Tech - Update earlier this month, caused Laptop from Loading 2/3 groups just fine to only being able to load 1.

[matthinson]

So, a little backstory. There was that Intell update at the beginning of the month, and since then my Laptop EQ Performance has been terrible. If i load more than 6 toons now, it LAGS the EQ instances horribly I have to click each instance for them to even finish zoning or loading into the world zoning. When they are in game, and not zoning everything runs decent with the 6. If I load more than 6 toons, and I'm watching them from a toon on a 2nd PC you can see my toons all running around warping like the laptop is lagging, like the old-school /follow lag bad and everyone running around in circles.

I did what they said in the post to set cores to -1, and they already were in my file so I might have done that before and not remembered (I even deleted this to see if this was the issue aswell, and no change). I did a full scan of EQ files to make sure nothing was corrupt. I've done multiple system restores and checks and even window recovery to make sure i have no corrupt windows 11 files. I was thinking maybe it was a hardware issue. I even took my laptop to a shop (I am not 100% computer savvy as i use to be), and had them test my CPU, Ram, GPU, and even memory and all tested out with flying colors and even tested amazing under OC loads (minus CPU that can't be OC'd).
I've went to all the websites and downloaded all drivers directly from there manufactures websites because I was thinking it was a driver issue. Nothing.
I've tried Max Background FPS, Ive running on Highest memory useage in game options, and didnt change anything. I've tried without discord loaded, I have tried without g-force app loaded, I have tried with both not loaded. and no changes.
I thought maybe the shop was wrong, and bought a new SSD, and even tried swapping out GPU with another I had laying around from an older laptop and had the exact same issues.
When i check my task manager with 6 toons in, I'm not even running higher then 50% CPU usage, or even 30% memory usage. When I've loaded 2/3 groups in the past, it ran 90-100% CPU usage, and maybe 50% memory, but had ZERO issues at all.

That being said, My Specs are

Intel® Core™ i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz​

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2090 Super 8gig
Physical Memory - Available 60.24 GB (64gigs) ddr5 5600MHz PC5-44800
Virtual Memory - Available 70.68 GB (no clue what this is, but just giving the spec on my system information)
Samsung SSD 980 PRO 2TB
My network is 600mbSpectrum at home, and Spectrum 1gig Fiberoptics when at work and runs the same way on both networks.

I'm at my wits end and now begging for some help. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Sorry for the long post. Sorry I'm not so tech savy, and sounds like I am rambling off.

 

[vx2s]

https://forums.everquest.com/index.php?threads/long-zoning-time-on-new-pc.307227/post-4422409

https://forums.everquest.com/index.php?threads/long-zoning-time-on-new-pc.307227/post-4422484

I think based on the discussion, set MipMapping to false

 

[Sic]

So, a little backstory. There was that Intell update at the beginning of the month, and since then my Laptop EQ Performance has been terrible. If i load more than 6 toons now, it LAGS the EQ instances horribly I have to click each instance for them to even finish zoning or loading into the world zoning. When they are in game, and not zoning everything runs decent with the 6. If I load more than 6 toons, and I'm watching them from a toon on a 2nd PC you can see my toons all running around warping like the laptop is lagging, like the old-school /follow lag bad and everyone running around in circles.

I did what they said in the post to set cores to -1, and they already were in my file so I might have done that before and not remembered (I even deleted this to see if this was the issue aswell, and no change). I did a full scan of EQ files to make sure nothing was corrupt. I've done multiple system restores and checks and even window recovery to make sure i have no corrupt windows 11 files. I was thinking maybe it was a hardware issue. I even took my laptop to a shop (I am not 100% computer savvy as i use to be), and had them test my CPU, Ram, GPU, and even memory and all tested out with flying colors and even tested amazing under OC loads (minus CPU that can't be OC'd).
I've went to all the websites and downloaded all drivers directly from there manufactures websites because I was thinking it was a driver issue. Nothing.
I've tried Max Background FPS, Ive running on Highest memory useage in game options, and didnt change anything. I've tried without discord loaded, I have tried without g-force app loaded, I have tried with both not loaded. and no changes.
I thought maybe the shop was wrong, and bought a new SSD, and even tried swapping out GPU with another I had laying around from an older laptop and had the exact same issues.
When i check my task manager with 6 toons in, I'm not even running higher then 50% CPU usage, or even 30% memory usage. When I've loaded 2/3 groups in the past, it ran 90-100% CPU usage, and maybe 50% memory, but had ZERO issues at all.

That being said, My Specs are

Intel® Core™ i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz​

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2090 Super 8gig
Physical Memory - Available 60.24 GB (64gigs) ddr5 5600MHz PC5-44800
Virtual Memory - Available 70.68 GB (no clue what this is, but just giving the spec on my system information)
Samsung SSD 980 PRO 2TB
My network is 600mbSpectrum at home, and Spectrum 1gig Fiberoptics when at work and runs the same way on both networks.

I'm at my wits end and now begging for some help. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Sorry for the long post. Sorry I'm not so tech savy, and sounds like I am rambling off.

New UI disabled
Framelimiter on (this will override your eq in-game DPS settings, which is a good thing)
Logs either off, or renamed so you have "small" logs
"Display offline" turned off in guild window
Av and file syncing white listed for mq, RG, and eq folders/sub folders.

You also want to ensure you're not overheating, is the laptop in some way that it isn't able to circulate air? Like dust or something else covering air vent.

@brainiac this isn't one of the Intel's with the borked CPUs is it?

 

[matthinson]

https://forums.everquest.com/index.php?threads/long-zoning-time-on-new-pc.307227/post-4422409

https://forums.everquest.com/index.php?threads/long-zoning-time-on-new-pc.307227/post-4422484

I think based on the discussion, set MipMapping to false

Hey, sorry for the late response. I normally only get to use the laptop at work at night. I Just got to work, and my settings were different then what they said in the post. I saved the changes and rebooted PC and started all fresh and still having the same issues =( Thats a good post to link tho, 100% appreciate it.

 

[matthinson]

New UI disabled
Framelimiter on (this will override your eq in-game DPS settings, which is a good thing)
Logs either off, or renamed so you have "small" logs
"Display offline" turned off in guild window
Av and file syncing white listed for mq, RG, and eq folders/sub folders.

You also want to ensure you're not overheating, is the laptop in some way that it isn't able to circulate air? Like dust or something else covering air vent.

@brainiac this isn't one of the Intel's with the borked CPUs is it?

Hey, I should have specified a few of the things you suggested, as thats my fault. I see you post thoes all the time and were things i looked at but forgot to mention i tired.
New UI disabled -- 100% disabled.
logs are always off, i even have a button on button master to smash every time i log in to /log off in case they get turned on lol
"Display offline" turned off in guild window -- always, i've had this issue b4 causing lag and have ever since before have that turned off in guild windows 100%. i even double checked to make sure it was still off since u suggested it hehe.
Av and file syncing whitelisted for mq, RG, and eq folders/sub folders. --- I don't have file syncing setup from my previous post that I have posted before about so no issue there And I'll have to double check to make sure AV has 100% MQ passing through, i could of swore i did this before. but dosent hurt to double check.

You also want to ensure you're not overheating, is the laptop in some way that it isn't able to circulate air? Like dust or something else covering air vent. --- I have a laptop cooler base that has 2 3000RPM fans that you can even feel blow air through the keyboard of the laptop, onto of feeling more airflow through the fans of the laptop. I even took apart the laptop and even sprayed out all the dust in everything, i usually do this every couple months regardless. But now that you say that my fanapp I use to controll fans to be 100% all the time, the CPU temp has gone up from 70/80 to 85/90 degree Celsius, but I thought that was more because its warmer in the rooms now cuz of heat is on instead of AC in house/work. I might take apart the CPU this week and clean it off and add new thermal paste... if thats an option. I never fully took apart the CPU portion of the laptop before....
I don't think ive ever ran Framelimiter -- Ill turn this on tonight and reboot eq sometime and see if this makes any changes.
Appreciate the suggestions, I'll get back when I find out more changing the Framelimiter option tonight.

 

[an_image]

Hey, I should have specified a few of the things you suggested, as thats my fault. I see you post thoes all the time and were things i looked at but forgot to mention i tired.
New UI disabled -- 100% disabled.
logs are always off, i even have a button on button master to smash every time i log in to /log off in case they get turned on lol
"Display offline" turned off in guild window -- always, i've had this issue b4 causing lag and have ever since before have that turned off in guild windows 100%. i even double checked to make sure it was still off since u suggested it hehe.
Av and file syncing whitelisted for mq, RG, and eq folders/sub folders. --- I don't have file syncing setup from my previous post that I have posted before about so no issue there And I'll have to double check to make sure AV has 100% MQ passing through, i could of swore i did this before. but dosent hurt to double check.

You also want to ensure you're not overheating, is the laptop in some way that it isn't able to circulate air? Like dust or something else covering air vent. --- I have a laptop cooler base that has 2 3000RPM fans that you can even feel blow air through the keyboard of the laptop, onto of feeling more airflow through the fans of the laptop. I even took apart the laptop and even sprayed out all the dust in everything, i usually do this every couple months regardless. But now that you say that my fanapp I use to controll fans to be 100% all the time, the CPU temp has gone up from 70/80 to 85/90 degree Celsius, but I thought that was more because its warmer in the rooms now cuz of heat is on instead of AC in house/work. I might take apart the CPU this week and clean it off and add new thermal paste... if thats an option. I never fully took apart the CPU portion of the laptop before....
I don't think ive ever ran Framelimiter -- Ill turn this on tonight and reboot eq sometime and see if this makes any changes.
Appreciate the suggestions, I'll get back when I find out more changing the Framelimiter option tonight.

@matthinson…try deleting any large files you maybhave downloaded recently from you pc and trash bin

 

[vandersl]

You might be able to start narrowing it down by bringing up task manager (ideally on a second screen) and watch the CPU and disk load by process when zoning. Or check the performance tab to see where the bottleneck actually is. I have had issues with system interrupts spiking at 100% before (possibly related to the frame limiter issue mentioned below).

You mentioned not using Frame Limiter previously, but I and others have had issues with background characters when they are set to disable all rendering in the background. Eventually, the background characters begin lagging tremendously and require 8-10 seconds to recover after bringing them to the foreground. If it turns out you are using Frame Limiter, I would try enabling Render game scene in the background at a minimal rate (around 1fps seems to work).

 

[Redmonkey]

You mentioned: I normally only get to use the laptop at work at night

Is this a company laptop?

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

I'd look at thermals first. Perhaps the paste has dried up on the CPU heat sink? That's a 125 watt desktop CPU. I would suspect it's very capable of over-heating in a laptop case. Although I'm surprised the repair shop didn't look into this possibility for you. In terms of raw EQ computing power your system is very, very strong and there should be a solution to the issues you mention.

 

[Szazor]

Definitely delete all your old log files. You said you've done this...just making sure.
Start a process of elimination.
Are you using ISBOXER? EQBCS? I had to throw away ISBOXER after a patch a few years ago that they never bothered to address.
Have tried turning all the graphics options to absolute minimal. Clip plan, shadows, grass, show players off, stick figures...
In task manager how much ram/cpu are you using for each instance?

 

[matthinson]

Would like to reply so others can see what I've done and tried so far.

Appreciate the suggestions, I'll get back when I find out more changing the Framelimiter option tonight.

Turned this on, and it seemed to help, a little bit but not enough to make a total noticeable difference. Each EQ instance is running 5-6% cpu, is that normal? When i watched the video on this resource, yours was running not even 2%.

Hey, I should have specified a few of the things you suggested, as thats my fault. I see you post thoes all the time and were things i looked at but forgot to mention i tired.
New UI disabled -- 100% disabled.
logs are always off, i even have a button on button master to smash every time i log in to /log off in case they get turned on lol
"Display offline" turned off in guild window -- always, i've had this issue b4 causing lag and have ever since before have that turned off in guild windows 100%. i even double checked to make sure it was still off since u suggested it hehe.
Av and file syncing whitelisted for mq, RG, and eq folders/sub folders. --- I don't have file syncing setup from my previous post that I have posted before about so no issue there And I'll have to double check to make sure AV has 100% MQ passing through, i could of swore i did this before. but dosent hurt to double check.

You also want to ensure you're not overheating, is the laptop in some way that it isn't able to circulate air? Like dust or something else covering air vent. --- I have a laptop cooler base that has 2 3000RPM fans that you can even feel blow air through the keyboard of the laptop, onto of feeling more airflow through the fans of the laptop. I even took apart the laptop and even sprayed out all the dust in everything, i usually do this every couple months regardless. But now that you say that my fanapp I use to controll fans to be 100% all the time, the CPU temp has gone up from 70/80 to 85/90 degree Celsius, but I thought that was more because its warmer in the rooms now cuz of heat is on instead of AC in house/work. I might take apart the CPU this week and clean it off and add new thermal paste... if thats an option. I never fully took apart the CPU portion of the laptop before....
I don't think ive ever ran Framelimiter -- Ill turn this on tonight and reboot eq sometime and see if this makes any changes.
Appreciate the suggestions, I'll get back when I find out more changing the Framelimiter option tonight.

So, i double checked to makesure my AV had all Eq and all MQ 100% through, and everything was still set to allow.

You mentioned: I normally only get to use the laptop at work at night

Is this a company laptop?

It is not, it is a personal laptop. Work has no access or control over anything on it.

@matthinson…try deleting any large files you maybhave downloaded recently from you pc and trash bin

I did have 2 gigs of trash in my trash bin (dang porn) and deleted it. I loaded up 10 and still had the issues sadly ;(

Definitely delete all your old log files. You said you've done this...just making sure.
Start a process of elimination.
Are you using ISBOXER? EQBCS? I had to throw away ISBOXER after a patch a few years ago that they never bothered to address.
Have tried turning all the graphics options to absolute minimal. Clip plan, shadows, grass, show players off, stick figures...
In task manager how much ram/cpu are you using for each instance?

100% all old log files are deleted. I'm okay with obvious questions, as sometimes I overlook the obvious and am great full people still suggest it even though it would seem obvious.
no Isboxer, but i do use eqbc? But that dosent even run at 1% CPU useage, and the EQBC isnt even ran on my laptop, I connect to my PC at home while at work most times. Sometimes I forget to leave PC on at home and i have to connect to EQBC on laptop but there's no difference in lag when i change between the 2 different eqbc clients between pc/laptop.
100% got everything at minimum. shadows off, grass off, all Players, Pets, and mercs, familiars set to hide. names Set to show only first name. I did run stick figures for a while, but it ended up making more players render in game when I had hide all Players turned ON, so i ended up turning stickfigures off so it wound render less players around me.
Each instance uses a good chunk of CPU lately, and IDK why. I feel like it's gone up. But I don't exactly remember what my CPU usage per instance was before. As i replied to SIC in this post, my eq instances are running 5-6% on the average and on his video, his was running 2% on the high side... So, this kind of makes me curious but like i said in the original post, having all 3 groups in I didn't go over 90% CPU usage with 18 accounts in, hell even when i was frisky and loaded 4 groups rare it still didn't surpass 90%. Now though, with 6/8 accts in i run around 30-45% CPU usage (higher when they are zoning but idle average is around 30-35%) on the average w/ task manager open and actively watching the instances run. Ram was holding solid around 30%, and GPU sits steady at 20%.

 

[matthinson]

I'd look at thermals first. Perhaps the paste has dried up on the CPU heat sink? That's a 125 watt desktop CPU. I would suspect it's very capable of over-heating in a laptop case. Although I'm surprised the repair shop didn't look into this possibility for you. In terms of raw EQ computing power your system is very, very strong and there should be a solution to the issues you mention.

This weekend I'll be taking apart the laptop and cleaning off the thermal paste and installing new and double checking to make sure its dust free. I just dusted it 2 weeks ago pretty good thinking this may have been the problem, but it didn't resolve my issue.

 

[Sic]

The "framelimiter didn't do much" makes it sound like the new UI engine is on

 

[matthinson]

The "framelimiter didn't do much" makes it sound like the new UI engine is on

Hey sir, sorry for the late response. I double checked and new UI is NOT on I double checked every single account that loaded in just incase one snuck in somewhere. I'm honestly beginning to think its just my Laptop CPU overheating even though the fan control app I have says its 80-90°. I've exhausted all options that everyone has posted here. I'll update the thread once I apply new thermal paste and do some detailed cleaning this weekend on it.