Lag in SWTOR, only rebooting fixes it.

I have been playing since release but this issue have started about a month ago.

When the game works good, I'll have 60+ FPS most of the time and 40+ FPS in warzones/ilum/operations. However, at RANDOM times, my game will start lagging and my FPS will drop to 5-10 FPS. It will stay like this until I restart the computer since restarting the game doesn't fix it. It's so random that I cannot figure out how to reproduce this other than just playing the game until it happens. It could be doing warzones, Ilum, operations, or just hanging out in the Imperial Fleet.
In addition to this, zoning will take a minute long rather than the 5 seconds it usually takes. The ONLY solution to fixing it is to reboot the computer. This ONLY happens in SWTOR... Never in Skyrim, Dragon Age2, Mass Effect 3, and other games I have been playing recently.

So far, I have tried using AMD Catalyst 12.2, 12.2 Preview, 12.1, 11.12, 11.11, 11.10, and the latest Dell Optimized drivers. I have also reformatted my computer and clean installed Windows 7 twice, and Windows 8 twice. I have tried running in Windows XP compatibility mode, Admin mode, and tried increasing the priority in task manager. Nothing seems to work. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Have you tried reinstalling the game? GTA IV never ran properly on my M18x until I wiped it and re-downloaded/installed it. I know you said you reformatted, but if you're using the same download the problem could be remaining.

The only other thing I can think of is the server or internet connection.

 

Does anyone what temperatures my CPU and GPUs are supposed to run at? Someone mentioned that maybe my CPU or GPUs are overheating.

 

Thanks I might try that. I saved the SWOTR and have been using that after I formatted. Its going to suck having to download the game again.

 

That's definitely it then IMO unless it's your internet connection. Your temps under load shouldn't go above 85* really, unless you're benchmarking

 

I think I may have found the problem. I think one of my GPU fans is dead or something. I have SWTOR in full screen mode with crossfire enabled and GPUz shows the same amount of load on each graphics card. One of them is at a steady 77C while the other one is 95C-98C. Once it reaches this critical peak, my computer just laaaaaaaaaags. Once it starts lagging, I notice that both my GPU temps go down. One goes down to 70C and the other to 78C. The only way to fix this lag is to reboot my computer.

At idle, my temperatures are 51C and 75C.

 

There's definitely something wrong there. Since you're not okay with working on it yourself you should contact AW support and get a service call set up ASAP.

 

GPU temp is definitely your problem. I had this SAME EXACT ISSUE, and one of my GPUs was getting up to 92° before the problems started.

I cleaned out the dust from the GPU fans and since then everything's been working perfectly. Used a vaccuum cleaner to suck the crap out with the bottom cover open.

After hours of SWTOR my GPUs top about 76°

I use 12.1 with the latest CAPs. 12.2 has bugs.

 

Thats confusing to me, I have read alot about how the Red's run SW alot better than the greens. I constantly keep and eye on my temps, and my gpu's run around 65c heavy loads can get to 68-70 but only for a second. I do use a U3 cooler pad with the three fans under the three fans on my machine. Before I got the cooler my temps would be mid 70's but high 90's is way to hot I think.

 

What's confusing? I don't use a cooling pad, so our "stock" temps are pretty identical... As far as actual performance is concerned, I really don't have any complaints now, ever since I cleaned out my fans... (except for some odd reason, the Holoterminals in my ships are the most difficult things for the game to render, chopping my framerate in half whenever the stupid thing is on screen)

 

Thanks for the advice. I can't believe it was such a simple fix. After dusting my fans, I've played on max settings all day yesterday without getting higher than 76C. HUGE difference! No lag finally!
By the way, what do you use to monitor your temps? At the moment I'm running two instances of GPUz but is there a Windows Gadget that can do this? I downloaded two and both don't show me temps for some reason.

 

Glad to have helped

The GPU Observer Windows gadget will monitor temps. However, on my system (and probably yours), it shows 6 6990Ms, probably because there are 3 temp sensors on each board. I have GPU Observer running twice, one monitoring GPU 0, the other monitoring GPU 3, which seems to be the main temps for both individual chips...

However, the cooling system is so efficient, that the temps drop instantly the moment I quit the game, so if I want to check the temps, I have to be quick

For long-term statistics, however, nothing can beat 2 GPU-Z instances.

 

You can install MSI Afterburner and use the OSD features to monitor GPU temps and clock speeds on screen during gameplay. If you also install HWiNFO64 and have it running minimized, enabling RivaTuner OSD features for the CPU, create a Afterburner OSD profile and you can also monitor CPU clocks and temps in-game. (See attached thumbnails.)

 

Yeah, clean out your case, and then use afterburner to rev up those fans a little higher. I have mine set to 100% once a GPU gets hotter than 90

Sure it's loud, but it cools it down, and FAST. I just raise my in-game volume a little higher to make up for the extra noise, it only lasts a few seconds anyway.

 

I don't think that's very good news, Xanoku... I mean, with all settings on max, my system tops out at about 76°. If you're topping out at 90°, you're pretty close to the thermal "danger zone," so to speak. Your signature suggests you have the 580Ms, but I imagine they have comparable thermal tolerances to the 6990Ms, meaning that 90°+ is the point where the chips say "ok, enough is enough, time to throttle down before I explode."

Have you repasted? If so, you should redo it (and use only a very thin film), because 90° is way too high IMO. For example, after a few minutes of FurMark my system gets to about 85°, and that's a very unrealistic and thermally punishing benchmark that no game could ever match in terms of heat buildup.

 

I think 580Ms throttle at 95?, I could be wrong.

I have repasted, IC Diamond on GPUs and CPUs, I just have my 580Ms overclocked in-game. It's very rare for them to hit 90, but occasionally it does happen. 15 seconds later, they're back down to 85-87. So I'm not too worried.