Stuttering every 5 seconds while playing

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

Hello people, I need your help since I'm out of ideas and solutions, for 2 months I have fighting against the issue of getting stutters that are very noticeable and affects playability, this began with no apparent reason. My laptop is not the best laptop but even like that it can run games very smoothly (no ultra options of course) with no problem (skyrim with mods of FX and lights enhancement, other vanilla Bethesda games, etc) but suddenly issue attacked on every game the game would be with slow movement every 5 seconds, it would seem like a crappy pc barely running a game on 5 FPS or less I will get later a video of the example.
-Already restored the laptop from fabric
-Updated drivers
-Uninstalled a lot of software
-Used debloat script for Windows 10
-Tried to run Skyrim vanilla on lowest
-Did the memory diagnostic
-Checked for malware with different tools with zero findings
-Defrag and Optimize disk
-CHKDSK on CMD
-Updated Windows 10
-Changed thermic paste on september

Then I decided to use an older laptop that ran Skyrim but with lowest settings, and now from running it from 30 FPS, it's now on 10 or less, so I thought, first played pirate Skyrim with no problems, and now playing Steam Skyrim is crappy so maybe Steam is doing something to ruin the playability? I don't know, I'll be active on this thread. Thank you.

CPU Intel Core i3-5005U 2GHz
RAM 4GB (2.43 can be used)
Windows 10 x64
Intel HD Graphics 5500

 

[theoneandonlymrk]

Didn't a recent intel driver update hit performance due to a vulnerability, have you tried a older intel Hd GPU driver?

 

[lsevald]

Maybe try LatencyMon from Resplendence to see if it identifies the source of the problem?

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

You can scan the event viewer see if its something in windows thats doing it. also, if you have a HDD not SSD, defragging might help

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

Maybe try LatencyMon from Resplendence to see if it identifies the source of the problem?

Seems like really good software, thanks for the tip, should i run the programs while playing or alone is ok?

You can scan the event viewer see if its something in windows thats doing it. also, if you have a HDD not SSD, defragging might help

Yes already saw the event viewer and nothing seems off, and yesterday I defragged the disk without problems too

Didn't a recent intel driver update hit performance due to a vulnerability, have you tried a older intel Hd GPU driver?

Oh, I didn't know that there was a vulnerability, where can i see if my processor is among the list? and if it is, how do i roll it back?

 

[lsevald]

Seems like really good software, thanks for the tip, should i run the programs while playing or alone is ok?

I'm no expert, but I usually do this:

1. reboot fresh
2. run "start cmd.exe /k %systemroot%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks" from a command prompt to force the system to execute all idle tasks
3. watch task manager, and see that the system finally idles at a low cpu usage, the command above could trigger a scheduled task waiting, like a windows defender scan or similar, so it might take a while
3. ensure that all sleep timers in power management are set to a time period longer than you intend to test for, devices going to sleep can cause lag spikes (it's possible LatencyMon takes care of this, but I do it just to be sure)
4. run LatencyMon, start it (green play button) and leave the system alone for say 5-10 minutes or more, if it happens every 5 seconds, you probably don't need to run it for very long
5. stop it and inspect the results, all tabs can contain interesting data, post screenshots here if you find something of interest (spikes into the red, status as "not suitable for handling real time audio" etc)

It might also be really, really obvious, so just run it and see

 

[trickson]

Have you tried to port forward?
Make sure your foward your port to the steam port it helps.

 

[newtekie1]

Hard Drive or SSD?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Whats your memory configuration 1x4 or 2x2? Mismatched memory can sometimes mess with things

 

[mtcn77]

You could try dpc latency monitor(dpclat), too. It shows the general picture better, imo.

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

I'm no expert, but I usually do this:

1. reboot fresh
2. run "start cmd.exe /k %systemroot%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks" from a command prompt to force the system to execute all idle tasks
3. watch task manager, and see that the system finally idles at a low cpu usage, the command above could trigger a scheduled task waiting, like a windows defender scan or similar, so it might take a while
3. ensure that all sleep timers in power management are set to a time period longer than you intend to test for, devices going to sleep can cause lag spikes (it's possible LatencyMon takes care of this, but I do it just to be sure)
4. run LatencyMon, start it (green play button) and leave the system alone for say 5-10 minutes or more, if it happens every 5 seconds, you probably don't need to run it for very long
5. stop it and inspect the results, all tabs can contain interesting data, post screenshots here if you find something of interest (spikes into the red, status as "not suitable for handling real time audio" etc)

It might also be really, really obvious, so just run it and see

Doing this, and while watching task manager, I noticed that the top 5 of memory consumers are Antimalware executable, Service Host: Local system (restricted network) (8), Service Host: Local system (16), IAStorDataSvc (32 bits), Lenovo.Modern.lmController (32 bits); the Lenovo process calls another Lenovo processes and began to use a lot of disk, the command prompt is to defeat disk isn't it? Because after some minutes, some processes began to execute, the disk usage is almost at 100%

Have you tried to port forward?
Make sure your foward your port to the steam port it helps.

Don't know how to do it, could you explain more?

Whats your memory configuration 1x4 or 2x2? Mismatched memory can sometimes mess with things

I'm not so advanced in this things, how can I know?

Hard Drive or SSD?

Hard Drive

I'm no expert, but I usually do this:

1. reboot fresh
2. run "start cmd.exe /k %systemroot%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks" from a command prompt to force the system to execute all idle tasks
3. watch task manager, and see that the system finally idles at a low cpu usage, the command above could trigger a scheduled task waiting, like a windows defender scan or similar, so it might take a while
3. ensure that all sleep timers in power management are set to a time period longer than you intend to test for, devices going to sleep can cause lag spikes (it's possible LatencyMon takes care of this, but I do it just to be sure)
4. run LatencyMon, start it (green play button) and leave the system alone for say 5-10 minutes or more, if it happens every 5 seconds, you probably don't need to run it for very long
5. stop it and inspect the results, all tabs can contain interesting data, post screenshots here if you find something of interest (spikes into the red, status as "not suitable for handling real time audio" etc)

It might also be really, really obvious, so just run it and see

I will post the results later, but latencymon running along said everything was ok, and running it while running Skyrim said that I had some problems while handling audio, that may be related to network, that disabling wlan could improve my performance, and that I should check for BIOS update.

Here are the results of latencymon running alone:

 

[lsevald]

Doing this, and while watching task manager, I noticed that the top 5 of memory consumers are Antimalware executable, Service Host: Local system (restricted network) (8), Service Host: Local system (16), IAStorDataSvc (32 bits), Lenovo.Modern.lmController (32 bits); the Lenovo process calls another Lenovo processes and began to use a lot of disk, the command prompt is to defeat disk isn't it? Because after some minutes, some processes began to execute, the disk usage is almost at 100%

I will post the results later, but latencymon running along said everything was ok, and running it while running Skyrim said that I had some problems while handling audio, that may be related to network, that disabling wlan could improve my performance, and that I should check for BIOS update.

I guess the "ProcessIdleTasks" command started some background task that was scheduled to run at that point (windows defender scan, defrag etc), which is the point of running it before testing with latencymon, so you avoid some unknown background task interfering with the test. Depending on what this process is, it could take some time, but you want to run latencymon when the system is fully idle (0% CPU usage), so let it finish whatever it is doing

If this test is going to reveal anything related to your problem, I would expect to see some value spike in latencymon every 5 seconds. If it's not, I would move on...

 

[trickson]

How To Forward Ports for Games

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

Now the following ones are while running skyrim, as it can be seen the issue showed after 10 mins aprox

And for a plus here is a link to the video that shows how the issue is:

(the video wasn't made at the same time latencymon was scanning)

I guess the "ProcessIdleTasks" command started some background task that was scheduled to run at that point (windows defender scan, defrag etc), which is the point of running it before testing with latencymon, so you avoid some unknown background task interfering with the test. Depending on what this process is, it could take some time, but you want to run latencymon when the system is fully idle (0% CPU usage), so let it finish whatever it is doing

If this test is going to reveal anything related to your problem, I would expect to see some value spike in latencymon every 5 seconds. If it's not, I would move on...

Well then I will do that the only problem is that the cpu is always on usage, Ileft the laptop alone while eating, then I opened task manager and cpu usage was at 9%, this computer was recently restored to fabric and updated to fullest (i think) updated windows thingies and drivers on hardware mangement

Also I activated Steam FPS counter, the game runs smoothly and ok for me between 20-30 FPS, and when issue shows, the fps drops to total zero, when the stutter momentarily stops, the FPS counter ascends from 2 or 3 FPS

 

[authorized]

What about temperatures? Maybe it's clogged inside and is overheating.

 

[hurakura]

ram not enough, using the hard drives page file too much.

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

What about temperatures? Maybe it's clogged inside and is overheating.

Here:

The CPU speed bar was spiking, on image is on high spike

ram not enough, using the hard drives page file too much.

Yes but don't know what to do about it, on task manager the one using most of memory is th Antimalware Executable from Windows Defender, I uninstalled Bitdefender before due to memory consumption, but Windows defender is no better nor worse

 

[mtcn77]

This would all be recorded if you tried dpc latency monitor. It has a timeline.

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

This would all be recorded if you tried dpc latency monitor. It has a timeline.

Wich one could you recommend me?

 

[mtcn77]

It goes by its own name, correction: DPC Latency 'Checker'.

 

[Fry178]

a cheap ssd would be a good upgrade. wont fix issues, but at best a hdd can read write at around 1/4-1/5 of an ssd,
and especially small files and lots of access stuff will improve a lot, maybe even improve battery time (less power draw etc).

usually the biggest impact on overall win performance/feel, outside faster boot/loading.

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

It goes by its own name, correction: DPC Latency 'Checker'.

This are the reports:
While doing nothing

While playing Skyrim, on the red spike is where the stutter showed

a cheap ssd would be a good upgrade. wont fix issues, but at best a hdd can read write at around 1/4-1/5 of an ssd,
and especially small files and lots of access stuff will improve a lot, maybe even improve battery time (less power draw etc).

usually the biggest impact on overall win performance/feel, outside faster boot/loading.

Yes I would love to have one, but If I were to invest on improvements I would better build a PC or buy a laptop with far better specs

 

[mtcn77]

1ms is a lot. <500microsecond max.

 

[DanyelaOfCyrodiil]

1ms is a lot. <500microsecond max.

Soooo for now I will take the recommendation of enable and re/enable the drivers

 

[newtekie1]

Hard Drive

And there is your answer.