Any help fixing my TF2 stuttering?

[+MrDongles 214]

I was wondering if there any fixes to make my game run smoothly. A little context first:

 

About every 15-20 seconds (can vary widely) my game freezes/stutters for about 1-2 seconds. Sound does not loop. At least to what I can hear. My fps does not drop. My ping is not abnormal/high either.This started about 2 months ago(?). I have tried many different options and console commands. None have increased performance greatly. These are all suggestions from other forums on the internets. So I'm sure some/most of these would do absolutely nothing to help me. But what do I know (hint: nothing). I tried to play with these options just by themselves for troubleshooting sake but it is possible multiple of these were on/off at the same time. I'll try to list them as best as I can remember

 

• Used most commands from this thread,
• http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/36y3sy/having_mincro_ingame_stutters_lets_fix_em/
• Verified integrity of game cache
• Updated drivers
• Enabled and Disabled waiting for V-sync
• Played in windowed and full screen
• Used all the lowest video settings
• Disabled sync with Steam cloud
• Removed any custom HUD's
• Set fps_max 300
• Checked for other programs using a lot of processing power
• Disabled and Enabled Multicore Rendering
• Disabled and Enabled Windows Aero extentions
• Played with basic Windows 7 theme
• Happens on every server

I think that is most of them. The only things I haven't done is try different options with the Anti-aliasing mode, Filtering mode, and just uninstalling and reinstalling TF2. I can't remember any big changes to my system when I first started noticing the stutters.

 

My game is starting to become worse everyday it feels like. It's almost unplayable. The instances of the stuttering do happen with large events (multiple ubers, multiple destruction of buildings, many players on screen, explosions, etc). But they also occur when I'm walking around in a corner by myself . It's also a pain when trying to observe potential hackers on servers when recording a demo. 

 

Could anyone help?

 

TL;DR: TF2 stutters every 15 seconds/ no fps drop / no sound loop / no high ping. Can't figure out why. Help?

[Minia 1,211]

Turn it off and on again?

[Se7en 10,762]

Does this only occur in TF2? Try out other games and see if it still happens. On a guess I would say it's CPU/GPU throttling as a result of overheating. You should install a HW monitor like this http://openhardwaremonitor.org/downloads/  run  it while you are gaming to see your system temperatures. 

[+CashPrizes 703]

I'm not inclined with computers whatsoever (I work with patients).

 

Here's what I'd do when dealing with such a scenario.

 

[+MrDongles 214]

Turn it off and on again

 

Dammit lol. I wish it worked like that.

 

Does this only occur in TF2? Try out other games and see if it still happens. On a guess I would say it's CPU/GPU throttling as a result of overheating. You should install a HW monitor like this http://openhardwaremonitor.org/downloads/  run  it while you are gaming to see your system temperatures. 

 

Yes it only occurs in TF2. I'll give that monitor a try

[Rip. 16]

Since you said it only happens in TF2 this might not help you but in case you wanted to give it a try anyways I'll post my experience.

 

I had something similar happen to me some years back and it turned out to be a new driver causing huge latency spikes on my system. In my case I think it was a specific network driver version if I remember correctly. The program that I used to hunt down the specific culprit was LatencyMon http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon. Start the game, tab out, start LatencyMon and click the start button, tab back in to TF2 and play until the freeze happens. Tab back out and hit the stop button on Latencymon. The main page might already show you the specific driver that could be causing problems but you can also check the driver tab. If you find a driver that is causing problems you can try to reinstall that latest driver and retest or rollback to an older version and retest.

 

Good luck.

Edited June 7, 2015 by Rip.

[koKo_ 350]

Reinstall

[+MrDongles 214]

I looked at my drivers again when triple checking things and there is an update ready for me. Wasn't there before. So I'll see how this updated version looks tomorrow when I get off work.

[Cola Kid 230]

Defrag your Drive and have steam verify the files, also check the drives ok try something like this HDD Health or WD Data Lifeguard. sometimes stuttering can indicate a drive is starting to fail.

[Nirrox 358]

[...]Yes it only occurs in TF2. [...]

 

Did you try it with other online games or just offline singleplayer games?

Because i had exactly the same problem you described (short freezes every 30 seconds) and in my case it was my network switch who decided to stop working properly.

It had no noticeable effect on using the browser / watching videos (because of the buffer), just on playing online games...

[Cola Kid 230]

lol why is it that everyone thinks that if it only happens with one piece of software its only a software error? unless you move that data to another part on the drive there is no way to know if it is hardware issue or not. drives are physical and the data on them is as well. 

[+MrDongles 214]

The driver update did nothing to improve TF2's performance. The search continues. Slowly giving up hope.

Defrag your Drive and have steam verify the files, also check the drives ok try something like this HDD Health or WD Data Lifeguard. sometimes stuttering can indicate a drive is starting to fail.

 

My computer has a weekly schedule for defrag and I already verified the files. The HDD Health program didn't work at all and the WD Data Lifeguard came up clean.

 

Did you try it with other online games or just offline singleplayer games?

Because i had exactly the same problem you described (short freezes every 30 seconds) and in my case it was my network switch who decided to stop working properly.

It had no noticeable effect on using the browser / watching videos (because of the buffer), just on playing online games...

 

99.9% sure it only occues within TF2. Although I haven't play a large array of games lately. I have played Payday 2, Heroes and Generals, and DirtyBomb (all online) and no stutters. If it is the issue you speak of what did you do to fix it. Assuming you were able to fix it.

[koKo_ 350]

Reinstall tf2, could be glitch in hl2.exe

Play another game that runs on source (CS, Dots, etc.) And see what happens

Lol I'm so dumb dota doesn't run source

Edited June 9, 2015 by koKoRoro

[+MrDongles 214]

Reinstall tf2, could be glitch in hl2.exe

Play another game that runs on source (CS, Dots, etc.) And see what happens

Lol I'm so dumb dota doesn't run source

 

I'll test this tomorrow after work.

[Nirrox 358]

[...]If it is the issue you speak of what did you do to fix it. Assuming you were able to fix it.

i had the stuttering for maybe a week and tried everything software related (drivers, steam, hdd...).

As said, it wasn't noticable when browsing / watching videos, so i wasn't thinking of anything related to my connection at first.

When i had no idea what else i could check i tried to use an old switch instead of my new one and - Ta-Da! - it was working.

I've sent the new (broken) one to the manufacturer, and they confirmed that theres an error, but it was still covered by warrenty, so i'll get a new one. *yay*

 

But since you can play games like Payday I guess its something different...

[Sphagnum Peat Moss 748]

Do you have browsers open while you play?  Session saving in browsers can cause stuttering. Have you tried switching to/from wireless or switching routers?  TF2 has garbage networking code. Have you rebooted recently?  Running a long time can slow things down due to system level memory leaks, system timing, and other precision issues. On that note, do you have a lot of shit running?  If you have a lot of stuff running at the same time, your memory could be broken up into swiss cheese while TF2 is running, which can cause hiccups.  Are you by chance running some antivirus software such as Avast or Windows automatic updating services in the background?  Both can cause stuttering.  Have you by any chance been tinkering with the DirectX Control Panel and perhaps left some debugging tools on?  DirectX debugging can cause stuttering, crashes, and otherwise slow performance.  Have you changed your TF2 graphics settings recently?  Setting them too high can cause performance problems.  Are the fans on your CPU, GPUs, etc., working?  Have you checked the running temperatures?  Overheating processors can cause stutters, hangs, crashes, etc.  Have you checked to make sure all your RAM is still detected?  If one gets knocked loose, you might not notice it, and your OS might be trying to compensate by paging memory in and out of hard disk space.  Are you using an nVidia graphics card?  Try switching to AMD.  The only way this could matter in this case is if there has been any update to the graphics code or to your graphics drivers.  nVidia is harder to develop for and has a habit of deviating from standards more often to try to squeeze out better performance, but as a result they are more likely to crash, perform poorly when the developer screws up, or have visual artifacts where the same developer mistakes on AMD are more likely to be ignored or handled quietly without interrupting your game.

 

Try narrowing it down to whether or not it happens only to TF2/source games/everything, whether or not reducing graphics settings fixes it, whether or not it happens only in single or multiplayer, and if multiplayer whether or not it happens only on wireless or wired connection, if it happens on all routers you're able to try, make sure all your memory is detected, make sure nothing else at all is running, make sure no other unneeded devices are connected, make sure you've freshly rebooted, make sure you've cleared your cached TF2 files, make sure you've cleared them again if you choose to reinstall TF2, check for overheating, try different graphics cards if you're able to, and everything else mentioned above, and tell us what you find out.  You could save time by trying a binary search on your efforts, but because multiple things can influence each other, instead I'd recommend a simple linear search by turning everything off/reducing it to its lowest setting, and then trying things one at a time.

 

I've had this issue 3 separate times.  One was caused by playing on wireless, one was caused by a shitty router, one was caused by browser automatic session saving.

[+MrDongles 214]

Do you have browsers open while you play? etc.

 

I'll try to answer these as best I can. I'll try to mark all the ones I've done. Ongoing edits.

 

• 98% of the time I do not have any browsers running. Don't think it is the issue. 
• I am on a wired connection. Quite decent speeds. Although I will be moving this weekend so if it is the network here I will see a change.
• I shut off my desktop every night.
• *NO IMPROVEMENTS* I just disabled a couple programs from running on startup of my PC. This could help seeing that Dropbox being passive was taking a bit of memory, same with Spotify and Razer Synapse.
• *NO IMPROVEMENTS* I stopped some passive auto search for updates from startup ran by AVG.
• *PENDING*Some others suggested (random forums) that having two virus/firewalls programs running at the same time can cause some problems. (not sure if it true).
• I have not tinkered with Dx Control Panel. 
• TF2 settings have not changed much other than suggested changes for increased performance. (still trying different settings), I tried it on all lowest settings. No improvements. (TF2 ran virtually flawlessly even with all the highest setting 2ish months ago, then the problems started to occur.)
• RAM is all good and all fans are all operational
• I am still monitoring CPU/GPU temperatures with different games, so far all within limits. 
• I have a nVidia GTX 660, not the best but gets the job done. Switching GPU's is not an option.
• *PENDING* Single player/ Multiplayer tests and other Source games
• Clearing cache files(?) Do you mean verify the files within my steam library? Or manually go into the TF2 folders and do things there.

Thanks for all the help so far everyone. 

 

When I move back home this weekend I'll clean out my desktop physically. Clean out dust and look for any other problematic things. 

[Sphagnum Peat Moss 748]

 

• *PENDING*Some others suggested (random forums) that having two virus/firewalls programs running at the same time can cause some problems. (not sure if it true).

Those posts are correct. You should not have two AV/firewall programs running at the same time.  If this is a new setup for you, or either has been updated recently, or TF2 has been updated recently, try turning them all off completely.

[Emma 1,798]

I have this problem on ultiduo_baloo only. I think it gets worse when the sound starts stuttering too. Drives me mad.

[fever 9,884]

Can you remember what you installed/configured 2ish months ago? Separate AV and Firewall programs from different companies is fine but you should obviously never have more than one of each. You seem pretty clued up so I figure you already know this.

[+MrDongles 214]

I played a bit of CS:GO today and I get stutters in that game as well. So the stuttering only happens in Source games regardless of offline/online. 

 

Can you remember what you installed/configured 2ish months ago?

 

When looking through what has been installed it doesn't seem that anything could be the issue. The 2 months is a rough estimate. The issues came out of nowhere to what I can remember.

[Sphagnum Peat Moss 748]

Just to be sure, you have only one video card, right?  The March and April updates to TF2 (roughly your time frame of when this problem arose) involved a lot of fixes to client-side stuff related to rendering and physics.  It's possible something was done that slows performance on your graphics card.  If you have two or more, try disabling SLI.  If you only have one, or turning off SLI doesn't help, try toggling vsync (I almost never play with vsync on anyway, tearing isn't that noticeable when you're not specifically looking for it).  Do you have an FPS cap set?  If not, try capping it at 60 or 120 fps.  If that does nothing, try running in borderless windowed mode (graphics code for nVidia for fullscreen vs windowed mode is usually less forgiving of developer mistakes than for AMD).  I believe it's not in TF2's video settings, but in your steam launch options you can set it with -windowed -noborder, I think.

[+MrDongles 214]

Just to be sure, you have only one video card, right?

 

Correct. A GTX 660. I have had -windowed and -noborder for a while now, although have turned those off when troubleshooting. I'll put those launch options back on. At first the fps cap doesn't seem to do much. But I will play around with different values.

 

I think if I don't get these problems resolved this weekend I'm gonna give up for a while and just continue trying to play with this stutter. Taking up too much of my time.

[koKo_ 350]

Correct. A GTX 660. I have had -windowed and -noborder for a while now, although have turned those off when troubleshooting. I'll put those launch options back on. At first the fps cap doesn't seem to do much. But I will play around with different values.

 

I think if I don't get these problems resolved this weekend I'm gonna give up for a while and just continue trying to play with this stutter. Taking up too much of my time.

 

Ooooohhhh no no no no the worst thing you can do when you hit a hardware/software problem is to give up. Especially this, which from my perspective, hinders your game experience a lot. Keep trying new things to try and fix it, you'll feel so much better when you actually do fix it

[+MrDongles 214]

So I think I found the (or part of the) problem. I recently enabled the net_graph 1 to help with troubleshooting. I noticed something called "lerp" and was bored enough to look up what it is. Well it does things and stuff with internets and TF2. I was tinkering with some of the values you can set with it. And it seemed to change how often and how intense the stutters happen. These changes were small but I think this could be one thing that is causing problems. I'm still trying to find which values give the best performance. Hopefully this brings me one step closer to having a regular TF2 experience.

 

Here are some links if you are curious:

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/1g8607/what_is_lerp/

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=366151973&insideModal=1