Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Bugs & Technical Problems Game doesn't fully use first core of processor?

I start the game and check afterburner, I can see that it does not use the first core of my processor fully. Even if I scroll around and do things that should raise the usage, it never gets above 30 percent. The rest of the cores go up to 100 at times.

Check out this screenshot from when I first start the game:

https://i.imgur.com/aELlqoF.jpg

You can see the first core as low as 9%. The game stutters when I pan around. If I minimize the game and edit the processor affinity in task manager to 1 core and then back to 4 cores, go back into the game, I can see it use all four cores evenly:

https://i.imgur.com/FnfMBZc.jpg

The game then seems to play more smoothly. Is there any explanation for this behavior? Does this happen for anyone else?

- Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
- Core i5 4690K at stock speeds

Hi,

I'm also running the game on Win10x64 build 1709 (Fall CU), on an 8-core cpu--AMD FX-8320e--and I get no slowdowns or stuttering at all--at least that are noticeable. Also, if you play at 2560x1440 like I do, or higher, your GPU is doing by far most of the work--more than the cpu at rendering the game, so it's likely that just looking at the cpu cores won't be that informative if you are looking for stuttering/slowdowns rationale.

You realize, I'm sure, that lots of other stuff is running besides the game when you play the game, right? Like the entire Operating System & 3d APIs, etc., that span the gap between your hardware and the game code? Lots of stuff has to load and run at boot--and keep running after you boot the game so that the game will run. Looks like in your system the first core is maybe doing that. Or, it might be that the first core is clocking down for some reason and doesn't know to run at full speed--which would be in the province of your motherboard UEFI bios, etc.

Also, Probably you'll find that using the task manager's core measurements might be more accurate--afterburner isn't really written to do that primarily. Try doing everything again and using the task manager's core observations for the measurement. Afterburner itself could be causing a temporary problem with the overhead it used to measure the core performance--several things besides the game code could be causing this.

But, really after all is said and done, it's probably something to do with your GPU drivers. Try using the task manager for measurements and shutting down afterburner altogether, and see what happens.

Good luck! Hope you get it sorted!

I hear you about the OS needing resources, but I have never seen anything like this before. Check out my new screenshots. First one is from me starting the game up normally, no Afterburner and running around the map. It was noticeably jerky. Something just felt "off" to me.

https://i.imgur.com/VoCUGkg.png

I minimized the game, went into task manager and changed the processor affinity from 4 to 1 and then back to 4 again. Then I went back into the game. Here are the new graphs from running around the same area. The game felt much smoother to me.

https://i.imgur.com/oMd53lI.jpg

I don't get it.

I was experiencing exactly the same issue after updating to fall creators update on windows 10. It was driving me nuts.
I tried removing game bar and xbox DVR components from windows to see if that would help, but with little result. Running i5 6600k and gtx 1080 - hadn't experienced any issues before the update.

Followed your method of changing processor affinity then changing back and I got back to smooth 60fps! Registered on here so I could say thanks!

Have you found the fix to be permanent or do you need to do this every time you play?

It is not permanent. You need to do it every time you start the game. Maybe there is a custom shortcut you can create that would force it, but I'm not sure. Thanks for confirming that there is an issue. I'm going to start investigating more on the OS side rather than the game side. Still though, this doesn't seem to happen in any other games I play. Very strange.

*Sigh*

I decided to do a fresh install of Windows 10 build 1607 and test out my issue with the processor. The same thing happens. I start the game and it only uses 10-20 percent of the first processor. I minimize, change the affinity 4 to 1 and back to 4 cores and then the game plays beautifully. All cores operating evenly.

No other game has this issue. I will keep using my little workaround and wait for a patch I guess. There is definitely something up with the game.

Windows 10 1607
Core i5 4690K @ 3.5
GTX 1080
2560x1440 Gsync