TF2: Huge, lasting drop in framerate

[jorgenpt]

Issue transferred from ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#140
@Flippeh posted at 2012-12-20T17:08:11Z:

Occasionally, sometimes instantly on round start / game join, sometimes halfway into a round, my framerate drops from mostly (see issue #138) playable levels into unplayable 10 - 15 frames per second.

The game will stay that way until I force a reinitialization of the graphics by changing any advanced graphics setting (e.g. Motion Blur, Filtering) or completely restart the game (stuttering persists even in main menu resulting in delayed button clicks and hover states).

One thing I now know is that it's not an out of memory condition, TF2's memory consumption stayed the same pre- and post bug and was overall well below my total RAM (2.4 GiB usage, 8 GiB avail). It also is not connected to the 100%-CPU bug that was fixed yesterday, because it since happened again.

This bug makes the game pretty much unplayable for me, sadly.

Processor Information:
    Vendor:  GenuineIntel
    Speed: 3301 Mhz
    4 logical processors
    4 physical processors
    HyperThreading:  Unsupported
    FCMOV:  Supported
    SSE2:  Supported
    SSE3:  Supported
    SSSE3:  Supported
    SSE4a:  Unsupported
    SSE41:  Supported
    SSE42:  Supported

Network Information:
    Network Speed:  

Operating System Version:
    Ubuntu 12.10 (64 bit) [Unity]
    Kernel Name:  Linux
    Kernel Version:  3.5.0-21-generic
    X Server vendor:  The X.Org Foundation
    X Server release:  11300000

Video Card:
    Driver:  NVIDIA Corporation GeForce GTX 560 Ti/PCIe/SSE2

    Driver Version:  4.3.0 NVIDIA 310.14
    Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
    Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
    VendorID:  0x10de
    DeviceID:  0x1200
    Number of Monitors:  2
    Number of Logical Video Cards:  1
    Primary Display Resolution:  1920 x 1080
    Desktop Resolution: 3600 x 1080
    Primary Display Size: 20,51" x 11,54"  (23,50" diag)
                                            52,1cm x 29,3cm  (59,7cm diag)
    Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
    Primary VRAM: 1023 MB
    Supported MSAA Modes:  2x 4x 8x 16x 

Sound card:
    Audio device: 20K2

Memory:
    RAM:  7956 Mb

Miscellaneous:
    UI Language:  English
    LANG:  de_DE.UTF-8
    Microphone:  Not set
    Total Hard Disk Space Available:  679553 Mb
    Largest Free Hard Disk Block:  184560 Mb

Installed software:

Recent Failure Reports:

[jorgenpt]

@ticho posted at 2012-12-20T17:28:12Z:

I just had this happen. Game is still running, in case someone has any ideas on what data to collect. I am on #steamlug on FreeNode

EDIT: Adding system information
EDIT2: Interesting is that now it's just hl2_linux process which is at over 100% CPU, not steam. If I enable multicore rendering, two cores are used (200% CPU), with same fps.

Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
Speed: 2499 Mhz
4 logical processors
4 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Unsupported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Operating System Version:
Debian GNU/Linux testing (wheezy) (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 3.2.0-4-amd64
X Server vendor: The X.Org Foundation
X Server release: 11204000

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce GTX 260/PCIe/SSE2

Driver Version:  3.3.0 NVIDIA 310.19
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz
VendorID:  0x10de
DeviceID:  0x5e2
Number of Monitors:  1
Number of Logical Video Cards:  1
Primary Display Resolution:  1680 x 1050
Desktop Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Primary Display Size: 18.62" x 11.65"  (21.93" diag)
                                        47.3cm x 29.6cm  (55.7cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 896 MB
Supported MSAA Modes:  2x 4x 8x 16x 

Sound card:
Audio device: SigmaTel STAC9721,23

Memory:
RAM: 5984 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
Microphone: Not set
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 102350 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 61332 Mb

Installed software:

Recent Failure Reports:
Tue Dec 18 16:51:23 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20121218175120_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-7099f4c7-75c3-4aad-965c-410442121218''
Wed Dec 19 22:16:29 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20121219231625_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-69ea299d-6f3a-42bb-be23-fa6b22121219''

[jorgenpt]

@ticho posted at 2012-12-20T18:03:03Z:

I captured about 30 seconds of strace of the hl2_linux process. 99% of it is sched_yield(), repeated hundreds, if not thousands times per second, with some other calls sprinkled in here and there. I can provide the file (200kB compressed) upon request. I also have a gdb backtrace, glxinfo output and pmap for the process.

[jorgenpt]

@WindohsCrasher posted at 2012-12-20T19:14:06Z:

I can confirm this issue on openSUSE 12.2 x86, NVidia 310.19. It happens mostly after 3-4 map changes and is only solved by restarting the game.

[jorgenpt]

@anakin1 posted at 2012-12-20T20:25:51Z:

It's normal that hl2_linux is at 100% if you are using mat_queue_mode, it's supposed to use all of your CPU and should increase your FPS.

[jorgenpt]

@ZeXx86 posted at 2012-12-21T14:43:53Z:

Same bug here, MainThrd use 120% CPU and FPS is around 10. It does not affect me in offline game.

[jorgenpt]

@Dragonsbrethren posted at 2012-12-22T00:25:54Z:

I'm not sure if it's related or not, but I get a similar issue when changing shadows to high or HDR to full from a lower setting. My framerate will go from playable down to ~10 until I restart TF2. If I start TF2 with these already set to their highest, my framerate is normal.

Processor Information:
Vendor: AuthenticAMD
Speed: 2913 Mhz
2 logical processors
2 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Unsupported
SSE42: Unsupported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Operating System Version:
Linux Mint 13 Maya (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 3.2.0-23-generic
X Server vendor: The X.Org Foundation
X Server release: 11103000

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce GT 240/PCIe/SSE2

Driver Version:  3.3.0 NVIDIA 310.14
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
VendorID:  0x10de
DeviceID:  0xca3
Number of Monitors:  1
Number of Logical Video Cards:  1
Primary Display Resolution:  1920 x 1440
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1440
Primary Display Size: 14.17" x 10.63"  (17.72" diag)
                                        36.0cm x 27.0cm  (45.0cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 512 MB
Supported MSAA Modes:  2x 4x 8x 16x 

Sound card:
Audio device: Realtek ALC662 rev1

Memory:
RAM: 2506 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
Microphone: Not set
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 28223 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 1940 Mb

Installed software:

Recent Failure Reports:
Fri Dec 21 22:17:05 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20121221171701_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-4a77eb2d-00a5-460b-af67-a21fa2121221''
Fri Dec 21 22:21:06 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20121221172101_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-8281e352-40a3-4577-aae4-8fe702121221''
Fri Dec 21 22:24:27 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20121221172414_2.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-296b014d-6353-4140-8ecc-30b162121221''
Fri Dec 21 22:24:29 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20121221172427_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-cca028d5-f499-46cc-9b91-0c5e62121221''
Fri Dec 21 22:24:35 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20121221172433_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-e06041e7-6428-4e2b-a301-6c0792121221''
Fri Dec 21 22:25:49 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20121221172544_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-a1546248-ddc7-4f94-9901-5a6e52121221''
Fri Dec 21 23:04:20 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20121221180414_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-8bd419e8-12c4-4e77-a45f-3d18b2121221''
Fri Dec 21 23:12:04 2012 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20121221181159_1.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-ddfc1058-75a3-4b48-b0d3-fa02d2121221''

[jorgenpt]

@ZeXx86 posted at 2012-12-22T11:07:37Z:

I can fix this bug with changing game settings such as antialiasing which restarts video renderer.
So there must be something wrong with initialization I guess. Maybe it can be caused by higher latencies or loading times, don't know. When this bug is affecting me, my ping is around 170ms and FPS around 10, normally my ping is around 5-30ms depending on server.

[jorgenpt]

@eisbehr posted at 2012-12-24T01:56:48Z:

I used to get this when alt-tabbing the (fullscreen) game and on some map-loads. Disabling the KDE desktop effects (OpenGL) before starting TF2 seems to make it less likely. With desktop effects enabled it persisted after game restart, X restart and full reboot (Or I was very unlucky), without desktop effects a game restart will fix it.

[jorgenpt]

@Flippeh posted at 2013-01-03T21:35:18Z:

It appears that if I disable my secondary monitor, this doesn't occur. At least it hasn't happened for quite some time now, but instantly when I forgot to disable my screen.

[jorgenpt]

@eisbehr posted at 2013-01-03T21:51:28Z:

I don't have a second monitor. Seems rather random to me when it happens. Not even sure anymore desktop effects have anything to do with it.

[jorgenpt]

@ZeXx86 posted at 2013-01-03T21:55:39Z:

I dont have desktop effects enabled nor any compositor and I am affected. I don't have any second monitor too.
What's more it happens on totally different distributions with very different environments.

[jorgenpt]

@eisbehr posted at 2013-01-09T19:34:32Z:

After todays/yesterdays TF2 update the bug is still there.

[jorgenpt]

@ElectricTriangle posted at 2013-01-12T07:48:18Z:

I'm getting ridiculously high CPU use and low frames as well, seemed to start about two client updates ago. For what it's worth I can't seem to get TF2 to split into multiple threads either, I just have the hl2_linux taking up 300-400% CPU time. The high CPU use only seems to happen for me after connecting to a server too.

Processor Information:
Vendor: AuthenticAMD
Speed: 3300 Mhz
6 logical processors
6 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Supported
SSE41: Unsupported
SSE42: Unsupported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Operating System Version:
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 (wheezy) (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 3.2.0-4-amd64
X Server vendor: The X.Org Foundation
X Server release: 11204000

Video Card:
Driver: ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series

Driver Version:  3.3.11653 Compatibility Profile Context
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
VendorID:  0x1002
DeviceID:  0x9490
Number of Monitors:  1
Number of Logical Video Cards:  1
Primary Display Resolution:  1440 x 900
Desktop Resolution: 1440 x 900
Primary Display Size: 16.14" x 10.12"  (19.02" diag)
                                        41.0cm x 25.7cm  (48.3cm diag)
Primary VRAM Not Detected

Sound card:
Audio device: ATI R6xx HDMI

Memory:
RAM: 16080 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
Microphone: Not set
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 108070 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 8876 Mb

Installed software:

Recent Failure Reports:

[jorgenpt]

@Jonno888 posted at 2013-01-21T02:07:14Z:

Hi. I think I've also had similar symptoms to this problem. Basically the hl2_linux process was chewing up all the processor time and the game was unplayable. I changed a bunch of BIOS settings and this seems to have had a positive impact. I need to spend a bit more time narrowing down the exact change that has made the difference but below is a basic summary of what I've disabled.

• Disabled any automatic overclocking
• Disabled Quiet Mode (I think this limits fan speed ?)
• Disabled C1E support
• Disabled all virtualization related feaures. (I'm not running VM's so I don't care)

The game is a lot more playable now. It still stutters here and there but definitely made a big difference. I'm only using a NVIDIA GT 640 but I know this card works fine with TF2 under windows. Below is a summary of my system (Sorry I'm not at the machine right now so I can't be more precise.)

• AMD X2 Athlon Dual Core (Not a great CPU, more of a HTPC cpu type of thing.)
• Nvidia GT640
• 12 GB RAM
• Openbox desktop environment
• Ubuntu server 12.04
• Latest nvidia-experimental package (3.10.14 I think?)