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.

[SigweardStoneFist]

Weird. And your power plan is set to Maximum Performance/High Performance? 

 

And, are you making sure to run the utility as an administrator?

Yup.

[Blackout751]

L13, never leave this community. I've been suffering from random, 2 - 4 second-long framerate drops in all of my games and I looked up so many ways to do it. Changing my speakers drivers, deleting a lot of content, lowering my graphics... nothing. I hope that this works and if it does, I will forever be in your debt.

[ramonefrunkis]

TY for this. I have poor performance and I'm trying things to better it.

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

How is this done?

I only have the steam launcher variant.

[surfingpika]

I gave this a try, and it helped for a bit, until I started having blue screens vomited at me.  Undoing this stopped the blue screens, fortunately.

[Deadcalypso]

worked splendedly for me 

 

3 cores where parked and my cpu load was at 100% and settings where at medium and no specials activated and it was stutering/laggy as hell ,

 

Now it's well below a 100% and graphics at max capicity

[Miracue]

THANKS! Cant wait to try this when I get home tomorrow.

[Abenoki]

 

Posted by Jeremy Armstrong at http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2090450/unpark-cpu-cores-win.html

 

Not that it would be dangerous since nobody posted that his computer CPU burned down, but still nobody here mentioned the higher power usage (logical) and as result higher temperatures (what should not be a problem for Computer with more than one fan and decent CPU cooling).

 

 

The increase to power draw and temps should be minimal at as you are just preventing the CPU from entering the lowest idle states. The cores can still clock down and enter the highest idle state as long as your power plan allows, you just cant go full stop/deeper idle states. The only case that power draw would really be an issue is for laptops and even then during gaming youre gonna be sucking juice anyway so be by an outlet. These arent mentioned because tbh its largely irrelevant because the difference isnt large enough to matter. While windows/programs/your system are ideally supposed to be good at parking and unparking cores at the right time and keeping data to the right/most effective cache/core config that isnt exactly the case.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Echoa

[-Jammo-]

The software crashes after I click 'check status'

[Nagaasus]

That's actually a shocking increase in performance. Also, most dual-core CPUs should be 64-bit capable. I'd highly suggest getting a 64-bit OS and running the game in 64-bit mode if possible.

I know, its nuts. I get lockups on occasion though. If a player is using Mirage and a weapon like the penta +multishot. I get hiccups. I keep a solid 25 in combat. 50-60 out.

[Deidaku]

I can't try this out just yet but I hope it works

 

it seems that my 3 cpus were parked all this time :O

 

Thanks L13.

 

So this is effective for all games correct? Not just for MMOs?

[Nagaasus]

I can't try this out just yet but I hope it works

it seems that my 3 cpus were parked all this time :O

Thanks L13.

So this is effective for all games correct? Not just for MMOs?

If you already have a high performing CPU, it won't be incredibly noticeable. Yes, this will help your performance in all tasks.

[Leanspeed]

If I unpark my cores and transport my laptop. Will something happen to them like will they get scratched up or break?

Edited May 8, 2015 by Leanspeed

[Bloodhoundje]

If I unpark my cores and transport my laptop. Will something happen to them like will they get scratched up or break?

 

No it wont, parking your cores is not like "parking your harddrive". When you park a harddrive it physically puts the platter in a safe position where it locks up to prevent the platter to smash on the plates.

 

When parking a processor core, all it does is saying in software that it wants to actively use one of the processors cores. Physically nothing changes to your computer :). It merely tells your pc how many parts of the processor it is allowed to use for it's tasks.

[Leanspeed]

No it wont, parking your cores is not like "parking your harddrive". When you park a harddrive it physically puts the platter in a safe position where it locks up to prevent the platter to smash on the plates.

When parking a processor core, all it does is saying in software that it wants to actively use one of the processors cores. Physically nothing changes to your computer :). It merely tells your pc how many parts of the processor it is allowed to use for it's tasks.

Thank you

[SkOmoww]

Highly recommend this my game jumped from 40 fps to 70 fps BIG Thanks to L13.You're my hero

[Deidaku]

I'm not sure it works on laptops though L13

 

I did it but then my PC just keeps overheating and I lost performance., 

 

I did experience a performance boost but it was offset by that anomaly :/

[VectorWolf]

I have to thank you for this thread. I recently upgraded my PC, so It wasn't bad. I had 60-70fps, but after unparking the rest of my cores, I got 110 up to 150fps (invasion on Jupiter with flame dmg).

[Kaiservadin]

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.

I also notice strangely that turning on vsync might fix cpu load if you have it off before ( Might not work with all players )

[Aidenel]

""To those who find this (it ranks very high in google search) please understand that there *are* downsides to forcefully unparking your CPU and that it does not improve the over all performance of your computer.

For starters the entire reason multi-core CPUs have developed the ability to park cores when they aren't needed is to reduce power consumption and heat production. Forcefully unparking your cores all the time will make your CPU use more energy and have a higher idle-temperature. Because of the latter it could potentially shorten the life of your CPU... though by how much is unknown.

Additionally the supposed benefit of improved performance is highly misleading. If your computer and the software on it are working correctly your CPU cores will unpark on their own whenever there is a demand for more processing power. Unparking your CPU cores forcefully will not make your CPU perform better than it would if it unparked on it's own.

The reason unparking utilities exist is in the rare cases when a program requiring high CPU performance none-the-less behaves in a manner that keeps the CPU from unparking on it's own. Then it becomes necessary to forcefully unpark your cores to make the full processing capability of your CPU available. Some older games (predating multi-core CPUs) have this problem while newer games, as a rule, do not.

 

•  

" 

 

Posted by Jeremy Armstrong at http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2090450/unpark-cpu-cores-win.html

 

Not that it would be dangerous since nobody posted that his computer CPU burned down, but still nobody here mentioned the higher power usage (logical) and as result higher temperatures (what should not be a problem for Computer with more than one fan and decent CPU cooling).

on my desktop atleast the idle temperature actually went down while perfomance improved, and overall temperature went down a little bit aswell, and that is an i7-4770k with a stock fan.

my laptop didnt seem to care about it, still same temperatures all around.

 

Edit: ok, so I tested WoW on my laptop after I unparked all my cores, and the game normally runs with a 23FPS limit, and 50% render scale and sets the core at 75-80 degrees almost immediently, now its holding between 60-70 for the first 20 min, after then rising to just under 80 as usual, with 100% render scale and 60fps limit.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Front2battle

[SourTaco]

ALL of my cores where parked, unparked them, now my game is much smoother! :D

 

 

Edit: My computer is also much quieter after unparking.

Edited July 10, 2015 by SourTaco

[Aoden]

Every single core was parked, unparked all and went straight to a relay. Instead of locking up like usual I just had minor stuttering.

 

Thank you Letter!

[-CCC-Secret]

Would it fix this?

 

 

As you can see loading takes 5 mins minimum and that is not very nice if you want to run public matchmaking. If I can fix that with this then happy game, happy life.

[tennoninjahunter]

Would it fix this?

 

I'm not a tech pro or anything, but i'd say it's something wrong with ur HardDisk.

 

To others:

Most new i5 / i7 cpus doesnt need to be unparked. Windows 7 uses parked cores to help save ur battery life. 

However it shouldn't affect any performance(maybe will need some time to activate,and the wait time will be noticeable if ur cpu is like really OLD) because the cpu will activate itself if a certain application supports multi-core hyperthreading.

 

If U dont mind the electric bill/ shorter battery hours, &/or hate the waiting time then go ahead. 

 

P.S: u can pull up resource monitor and see if ur cpus are truly "sleeping" while u're using some hyperthreading supported applications. 

 

All my cores were working all along as observed from resource monitor. Just wanted to check if my cores were parked.I tried using the software from this thread, none of my cores were parked in my laptop, windows 7 . 

Edited July 10, 2015 by tennoninjahunter

[-CCC-Secret]

I'm not a tech pro or anything, but i'd say it's something wrong with ur HardDisk.

 

To others:

Most new i5 / i7 cpus doesnt need to be unparked. Windows 7 uses parked cores to help save ur battery life. 

However it shouldn't affect any performance(maybe will need some time to activate,and the wait time will be noticeable if ur cpu is like really OLD) because the cpu will activate itself if a certain application supports multi-core hyperthreading.

 

If U dont mind the electric bill/ shorter battery hours, &/or hate the waiting time then go ahead. 

 

P.S: u can pull up resource monitor and see if ur cpus are truly "sleeping" while u're using some hyperthreading supported applications. 

 

All my cores were working all along as observed from resource monitor. Just wanted to check if my cores were parked.I tried using the software from this thread, none of my cores were parked in my laptop, windows 7 . 

 

Well the thing is, this happened after I reinstalled Warframe. On the first download I didn't have this problem and my only problem was my connection in some cases. I uninstalled Warframe to get some space for some other game, and got bored of that game so reinstalled, and this happens. Really need help on fixing this without reinstalling again.

[tennoninjahunter]

Well the thing is, this happened after I reinstalled Warframe. On the first download I didn't have this problem and my only problem was my connection in some cases. I uninstalled Warframe to get some space for some other game, and got bored of that game so reinstalled, and this happens. Really need help on fixing this without reinstalling again.

as i said, i think it's ur HDD, it might be coz of long years of usage? or try defragmenting ur HDD. If u're using SSD then might be the SSD's controller's fault. DO NOT defragment if u're using SSD.