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FFXIV Lag/ConfigurationFollow

#1 Aug 21 2014 at 12:13 PM Rating: Good
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Howdy, folks! I'm here to ask for a little bit of help.

My FFXIV runs great...mostly. There is this strange thing it does sometimes where it hangs for a split second, then tries to play catch up. I thought it was my internet connection, but even with BattlePing and a wired connection to my router, I still get that random hang. I've noticed, also, that it'll do it even in zones that doesn't have a high amount of players in it. Like, idle animations for characters and objects look like a GIF image with a bad loop.

Here are my specs:

AMD FC 8100 Eight Core Processor 2.8Ghz 
8GB of RAM 
64 bit OS (Windows 8.1) 
AMD Radeon R7 200 Series 
Mozzarella Cheese


Should I increase FFXIV's priority in task manager? I heard that can destabilize some software.

HALP. Smiley: cry

Edited, Aug 21st 2014 2:14pm by Exodus
#2 Aug 21 2014 at 12:34 PM Rating: Good
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OH, while on the subject, with BattlePing I chose an east coast server with the lowest ping (Atlanta 1 at around 3X). Should I choose a west coast server? Thanks again! Smiley: yippee
#3 Aug 21 2014 at 12:47 PM Rating: Excellent
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SE's NA servers are located in Montreal I believe (I know it's somewhere in eastern Canadia) so an East Coast server is probably best, but I'd try for one in NE if you can get one.
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#4 Aug 21 2014 at 1:24 PM Rating: Excellent
1. What antivirus are you running?
2. What other programs do you have running?

System should handle it fine assuming you don't have anything else interfering. My first guess is that you have an overzealous antivirus that is randomly checking crap on your hard drive, diverting resources away from the game. But too many browser windows and other resource intensive applications can do that too.

Try temporarily disabling your AV and see if that helps. If it does, go twiddle the settings and tell it only to run outside of your primetime hours.
#5 Aug 21 2014 at 1:51 PM Rating: Excellent
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Windows 8.1 comes with Windows Defender, so I've just stuck with that as my antivirus. Other background proggies I have is Chrome, Raptr, Steam, Dropbox, and Guildwork.

I could just go into Windows Defender and see if I can set an exception, now that you mention it. *rubs chin*
#6 Aug 21 2014 at 2:11 PM Rating: Good
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Try updating your graphic drivers if you have not,,, I had a issue where things would stop and then skip ahead... AMD has added support for this game to their drivers...
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#7 Aug 21 2014 at 2:30 PM Rating: Excellent
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Exodus wrote:
Windows 8.1 comes with Windows Defender, so I've just stuck with that as my antivirus. Other background proggies I have is Chrome, Raptr, Steam, Dropbox, and Guildwork.

I could just go into Windows Defender and see if I can set an exception, now that you mention it. *rubs chin*


Chrome can suck up all your resources, especially if you have 10 tabs open each with their own poorly written javascript and Flash ads consuming your bandwidth, memory, and CPU. You should try playing the game with nothing else running in the background and see if that helps at all. At the very least, you can eliminate that as the cause.

If you don't have proper anti-virus software, it's also possible your system is plagued with a virus, especially if you're in the habit of downloading software from untrusted sources.
#8 Aug 21 2014 at 4:42 PM Rating: Good
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When was the last time you updated your BIOS? To include the network controller firmware? Also, when was the last time you cleaned your PC? Dust can cause stuff like you mention, though usually it's more artifact type stuff as opposed to strobe lighting type issues.
#9 Aug 21 2014 at 5:24 PM Rating: Excellent
On a cleaning note, are you on SSD or a platter? If it's a platter, running a defrag can't hurt. (If it's SSD, yes it can. So don't.) Also check your pagefile settings. If you're running a lot of memory intensive apps and the OS is trying to work around them but doesn't have enough breathing room on the hard drive, it can cause problems.

I thought 8 GB was like, infinity RAM, but I regularly run out of RAM at work because of Chrome, Lync, Outlook, and Visual Studio. Oh dear Jesus Visual Studio is a RAM hog....

I have 16 gigs at home and have never ever ever run out of RAM, ever. It's kind of nice.

The most bizarre interference I had with FFXI, on a nostalgia note, was from VirtualBox. I tried to run SETI @ Home again and there is just *something* about VirtualBox that FFXI absolutely did not like, and the game would freeze on me every ten seconds. It was horrible.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2014 9:11pm by Catwho
#10 Aug 21 2014 at 5:38 PM Rating: Excellent
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Try a DPC Latency check.

http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

DPC Latency usually causes audio stutters, but I suppose severe DPC Latency can cause other nasty **** too, and it only takes a few seconds of running that utility to discover whether or not anything is wrong with your drivers.

Edited, Aug 21st 2014 7:38pm by Lyrailis
#11 Aug 22 2014 at 3:52 AM Rating: Good
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There's a latency fixer available, works good for FFXIV as well from Leatrix (spelling?), you can google it.

It changes the frequency that your machine sends TCP acknowledgements to the other end of the connection. Consider a situation where the remote host is sending a large amount of data to your machine that will require the sending of multiple data packets. Rather than sending an acknowledgement for each one, the default (and generally more efficient behavior) is to wait until multiple packets are received and ask them with a single packet. In certain specific cases, the remote host may require an acknowledgement to the first packet before it sends the next packet. The leatrix fix makes it ask each packet as soon as it's received instead of waiting for a bunch to arive first.

More responsive, quicker, less "lag" so to speak.

Try that, or go back to Win 7. Far better compatibility for this game and it's drivers. Not to mention that last i checked (months ago, but still) Windows 8 wasnt exactly gaming friendly. It was the most buggy piece of crap that was out there for gaming, watching videos and even music :/ Not sure if that changed since then. I'd honestly say go Win XP, but Windows 7 isnt that bad of an alternative now.
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#12 Aug 22 2014 at 7:12 AM Rating: Excellent
I run on Windows 8.1 with no issues.

Audio and visual stuttering is more often a local system problem than a latency problem. The game's latency is more likely to appear in the form of people appearing to teleport from one point to the next. I notice it most strongly while crafting - the server will hesitate for a second before applying my action, but the graphics won't try to play catch up.

I applied the Leatrix fix and I really haven't noticed any difference. Then again, I wasn't terribly laggy to begin with (thank you DSL) and when I do get lag, it's probably server side.
#13 Aug 22 2014 at 12:26 PM Rating: Excellent
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I had started my long winded reply last night, but I hit backspace and that hit my browser's back button and there went my post. I had thought about casting double Flare onto my keyboard, but I figured going to sleep was a better idea. Smiley: laugh

-I went to check on defrag, seems like the system did it already a couple of days ago, so that's checked off. Not on a SSD, either, as cool as it would be to run on one.

-Windows Defender is actually a pretty decent anti-virus. The windows 7 equivalent is "Microsoft Security Essentials" or some such. System is clean, though I'm not really one to download much of anything.

-8 GB ISN'T A LOT?! Mother of <bleep>. Also, didn't realize that Chrome would suck up THAT much memory, so I'll give it a whirl today with just about everything I can close, closed.

-Even though I /just/ said I don't download much, going to check out that latency proggy. I'll post results in a few.

-I'll also check out that latency fixer thingy, further making me sound like I'm psychotic. Smiley: laugh

-I /haven't/ updated the BIOS. Its a fairly new PC, so I didn't even weigh that in as an option. I'll have to add that to the list of things I need to check out.

-Graphics card is up to date. One of the first things I checked when I noticed that FFXIV wasn't as smooth as I thought it could be.

Stuff I've done thus far:

-I've closed out that background app Chrome has. **** if I know WTF it was doing in the first place.
-I changed my paging file. Minimum is about 4GB (its set to what Windows stated is the recommended) and I set the max to 24GB.
-I've added exceptions to FFXIV on /both/ Windows Firewall and Defender.
-I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes. It was delicious.

I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again for all the help! Group hug! Smiley: yippee

EDIT: Wait....really? The four letter word for the religiously based land of fire and brimstone is censored, but the acronym WTF is ok? Smiley: laugh Alright, ZAM. Have fun with that.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2014 2:27pm by Exodus
#14 Aug 22 2014 at 12:50 PM Rating: Excellent
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#15 Aug 22 2014 at 1:19 PM Rating: Good
Exodus wrote:
Wait....really? The four letter word for the religiously based land of fire and brimstone is censored, but the acronym WTF is ok? Smiley: laugh Alright, ZAM. Have fun with that.

The BBC notoriously did NOT ban the song "Walk on the Wild Side" from the radio because the censors didn't understand what "giving head" meant. I guess ZAM's censor is similar.
Smiley: oyvey
#16 Aug 22 2014 at 1:29 PM Rating: Excellent
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Exodus wrote:
Also, didn't realize that Chrome would suck up THAT much memory, so I'll give it a whirl today with just about everything I can close, closed.
....
-I've closed out that background app Chrome has. **** if I know WTF it was doing in the first place.

I don't know if it's necessarily a Chrome thing, as I've seen pretty heavy memory usage from IE and Firefox as well. Those browsers may turn the memory that it's gotten from the OS into it's own managed set of buffers, under the assumption that there will be a reason to use that allocated memory again. So rather than releasing that freed up memory back to the OS, it holds onto it.

Part of the problem may be due to certain web sites that need a lot of memory for dynamic content. I tend to have Facebook, Gmail, and various twitch streams open, and those pages seem to cause the browser's memory usage to creep up over time. For instance, right now, Firefox is using almost 1.2 GB of memory. I closed FB, Gmail (two tabs) and a page with a twitch stream, and memory usage went down to just over 1 GB, which is still pretty high.

Edit: just closed Firefox and reopened it with 5 tabs that just have simple content on them (no videos or complicated dynamic content). Started out at 300 KB of memory, which grew to 400 KB when it refreshed all 5 tabs. Probably a good illustration of how much memory you can recover after you've closed certain web pages and restarted your browser completely.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2014 3:36pm by svlyons
#17 Aug 22 2014 at 2:35 PM Rating: Excellent
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-8 GB ISN'T A LOT?! Mother of <bleep>.


It's average in a good system these days. That is, an average system sold to an average user whose primary functions are going to be email, office productivity, and maybe solitaire.

Higher end systems these days will come with 16 or 32 - 32 being the max a standard consumer edition of Windows will support. (I think some of the Windows Enterprise ones might handle higher RAM but nothing you buy off the shelf will come with that OS.)

16 GB has been plenty enough for me. I think you only need 32 GB if you're doing intensive CG rendering.
#18 Aug 22 2014 at 3:23 PM Rating: Excellent
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Well, darn. Guess I'll be upgrading my RAM at some point in the future. Monies isn't where I'm comfortable with, right now.
#19 Aug 22 2014 at 3:41 PM Rating: Excellent
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I wouldn't worry about RAM too much if you're not working in video or animation. Keep in mind that video cards themselves have their own RAM and an optimally coded game should be keeping most of that work to the card itself. Hell, some are even handling audio these days. Overall, it's probably safe to assume your idle Windows is munching up 2GB of whatever you have available. What might be wiser to do is to check what all loads up on start and deselect anything that's not really essential for use, as that could possibly save you up to a gig depending on how much you start with. Even keeping an idle browser with a few tabs up should rarely be pushing you past 4GB. I'd guess more around 3.2-3.5, myself.

That said, drivers could be an issue as someone noted. Even if it is up to date, it doesn't quite mean one will work flawlessly. So keep your eyes peeled for updates or even rollback recommendations. There's also the distinct possibility the settings you're wanting to run the game at are too high for your card/system. Shadows/Lighting should probably be the first thing you tone done to see if it fixes it. Draw distance might be the next best choice since while seeing far away might make things pretty, ultimately what's immediately around you is most important. And since no system is really the same, you'll just have to keep tinkering.
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#20 Aug 22 2014 at 6:09 PM Rating: Excellent
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That seems unusually high.

Here's a screenshot of mine:

http://i.imgur.com/H8HQRQ3.jpg

Next thing you'll want to do is find a more advanced DPC Latency analyzer, perhaps something like this:

http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

This one will tell you exactly which processes/drivers are causing the latency (You'll want to look for excessively high page faults and DPC Latency).

When you find out whatever it is, chances are, that's what needs updated (I had a computer where my LAN card was causing yellow DPC latency every 5 clicks like clockwork). Going to Realtek's site and downloading the driver straight from there fixed it.

Yours is yellow all the way across the board, that doesn't look normal to me. The reason I suggested you download the smaller one, was because it doesn't actually install anything on your computer and it is a small and fast, easy check. This one is a bit of a larger program, but it gives you more advanced data/info.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2014 8:10pm by Lyrailis
#21 Aug 22 2014 at 8:19 PM Rating: Excellent
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CONCLUSION 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts.  
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for  0:01:16  (h:mm:ss) on all processors. 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
SYSTEM INFORMATION 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Computer name:                                        JARVIS 
OS version:                                           Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64) 
Hardware:                                             MS-7641, MSI, 760GM-P34(FX) (MS-7641)     
CPU:                                                  AuthenticAMD AMD FX(tm)-8100 Eight-Core Processor  
Logical processors:                                   8 
Processor groups:                                     1 
RAM:                                                  8191 MB total 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU SPEED 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Reported CPU speed:                                   2800.0 MHz 
Measured CPU speed:                                   2505.0 MHz (approx.) 
 
Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results. 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event. 
 
Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   400.888940 
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   17.342203 
 
Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       286.000036 
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       6.516251 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 REPORTED ISRs 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal. 
 
Highest ISR routine execution time (µs):              38.920714 
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation 
 
Highest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0.008074 
Driver with highest ISR total time:                   USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation 
 
Total time spent in ISRs (%)                          0.014109 
 
ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   12276 
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0 
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs):                0 
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              0 
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0 
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
REPORTED DPCs 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution. 
 
Highest DPC routine execution time (µs):              369.583571 
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation 
 
Highest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0.131074 
Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         rspLLL64.sys - Resplendence Latency Monitoring and Auxiliary Kernel Library, Resplendence Software Projects Sp. 
 
Total time spent in DPCs (%)                          0.342140 
 
DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   204969 
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0 
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs):                25 
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              0 
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0 
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution. 
 
NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit. 
 
Process with highest pagefault count:                 latmon.exe 
 
Total number of hard pagefaults                       131 
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          82 
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs):          32960.360 
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%):              0.046947 
Number of processes hit:                              3 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 PER CPU DATA 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       2.949828 
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                35.236429 
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.009596 
CPU 0 ISR count:                                      1411 
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                311.328571 
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   1.145055 
CPU 0 DPC count:                                      156200 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.995774 
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs):                35.070 
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.008936 
CPU 1 ISR count:                                      1317 
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs):                291.870 
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.122103 
CPU 1 DPC count:                                      6600 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.907320 
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs):                34.559286 
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.009155 
CPU 2 ISR count:                                      1316 
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs):                369.583571 
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.151748 
CPU 2 DPC count:                                      7646 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.213606 
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs):                37.809286 
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.008577 
CPU 3 ISR count:                                      1240 
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs):                311.166429 
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.112003 
CPU 3 DPC count:                                      6045 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.763978 
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs):                34.099286 
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.008141 
CPU 4 ISR count:                                      1139 
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs):                252.160 
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.113593 
CPU 4 DPC count:                                      5921 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.966289 
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs):                31.992857 
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.007547 
CPU 5 ISR count:                                      1080 
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs):                326.753571 
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.078487 
CPU 5 DPC count:                                      4120 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.747609 
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs):                30.332143 
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.009639 
CPU 6 ISR count:                                      1387 
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs):                304.970 
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.123764 
CPU 6 DPC count:                                      6688 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.094289 
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs):                38.920714 
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.024263 
CPU 7 ISR count:                                      3386 
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs):                360.562857 
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.235157 
CPU 7 DPC count:                                      11774 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 


The above is the report generated by the latency program. o_o The really fancy one you linked!
#22 Aug 22 2014 at 11:22 PM Rating: Excellent
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That's a bit odd... you were getting 1k+ µs latency with dpclat but now your peak is ~400 µs with this app instead.

It looks like usbport.sys (which is a universal, generic driver everybody uses for their USB ports) is causing the highest DPC latency, but 400 is not really "high" at all. Did you change anything at all about your computer between running the two programs?

It coulda just been a fluke or something, who knows.

Edited, Aug 23rd 2014 1:23am by Lyrailis
#23 Aug 23 2014 at 3:22 PM Rating: Excellent
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Nopers. Matter of fact, by the time I ran the initial latency checker, I had already made some of the changes I specified. I didn't do anything in between. =\

I r confused, but apparently, not as confused as my PC. Smiley: laugh
#24 Sep 08 2014 at 1:38 AM Rating: Good
Maybe your software play a joke on you. They secretly add some unknown processing to your "/c". You can check these from steps below to quicken running speed of your computer.
< Shut down all the processing of software, except for some service of FFXIV, when playing FFXIV.
< Stop the running of monitoring service of antivirus software
<CPU has been taken too much and temperature is high as the fan doesn't work and the heat can't be dissipated in time.
<network card is too hot and the speed is quite slow.

PS:Take it easy. Give it a comfortable shower. Maybe it works.Smiley: lol
#25 Sep 08 2014 at 9:03 AM Rating: Good
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Just so you know.. My PS4 started doing this if I stand in Mor Dhona recently for a while.. weirdest thing..
It will pause and people will more real fast and then fine for a bit and the same thing over and over.. It carries into other areas when I leave too.
Its not latency because Tes plays on the ps4 next too me and does not have a issue and we are on the same connection..
Like I aid my PC used to do this till I changed graphics drivers. My PC no longer does this..
This is weird.

Edited, Sep 8th 2014 11:04am by Nashred
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