I have identified stuttering on two PCs caused by specific Windows updates

[Dansrage]

I posted this on Battlelog a year ago and have received no support, so I thought I'd post it here. 

Summary of the problem:

-A Windows 7 update between KB2758857 and KB2939576 (this is as far as I can narrow it down) is causing significant stuttering on two different PCs, mine and my friend's.

-This basically translates to us not being able to install SP1 if we want to enjoy Battlefield 4.

-This manifests as sudden unprovoked drops to around 40fps several times a minute that severely interfere with aiming and flying on my PC, and a persistent drop to around 40fps for him.

-This issue is present on ALL driver versions. This issue is present both in Mantle and DX11 and at all settings from Low to Ultra.

-I have confirmed on both PCs that this issue is not present if updates KB2758857 to KB2939576 are uninstalled. 

Specs:

-We have similar PCs with the only major difference being the GPU.

-AMD FX-8350 (stock clocks)

-Gigabyte 990FX-UD3

-16Gb of Corsair DDR3 RAM at 1600MHz

-I use a Samsung 840 EVO SSD and he uses a Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM HDD for Battlefield

-I use a Sapphire AMD R9 270X overclocked to 1130Mhz, he uses a Gigabyte AMD 280X at stock clocks

-Temps are all fine

Steps we have taken to resolve the issue before we identified it as Windows updates:

-tweaking in-game settings

-updating/downgrading GPU drivers 

-updating motherboard BIOS 

-installing more RAM

-clean Windows install

-RMA of 280X that we thought might have power issues (it did not)

How we came to this conclusion:

I had been helping a friend who recently built a computer, he had issues with his graphics card and BF4, we tried everything, RMA, reinstalled drivers, the whole nine yards, long story short we couldn't figure it out. He was always getting about 40fps with a 280X in both low and ultra settings.
Our last resort was to reinstall Windows, which fixed the problem, he was getting solid 60fps just as expected on that card.
However, after he installed some Windows updates, it went back down to 40fps.
We uninstalled the most recent updates, and left the ones alone that he had installed before the problem came back.
I was also having some unusual drops to around 40fps that I couldn't figure out, so I decided to try uninstalling those updates too.
It turns out that uninstalling these updates fixed the problem for both of us, we now both get 60fps in Ultra with no unusual drops, on his Gigabyte 280X and my Sapphire 270X respectively.

Of course this is not a solution as not being able to install SP1 means we can't enjoy some games that require it, for example my renewed interest in this problem is because I can't play both XCOM 2 and Battlefield 4 because XCOM requires SP1 to run. 

[Dansrage · Accepted solution]

I have further narrowed down the issue!

After a lot of searching I have identified the specific cause of the stuttering, which is improper core parking. 

Upon inspection three of my eight CPU cores were parked while playing Battlefield 4, and I confirmed that my friend was experiencing the same issue.

We both use AMD FX8350 CPUs, and in both cases our cores were being improperly parked during gameplay resulting in abrupt, unprovoked FPS drops. 

It appears that in one of the Windows 7 updates between KB2758857 and KB2939576, the way Windows decides when and which cores to park, or perhaps how Windows communicates with applications was changed, resulting in Windows being unable to communicate properly with BF4.

The fix for the problem was very simple and involved downloading a third party application that disables Windows core parking.

The result is Battlefield 4 running perfectly again!

I have been unable to narrow down which of the updates specifically caused this issue, but if in any of those updates between KB2758857 and KB2939576 changes were made to the core parking algorithm Windows uses, that would be the culprit. It should be pretty trivial to patch in order to prevent this problem from happening to other people, or indeed if the same problem might be present in the upcoming Battlefield 1. 

I can provide more detailed system and driver information if necessary. 

[swespot]

Hello!

I guess the best possible solution to this would be to upgrade to Windows 10. I experienced the same problem as you and your friend, when i was using Win 7 a while back and installed updates. Have never experienced any problems at all after upgrading to Windows 10 so i can highly recommend it.

Best regards

MegaIodon

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/user/MegaIodon/

Battlefield Community Helper Veteran

Don't forget to "Grant XP" if you're satisfied with the support I assisted you with.

Did I help you with solving a problem? - Accept my answer as the solution!

[Dansrage]

Hi thanks for your reply, but I really don't see changing my OS as a viable solution to getting one game working better. 

I'd much rather assist in resolving the bug so it doesn't happen to other people too. 

[Dansrage]

So nobody at EA or at DICE cares about this significant performance issue that affects the majority of their install base? 

I posted it on Battlelog a year ago, I posted it here, I've done the majority of the work narrowing down the problem already, it needs to be fixed. 

[Carbonic]

Answer HQ for BF4 is a community driven support forum. Gamers helping fellow gamers.

As you might imagine your fellow gamers in here can't fix this issue. The Community Managers in here might have forwarded the issue to DICE but that's about what can be done from here.

I myself had an issue I tried to get solved and it took a long time as it was apparently hard to reproduce due to the specific hardware required to do so. Since this is probably not a general Win7 issue but and issue between your specific hardware, Win7 updates and the game this is probably even harder to reproduce.

But yeah, Battlelog is probably the place to go. Have you told Microsoft about the issue?

[Dansrage]

No I wouldn't know how to get in contact with Microsoft, and this problem exists only in BF4 as far as I know. No other games I tested were affected.

I have reproduced the problem on two PCs with different hardware and confirmed the issue, along with numerous other people reporting similar problems, and I have narrowed down the Windows updates that might be responsible to a small handful. 

That's as far as I can go on my own though, I'm not a programmer, all I can do is direct more qualified people to the issue. 

If you know of a way for me to contact DICE directly I'd appreciate the help, because I've been trying to draw attention to this for over a year with no luck. 

[Carbonic]

Yeah, you've done some great work, I'll try to see if I can get some info on the issue but as I don't work for DICE or EA I don't know what the results will be.

Just to be sure, you have tried a clean boot right? http://help.ea.com/en/article/how-to-clean-boot-your-pc/

[2042isNotBF]

@Dansrage First of all smart move to uninstall the two updates  from this make sure all this is done on your PC..... Edit.. I get you want to report this issue but I am just trying to get you more fps along the way :] 

Make sure all this is up to date on your PC as well as do this for settings ....

Latest version of DirectX see this page
http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/confirmation.aspx?id=35

Reinstall Microsoft C++ For my game PC's I install both x64 and x86 as it does not hurt the PC

NOTE>>> you need to select the x64 or the x86 file depending on what architecture your computer has. To find this out, Click Start, right click on "Computer" and select "Properties". Under system type is should say "32-Bit Operating System" or "64-bit Operating System". If 32-bit operating system, download the x86 file, and if 64-bit download the x64 file.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=40784

Update your Microsoft .NET framework.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=30653

Adobe Flash Player update
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/


Do this for settings please...


Disable Origin in game:
In Origin - Application settings - Origin in Game - disable Origin in game

Origin Cloud Storage turn it off
Origin, settings, General

Make Sure BF4 is set to 64bit if your windows is 64bit
1- open origin and go to My Games
2-Right click BF4 and go to Game Properties
3-Under when launching this game set it to x64 and check off disable origin in game.
4- Hit apply REBOOT your PC and then test your BF4

Reboot PC test BF4

In game give this a try please....

- Video card settings in game BF4

In game video settings right side set to custom and set everything to medium or low but last three turn them off ....

1-antialiasing deferred off
2-antialiasing post off
3-ambient occlusion off

on left side be sure vertical sync is off also resolution scale to under 100 like 80 or 90 what ever fits you best this will up you FPS

[EA_Nils]

@Dansrage Hi,

Just as a heads up, we won't be able to provide any status reports on the forums in regards to bugs such as this one.

With that being said, thank you very much for the thorough report, I have passed it on for investigation.

Cheers,

Nils

[Dansrage]

Thank you very much for passing this along and bringing attention to the problem, I hope it can be eventually resolved.