Struggling with lag - could use some insight if available

Been playing this game since Nov 2011. Have never had any real issues with lag / stuttering until this year.

Has something changed to push the hardware requirements?

Just did a fresh install of Windows 10. Updated flashplayer and installed DCUO righ away. There's basically nothing on this system except DCUO at this point.

Fired it up and for the first few minutes I thought I was golden. But then that familiar lag started creeping in until the game became unplayable again.

Running Task Manager in the background and none of my hardware is being pushed to the limit. CPU peaks at about 45%, Memory about the same, disk usage spikes a bit but not for long, same with Ethernet usage.

Video and audio stutter hard after a few minutes into the game. Maybe it's time to replace this system but like I said, I never had any issues running DCUO on this system until this year.

System specs below:

OS VersionMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro

ManufacturerIntel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 840 @ 1.87GHz
Clock Speed1.9Ghz
L2 Cache Size1024
8GB of DDRRAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M



Thanks for any (legit) input.

Did you recently change any hardware, especially related to keyboard/mouse/game controller?

L2p Noob.

Just kidding, had to say it because of your (legit) comment.

Um, what graphics settings do you have selected in the game? Have you tried starting with minimum graphics settings and checking if the lag is still present? If not, you could slowly increase the settings on everything (shadows and reflections take up more resources than character detail, for example).

Honestly, with those specs, though, I doubt graphics are your problem, unless your graphics processor is damaged.

What speed is your internet connection? You mentioned ethernet, so it's not a Wi-Fi issue either.

I have a system that's far less powerful than yours. Mine's an i3 (older model) dual-core at 2.4 GHz. My "mighty" GPU is the Intel HD4000, lol. With minimum gfx I don't have any problems with lag except when someone drops a blessed Zeus orbital.

The only thing that has changed is a USB hub that I use to connect a couple of external hard drives.

Thanks for the reply.

Graphics chip is NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M.

I am used to playing at 1920x1080(?). Whatever the max res is in my settings. I have lowered the resolution to see what happens and I still get the same result. Lowered the detail as well (character / world / shadows). It's possible my graphics chip is worn out.

I'm hoping it's something simple like some conflicting setting in Windows or something along those lines.

But thank you for the reply.

Just googled those specs. That proc is even slower than gen 3 Intel CPUs and that GPU is just 1GB in mem size. Are you playing on a laptop?

And at 1080p? You're stressing that GPU out.

You have to remember too that this game is running on an almost prehistoric game engine. I have a GTX 1070, but it drops FPS when WT is populated.

I got this laptop in the summer of 2015 and never had any issues playing DCUO on it until recently. These last few months. I'm not sure if something in the game has changed that requires better hardware or if there is some software conflict or video driver problem or something along those lines.

I will side with the OP on this one. First off though, I will admit, I'm not super tech savvy, let alone having the best and fastest super fastest PC out there. Its Windows 10, and its average at best, but decent internet. But I will say that since I have started playing this game which was last summer, I have noticed an increase in lag since around the artifacts update. The first one. I never went without lag before then, but it may last about 30 seconds at the most. But since the update, it can go even longer than that. I will get stuck for about 90 seconds to a 2 minutes, maybe more until it loosens up. And this tends to happen in crowded areas where everyone is "standing around" such as the central hub, or in front of Little Bohemia PD station. I'm not sure if the crazy amount of people being on the game grid in this one area can lag the servers, but the mass amount of people congregating in one area is the only thing I can relate to the issue. And this has also happened very recently, mostly in the central hub. Its very very irritating. There's nothing like trying to fly in the watch tower, getting slammed with a huge amount of lag, and then you yourself slamming into a wall cause you missed the archway to the meta wing.

Side note, I have also noticed an increase in game crashes as well. Where it lags so bad, and I get an error message where the game shuts down completely. Also irritating.

For sure. Crowded places and battles is where the lag really picks up. Empty areas (my lair) there's no issues.

Battles, even during a duo I get slammed. Gotham monster area. Any open city setting where there is a lot of info to process.

when was the last time you cleaned your laptop ?. they have small fans , dirt can build up causing problems for cpu and more

programs I use to shutdown windows program not needed for gaming

my faster game http://www.pcclean.io/my-faster-game/
memory cleaner https://www.koshyjohn.com/software/memclean/
both are free and easy to use
they work better than razor game booster

Lag could be a error in the harddrive you said it spiked?

Usually hard drives do this when they are about to go out
Not saying your is but this might me the case

Because the game reads from your harddrive and if the music is stuttering
It might be a harddrive error how old is that harddrive? Only reason is this has happened to me

That's what makes me hate laptops.

or windows 10 be writing on the hard drive at 100 % there has been a problem with windows 10 and drivers for hard drives

Solid point. It seems like everytime they release a new OS, they get worse and worse. And like you, I've heard of numerous problems with Windows 10. But these were mostly with PC's or laptops that started with an earlier version of Windows such as 8 or prior, and upgraded to 10. Those that had 10 pre-installed are okay. Doesn't count for any major 10 updates though.

Wait Do not blame your machine yet.

Try the following no matter the day.

1.-Run solitary instances, at 6 am, 2pm 11pm. After you do that you have the same with duos (warning when doing groups make sure you grouped players cr allowed instance, example t1 cr approximately 30 to 53).

And then you repeat the same group and raids, if you are grouped with someone in duos or group 4 that already exceeded even if it is x 1 cr maximum instance jump and try again until you are grouped to someone who If it meets instance cr.

It seems to me that if you do that and check your task manager, you might see a difference.


And yes, I know what to do in group 4 and raid this cannon, but if you do not mind what I recommended.


Well I give you a second option before giving you a wait and entering group 4 and raids.


Stop your seat take a deep breath, go for your favorite drink and food, come back make your chair more comfortable and if you prefer put your favorite music.

Enter grouping or raid and when you are already inside if there are 1 or more players with cr higher than the maximum of instance, release the controller or keyboard and enjoy the function.


There are 2 problems that already existed in dcuo since already a good time and which increased in the middle of last year and this.


I will not comment yet, one of them is the most usual of any mmo pvp and pve.


Well if you try what I said and notes difference in your pc.

I will only say man do not blame your machine, or your Internet provider since you do not have lag, but if the same obvious problem of phase or instance pvp.


Welcome to the 2018 community.

If you were lag by supplier or machine you would notice other web pages or online games, but I insist welcome to the 2018 community.

Good night and good game to all

(I have pentium 4 double core, 2 ghz and if that experienced the same and even more, but it is not lag, I know when my machine give me lag or something worse) ........ ????????????? ..

You might want to double check your character effects slider as well. Now that electricity is so 'popular' it really does a number on graphics. So, if there are other players using elec, it causes certain issues. Not saying to turn the character effects off totally, but maybe keep the slider around the middle to test.

I'm no tech expert, of course, so all of this is just kind of troubleshooting to see if you can find the issue.

Another possibility might be the effect the Windows 10 creator's update had on your machine. However, you said the processor isn't running at 100%, so probably not that either. One last issue has to do with whether you're running in windowed or full-screen mode. That can make a difference. Oh, and make sure you have write combat logs to disc turned off too.

Having a cooling fan also seems to help, though you'd know if your laptop is overheating just by touching your left hand on the far side of the keyboard.

https://www.neowin.net/news/microso...formance-issues-in-windows-10-creators-update


Get win 7/64 because this could still be relevant.

If 7/ 64 is not available
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4002019/windows-10-improve-pc-performance
go here & double check this list from microsoft.