Performance issues?

[Ncxelol]

Getting good frames at higher settings but the stutter is unbearable at times almost making things out to be a slideshow for 10 seconds and then poof back to 100+ fps, 5 seconds later stutter for 10 secs and so on. Seems to be when entering new areas. If I stick around a certian area it calms down but when i go venturing off a little bit or god forbid when i spawn in a new area it goes haywire. Another thing is my audio also stutters on a new spawn but then is fine for the rest of the time until i die and respawn in a new area.

I just want to figure out what exactly is causing this and why it's only on this game and games like it for example Rust, Empyrion, ETC pretty much large open world games seem to have the biggest issues. I know these games are really unoptomized but damn this is getting old. About to throw my damn pc away but id rather not lol. Just wanna figure out what the deal is here.

My current specs:

Asus Strix GTX 1070 OC
i7 4770 @3.4ghz
16gb DDR3 1886mhz
A single 7200RPM HDD that also has windows installed on it since my last drive JUST died
Windows 10 Pro.

Keep in mind my system does not overheat or get hot everything is managable and my disk is always at 100% usage and doesnt change in game so i cant tell what the impact is and i've done miles of research and theres so much arguement over if it matters or not which i would believe it does but to what extent does it affect gameplay? I can max games like battlefield 1 70+ fps, 0 stutter, many of these newer triple A titles no issue.

[[LZ]Icy]

The disk usage is an issue with windows 10 , Custom anti virus software etc can cause it , try using the default one or see if any software is running in the background that can cause the disk usage (i had this bug cus of my virusscanner once)

[DecrepitDragon]

What's your world tile buffer set to?

Also, often overlooked, but do you have a lot of programs running in the background?

Edit: Icy ninja'd

[Ncxelol]

Originally posted by LZIcy:

The disk usage is an issue with windows 10 , Custom anti virus software etc can cause it , try using the default one or see if any software is running in the background that can cause the disk usage (i had this bug cus of my virusscanner once)

I use windows defender i am a programmer and a game developer so i know how not to get viruses lol i dont need anything heavy.

Originally posted by DecrepitDragon:

What's your world tile buffer set to?

Also, often overlooked, but do you have a lot of programs running in the background?

worldbuffer is set all the way down it really doesnt matter what settings. I have tested on the lowest possible resolution with the lowest settings possible and it still leaks through. It actually tends to play better at higher settings which is a mind ♥♥♥♥. As for programs in the background i am very conservetive when it comes to running games defenitly when i do testing trying to see if i can fix any performance issues,

with that being said I launched a clean boot, with only 3 programs starting up and they were windows related processes and i launched steam and tried it out without opening anything else up and still didnt fix it. 99% of my time in game is trying to fix the stutter or make it reasonable.. not looking for perfection here.

[[LZ]Icy]

Originally posted by Nec:

Originally posted by LZIcy:

The disk usage is an issue with windows 10 , Custom anti virus software etc can cause it , try using the default one or see if any software is running in the background that can cause the disk usage (i had this bug cus of my virusscanner once)

I use windows defender i am a programmer and a game developer so i know how not to get viruses lol i dont need anything heavy.

Originally posted by DecrepitDragon:

What's your world tile buffer set to?

Also, often overlooked, but do you have a lot of programs running in the background?

worldbuffer is set all the way down it really doesnt matter what settings. I have tested on the lowest possible resolution with the lowest settings possible and it still leaks through. It actually tends to play better at higher settings which is a mind ♥♥♥♥. As for programs in the background i am very conservetive when it comes to running games defenitly when i do testing trying to see if i can fix any performance issues,

with that being said I launched a clean boot, with only 3 programs starting up and they were windows related processes and i launched steam and tried it out without opening anything else up and still didnt fix it. 99% of my time in game is trying to fix the stutter or make it reasonable.. not looking for perfection here.

Could ur windows maybe updating in the background? I also know Cortana having the bug btw (and windows search) sometimes u even need to disable Superfetch for the issue to stop

[retsam1]

Originally posted by Nec:

Getting good frames at higher settings but the stutter is unbearable at times almost making things out to be a slideshow for 10 seconds and then poof back to 100+ fps, 5 seconds later stutter for 10 secs and so on. Seems to be when entering new areas. If I stick around a certian area it calms down but when i go venturing off a little bit or god forbid when i spawn in a new area it goes haywire. Another thing is my audio also stutters on a new spawn but then is fine for the rest of the time until i die and respawn in a new area.

I just want to figure out what exactly is causing this and why it's only on this game and games like it for example Rust, Empyrion, ETC pretty much large open world games seem to have the biggest issues. I know these games are really unoptomized but damn this is getting old. About to throw my damn pc away but id rather not lol. Just wanna figure out what the deal is here.

My current specs:

Asus Strix GTX 1070 OC
i7 4770 @3.4ghz
16gb DDR3 1886mhz
A single 7200RPM HDD that also has windows installed on it since my last drive JUST died
Windows 10 Pro.

Keep in mind my system does not overheat or get hot everything is managable and my disk is always at 100% usage and doesnt change in game so i cant tell what the impact is and i've done miles of research and theres so much arguement over if it matters or not which i would believe it does but to what extent does it affect gameplay? I can max games like battlefield 1 70+ fps, 0 stutter, many of these newer triple A titles no issue.

Ark is one of the more demanding games on computer rigs currently. Comparing experiences in other less demanding games to this one isn't going to help.


Your cpu is a bit older and seems like you upgraded the 1070 card on it. You also mention having the game on an older HDD.

Things you didnt mention:

1. What -specificl settings are you attempting to play the game on. I recommend dropping everything into LOW and as well unticking all boxes in the middle column and reducing sliders down. If the problem improves, then raise things a bit and try from there.

2. You list your rigs specs and thank you for that but(and though it may sound stupid) make sure you have your monitor plugged into your graphics card and not into the motherboard's onboard graphics slot. Some inanely do that and then wonder why they're not getting the game play performance/fidelity they would exppect.

3. You havent cited if this is in context with any mods. If you are using any mods cite -all- mods being used.

4. Are you using any 3rd party programs in the background that may be draining comp resources or causing compatibility issues? Virus checkers, FPS meters, GPU or other performance monitoring software etc? If so try turning off/disabling them.


All in all my guess is primarily you're trying to play the game on settings higher that your rig is meant to handle and on a server/single player in which demand is much higher(remember in single player 100% ofyour rig is used verus that of sharing taxation between your rig and a server when playing other servers.

[Ghost]

@op. At high settings. I turn off my lite bloom. Motion blurr. And turn down sky and ground clutter.
I run an alienware alpha and know how to use it..
In the med and low setting it turns something on/off that it shouldn't. It works for everyone i know or gives them a base to work with.
Got no idea what or why!? Just works!

[DecrepitDragon]

World tile buffer pre-loads more game assets early the higher it's set....

But you knew that right?

So if there's more data in memory, either ddr or gddr, then loads should be smoother with less use of the pagefile.

Side note - do you have a paagefile and is it on a fast or slower drive? That's a long shot but worth the ask while we're on the subject.

[DrathDragoon33]

Ur specs are fine. If it happens on all your large end games it could he that something else on your computer is failing. Since you mentioned that your hard drive recently died. The only time I've ever had real stutter on a game was when the comp was dying. Although on that computer the processor actually had heat damage, so that was rough.

[Ncxelol]

Originally posted by retsam1:

Originally posted by Nec:

Getting good frames at higher settings but the stutter is unbearable at times almost making things out to be a slideshow for 10 seconds and then poof back to 100+ fps, 5 seconds later stutter for 10 secs and so on. Seems to be when entering new areas. If I stick around a certian area it calms down but when i go venturing off a little bit or god forbid when i spawn in a new area it goes haywire. Another thing is my audio also stutters on a new spawn but then is fine for the rest of the time until i die and respawn in a new area.

I just want to figure out what exactly is causing this and why it's only on this game and games like it for example Rust, Empyrion, ETC pretty much large open world games seem to have the biggest issues. I know these games are really unoptomized but damn this is getting old. About to throw my damn pc away but id rather not lol. Just wanna figure out what the deal is here.

My current specs:

Asus Strix GTX 1070 OC
i7 4770 @3.4ghz
16gb DDR3 1886mhz
A single 7200RPM HDD that also has windows installed on it since my last drive JUST died
Windows 10 Pro.

Keep in mind my system does not overheat or get hot everything is managable and my disk is always at 100% usage and doesnt change in game so i cant tell what the impact is and i've done miles of research and theres so much arguement over if it matters or not which i would believe it does but to what extent does it affect gameplay? I can max games like battlefield 1 70+ fps, 0 stutter, many of these newer triple A titles no issue.

Ark is one of the more demanding games on computer rigs currently. Comparing experiences in other less demanding games to this one isn't going to help.


Your cpu is a bit older and seems like you upgraded the 1070 card on it. You also mention having the game on an older HDD.

Things you didnt mention:

1. What -specificl settings are you attempting to play the game on. I recommend dropping everything into LOW and as well unticking all boxes in the middle column and reducing sliders down. If the problem improves, then raise things a bit and try from there.

2. You list your rigs specs and thank you for that but(and though it may sound stupid) make sure you have your monitor plugged into your graphics card and not into the motherboard's onboard graphics slot. Some inanely do that and then wonder why they're not getting the game play performance/fidelity they would exppect.

3. You havent cited if this is in context with any mods. If you are using any mods cite -all- mods being used.

4. Are you using any 3rd party programs in the background that may be draining comp resources or causing compatibility issues? Virus checkers, FPS meters, GPU or other performance monitoring software etc? If so try turning off/disabling them.


All in all my guess is primarily you're trying to play the game on settings higher that your rig is meant to handle and on a server/single player in which demand is much higher(remember in single player 100% ofyour rig is used verus that of sharing taxation between your rig and a server when playing other servers.

The reason I brung up those other games is to point out that fact my computer IS functioning which would render your number 2 void. As for the settings i recently stated that ive tried an abudence of settings and does not seem to fix it however the higher the settings the less stutter i deal with.

I use 0 mods at the moment, and i tried running it on a clean boot with 0 programs launched or opened and i will admit that does help in some other games such as Rust signficinatly.

[Ncxelol]

Originally posted by DecrepitDragon:

World tile buffer pre-loads more game assets early the higher it's set....

But you knew that right?

So if there's more data in memory, either ddr or gddr, then loads should be smoother with less use of the pagefile.

Side note - do you have a paagefile and is it on a fast or slower drive? That's a long shot but worth the ask while we're on the subject.

Yes i am aware, and no i do not have a page file setup i keep it at windows default after extensive research I found that playing with the pagefile really doesnt help in most cases only rarely. I did try many pagefile fixes and putting windows on a seperate drive and the page file and a few other things about a year ago when i first tried getting ark to work with my old GTX 770, but it actually destroyed my computers performance not sure what i did to it exactly but since then i dont mess with pagefile lol.

[Ncxelol]

Originally posted by DrathDragoon33:

Ur specs are fine. If it happens on all your large end games it could he that something else on your computer is failing. Since you mentioned that your hard drive recently died. The only time I've ever had real stutter on a game was when the comp was dying. Although on that computer the processor actually had heat damage, so that was rough.

This is what i think i am facing ultimitatly and it really saddens me to say it but i think perhaps my CPU has suffered major heat damage as my old case had 0 fans, 0 airflow, and probably endured 1000s of hours of gameplay on high end games with temptures up to 85> Degrees C steady. Plus ive had this cpu for years.

[Ncxelol]

Originally posted by Nec:

Originally posted by DrathDragoon33:

Ur specs are fine. If it happens on all your large end games it could he that something else on your computer is failing. Since you mentioned that your hard drive recently died. The only time I've ever had real stutter on a game was when the comp was dying. Although on that computer the processor actually had heat damage, so that was rough.

This is what i think i am facing ultimitatly and it really saddens me to say it but i think perhaps my CPU has suffered major heat damage as my old case had 0 fans, 0 airflow, and probably endured 1000s of hours of gameplay on high end games with temptures up to 85> Degrees C steady. Plus ive had this cpu for years.

Edit: But i can play other games just fine like fallout 4 and gta v i would think if my CPU or any pieces of my computer were dying i would have the issues across all games because my pc does push it self fairly hard to play some of those games. Maybe not as much as Ark but im thinking its 2 things, my hard drive, or my cpu and i hope to god its my hard drive.

[Ncxelol]

Originally posted by Silky Rough:

Only thing I'd be looking for is HDD LED activity on the stutters. I run Ark on HDD on a 32Gb system (my server runs off SSD) and *initial* map loading causes stutter ie: flying into a new area). Once I've been around the map, it's as smooth as butter.

HDD light does flash like a minigun when the stuttering is happeneing if i remember correctly, i will check it out once i get back home and see if thats true. I really dont want to have to buy an SSD just yet thought im waiting until prices drop and capacity maxes.

[g0rml3ss]

Is your HDD constantly at 100% or just when in games? the stuttering you are experiencing may well be that your system is hammering your pagefile if your drive is running at 100%.


p.s if your HDD light is going like a minigun this is usually an indicator that the pagefile is indeed in use. Could well be that your hard drive may be failing if it is constantly at 100% regardless of what you are doing.

[=Sarsante=]

My best guess would be the w10 100% disk usage. You said its like that all the time.

I had this issue in my old laptop (its not ysed for gaming) and the performance was terrible. Tried about everything I could find online to fix it and nothing solved the issue.

Its super weird because on task manager resources it says 100% disk usage but if you check the read/write its low and shouldnt get 100% but it does. Only way to solve that was installing w7.

So going back to your problem, usually when ark stutters is the pagefile specially at 8gb ram system, which is not your case. So thats one more thing that leads me to point to the 100% disk usage.

I would try install w7 and see if it works as it should. If doesnt I would try do some benchmarks/tests mostly hdd and ram to see if they're working properly, then gpu.

Last thing I would consider is the cpu, unless its almost dead shouldnt be an issue only to ark because the game is gpu heavy and well I ran the game on amd fx8300 which its weaker than a dying 4770 ;)