These are my current pc specs: i5 3570k @3.4GHz (Not overclocked yet. Still trying to get everything running smooth.) ASRock Z77 Extreme4 EVGA GTX 770 2GB 4GB 1333mhz DDR3 500GB 5400RPM HDD EVGA 600B 600w power supply When I play the game, I get massive lag spikes. Like the game will freeze for 1-2 seconds every few seconds. I only get these spikes when I move or look around. I noticed that while I am playing the game, RAM usage is always at 97-99%. Could only 4GB ram be the cause of these spikes? Also, my HDD is slow and dying, so could the spikes be caused by the HDD not being able to read the textures and objects fast enough? I think either the RAM or HDD or a combination of both are causing these spikes. I plan on upgrading both the RAM and HDD to 8GB 1600mhz ram and a 1TB SSHD. Do you think that upgrading those two things will fix these problems?
Check to see if HPET is enabled in your bios, and then check to see if it's running in windows. I had recently messed with these settings and when I had it defaulted on in windows it caused that exact issue your describing. It's a stretch but could be the issue. Made night and day difference for me.
It could be something else, but it is very likely this is the cause: 4GB 1333mhz DDR3 500GB 5400RPM HDD Your ram is just barely enough to run windows + a game at the same time. Since there is little ram the data in it will have to be swapped often with data brought from the harddrive. Your harddrive is not just slow, 5400rpm, but also "dying" as you said. I'm not certain what you put into the term "dying", but if my harddrive where acting up I would stop using it immediately and buy a new one to avoid corrupted data and potentially important documents getting lost/broken beyond repair. Add one stick of 4 Gb 1333Mhz DDR3 (or buy 2 sticks of 4 Gb 1600Mhz/1833Mhz DDR3). Add a 7200RPM HDD for storage and a 120Gb SSD for games and OS, if you can afford it I suggest going for a 180Gb disk as 120 might be a bit small if you have many titles installed.
I suspect its actually being caused by either the physics (explosions) or the HUD elements... but its really hard since they tend to happen at the same time.
