 MB
    Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)

    Log:
    Date: 04/15/13
    Time: 14:09:07
    Build 245
    Steam initialized
    Render Device: AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series (8.17.10.1172)
    Sound Device: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio) stereo
    Record Device: FrontMic (Realtek High Definition Audio)
    Mounting mod from C:/Users/Jeromy/AppData/Roaming/Natural Selection 2/Workshop/m5f65ef1_1349013050/
    Loading config://ConsoleBindings.json
    Loading config://FavoriteServers.json
    Main Menu Initialized at Version: 245
    Steam Id: xxxxxxxxxxx
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Error: Direct3DDevice::Unable to get render target data
    Resource 11bd9428
    Resource 10ef68c0
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    Resource 10a90b60
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    Resource 10efb568
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    Error: IDirect3DDevice9::Reset to 1440x900 failed (Invalid call)
    Connecting to server 74.121.183.203:37350
    Downloading mods
    Finished downloading and installing mods
    Mounting mod from C:/Users/Jeromy/AppData/Roaming/Natural Selection 2/Workshop/m5f65ef1_1349013050/
    Loading config://ConsoleBindings.json
    Loading config://FavoriteServers.json
    Loading 'maps/ns2_refinery.level'
    Error: Couldn't open file 'models/cinematics/exoreveal/page_1_panels_1-11 - onosemerges/camera7.model'
    Building pathing mesh for level maps/ns2_refinery.level
    Finished loading 'maps/ns2_refinery.level'
    Error: Couldn't open file ''
    Error: Couldn't open file ''
    Chat All - PM - Admin: Welcome back, tyrsis!
    L 4/15/2013 - 15:09:21 - ServerConsole executed sv_psay Welcome back, tyrsis!
    Chat All - PM - Admin: STATS: Total Kills: 113 Total Deaths: 12 KDR: 9.4
    L 4/15/2013 - 15:09:21 - ServerConsole executed sv_psay STATS: Total Kills: 113 Total Deaths: 12 KDR: 9.4
  • Ghosthree3Ghosthree3 Join Date: 2010-02-13 Member: 70557Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    If it's on and off, sound's like your CPU is overheating a bit, run a temp checking program in the background and see what your CPU is next time it lags.
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    That is not the case, as I've checked that already. Let me reiterated that I have eliminated everything that is driver and hardware based. This is definitely something that is happening in game, and is repeatable.
  • IronsoulIronsoul Join Date: 2011-03-12 Member: 86048Members
    The 6000 series from AMD were fairly notorious for huge Micro Stutter issues in game. I won't go into detail about how or why micro stutter happens, but the end result is an experience that feels laggy, choppy, an worst case scenario, worse than half your reported framerate. E.G. 120fps == less than 60fps feeling.

    I'm not saying this is indeed the issue, it's just a very possibly possibility. I'm quite sensitive to input lag in games and get frustrated when it occurs. I have a 2500 (non k) and a 7970. I learned that Ambient Occlusion in NS2 causes some input lag so I turn that off, and Anti Aliasing possibly causes input lag so I turn that off too. Anyway, I get about 80+fps most of the time in NS2 and it feels incredibly responsive since build 244, before then it was quite the frustration fest.
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    From my understanding of micrstutters, they happen consistently. This does not happen consistently, and I can completely fix the issue by either restarting the game or tasking in/out.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Ah, the unable to render target data error. I was getting this issue when using a HD 6950:

    There is a workaround where if you restart NS2 after changing your resolution to below your native one.
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    edited April 2013
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Plogs!!
    :)

    I sent plogs to max :) Hopefully he'll forward it on to whoever looks at them.
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    ScardyBob wrote: »
    Ah, the unable to render target data error. I was getting this issue when using a HD 6950:

    There is a workaround where if you restart NS2 after changing your resolution to below your native one.

    Yeah I may have the same issue, but my work around seems to work fine (tasking out, waiting, tasking back in, in full screen). Though I also sometimes get full speed even while getting that error, so I'm not sure it's completely related to that.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    @tyrsis do you get this same error /issue when using fullscreen windowed?
  • TyrsisTyrsis Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8804Members
    I don't get the same error, but I get the same issue.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    Is that a riddle? :-P

    Well, anyhow its in go- er.. Max's hands now.

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