Question - Huge lag, is my computer not beefy enough? (1 Viewer)

[JudeauChop]

Hi All,
So I was running a 6 box team on my linux server for the last few months. It went really well, except every so often one of them would crash (MQ crash), and I'd just log them back in, not a huge deal, but then started running into some other issues (mostly with logging in, sorry for the MQ crash spam, a lot of that was probably me).

Anyhow, I got super frustrated this week, and backed everything up on the linux box, and installed windows 10 on it instead (hang head in shame).

It's not a terribly beefy machine, but sooo much beefier than stuff 10 years ago, Ryzen 5 3600 (6 cores), 32gb ram, ssd, and little GeForce GTX 560.

Anyway, I got everything installed and running, and the lag is beyond playable. I tried turning my Actor Plane clip and max background fps all the way down. but nothing helped.

I swear things ran good a month ago on this machine. Any suggestions? Is there some kind of recent problem I missed in my searches? I read ideally 1 core per toon, but my 6 core ran fine on Linux a month ago.

Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[Sic]

There are many posts about the new eq UI changes causing people grief.

Scroll down and look at the "similar threads"

 

[durango773]

Should be fine, except maybe the GPU (isnt bad, just pretty dated)
Are you using framelimiter? You should be.
The new UI pieces for the last 2 months~ or so have added additional processing, cause general resource increase on a compute side.

I ran that same setup with a RTX 580 for 2? years, and was able to run up to 32 char, so not a hardware issue i would think.

 

[Doc James]

I know that in the windows environment, EQ will be assigned all cores by default. You may want to make sure that affinity is set for one instance per core. Many people will refute this as a solution for lag because they have not had any experience with it directly and claim that multi core is better than single core, but I have personal experience with multiple machines that shows that setting affinity to 1 core per instance is a lag reducer rather than sticking with all cores due to poor management of this game and Windows OS.

Also something to consider, is that you have the same hardware, just different OS. Different OS environments make a difference.

Your hardware set up should be more than fine for 6 boxing.

Also try ensuring you have the latest drivers installed along with the most recent Win 10 updates.

There is something to the new UI elements. But I have a couple of machines more dated than yours hardware wise, and I haven't been impacted like this.

 

[burdsjm]

Make sure your AV isn’t scanning the EQ directory too

 

[Doc James]

I second what @burdsjm said. Make sure to add exclusions for your EQ and MQ directories

 

[JudeauChop]

Thank you all so much. I have to admit, I'm a bit embarrassed about my results.

So the drivers for the GTX 560 were installed at installation. I went to update them, and my windows box pretty much exploded. NVidia couldn't get any drivers installed, including the ones I had running, and temps suddenly skyrocketed.

Pretty sure the card was dying (like Durango said, dated gpu, hadn't had drivers updated since 2019). Have to admit I've had problems with this card before. The Linux nvidia driver for it is so old and outdated, a bunch of wine tools wouldn't work with it.
Anyway, I was taking my wife out to dinner, and asked if I could stop and buy a part to fix the server, and she went for it! So I grabbed a newer card (just a GTX1660), and everything runs great.

Now we'll see how long I last before I blow everything away to go back to Linux, thinking maybe it was my card causing all of the MQ crashes before.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I'm going to try to use them to optimize things.
What a great community!!

 

[Silverspaceman]

I replace my thermal paste every couple (<- hyperbole; probably every 5 or when purchasing older hardware) years on GPUs & CPUs along with the those silicone grease thermal pads on GPU memory chips. Keeps everything running within recommended temperature ranges.

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

I replace my thermal paste every couple years on GPUs & CPUs along with the those silicone grease thermal pads on GPU memory chips. Keeps everything running within recommended temperature ranges.

I've found that by painting Arctic Silver 5 on the mating surfaces with my index finger wrapped in a clean plastic baggie, means I never have to reapply it. I only use a thin layer, but I put it on both the chip and the heat sink, and I completely cover the entire surface that will come into contact. Then I ensure both surfaces mate flat and well before tightening the fasteners.

It seemingly never goes bad then. It's messy which is why I use the clean baggie so I just throw that away when I'm done. I've got old computers in my lab that have been running for years with no signs of thermal issues.

 

[Doc James]

I've found that by painting Arctic Silver 5 on the mating surfaces with my index finger wrapped in a clean plastic baggie, means I never have to reapply it. I only use a thin layer, but I put it on both the chip and the heat sink, and I completely cover the entire surface that will come into contact. Then I ensure both surfaces mate flat and well before tightening the fasteners.

It seemingly never goes bad then. It's messy which is why I use the clean baggie so I just throw that away when I'm done. I've got old computers in my lab that have been running for years with no signs of thermal issues.

Yup, this. I have hardware running for 10+ years without any issues once it's done in this similar fashion.

 

[Vrakenor]

Doc

I know that in the windows environment, EQ will be assigned all cores by default. You may want to make sure that affinity is set for one instance per core. Many people will refute this as a solution for lag because they have not had any experience with it directly and claim that multi core is better than single core, but I have personal experience with multiple machines that shows that setting affinity to 1 core per instance is a lag reducer rather than sticking with all cores due to poor management of this game and Windows OS.

I know you can change the affinity settings in ISB, but are you referring to something else? Where do you check that? Is that a Windows thing?

Vrak

 

[Redmonkey]

I don't think its you or your equipment at all. There have been too many other instances of this for it to account for all these computers having the same or related issues recently.

Or are the aliens trying to find intelligent life and taking our computers?

 

[Doc James]

Doc



I know you can change the affinity settings in ISB, but are you referring to something else? Where do you check that? Is that a Windows thing?

Vrak

Yes, it's a windows thing. You can either make batch files to lauch EQ with affinity to each core if running single accounts (tons of google results on how to assign affinity). If use ISBoxer, you can use "Round Robin" to have it automagically assign a core per instance as it launches accounts.

To check in windows, open task manager (ALT+CNTRL+DEL) then select task manager. Go to details tab, and right click on a process. From there you can check affinity. See attached screenshots of what that should look like. This is based on Win10.

 

[RobRenfro]

I've been suffering crazy lag recently. Kick me offline lag. I have the mini pc with 128 gigs of RAM and my internet is the 6E setup. It literally just started this week. But my EQ has been quirky anyway. It drops all my chat channels and does nothing when I try to rejion. Luckily I have the option of playing with fewer casters in the group. The Mage always gets kicked first.

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

One other thing to check is your file eqclient.ini. For every session of EQ you plan to run you want to ensure there are lines like:

ClientCore0=-1
ClientCore1=-1
ClientCore2=-1
ClientCore3=-1
ClientCore4=-1
ClientCore5=-1
ClientCore6=-1
ClientCore7=-1
ClientCore8=-1
ClientCore9=-1
ClientCore10=-1
ClientCore11=-1

In this example I'm setting up to 12 sessions of EQ to ignore specific CPU cores and let the Windows OS handle allocating processing threads. That's the -1 setting on the right side of the equation.

It's also important to note that if you're using virtualized INI files like Innerspace uses then you'll need to edit every one of the virtualized files.

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

I've been suffering crazy lag recently. Kick me offline lag. I have the mini pc with 128 gigs of RAM and my internet is the 6E setup. It literally just started this week. But my EQ has been quirky anyway. It drops all my chat channels and does nothing when I try to rejion. Luckily I have the option of playing with fewer casters in the group. The Mage always gets kicked first.

Sounds like an ISP issue, try using a VPN to play. Or ensure your ISP isn't doing traffic shaping or edge security devices.

 

[RobRenfro]

Sounds like an ISP issue, try using a VPN to play. Or ensure your ISP isn't doing traffic shaping or edge security devices.

Thanks BD

 

[Vrakenor]

Just to clarify and expand on Doc's post above when he is talking about ISB "Round Robin" CPU affinity. I just checked mine after reading this and found mine was set to #4 which reads:

Select all CPUs with every window (FPS 60/30) (slots per core 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6) (cores per slot 12/12/12/12/12/12) This method allows all game instances to fight over each CPU. In this scenario, the Operating System is expected to balance the load, but this may hinder overall performance compared to Round-robin balancing. (Your mileage may vary)

Anyways you get there by:
1. Open ISBoxer app.
2. Left click on Wizards at the top left of window to open drop down.
3. Left click on CPU Strategy Wizard
4. A new box opens and asks you to select a Character Set to use. Click on the down arrow. Click on the set you want to use. and click "Next" at the bottom right of the box.
5. New box pops up that has a lot of details on it, in #1 you can change your framerates for instance. But it is #2 below that we want to talk about. This is the CPU Strategy. Mine was set like in the quote above. To change this click on the arrow to the far right and select the #2 option of "Round Robin". Then click on Next and your done.
6. Two caveats to this. One is to make sure you do this for ALL character Sets. And 2 is to make sure you save and export to Innerspace.

Thanks Doc for the pointer.

Vrak

 

[Sic]

I 100% recommend AGAINST letting isb manage CPU or frames

 

[Vrakenor]

Sic

Why? I have had ISB running for the last 2 years. But I have noticed increased lag since the UI update. I am just looking for what I can do to fix it.

Vrak

 

[Saffron]

Usually you only need 1 potatoe per character with EQ.

 

[DEADCiTiES]

I'm hoping when the new UI and DirectX 11 is fully implemented later this year, we'll see resource usage per client go down. It could be old+new UI engines running at the same time isn't very efficient.

 

[Doc James]

Sic

Why? I have had ISB running for the last 2 years. But I have noticed increased lag since the UI update. I am just looking for what I can do to fix it.

Vrak

I am in disagreement with Sic on this sentiment of being against ISBoxer for CPU load / frame limiting management. If you set up ISBoxer appropriately, it works amazingly well for multiple clients across multiple hardware platforms. I have never had a problem in all the years I have been using it. Frame limiter works just as well too. The program is solid. Just have to set it up right up front.

It is possible that for certain hardware set ups it will bork itself. But this is true of anything software / hardware in tech. I mainly use AMD processors with Nvidia video cards in windows environments with a couple of Linux mixed in. YMMV if you use any different.

 

[Sic]

I am in disagreement with Sic on this sentiment of being against ISBoxer for CPU load / frame limiting management. If you set up ISBoxer appropriately, it works amazingly well for multiple clients across multiple hardware platforms. I have never had a problem in all the years I have been using it. Frame limiter works just as well too. The program is solid. Just have to set it up right up front.

It is possible that for certain hardware set ups it will bork itself. But this is true of anything software / hardware in tech. I mainly use AMD processors with Nvidia video cards in windows environments with a couple of Linux mixed in. YMMV if you use any different.

The way and what isb does it and the way and what framelimiter does are totally different. Denying framelimiter from doing magic is a bad idea, but some people don't notice, so if you're not having a problem, you're not having a problem.

For years people would have issues like toons in background running past their follow toon, or spellbook issues, or other erratic movement/behavior, and the main culprit was eq max background frames set to min (which framelimiter now skips, the second was external things limiting resources - which framelimiter can't skip.

I've helped dozens and dozens of folks who were using something external limiting frames, or throttling things causing rippling effects with mq.

I've used isb as long as I can remember, so much longer than I have mq.

 

[Peppe]

In res 1440P+ (12 accounts on the same time) 8GB vRAM does sniff on the max vRAM usage (My own experience)

6 toons at 1440P should be at 4GB vRAM usage.

But! I manage to get rid of the ''low fps feeling'' by turning off and then on the sky.. the stuttering did not disappear

OP how much vRAM does your GTX 560 have? GTX 560 is like 10 years old today?

Also try to disable CPPC preferred cores in bios. (I doubt this is the problem tho)

My cents is on the lack of vRAM while using 6 toons at once.

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

I set the in-game frame limiter sliders to maximum so they basically have zero impact. I set my ISBoxer frame limiters to 60 foreground and 30 background. That's because I frequently play some characters without MQ loaded. I disable ISBoxer and Everquest CPU controls and just let Windows 11 take care of thread scheduling and it works fine that way. I've used Process Lasso in the past and found no benefit since I rarely ever run more than 6 characters at a time.

However, @Sic is absolutely correct the MQ frame controller is awesome sauce and I use it for my REAL frame limiting with 55 foreground and 5 background. I always load MQ after all my characters are in game and when MQ's frame controller kicks in I can see my GPU temps drop drastically which means it's really working well. (I'm old enough that my eyes don't see much benefit going past 50fps! in a game like EQ!)

All this is on beefy computers with 8/16 core CPUs and 32 to 64GB of RAM. Some machines are Nvidia and others are AMD.

One of the secrets to responsive EQ gaming is making sure you are using good DNS resolvers. I use Gibson's https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm periodically and adjust my router's default DNS servers to ensure I'm using quick and reliable ones! Some ISP DNS servers are very poor.