Sudden slowdown since a few weeks ago

[Lord Asgar]

Hi.

Basically, CK2 seems to have become much slower over the last few weeks all of a sudden in terms of ingame time passing. This is the case even on a fresh installation, with the game files validated and without any mods active, although I am using all DLC. For instance, a few weeks ago, when I started up a game at the Charlemagne start date, the days would really zoom by insanely fast on speed 6, at least for the first few months, before stabilizing to a solid pace. Now, this no longer happens, the game already starts at a much slower pace and becomes borderline unplayable after about 80 years. I've also noticed something similar happening with EU4.

I do not think this is an issue of processing power, as when I open up the task manager while running the game, I see that the CPU is never taxed beyond 60%, RAM never beyond 90%. That said, it does run significantly faster again when I edit landed_titles.txt and delete most empires except the immediate area I am playing in. This is a suboptimal solution to say the least, of course.

PC Specs:
Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit Version (10.0; Build 18363)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU 3.20 GHz (4 CPUs)
RAM: 8192MB
Disc Space: 13765 MB used, 1721 MB free
DirectX: Version 12
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

 

[AndrewT]

The latest CK2 patches were:
3.3.2 2020-02-07
3.3.1 2020-01-30
3.3 2019-10-19

For EU4:
1.29.5 07 Feb 2020
1.29.4 21 Jan 2020
1.29.3 09 Dec 2019
1.29.2 02 Oct 2019
1.29.1 20 Sep 2019
1.29 17 Sep 2019

Not that there is any reason why patches in separate games should case the same problem at the same time, but can you pick when this started?

Does it affect Stellaris and HOI4 also?


DXDIAG is a program you run from a command prompt or the Windows start menu 'run' dialog box (or 'search programs' in Windows 7 or later). After running it will open a window and start collecting info with a progress bar in the lower-left corner. When it completes click the 'save all information' button and save it to a file then attach that file here.

Please attach your Documents/Paradox/CK2/settings.txt
From your Documents/Paradox/CK2/logs/ folder, attach system.log .

 

[Lord Asgar]

Patches don't seem to make any difference, I've tried it with rolling back to various older versions, even up to the oldest available.

Stellaris I haven't touched in years, so I cannot tell. With HOI4, I don't notice any serious differences, but to be fair, it's always run at a more "steady" pace, as opposed to the insane speeds I've seen CK2 and EU4 get up to at times (like going through a whole ingame year in some 4-8 seconds).

I think it's also worth noting that I've already tried out mods meant to enhance graphics performance, like removal of landmarks on the map and such, and low-key graphics settings options. This has also made no difference. I don't see why it would either, because I can play games such as Dark Souls or Code Vein at high settings without any significant stutter, and surely, those are more graphics-intensive than CK2.

Requested files are attached.

 

[AndrewT]

You have a number of mods mentioned there, this also happens in a new campaign wth no mods used?

That aside, there must be a Windows or hardware problem here, as I'm not seeing anything else of concern in those files.


Please report the temperatures of your CPU and video (GPU)
1/ before starting the game up and
2/ after say 10 minutes' play.
If your PC's vendor has given you no way of reading temperatures, install
SPEEDFAN http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

 

[Lord Asgar]

Yes, of course, when testing, I've always started new games with no mods active.

Temperatures:
Immediately after launch: GPU 35 degres, CPU -57 degrees.
On starting a new Charlemagne game (observer mode): GPU 41 degrees, CPU -59 degrees.
After 10 minutes: GPU 38 degrees (yes, it actually got cooler), CPU -59 degrees.

I've done another stopwatch check as well. Starting the game in 769 in observer mode, it takes about 25 seconds to pass a year. By 791, it's already 30 seconds.

Could this be a RAM issue after all? RAM usually hovers around 87% use when playing, is that too much?

I've also noticed in SpeedFan's CPU overview that while CPUs 0, 1 and 3 are never taxed beyond 30-50%, CPU 2 is always taxed at 100%. Does that help?

 

[AndrewT]

The CPU shows as minus degrees? If that's really so you should use a different utility, such as Speccy.

In the Windows search box run msconfig. Go to Boot-Advanced . If Number of Processors is ticked there, untick it.


8gb of memory should be enough for the game itself, but of course if you have too much other stuff running the game may not be able to get enough and can swap out. I'd increase that Windows Paging file to at lest 16gb also.

 

[Lord Asgar]

Speccy at game start: CPU 50 degrees, GPU 39 degrees.
After 10 minutes: CPU 60 degrees, GPU 36 degrees.

Number of Processors was not ticked.

Don't think I have anything too processing-expensive running in the background. Sometimes the web browser, but I already tried it without that one active and still the same. Plus, as far as I remember, I hadn't installed any new programs around the time this started happening.

I know very little of this Paging File you mentioned, so I followed a guide ( https://www.howtogeek.com/126430/ht...-windows-page-file-and-should-you-disable-it/ ). I manually set the minimum value to 400 MB and maximum value to 16000 MB. Is this the correct way of doing it? In any case, it did not make a difference, I'm afraid.

 

[AndrewT]

Is it still at ~90% memory usage?

That aside, i can only guess something has happened to this computer or Windows installation to cause this to these games. What change or update occurred on the computer or Windows between when these games last ran okay, and first had this problem?

 

[Lord Asgar]

It's settled solidly at around 60% now. Might be because I had my browser open at the time I did that 90% test. I guess that rules out RAM issues then, since performance is still the same? Altogether, it really feels like there some kind of frame limiter at work or something, since there's clearly processing power available that's being ignored.

What I just noticed by chance and find interesting is that task manager informs me of CK2's "very high power usage". Could this be the cause? I've already tested different power outlets at different places, so I doubt those are at fault. Tried different power cables too. Could it be the power supply unit having somehow been damaged? Haven't had any power issues outside of this CK2 problem.

I haven't performed any hardware changes or the like in the days since this started happening. Been installing Microsoft's regular Windows updates as you'd expect, but I can't think of anything else that might be relevant.

 

[AndrewT]

Altogether, it really feels like there some kind of frame limiter at work or something, since there's clearly processing power available that's being ignored.

What fps are you seeing in the game?

But frame rates and CPU usage are not really related or linked. If the game needed more CPU it would use it.

What I just noticed by chance and find interesting is that task manager informs me of CK2's "very high power usage". Could this be the cause? I've already tested different power outlets at different places, so I doubt those are at fault. Tried different power cables too. Could it be the power supply unit having somehow been damaged?

I don't know what TM means by that, in all honesty, how it is determining that. I suspect you'll probably find that with any game that uses the GPU to any extent.

It won't be power outlets or cables, but it is conceivable it is your PSU - if you added any new devices to the machine the power draw may be too much, for instance.

 

[Lord Asgar]

FPS are between 10 and 17 while running the game at 6x Speed, between 57 and 61 when paused. Used the built-in steam FPS checker for that.

Well, besides mouse, keyboard and headphones, I usually only have a regular USB stick and an external hard drive plugged in. I tried removing the USB stick, but no luck. The external drive I have CK2 installed on. I already tested what happens if you install CK2 directly on the local drive instead, makes no difference, so presumably the external drive is not the problem.

 

[AndrewT]

FPS are between 10 and 17 while running the game at 6x Speed, between 57 and 61 when paused.

That seems about right for your hardware.

I wish we could identify what change or update to Windows or your machine triggered this! No clues on that still?

 

[Lord Asgar]

Does it, though? As we already established, the other cores aren't even fully in use. Wouldn't that mean this is the technical hard limit of CK2 itself, rather than of the hardware? I don't suppose this is one of those games where you need to download a separate multithreading or large address aware patch to make it actually use all the processing power of a modern computer? If it's not CK2 itself, which parts of the hardware could be upgraded to improve speed?

Yes, no clue. I've noticed the rear fan having become extremely, absurdly loud sometimes for a while now, but I think it's just slightly loosened out of its hold a little or something, because when I give it a little whack, it becomes quiet again, and as we've already found out, the PC does not have a temperature problem.

 

[AndrewT]

The cores are not 100% used because they don't need to be; the game is not that demanding of CPU. I am certain that back when the game used to run okay for you, the CPUs would still not have been 100% used. Remember this game was first released 8 years ago when CPus were much less powerful.

CK2 is multithreaded already to the extent it can be. And it is 64bit now, so LAA is not a factor any more - it was LAA when it was 32bit.

If the limit was CK2 itself, how is it that it ran okay for you up until a few weeks ago? You've rolled back to previous game versions that used to run okay but they have the issue now.

This must be a Windows or hardware issue, IMO. If it were me I'd start with a clean wipe-and-reinstall of Windows, then a trip to the hardware repair shop.

 

[Aerotinge]

I'm a community member who playing CK2 with a laptop, sharing his observations here.

a few weeks ago, when I started up a game at the Charlemagne start date, the days would really zoom by insanely fast on speed 6, at least for the first few months, before stabilizing to a solid pace. Now, this no longer happens, the game already starts at a much slower pace and becomes borderline unplayable after about 80 years. I've also noticed something similar happening with EU4.

I do not think this is an issue of processing power, as when I open up the task manager while running the game, I see that the CPU is never taxed beyond 60%, RAM never beyond 90%.

Have you ever though it's slower because your CPU throttling and check the fan/cooling in your PC?

And there's some "performance" loss after patch 3.3, at least for me.

Just had a test run on my poor Notebook:
*PC: Windows 10 build 1903, i5-7200U, 12GB RAM, NV GeForce 920MX, game installed on SSD.
*CK2: No mod, No DLC enabled.

1066.9.15 Bookmark Start, observe mode, full speed, 50 secs
3.2.2 [AZCE] can go 736 days in the given time, while
3.3 [XDSW] goes only 507 days. Approx. 30% slower.

Perhaps it's just a coincident with some background application occupying resources.

That said, it does run significantly faster again when I edit landed_titles.txt and delete most empires except the immediate area I am playing in. This is a suboptimal solution to say the least, of course.

That's why I made a mod that revert pre-2.1 CK2 map. Or CK2 is yet another PowerPoint(sliding show) for me.

 

[AndrewT]

Have you ever though it's slower because your CPU throttling and check the fan/cooling in your PC?

We checked that up in post #7

And there's some "performance" loss after patch 3.3, at least for me.

He gets this bad performance now with patch versions that used to run okay for him.

 

[Lord Asgar]

Okay, this thread is pretty old now, but for the sake of anyone else who might stumble upon it with the same issue, I would like to just quickly mention that I have figured out the cause of the problem.

Basically, my power supply unit had slowly been dying over the last few months, which I didn't notice until it gave up the ghost entirely a few days ago. Presumably, this meant the CPU didn't get enough power, hence the slowdown. Now that I have a replacement unit, the games are back to the speed I was used to from before.

 

[AndrewT]

Okay then, I'm glad I wasn't too far off at the end there - thanks very much for coming back to us on this!

 

[aceskipper1]

Okay, this thread is pretty old now, but for the sake of anyone else who might stumble upon it with the same issue, I would like to just quickly mention that I have figured out the cause of the problem.

Basically, my power supply unit had slowly been dying over the last few months, which I didn't notice until it gave up the ghost entirely a few days ago. Presumably, this meant the CPU didn't get enough power, hence the slowdown. Now that I have a replacement unit, the games are back to the speed I was used to from before.

Hi, how did you figure out that this was the problem? Also, did you experience any issues in any other games?

I'm currently experiencing a sudden (huge) fps drop when the game isn't paused (after over 1000 hours of fine gameplay) and yet I don't see any issues in any other games - including EU4.