PoE Performance Metrics/Graph: CPU spikes when moving mouse

Hello,

https://youtu.be/Zl1QRH_ES3s?t=31

As shown in the above video PoE's performance metrics show high CPU spikes (and spikes in whatever the white line is, frametime?) whenever the mouse moves. These spikes do not appear in Windows' Task Manager.

Does anyone know why this occurs and/or have steps to fix it?
Does anyone have troubleshooting advice? Keep in mind this appears to be PoE-specific as Task Manager doesn't show the same spikes.


I understand restarting my computer would be a great troubleshooting first step but I'm curious to understand what would cause PoE to behave this way and to see if I can identify and fix the actual problem rather than just wipe everything.

Your processor is at least 1 generation out of date and there is an important AVX2 instruction that helps very well in gaming performance. DDR3 is also very outdated (if not overclocked). The game proposes to use Vulcan technology with bottelnets in the processor.

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feral345 wrote:

Your processor is at least 1 generation out of date and there is an important AVX2 instruction that helps very well in gaming performance. DDR3 is also very outdated (if not overclocked). The game proposes to use Vulcan technology with bottelnets in the processor.

Hi. Thank you for the reply. I validate your points but am not sure how they apply to the behavior I described (especially given that the increase in CPU usage is only shown in the in-game graph, external CPU measurements for PoE remain completely flat--and well below 100%). This behavior is also reproducible with PoE self-throttled to 10 and even 5 FPS (PoE CPU usage < 1.5% of system total).

Are you proposing that the game wants to use AVX2-enabled calculations during mouse-move, however my computer doesn't support that so does the calculations 'the long way', thus causing a spike in CPU usage; a spike which somehow does not get picked up by external monitors?

This issue persists with Vulkan.

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SirGuySW wrote:

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feral345 wrote:

Your processor is at least 1 generation out of date and there is an important AVX2 instruction that helps very well in gaming performance. DDR3 is also very outdated (if not overclocked). The game proposes to use Vulcan technology with bottelnets in the processor.

Hi. Thank you for the reply. I validate your points but am not sure how they apply to the behavior I described (especially given that the increase in CPU usage is only shown in the in-game graph, external CPU measurements for PoE remain completely flat--and well below 100%). This behavior is also reproducible with PoE self-throttled to 10 and even 5 FPS (PoE CPU usage < 1.5% of system total).

Are you proposing that the game wants to use AVX2-enabled calculations during mouse-move, however my computer doesn't support that so does the calculations 'the long way', thus causing a spike in CPU usage; a spike which somehow does not get picked up by external monitors?

This issue persists with Vulkan.

Perhaps it is the behavior of the mouse and its driver - for example, a decrease in response time or some other sensitivity settings. For games that have similar settings for control warn that this may affect the FPS. Reinstall the mouse drivers (if you have a non-budget mouse) or HID drivers in the device manager, just uninstall and reboot the PC, Windows will pull them up by itself.

Had the same issue when using high polling rate mouse on a not that great computer already using all of the CPU.

Probably upgrading CPU is the only fix, maybe a slower/older mouse might help a bit.

At least if this issue is in every other game which maxes your cpu usage

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pizzaplace wrote:

Had the same issue when using high polling rate mouse on a not that great computer already using all of the CPU.

Probably upgrading CPU is the only fix, maybe a slower/older mouse might help a bit.

At least if this issue is in every other game which maxes your cpu usage

Hey, thanks for the input. Now that you've mentioned it I do recall having a similar issue in Left 4 Dead 2; however, that was resolved by switching to RAW input. I haven't noticed the issue elsewhere but I'll be keeping my eye out for it from now on.

The strange thing to me is that PoE doesn't 'max my CPU usage' while I'm demonstrating the issue. I noticed the same behavior at the main menu and recorded another video showing PoE's CPU usage ranging from 10% to basically 0 while moving the mouse. I also noticed PoE actually fully freezes/blocks when moving the mouse in a circular motion. Straight movement in any direction results in high CPU values but doesn't cause freezing.

It seems like whatever the system uses to handle the mouse is not accounted for in the CPU usage graphs and dealing with the mouse is such a CPU intensive (and high priority) process that it ends up blocking/starving other processes of CPU access.

I tested with an old basic mouse and the issue was greatly reduced so maybe getting a lower-poll mouse would be a stopgap solution.

I also realized I was misunderstanding the graph. 'CPU' isn't CPU usage, 'CPU' shows the time it took for the CPU to respond to or complete a task (which is why the units are MS, milliseconds). This is why (externally measured) PoE CPU usage doesn't increase when the in-game CPU value increases (it actually decreases, or drops off completely depending on how 'hung up' the system is on mouse movement).

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Pre-post edit: To address "if this issue is in every other game which maxes your cpu usage" I ran CINEBENCH to force 100% CPU usage but had no way to measure CPU responsiveness the same way PoE does ... so I launched PoE to use its performance metrics graph. The result: No issues whatsoever. Buttery smooth mouse movement (and not too choppy gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xnb_7capKE (Yolomouse does not appear to significantly impact the results)

So, what would cause my system to starve processes of CPU access (resulting in choppy mouse movement) while the CPU is in low-use but work perfectly fine when the CPU is at 100% usage? ... lol

I've also encountered this issue on a 5950x. I'm using the same mouse so maybe the problem is with the mouse but I've encountered other unexplained slowdowns, input lags, and CPU bar spikes that I'm beginning to think are all related.

My other, likely related, thread: Challenge Trophies (and similar effects) cause pulsating CPU spikes

In any case, upgrading the CPU did not fix this mouse issue: https://youtu.be/WVXj7kh4z9c?t=9

Don't have time to watch all your vids etc Guy, but fast question before I have to head out to work. Same mouse on both rigs old/new?

Which mouse is it? What poll rate do you have it set at?

I did see you used an older one and it was a diminished effect. Can you change the poll rate on the new mouse? Have you mucked with any basic windows mouse settings to try and alleviate any of this? It *could* be an issue maybe of the mouse software/Win software not liking each other?

Passing thought.

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Aragorn14 wrote:

Don't have time to watch all your vids etc Guy, but fast question before I have to head out to work. Same mouse on both rigs old/new?

Which mouse is it? What poll rate do you have it set at?

I did see you used an older one and it was a diminished effect. Can you change the poll rate on the new mouse? Have you mucked with any basic windows mouse settings to try and alleviate any of this? It *could* be an issue maybe of the mouse software/Win software not liking each other?

Passing thought.

Thanks for again taking the time to reply with more good ideas. I've been testing off-and-on all night based on this and have found that most, if not all, of my 'performance gripes' (odd lags, input delay (oddly enough: including keyboard-only input delay), probably the pulsating CPU bar issue from the other thread, etc) only show up when using this mouse.

I go through mice quick so for years I've just bought cheap $5 to $10 mice on Amazon when needed. Maybe now I'm getting what I paid for, though usually they work well. My current mouse is a Redragon M601-3 (1000Hz polling rate (fixed as far as I can tell), 3200 max DPI). I tested with two different generic 125Hz mice and didn't encounter any odd performance issues at all. Unfortunately I don't currently have any other mice to test with (I ordered a SteelSeries Rival 100 (also 1000Hz) which I'll test in 24 hours-ish).

It seems that 1000Hz is fairly standard these days and should work fine with modern computers. Indeed both my new and old computers seemed to work perfectly fine with this mouse ... until they didn't, then they would require a restart and would be fine for a while again. Which makes me think there may be something else going on beyond basic hardware issues (something that this mouse, or maybe any 1000Hz mouse, might be aggravating).

Sweet :) Glad I could come at it from a slightly different angle and actually have something help.

Glad you played around and figured something out. That's odd that THAT was what was causing your other issue as well; I would have NEVER put those 2 things together.

As always, glad to help mate. Makes me really happy you got things sorted. Best of luck with the new mouse as well. Anything crops up again, just holler - I am always lurking about with another set of eyes.