Framerate Drops? High Cpu Loads? Cpu Overheating? This Might Fix It! (Cpu Core Unparking)

[Letter13]

Hey everyone,

 

It seems like a lot of people are starting to experience some performance issues with the game, and I thought I'd make a thread to address said performance issues as well as provide what seems to be a way to fix it (as well as improving your system's performance for games other than Warframe too).

 

The (possible) culprit, spoilered because it's a bit lengthy.

CPU Core Parking

 

In Windows 7 (and Windows 8) there's a built-in feature to the OS called CPU Parking; this feature is designed to balance the power load and decrease power consumption by your CPU by limiting core activity. For normal (non-gaming) use this has no effect on applications and performance, however for high-power computing as well as gaming (especially since more games are being designed for multicore machines) this is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot; in some cases it's tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot and then dipping said foot in a vat of infectious bacteria. This is because physical (and logical cores if hyperthreaded) are parked and unavailable for use by multithreaded applications designed to run across multiple cores, and forcing a multithreaded application designed to run on multiple cores to only run on a single physical core causes a multitude of performance issues due to how threads are scheduled as well as how the CPU handles all of the extra processing (it can make your CPU overheat!).

 

Warframe's multithreaded rendering option is specifically designed to drastically increase performance on multi-core machines, however if it's enabled and Warframe only has access to 1 physical (and/or logical) core due to the others being parked, then you will likely suffer some pretty severe performance issues (one user's PC was blue screening because the PC force shut down due to one of their cores overheating). To fix this, your cores need to be unparked.

 

Unparking your cores is easy, and it can solve a multitude of performance issues you might be having, there's a nifty how-to guide Here, or you can follow the guide on this thread.

 

How to Unpark your CPU Cores

    1. Download the Unpark CPU Utility and unzip it somewhere (like your desktop)

    2. Run the .exe file as an administrator (right click > run as administrator)

    3. Click "Check Status" and wait for it to complete (image below)

 

    4. Click "Unpark All" after the check finishes if any status reads "Parked"

 

    5. You're done!

        5a. Make sure you have "Multithreaded Rendering" enabled in the launcher!

              5aa. Enable Threaded Optimization/Multithreading in Nvidia/AMD GPU control panels!

 

Give Warframe a try afterwards to see if this helped improve your performance or solve performance issues you may have been having.

 

Multithreaded rendering will yield a MUCH better performance boost if your cores are unparked.

 

If this worked (or didn't) work for you, please feel free to comment on this thread.

[Pandoran_Stallion]

Now running at 45-50 FPS steadily, with drops at 30 (my former regular framerate) up from 20. On my regular old laptop, too, since my gaming one is in for repairs! Thank you Letter13!

Edited August 13, 2014 by UpgradeInProgress

[meIody-]

Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to try this when I have access to my computer.

[arsyadpower]

thx, will try it right away, sir

[(PSN)Crackle2012]

I highly recommend it-- 3 out of my 4 cores were parked and my performance improved tons and it also took some heat off of my video card (around 5 degrees C around the board!)  Thank you L13!

[Prod_Crewman]

this is like an ad, are your frames dropping? BUY THIS, Only 10k Platinum!

[Letter13]

this is like an ad, are your frames dropping? BUY THIS, Only 10k Platinum!

Except it's free. It's also something that should be common sense since it applies to pretty much any game (or application) that uses multithreaded processing or multiple cores. Especially useful for MMOs.

 

Core parking is a feature that should have never been added into Windows 7/8. It's a ridiculous feature that tends to do more harm than good.

[Thundervision]

Oh, will try it. Thanks

[Morgax]

Already tried it, higher electricity bill very limited fps increase.

[Armouredhunter]

I'll look into this when I get back from work. Might help with some other problems I've been having.

[-InV-Skitz0]

Not only was my loading times reduced, I am now able o run with my graphics on the highest settings and still maintain around 60 fps....  My gratitude can not be expressed in words.

[Adaptor-Face]

Hey no more akward framerate drops when alt+tabbing back in to the game, TY senpai

[Ninjamander]

I prefer this solution, just a registry tweak.

 

https://bitsum.com/files/parking_in_power_options.zip

 

source :https://bitsum.com/about_cpu_core_parking.php

 

Also, disabling C6 in your bios may do the same result (unsure how accurate it is). I know if you disable turbo boost and/or use throttle stop to make it less powerful can improve your performance!

[HitPointPredator]

Will most likely try this.

 

3 out of 4 were parked. Unparked them all.

[Ninjamander]

Except it's free. It's also something that should be common sense since it applies to pretty much any game (or application) that uses multithreaded processing or multiple cores. Especially useful for MMOs.

 

Core parking is a feature that should have never been added into Windows 7/8. It's a ridiculous feature that tends to do more harm than good.

 

Is far from useless! Problem is it can harm the one who want to overclock they cpu or/and gamer. It do help me to make my laptop last longer on battery!

[izzatuw]

Will this help fix those sudden freezes in game like during the loading screen or a random time in the Liset? I haven't gotten any lags just freezes.

Edited August 13, 2014 by izzatuw

[meIody-]

Does the CPU Parking thing happen on Windows Vista? That's what my computer is running, regrettably.

[Letter13]

Does the CPU Parking thing happen on Windows Vista? That's what my computer is running, regrettably.

I don't believe so, but it's worth a try to see if your cores are being parked.

 

If you're getting performance issues it could be because your computer is running Vista.

[Imaru]

I may look into this. Thank you for the info.

[Jeloxale]

This actually helps! Now I no longer get random lag-spikes while in loading screen

[blightseed]

I'm running an overclock on my CPU, is unpacking still a good idea? are there any down side beside increased power consumption?

[--21st--]

I don't believe so, but it's worth a try to see if your cores are being parked.

 

If you're getting performance issues it could be because your computer is running Vista.

Wat happens if I already have 60 FPS?

[RajinCrow]

had all my cores unparked but with value of 0 idk if that means anything ..zzzzzz..and yes i did registry tweak few years bk to unlock my turbo..i usually run around 20-40 fps with intel hd card since my nivida overheats my laptop

[Letter13]

I'm running an overclock on my CPU, is unpacking still a good idea? are there any down side beside increased power consumption?

Unpark your CPU. Your power consumption may not necessarily go up (considering overclocking draws more power than normal anyway) and it may even eliminate the need for overclocking due to your processor using all of its cores to their full potential when it can.

 

There aren't really any downsides.

 

Wat happens if I already have 60 FPS?

I'd still recommend unparking your CPU cores as it will allow a more even spread of processing by your CPU for multithreaded programs (lower heat consumption and better overall performance in games, not just Warframe).

 

 

had all my cores unparked but with value of 0 idk if that means anything ..zzzzzz..and yes i did registry tweak few years bk to unlock my turbo..i usually run around 20-40 fps with intel hd card since my nivida overheats my laptop

Then you don't really need to do anything extra. I would highly recommend using the Nvidia card in your laptop though if it's a GTX (5/6/7/8)50 or above as that will get you way better framerates. If you're worried about overheating, get a can of air to clear out the dust. Another option (if you're confident in your abilities to do so) would be to open up your laptop and swap out the thermal pads/grease on your CPU and GPU and use a better thermal compound like Arctic Silver instead (this however voids any and all warranties you have, and should only be done if you have the skills to do so as it is very easy to accidentally damage laptop components)

[meIody-]

I don't believe so, but it's worth a try to see if your cores are being parked.

 

If you're getting performance issues it could be because your computer is running Vista.

Don't worry, that's the reason. Just hoping I could fix it somehow.

[BenzinNinJa]

Just did this... Sadly I didn't get any noticable change in performance.