Games Running in Slow Motion

[lyndonn]

Hello,

I have been battling to diagnose an issue for the last 6 weeks or so - games that I run on my PC run in slow motion. They are beautifully rendered, the graphics are smooth and without fault, but everything moves slowly, as if watching a slow motion video.

I have tried everything that I can think of and everything that I can come up with via Google search on similar issues.

General PC performance is perfect; the only issue I seem to have is this in-game performance. I believe it is down to a driver issue because hardware isolation testing seems to suggest that compnenets are working, but I've tried rolling back to older versions of nVidia drivers without positive effect and similarly re-updated without positive effect.

The system was built two years ago and the only upgrades made have been a new OS hardrive and a new PSU. The HDD has been in use for about 8 months without this issue being apparent.

The timing of this issue and the upgrade of the PSU is suspicious (made in early January of this year), HOWEVER I have been able to get graphics working under two different graphics cards without this issue being apparent so I don't think this is down to lack of juice from the PSU.

The reason I suggest this is that as part of my testing I installed a RADEON based card in place of my nVidia, got the same issue (I forget the model number an HD6750 I think; it was of a similar era to my GTX460). After spending a long time cleaning up drivers and driver reinstalls in-game performance came right under the RADEON card and ran well for a week, before I went back to my nVidia - which after driver reinstalls/clean ups etc. also ran well for a few days).

So I figure if it was a PSU issue this could not have come right. Also I have been able to experience 'proper' performance on the nVidia card under this PSU but it was fleeting, system ran well for a couple of days after a clean install and then it seems as if I booted again one day and the issue was back.

I usually only play games via the Steam application and my usual 'test game' is Defence Grid, which my system specs easily overmatch requirements for and I have played (apparently for in excess of 100 hours) happily since this system was built.
I have tried other games within Steam and have also tried a game outside of Steam - all perform similarly.

Windows Experience scores (if they're worth anything? suggest the system is good), with 7.9 on all indices.
3D Mark testing demonstrated that graphics performance was on par with systems of similar specs.
As said, I can't pick a fault in the rendering of graphics - just that game speed seems to be in slow motion.
Monitoring of CPU, RAM and GPU temps suggest that temperatures stay within good and normal parameters whilst under load and there is no load usage on CPU or RAM to suggest I'm anywhere near running out of processing power (and again, system has run this game and many others quite happily for some time).

FRAPS reports a solid 60FPS on Defence Grid output on a new ASUS monitor (budget model) at stock 60hz refresh rate.
I don't know a lot about FPS but I get the sense that this is quite acceptable and if FPS were an indicator for this behaviour I would be seeing far lower FPS?

The following are my system specs and a list of strategies I've tried to overcome this issue.

MOBO: ASROCK X58 Extreme 3
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800w
CPU: i7 960 @ 3.2ghz
HDD 1: Corsair Force Series 3 120gb
HDD 2: Seagate Sata II 1TB
RAM: 12gb Corsair Vengeance, running in triple-channel
GPU: Gainward Golden Sample nVidia GTX 460 (stock overclocked and with 2gb memory)
OS: Win 7 Home Edition, 64bit

What I have already tried, again using Defence Grid as my example, but behaviour is found in all other games I have tried:

Ensured vSync is off
Tried overclocking and also underclocking PCIe frequency without noticing any change in performance.
Turned off Aero desktop, tried performance settings, disabling tranparency etc. (performance of all programs and windows is fast and snappy as you would expect).
Steam application does exhibit a fade effect, I believe this is hard-coded, and this effect is noticeably slow.
I would lay the fault with Steam EXCEPT that I've tried running Total War Medieval II as a standalone install (nothing to do with Steam) and get the same slow motion issue.
This is a game that has previously run quite well on the system as have Steam games.

Ensured latest Windows updates installed

Reseated graphics card, ensured latest Nvidia drivers installed
Reseated graphics card in alternate PCIe slot, updated drivers
Checked all leads and power connectors, seating of RAM, cleaned up dust on fans, given the build-in-the-box 'the once over'.

Installed a different graphics card (as per description above) and experienced same slow motion performance issues.
Ran system off alternate OS hard-drive and experienced same issue.

Ensured Direct X is installed/reinstalled and up to date with version 9.0c and 11

Reinstall of mobo drivers (many times)

Reinstated default BIOS settings excepting basic tweaks to order boot of HDDs.

Reinstall of Windows

Clean install of Windows

Ensured Power Plan is set to Performance and that there is no power down on hdds etc.

Tried installing Steam and games on OS SSD and also on secondary SATA II drive, same issue encountered under both schemes.

Ensuring that AMD Controller is not present/running

Rolled back to nVidia drivers to a time period when I know in-game performance ran perfectly, no joy
Reinstalled latest drivers

Uninstalled display adaptor from system profile via Device Manager and rebooted for redetection/installation

General system and registry cleans using CCleaner.

Uninstall display drivers, run a system clean, reboot/install

I've probably tried other things I can't remember right now...
Essentially if I've been able to find it on the net I've tried it - so open to any ideas/thoughts that people can offer, I'm sure I've not found everything.
I would happily have gone and purchased a new component(s) if I thought this would resolve the issue but I'm not convinced that it's hardware nor 'old' hardware.
By the same token I have lost count of the number of driver installs/rollbacks/updates that I have performed for not only the GPU but system-wide.

The frustration is that I've had glimpses of the issue disappearing after all these efforts and the main efforts that seem to have led to resolution have been driver reinstalls.
Again, I've tried this again and again without success so if this IS the solution, damned if I can get it to work again.

Thanks in advance to any thoughts/questions/advice that might help.

Cheers
Lyndon

[Brandon L. | Deagle]

This isnt a software issue.

[GRUMPLE]

My computer is also running all games in slow mo but not windows or other elements. I think that it is a driver or GPU issue.
I have a GTX 560 TI 2048mb,
Intel i7 3770 8 core cpu @ 4 Ghz (stock 3.4) stock cooling fan
8 gig 1600hz dram (2*4)

most games that i play (Payday 2 , Expendabros, supermeat boy) are running in slow mo. They are not fps issues or anything like that, it is actually like the ticks of the Cpu or Gpu are in slow motion. I can play flv or other types of videos fine in windows media player but if a game tries to play one in engine it screws up and pauses and jitters. I think it has something to do with some driver or setting that controls the integrated gpu and the actual one. when in windows i guess that the gpu is switched off and the integrated one is used instead? maybe that explains the playback being fine in windows but not in a game engine.

I wish i could fix this issues because i am unable to play most games :(.

It could also be a direct system library issue. (direct sound, directx, direct input ect) the gpu i have is directx 11. i sometimes use motioninjoy to conect a ps3 controler to my usb port and use it as an xbox 360 controler for games. could this be affecting direct x systems to be screwing up or constant polling (busy waiting??) or something like that?

Perhaps that is causing the timing errors?

I highly doubt it is a hardware issue, although it could very well be.
Some older games (2005 to 2009) that i play are unaffected by this issue, so i think the money is on direct x or something like that. Ill just try to play saints row 2 and see if that is running in slow mo as well, ill post again in a minute.

[GRUMPLE]

Well, the intro fmv was slow and jittery and then when i pressed continue on the main menu it just crashed to desktop.

although the seccond issue could be because it is a crap port xD

what does everyone else think is causing this then? could it be a virus steam is affected by?

[GRUMPLE]

Well i just went into my BIOS settings and disabled Intel turbo Boost mode.
before that i was getting CPU temperature readings 41 to 50 degrees centigrade!

Now payday 2 is running fine again.
So disable over clocking if you have it to see what that does. Maybe i was accidentally damaging my CPU by over heating it, causing it to go into a safety mode or something like that. I also disabled the increased voltage option to make sure that it gets no more power than it needs.

I will post again if my CPU stops working again soon.

[Falro the Great]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Cockatiel:

Well i just went into my BIOS settings and disabled Intel turbo Boost mode.
before that i was getting CPU temperature readings 41 to 50 degrees centigrade!

Now payday 2 is running fine again.
So disable over clocking if you have it to see what that does. Maybe i was accidentally damaging my CPU by over heating it, causing it to go into a safety mode or something like that. I also disabled the increased voltage option to make sure that it gets no more power than it needs.

I will post again if my CPU stops working again soon.

Those temperatures are perfectly normal, and actually very good under load. Though if disabling Turbo Boost fixed it, that's very interesting.

[Blinky Bill]

Having the same issue, and its occurring with Saints Row II - IV among other games even on low graphics settings. though I can play Civilization V on ultra high definition settings with minimal lag. my processor is ♥♥♥♥ but even with programs running in the background task manager claims its only taking up about 30 - 40% and I have ample RAM. My PC used to be a server for a small business so I have a pretty hefty PSU (750 watts if I remember correctly)

the rest of my pc specs are listed below, if anyone could find a solution that would be greatly appreciated

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6750 @ 2.66GHz
Manufacturer Intel
Speed 2.7 GHz
Number of Cores 2
CPU ID BFEBFBFF000006FB
Family 06
Model 0F
Stepping B
Revision B6

Video Card AMD Radeon HD 5450
Manufacturer ATI
Chipset AMD Radeon HD 5450
Dedicated Memory 1.0 GB
Total Memory 3.2 GB
Pixel Shader Version 5.0
Vertex Shader Version 5.0
Hardware T & L Yes
Vendor ID 1002
Device ID 68F9
Plug and Play ID VEN_1002&DEV_68F9&SUBSYS_21271462&REV_00
Driver Version 14.501.1003.0

Memory 5.0 GB

Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
Service Pack 1
Size 64 Bit
Edition Professional
Version 6.1.7601
Locale 0C09
BIOS Default System BIOS
Version Intel Corp. MQ96510J.86A.1739.2008.0629.0001
Manufacturer Intel Corp.
Date 06/29/08

Display Maximum Resolution 1440 x 900
cause I have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ old monitor

[GRUMPLE]

I would also like to add that i usually leave myh computer on sleep mode instead of turning it off completely. If you say that you also use your computer as a server could that be releated to it?
It is still working fine after i disabled turbo boost.

[bigpilague]

I'm having the same issue as OP. This problem started for me when I upgraded my video card. I was previously running a Geforce 6600GT and did not have this problem at all. Pretty sure its software/driver/directx, mainly because it only occurs for certain games (for me at least).

I see this problem in:
UT99 (D3D, OpenGL and windowed),
PoP Sands of Time.

This issue doesn't occur in:
Return to Castle Wolfenstein,
UT2004,
Portal.

That's all I've tried so far.

Machine (its old, be nice! Nothing overclocked or out of spec...)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 2.6GHz
RAM: 2GB DDR 400
Mobo: Abit KN8 Ultra
GPU: Geforce 8800 GTS 512MB
OS: Windows 7 64bit Home

I've tried watching the task manager while playing...nothing seems to be getting maxed out or even close (CPU and RAM and around 50% utilized) I'm just curious about what could be causing it. I know that its time to upgrade the old girl...

[76561197979007530]

• OS: Windows 7
• Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
• CPU: Intel i5 2500K
• Memory: Corsair 8GB XMS3 1600Mhz
• Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GB
• SSD: Corsair Force GS Series 128GB
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 560Ti
• PSU: Corsair TX 750W


I have the same issue...

[GRUMPLE]

Cri evry time you have the same GPU as me !
Try to lower your cpu setting so that intel turbo boost is off and then see if that changes your issues. It worked for me, or at least thats what i think fixed the slow mo in games.

Bigpilague do you leave your computer on on sleep mode like i do all the time?
If you do then maybe you should try to go into the bios and play around with your intel turbo settings and voltage. Maybe just by changing the setting it will trigger something to change?
If not then it might be a driver error from Nvidea that we all have or something.
Either way my issue was resolved by turning of the turbo boost and disabling over/under voltage options for power saving, so that is the best advice i can give unfortunately :(

[bigpilague]

@Cockatiel, no, my machine never sleeps, its on 24/7. Its also not an Intel CPU so I don't have any Intel turbo settings to play with. This is 99% likely to be a GPU or GPU-driver issue I think...because I didn't see this issue until I upgraded my GPU. Been playing for YEARS with my previous card and never had an issue.

[GRUMPLE]

When i said sleep i meant because the cpu would still be ticking in the background, but if you leave your CPU on 24/7 then that would make it worse wouldn't it? Are you sure that AMD has no equivalent to Turbo Boost (over clocking and power saving features ) on the cpu settings that you can change? Try to change the voltage settings in the bios. I don't know what i did that fixed my issue but i tried everything. Installed the latest stable gpu drivers, played all kinds of games (some slow mo, other older ones from 2005-2010 un affected) Turned the computer on and off and kept resetting and logging out. In the end after i changed the turbo boost and voltage settings in bios and went back on the desktop everything was fine and i could play games again at full speed. Some things like the desktop and windows media player and web browsers were un affected. But game engines always seemed to slow down.
perhaps it has something to do with timebeginperiod() and timeendperiod()?
I only use queryperformancecounter with C++ for timing, but i have heard that those other functions can alter the rate of power consumption and timing of the whole system when used by a program. Maybe steam, a faulty gpu driver or a whole library that games programers use for timing has some bad code in it that made its way to our computers?
I don't know anyway, the voltage thing seemed to fix all my games for me.

[bigpilague]

Hey Cockatiel. Good call! I turned off AMD 'Kool & Quiet' (a power saving feature) in the bios and the problem is gone. Confirmed by turning it back on and seeing the issue right away. Seems to be fixed in UT99 and PoP. I guess the CPU must have been throttling down when it shouldn't have been.....

Anyway, thanks for the advice - FIXED!! :)

[GRUMPLE]

Glad to hear that you Could fix your problem :D
But why do we all have an issue with our power saving features, and why is it affecting both intel and amd processors? Could it be a bios issue? A virus form steam? A poorly coded library for software development? Something isn's quite right here...

[bigpilague]

I'm not sure that its Steam - I was having the same problem with a non-steam version of UT99. My bet is on a bug with HW compatibility in a library that governs throttling. Especially in my case, as I'm running a mixed generation of hardware on games that were developed before most of the HW existed.