As it seems, that the second thread is full, let us continue with this one.

I hope, Piteq has no problem, when I copy his summarize to this new topic.

Summarize of the problem we are discussing in this thread: (MADE BY PITEQ)

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Q u o t e:

0. For most people, the problem started around Brewfest event. For some - after WotLK installation, although it may happen, that they already got the problem earlier, but it started to be very visible in Northrend, with many people / NPCs in the area.

1. The game is pausing every 15 seconds. Framerate meters show bigger or smaller impact on raw fps, but real world experience can be described as "losing frames" or "massive slowdown" for a 0.2 - 0.5 seconds (http://www.speedyshare.com/203371520.html, 2nd and 17th second; in Northrend WAY more noticeable than on this movie).



2. The problem isn't happening on the login screen, only in game, after logging in. Sometimes is noticeable on character selection screen.

3. For some people, depending on software/hardware configuration, kernel CPU performance graph in the Process Explorer (PE) shows spikes that happen every 15 seconds. Sometimes smaller, sometimes higher, as in the following screenshot: http://lazir.toya.net.pl/~piteq/spikes.png

4. The more NPCs and other players are in the area, the higher the spikes are. In the busy areas of new expansion, the freeze is around 0.5 second long, in the old, abandoned places it's very subtle, sometimes hardly noticeable.

5. After suspending a thread using PE that is (probably) responsible for communication with world server, whole issue magically disappears. NPCs and other players are "frozen" in time, and the player can run around whole world, without single stutter.

6. Mouse cursor works flawlessly during freezes in hardware mode, in software mode it freezes together with the rest of the window.

7. For Vista users, the problem may (and very often does) disappear after installing SP1. After installing Vista SP1 on the very same machine, on separate HDD, the problem for me indeed isn't noticeable.

8. After attaching Microsofts' debugger to the running WoW.exe process, it shows page fault / access violation errors that correspond to in-game "stutters". The same errors happen on Vista SP1, but on this system the errors are not always producing the "stutters", most often they cause only slight drop in fps. The errors come in sequences, separated by 14-15 seconds of flawless execution. The debugger log containing one such sequence as posted by Avael can be viewed here: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dd4xgsvn_1ggqszpcd

9. I have profiled the system with WoW running with kernrate system profiler (it's Microsoft program that allows to check system / drivers / modules performance). I measured the system performance between the spikes, and during the spike. Between spikes, everything looks normal, kernel is busy with regular tasks. During the spike, in the kernel activity log there are completely different functions, like: MiLocateWsle, MiGetPageProtection, MmAccessFault. Kernel log made during each spike also very often contains PsGetCurrentThreadWin32ThreadAndEnterCriticalRegion function. Stripped logs captured by kernrate you can find here http://lazir.toya.net.pl/~piteq/kernrate/.

10. People in US forum claim that the problem disappears when connected to so called "private server" (breaching the EULA, so I cite it only for informational purposes). More information about it you can find in http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=12368277969&sid=1&pageNo=13 thread, post 253.

11. The problem was also discovered during WotLK beta stage (cached google thread address converted to TinyURL: http://#*@##*!!#!*/6o6jem), but for most people (me included) it didn't exist during PTR tests.

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We are NOT discussing:

1.General low fps
2.Ms-lag or something else related with your ping
3.Drops in fps every 5 minutes or any other interval

Please keep this thread clean, for the original threads, take a look here:

Part I: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=5963127134&sid=1
Part II:http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=6365428351&sid=1

I recorded two clips of my own experience with the issue:

www.scemeart.fi/fps/fpsdrops15sec_01.avi

Just looking at wall, you can see the fps drops even then.

www.scemeart.fi/fps/fpsdrops15sec_02.avi

This was in Violet Hold heroic. The slow down was quite annoying even than it only dropped to around 30, still slowed down my game play.

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Q u o t e:
I hope, Piteq has no problem, when I copy his summarize to this new topic.
(...)

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Bah, of course not! I forgot about that thread post limit. Thanks a lot for making the thread Malferis :)

Gelmkar, thank you also for tagging. Do you have any news on this issue? Has it been acknowledged by developers or tech team (so that we can expect some solution)? I saw that similar thread in US forum has been re-stickied recently, hence my questions.

EDIT: I'm wondering, if there's any small patch to be published soon, so that potential solution could be included into it...

Ah you opened a new one I was going to do it when I got back from lunch as I could not add to the old.

Just wanted to tag that I get the same problem though I could not say if it was on the button every 15 secs. It is certainly predictable in it's timing.

Another thing I have noticed and others have commented on is that when I turn it can cause a huge drop in fps. This does not occur everytime so I am assuming that it is on turns when the fps drops for whatever reason.

Just got a new 9800GTX+ and anywhen else 60fps (vsync on, shadows off).

Spec
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 6000
PSU: Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU
Memory: 4GB OCZ PC2-6400
Graphics: Asus GeForce 9800 GTX+ "Dark Knight" 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI
Motherboard: Errm Asus can't remember model at work currently.
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64

Would also like to note that my Wife also gets the same problem. The only difference in build is that she has 2 8600GT's running with SLi.

Could we get instructions on getting your FPS up like in the video put in the first post please? Im a bit of a nub with the old command lines and itd be nice for people to check who dont know.

Ive not personally seen the issue, but my framerates are usually pretty reasonable, so it could be i just havent noticed. But it would be good to see if i do get massive framerate drops like you guys have been experiencing.

Cheers :)

If my game wouldn't stutter for 5 mins every time someone comes here and writes something completely irrelevant, I could play without a glitch.

BUMP!

Ctrl R gets the FPS metre up on screen by the way :)

Still experiecning this issue - almost 2 months now

Piteq's post summarises it perfectly - stutters of varying length every 15 seconds 0-1.5 seconds in length for me - almost exactly like a "lag" spike - framerate drop of minimum 8% every 15 seconds - game is currently almost unpllayble in any raid environment where a "timed" intervention (i.e. rogue kick, warrior shield bash) is required.

I'd like to hear about what actions Blizz are taking on this - it's great to get the blue posts - but I would like to know what if any tech actions are being taken. It really boils down to money - with 11 million subscribers, I would guess there would need to be more than 200,000 people to have this problem before it becomes economically viable for blizzard to throw any money/tech time at sorting it out... and that makes me fear that we aren't going to get any help here....

Malferis - can you add the following links to the top of your original thread for ease of reference?

15 second stutter in FPS thread

Part II http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=6365428351&sid=1

Part I http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=5963127134&sid=1

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Q u o t e:


Malferis - can you add the following links to the top of your original thread for ease of reference?

15 second stutter in FPS thread

Part II http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=6365428351&sid=1

Part I http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=5963127134&sid=1

---

Done

&

Bump

Just started getting this issue myself, although I suspect part of the reason is because I installed Windows Vista just yesterday and then when I played WoW I started getting the problem. When I was on XP I had a lower framerate than usual since WotLK but it was bearable (30 FPS average), but now with this 15-second dip I can't even do quests in peace, let alone attempt any dungeons!

This issue is particularly annoying since I was hoping to get to level 80 soon, but now since the framerate is so messed up I can't play the game in its current state.

I have been experiencing what I believe are the same problems. Tech specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66GHz
8gb RAM
Vista 64
ATI Radeon HD 4850

On release of WOTLK I had a Mac which was running at a very low, but consisitent, freeze-free fps rate. About 3 days into the expansion my new computer arrived and ran at a much higher frame rate (a steady 75 fps) but included the freezing, which is regular and roughly every 15 seconds. It lasts just long enough to mess up any opportunity to interuppt and has so far put me off joining my friends to raid.

I tried a number of the things already mentioned in a bid to fix it, but the issue remains (addons, WTF, firewalls, video settings etc) . My only other concerns were these two:

- I am running a wireless internet connection. I ran on the same router before getting a new computer but I've had to buy a wireless USB card for this system.
- Reports on the DK forums (yes, I re-rolled) are suggesting that when all your runes are on cooldown (which happens approximately every 15 seconds) there is a freeze due to a fault in the game mechanics.

Everything is new. My computer, WOTLK, my class, even my wireless network has a new bit. I am at a loss to identify the problem because I have yet to experience how any of this stuff would actually run smoothly.

Having read all this I guess it would be a major coincidence if my problem was so similar, or basically the same, as the one that everyone else seems to have. Guess what I'm trying to say is fix it Blizz. I r frustrated.

Wall of text crits you for 74653765734657284637470476501 boredom damage.

I have posted this in another thread too
(the 8800gtx owner thread)

but it fits here aswell. maby we have to think more in the way of "power management" faults in drivers.?

I just read something about "powermiser" options and options to consume less power.

i also read that some people noticed that their card speed goes from 400% to 100% as soon they launched wow in fullscreen. therefore this might be a direction we need to think in..

i have not yet tested or compared running it in windowed mode, or fullscreen, since i am at work atm...

Disabling the powermiser would result in max speed for your system! The only thing i am still unsure of, is that i have problems with my desktop comp, but i think powermiser is a laptop only thing... not sure...

Maby all our problems are linked to some sort of power management option, that is included in the drivers - game system?

pff. too much brain hurting stuff...

Is there any news on this topic? Any update? Besides supportive tags, this problem needs some acknowledgement and information about actions being taken. Gelmkar (or anyone in charge of the problem), can you please shed some light?

*

By the way, there's something wrong with the game also under Vista. Sometimes it's can just "choke" for a second (!) when I try to rapidly rotate camera. "Fortunately" I'm far from being 80 still, but I smell huge issues if this thing will happen during Arena.

Sure I do notice nice graphical improvements (seriously, I'm amazed what was possible to squeeze from the graphics engine; the expansion surprised me more than once), and I understand those improvements must affect framerate (sure thing, I bought better VGA to compensate) but there are definitely too many little glitches... E.g. trees in the Dragonblight; I mean those densely packed, silvery trees near Star's Rest for example. While flying on gryphon through them, my framerate takes heavy nosedive without any particular reason. And more. In original WoW / TBC, there were of course places that caused much trouble for my machine (e.g. AoE in the trap room in BWL), but if I had low fps, that was steady low fps. And I knew the reason: massive spells, a lot of things flying around, and stuff. Not random freezes, hiccups, slowdowns that aren't directly (or rather: visibly) caused by the environment.

Back to the topic. I tried to play yesterday from XP for a abit, and after hour of those 15 second pauses I got serious nausea... I needed to take long break away from the screen. In Northrend, it's completely unplayable. I don't even want to think about PvP, which I always loved.

Guys, that silence about the problem is really getting strange...

Bump

Maybe i can add some more observations. The stutter on my machine became visible with the launch of Lich King. Maybe it existed before and i did not recognize it, but i really doubt that, cause the game performed flawless before even in dense situations on the highest settings.

I can confirm the "tree situation". Trees in particular perform really bad in Nothrend. Coupled with the "camera-movement-break", it looks like an engine issue for Nothrend art. We even may look at a perfect storm situation here, where a flaw between the client-server communication (15 second stutter) is combined with engine issues (trees, camera) to result in such a bad performance for so many players.

When playing my DK in Outland the engine performs way better. The camera is smooth, no tree problems exist. The 15-second stutter though is still there, only less visible (around 10% of the overall FPS).

The 15-second-stutter even seems to scale in some ways. I now checked Vsync and lowered my settings a lot and the stutters are there but less strong, while on cranked up settings and disabled Vsync the framerate drops are huge. It became unplayable actually.

I'm glad to see the blue support in this thread as well as the ongoing discussion which is certainly far more constructive than the mirror thread on the US forums; that thread unfortuantely is filled with DXDIAG files and people way off the current issue.

However, as has been mentioned, we do need to know whether this issue has been reported and acknowledged by the necessary staff who can fix it. Keeping this thread alive is ofc pointless if nothing will be done about it.

The whole turning thing is something I have always attributed to the stuttering. After an hour or so of play last night the wow.exe spikes were reaching 20% CPU, but were immediately reduced to 5% when I restarted the game, although still present ofc. That this problem is progressive during play has already been reported, but may help in narrowing down the cause.

:)

A "Blue tagging and supporting this post" Is all well and good, but what we really need is solid confirmation from a BLUE that they are looking into this problem, and that they have made some progress in fixing it.

Really the 3 (or more) 15+ page posts about this issue for 3 months or more is nice, but not once in all that time have i heard "yes we are aware this is a problem, yes it will be fixed soon", because right now all i see is more and more people with the problem, and no hope from blizzard that it will ever be fixed.

---

Q u o t e:
I have posted this in another thread too
(the 8800gtx owner thread)

but it fits here aswell. maby we have to think more in the way of "power management" faults in drivers.?

I just read something about "powermiser" options and options to consume less power.

i also read that some people noticed that their card speed goes from 400% to 100% as soon they launched wow in fullscreen. therefore this might be a direction we need to think in..

i have not yet tested or compared running it in windowed mode, or fullscreen, since i am at work atm...

Disabling the powermiser would result in max speed for your system! The only thing i am still unsure of, is that i have problems with my desktop comp, but i think powermiser is a laptop only thing... not sure...

Maby all our problems are linked to some sort of power management option, that is included in the drivers - game system?

pff. too much brain hurting stuff...

---

I have posted in a couple of threads about this issue. If you google for powermizer you will find numerous threads on other forums where people are having the same kind of issues with lag ect.. Mine is slightly different)

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=64673

another interesting thig is that Powermizer seems to be active on some desktop machines aswell, Its always part of the driver but should only be installed on laptops.

I dont have time to find them but there are some registry mods you can do to disable it. or install an older driver before it was added ~10/07

I think with the changes in the echoes of doom/Wotlk patch the graphics have become more demanding and having your graphics processor has running at 1/4 the speed it should be would suddenly become alot more noticable.


Please somebody try it. It worked for me running linux on a laptop in opengl mode. It might work for you too

I've got this problem now aswell. It all started when i changed OS from Vista Ultimate 32-bit to 64-bit.

Time of this report: 11/27/2008, 19:52:58
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.080917-1612) Language:
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 4094MB RAM
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode

Heres the system im sitting on and reading the previous posters i have a theory about nvidia drivers combined withVista 64-bit but i havent read all the posts so i cant know.