Re: Consistent Random CPU Usage Spikes

@noob24736  hmmm, indeed some stutters.
Did check youre hardware ? Maybe mouse/keyboard connected ? Any controller connected ?
Youre drivers are up to date? chipset driver is also imported ?
Sometimes a bios upgrade is needed, is bios upto date?

But do a CLEANBOOT and test game first !
If cleanboot solves problem, then its probarly some background software that is causing some issues ! What motherboard do ya got running ?

Cheers

@Rokebo73

Mouse/keyboard are fine and connected. I have a controller connected but this issue only started a month or two ago and I've had my peripherals be exactly the same since far before then. Unless you're suggesting Battlefield introduced an issue with my peripherals, I don't think that's the issue.

As for drivers, yes those are all updated. As many other folks say in response to your suggestion to check hardware this is the only game that has issues so it's very unlikely a hardware issue exists if I can't reproduce in literally any other way.

There's some background software running, such as OBS which is how you saw the clips at all, and discord, but it also runs for every other game I play and none of them have issues.

I can try a cleanboot I suppose, but again, if Battlefield is the only game it's very unlikely to show anything.

As for my motherboard, as with my dxdiag results, I already provided that information with my System Information screenshot in my initial message. Including the text here in case you didn't check what I said:
- BaseBoard Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
- BaseBoard Product ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO
- BaseBoard Version Rev X.0x

@Rokebo73  I'm just going to be blunt and say this is a frustrating interaction. I've worked tech/software customer support before and this feels very much like a list of canned responses rather than informed guidance. You didn't even seem to notice information I provided in my initial message, then asked me for it again. I understand these are the usual things to check, but this issue only started happening recently(ish), and I'm performing the exact same thing I've always done, haven't installed any additional software that runs in the background, etc. I'm aware BF2042 uses a lot of CPU which is why I mentioned in my first post that I've been using these instructions for limiting the usage:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Constant-100-CPU-utilization-since-Season-3-update/m-p/12073742/highlight/true#M36612 

The CPU usage of other programs is likely not a factor here, as I don't ever hit 100% or anywhere close on my computer. Unless you're telling me Battlefield doesn't respect the settings mentioned above, or are trying to imply there's some other software that's massively using my CPU without it showing on my Task Manager or Resource Monitor, the culprit seems to again be Battlefield. And again I must repeat, this is the only game this happens in, and it suddenly started a month or two ago. As mentioned in my original post, even my partner's machine is having this issue, and it started around the same time as me. Internet might be a factor given we share that, but you already seem to have ruled that out (if you haven't I don't understand the pivot to these basic troubleshooting steps regarding hardware and drivers). Two completely different systems getting the same issue at the same time suggests it's the software. Either Windows broke something (which I wouldn't be surprised about), or Battlefield broke something (also wouldn't be surprised about). If you have suggestions specifically focusing on Windows changes or Battlefield changes that would be appreciated.

You already gave one I suppose, I will try the cleanboot later today and get back to you.

@noob24736  BF2042 is hardcoded for 8 core,
Check this url https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Constant-100-CPU-utilization-since-Season-3-update/m-p/12088154#M37399
Ya could make 10 run for game and 2 for system.
BUT i do not know if it is still effective for BF2042.
Maybe they changed some coding.
Ya realy need to try it.
Do a cleanboot and then use this USER.CFG.

Its possible they changed some coding in bf2042 and consume more performance then before.
In the past i did reproduce all kind of errors with bf2042 at my old system.
Only my system did become to "old" and did build a full new system,.
Unfortunally with the current specs i got , im not able to reproduce thjat many issues anymore.

Cleanboot , is one of the possible solutions, But dont forget , in the past some system configs got also issues when windows / gpu driver did update to latest versions !
So not all updates are always positive (for some systems/configs).

Update us when ya did a cleanboot and user.cfg (minimal +8 cores needed - hardcoded into bf2042).

Some people did strip their windows to a light version for more performance.
Some of them used AtlasOS , read instruction before ya decide to use atlasops, its max performance for systems.
Atlasos will almost disable everything in youre current os, no windows updates , no paint , ect ect ect ect , realy a minimal os

Cheers

https://atlasos.net/

@Rokebo73 I don't know where you are pulling this "BF2042 is hardcoded for 8 core" claim from, but here is the minimum requirements page from EA (Steam matches this info):
https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-2042/game-overview/pc-system-requirements 

You can see it lists the following under minimum CPU requirements:

- Processor (AMD): AMD Ryzen 5 1600

- Processor (Intel): Core i5 6600K

Here is the official specs page for the AMD processor:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/cpu/amd-ryzen-processors/amd-ryzen-5-desktop-processors/amd-ryzen-5-1600 

The key details here are:
- # of CPU Cores: 6

- # of Threads: 12

You'll notice this is below the 8 cores you claim is hard-coded.

If we now go to the specs page for the Intel processor:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/88191/intel-core-i56600k-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-90-ghz/specifications.html

We will see even lower values:
- Total Cores 4

- Total Threads 4

So again, really not sure why you said 8 was hard-coded when it lists supporting systems with less than 8...

I still plan on trying the cleanboot later, but you are essentially suggesting I rebuild my entire PC or switch to an entirely different computer/OS because a single application shows an error, rather than suggesting that one application is at fault and need to be fixed. At this point I don't trust you have any more idea of what's going on than I do, and would really like another person to assist me instead.

@noob24736   if ya systems got 8 core or more , it will use 8 cores (or more) , there is an command to display ammount of cores available and the ammouint of cores used by the game 😉

render.drawscreeninfo 1

open console in game , enter the command above here !!!!

edit: i just made a screenshot from my game.
check the text in green top display !

ps if ya got less then 8 cores, the USER.CFG will not do anything for ya !

Cheers

EDIT2: ya could use the tool LASSO , to reserver cores/threads for game and system !
If ya got 6 cores , game and system need to (share) run at those 6 cores, this will make the cpu work realy hard to keep it up with game and system !

EDIT3: How did ya save the USER.CFG ???? could ya post this user.cfg into this topic please !

@noob24736  Update User.cfg
It is sometime ago that i needed User.cfg
So i did test it again and what is changed in BF2042.
If ya want to use User.CFG , with the following command lines:

Thread.MaxProcessorCount 4 <-- will not work for youre 12 cores cpu
Thread.MinFreeProcessorCount 0
Thread.JobThreadPriority 0

Bf2042 will detect automaticly the ammount of Cores, but if ya want to use User.cfg , ya cannot use a number lower then 8 (if ya got 8 cores or more cpu).
BF2042 coding will set this number at 8 minimal if ya got 8 cores or more cpu, and when number in CFG is set lower then 8..
So you got 12 core , 24 threads , then i would enter 10 for the ammount of Cores the game should use, check lines below:

Thread.MaxProcessorCount 10
Thread.MinFreeProcessorCount 0
Thread.JobThreadPriority 0

Now ingame open console and use the command
render.drawscreeninfo 1
You will see that 10 cores will be used for game, the other 2 (and threads) will be for "system/background apps".

Of course ya could change this number , but remember BF2042 will auto set 8 as minimum cores , cuase you got a +8 core cpu.

Check this url how to make/edit User.cfg and how to save it:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Constant-100-CPU-utilization-since-Season-3-update/m-p/12105699#M37730

PS I forgot to ask you if ya got ONEDRIVE running in the background ?
If so, could you end that process, cause it will backup the Documents/BF2042 folder everytime during game, cause the CACHE folder (almost 2GB) will need network.
Especially if ya got one drive running at both computers

@Rokebo73 The cleanboot and EA cache clear did not resolve anything. I had to turn on the EABackgroundService otherwise EA wouldn't launch, but everything else was disabled.

Here is my user.cfg I'm using:

Thread.ProcessorCount 8
Thread.MaxProcessorCount 8
Thread.MinFreeProcessorCount 0
Thread.JobThreadPriority 0
GstRender.Thread.MaxProcessorCount 8

When I'm in game, I can see the following from Render.DrawScreenInfo 1:

And I'm still running into the stuttering due to CPU usage spikes. This was just while running around (not going to send a clip cause it's the exact same issue I've had since the start):

My CPU usage according to Task Manager (I closed the game to take the screenshot, hence the high usage dropping off, but you can see the cores being used by BF2042, and how most other cores are not maxed out. Again suggests background apps or their CPU usage isn't the problem:

Also I don't have OneDrive running. I specifically have it disabled because the auto-backup affects many things.

To me, it's still clearly Battlefield 2042 that is at fault here. Outside of me completely reinstalling my operating system, which I have no intention of doing, this software seems faulty.

Hey man.

Use only those 3 lines in youre User.cfg

Thread.MaxProcessorCount 10
Thread.MinFreeProcessorCount 0
Thread.JobThreadPriority 0

Nothing more , nothing less.

Test game and update us !

ps also use HWINFO64 , set SENSORS ONLY , make a screens short from the

expanded CPU tab while game is running (swictch apps by pressing ALT + TAB)

Tell me what temps are doing, cheers

Some of the cpu cores are hitting 100% which will cause stutter. None of the cpu cores can be at 100%. Set a framerate cap so none of the cpu cores hit 100%.

 In the Nvidia Control Panel (not the Nvidia Experience). Go to Manage 3D Settings => Program Settings => Select BF2042.exe from the dropdown => Max Frame Rate can then be set.

---

AMD Adrenalin if you have an AMD graphic card of course:
- Open Adrenalin
- go to Gaming tab
- Select your game
- In graphics section (left) select "Radeon Chill" (Limit FPS to save power)
- Adjust min and max FPS as per your needs