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I'm using Windows with Bootcamp on my Mid-2012 MacBook Pro (Here is the config). Recently when I play a game, I get frequent (and somewhat constant) stutter every 2-3 seconds, no matter if it's a 2D or 3D game, no matter if I lower the graphic and resolution.
I've searched extensively in the past few days and finally went to ask it here. Things I've tried so far:
- GPU-Z shows GPU temprature of around 90 C when I have the stutter.
- In Process Explorer, I can see that GPU usage is 100%, even in lowest graphic settings of low resolution of a not-AAA game. (Lara Croft and Temple of Osiris for example and Ori and The Blind Forest)
- I've updated my nVidia drivers to the latest.
- I've uninstalled everything nVidia related and installed them again.
- I've disabled Audio and Network drivers (as I've read they can cause stutter in cases).
- I've tried DPC Latency Checker and mostly I see a spike when I observe a delay.
I'm very afraid to have hardware fault since where I live, we don't have Apple stores.
Also I've installed DS3 Driver to attach a PS3 controller to my PC, even though the controller was not attached during the tests, this might've affected the performance since I've read that stutter is caused by a driver having problem doing it's task on proper time frame.
Any help is appreciated.
idn
Posted 2015-05-23T06:55:26.803
Reputation: 71
capture a xperf trace of the stutter and share the trace (compressed as 7z): http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=140263
– magicandre1981 – 2015-05-23T17:43:44.700have you captured the trace? – magicandre1981 – 2015-06-04T17:26:24.300
The problem was gone for a few days but came back. I've downloaded xpref and hopefully will run it and report back. – idn – 2015-06-04T19:45:41.270
Here it is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hc744rvxky3yyxq/DPC_Interrupt.7z?dl=0
I've tried to go through it and I came to conclusion that it's the tcpip.sys file which is one of my network drivers. I assume it's my WLAN one since I've found people saying the same thing about it. I've tried to update it but can't find an update for it (it's inside a mid-2012 MacBook Pro). So I've tried to disable the adapter, can't say if it gets better or worse.
update or remove the tool that includes the driver networx.sys and see what happens. PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4331 = Broadcom BCM43xx. Look for newer Broadcom BCM43xx drivers: http://www2.station-drivers.com/index.php/downloads/Drivers/Broadcom/Wlan/BCM-43xx-Wireless-802.11a-b-g-n/
– magicandre1981 – 2015-06-10T04:35:45.397Thanks. I did both of those things and here is the new xperf dump after doing both those things and a restart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qn93xjmo3r3mmu2/DPC_Interrupt_2.7z?dl=0
BTW, I could not uninstall NetWorx, so I've deleted everything related to it, including networx.sys)
Thank you again for your help.
Needless to say that I still encounter the stutter but it's pattern is different now. After applying your suggestions, the stutter was gone and then it came back after like half an hour and the frequency changed as well. – idn – 2015-06-11T15:19:46.780
the new trace shows 1 small critical spike of the nVIDIA driver. The first trace showed 8 spikes. Capture a new trace which records the spikes. – magicandre1981 – 2015-06-11T16:48:18.003
Sorry, I did not understand your last question. How do you want the trace? – idn – 2015-06-11T20:02:30.707
Also I still had stutter every few seconds during the trace. – idn – 2015-06-11T20:03:22.130
As I said, the 2nd trace was much better and the only issue I saw was a stutter caused by your nVIDIA graphic driver – magicandre1981 – 2015-06-12T04:12:46.193
Thanks. How can I fix it?
I've read somewhere that nVidia audio drivers could be the problem, uninstalled it but didn't change anything. – idn – 2015-06-12T10:38:36.430
try different nVIDA GPU drivers. – magicandre1981 – 2015-06-12T17:33:16.040
You mean older ones? – idn – 2015-06-12T20:20:33.253
yes, also try older drivers. – magicandre1981 – 2015-06-13T06:14:24.030
Since I had no idea which older driver is good to go, I've installed the latest, same bugs. – idn – 2015-06-15T12:02:38.610
you use 352.86, try 353.06 or older ones like 350.12 or 347.88. Get them from nVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us
– magicandre1981 – 2015-06-15T17:33:06.180I've installed 347.88 as a clean install but still get the stutter. – idn – 2015-07-15T23:23:16.460
This is my current xperf log:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hc744rvxky3yyxq/DPC_Interrupt.7z?dl=0
(Where do you look in the Windows Performance Analyzer? I can't find "DPC CPU Usage" nor "Interrupt CPU Usage".
In LatencyMon I can see that tcpip.sys and dxgkenl.sys are troublesome. I've disabled my wifi adapter but the problem persists. – idn – 2015-07-16T00:35:58.933
I've tried xperfview with that file and I think problem lies with disk. Please keep in mind that I play my games from an USB attached external 2TB drive. – idn – 2015-07-16T01:13:43.170
I can't see any USb related spikes, but TCPIP: Total = 1979 for module tcpip.sys Elapsed Time, > 128 usecs AND <= 256 usecs, 23, or 0.24% – magicandre1981 – 2015-07-16T04:11:01.950
But I've updated my Broadcom driver already, due to your previous comment. What should I do? – idn – 2015-07-16T11:25:35.170
I've updated the LAN driver as suggested in another forum but the problem still persists, here is my current xperf log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/32lbt1uciscqwnq/DPC_Interrupt_20150717_0148.7z?dl=0
– idn – 2015-07-16T22:19:04.407this helped, now you only have 2 spikes from the nVIDIA driver: Total = 28009 for module nvlddmkm.sys Elapsed Time, > 512 usecs AND <= 1024 usecs, 2, or 0.01% – magicandre1981 – 2015-07-17T04:17:18.610
But I'm already on an older driver. What should I do? – idn – 2015-07-17T11:44:08.007
Do you still have large issues? Maybe it is something else and not a DPC issue. – magicandre1981 – 2015-07-17T18:20:22.290
Yes I do have it and you said it's probably the nVidia driver.
Can it be the heat problem? I have the problem after about 20-30 seconds in the game and when my laptop's fans are rotating fast. But then again it can be software problem that causes a fault that causes high cpu usage and that's cause of high temperature.
How can I see if it's a hardware problem or a software one?
My other guess was my tcpip.sys is faulty now due to that NetWorx driver but you said it's now nVidia driver. – idn – 2015-07-17T23:49:35.743
Run GPU-Z and log the temperature: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/ laptops are not the best hardware to play games. your GPU is only a midrange GPU which is limited to 128Bit memory with sometime GDDR3 instead of GDDR5 memory. maybe the GPU is simply too slow. here you can try to attach a external GPU via thunderbold: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D.html
– magicandre1981 – 2015-07-18T05:31:11.717Thing is I was gaming with this laptop before with no problem, with the same games. I also have this lag when I play not so GPU intensive games like Swappper.
I followed your advice and when I first encounter lag, my GPU temp is around 80 C and CPU cores temp around 83 on average on 4 cores.
But I've seen the CPU cores to go even over 100 at some point in previous tests.
Any advice? – idn – 2015-07-18T10:49:57.440
I also changed my nVidia driver to 350.12 (from 347.8) and here is my xpref log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/azomvsd1d0fpgta/DPC_Interrupt_20150718.7z?dl=0
– idn – 2015-07-18T13:11:21.630latest trace sows again nVIDIA driver with some spikes: Total = 76960 for module nvlddmkm.sys Elapsed Time, > 512 usecs AND <= 1024 usecs, 8, or 0.01% 80°C may be the cause. Cleanup the fans a bit. – magicandre1981 – 2015-07-19T06:18:08.760
Thanks. Which way this is, is it faulty driver that causes high CPU usage or hardware problems that causes spikes in the driver?
I'm asking because we don't have Apple Care where I live and opening and cleaning it should be last thing I do and want to make sure it's not a software problem. – idn – 2015-07-20T12:22:10.307
we can't really tell you if it is a software or hardware issue. you have to do some "trial & error" way to find this out. turn the macbook off and clean the fan by blowing air with your mouth to the fan. Don't use a vacuum cleaner, that would kill the fan speed control. – magicandre1981 – 2015-07-20T17:38:26.810
I've reinstalled windows and behavior of stutter changed to more frequently but less stopping. CPU temp is more than 100 C and GPU temp is around 85 C.
I've captured a new xperf log, here it is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5s0wqmf4k5owtby/DPC_Interrupt_20150812_0321.7z?dl=0
Hope this helps determining what this is since I didn't install any of the programs that messed with my files like NetWorx this time.
most delays come again from the nVIDIA driver. some DPC/cpu usage comes from USBPORT.SYS, so reduce the amount of connected USB devices. – magicandre1981 – 2015-08-12T04:18:00.747
How can this be? I've installed a brand new Windows installation with latest Apple's drivers!
What do you think about hardware problems like thermal paste on the CPU? Can it cause the DPC/Latency?
Also, would you please tell me how you observe my latency reports to figure out what is wrong with it. – idn – 2015-08-12T20:53:23.253
in the msfn guide I posted how to dump the statistics in a text file. Here look for values over 1024µs. Disable some apple USB devices and look what happens. – magicandre1981 – 2015-08-13T18:27:02.143
What apple USB devices? – idn – 2015-08-15T12:43:42.353
the facetime camera is also an usb device. disable such devices in device manager. – magicandre1981 – 2015-08-15T15:37:41.713
I've played a graphic heavy game, Batman Arkham City, on OS X of the same computer but did not encounter any stutter, so problem is probably not hardware side. Also it's strange that I've installed a brand new OS with latest Apple Bootcamp drivers and still have this bug. All I can think of is the image file that I've installed Windows from is somehow buggy, it's Win 7 Ultimate SP1. Any idea? – idn – 2015-08-24T11:01:59.437
@magicandre1981 I've did what you suggested and it got a bit better but what confuses me is the fact that I've had no problem with all this enable and playing games and now this? Also why I don't have stutter in OS X if I have hardware problem like heat? – idn – 2015-08-24T11:04:38.253
OSX and Windows work differently so you can't compare this. – magicandre1981 – 2015-08-24T17:04:56.410
What should I do now? I've opened the bottom face plat and the fans were clean. Do you think termal paste is problematic? Maybe the Windows image was somewhat faulty that didn't work with Boot camp? I'm totally lost here. – idn – 2015-09-02T22:14:23.263
I have no new idea how to solve it – magicandre1981 – 2015-09-03T04:21:28.297
Run Linpack within OSX for 20 mins and see what temps are like. That'll do CPU, then try Cinebench OPENCL test to check GPU temps. – Linef4ult – 2015-09-29T10:40:15.313