Stuttering solution found on 6+ core systems
Product: Need for Speed Payback
Platform:PC
Summarize your bug Since the new update (Alldrive February) I've had the same problem as i had in the beginning of the release of the game and that's a lot of stuttering and Vsync not working. With Vsync on in the game or Vsync of in nVidia control panel or both the problem is that after a couple of seconds the framerate goes up to 67-71 fps and it is unplayable because of the stuttering. What I found is that Need for Speed Payback is not well optimized for high-end systems like mine. I have a : Intel Core i7 7700K @ 4.6 Ghz. Asus Maximus Formula IX 32 GB 2666 Mhz. Hyperx Asus GTX 1080 Ti OC 11 GB Samsung 960 Pro 512 Harddisk Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB Harddisk where the game is installed Playing the game in 4K Ultra but the problem is even at 1080 low quality... Because my system runs on 8 cores i tried limiting the use of cores via Task Manager - Set affinity CPU and first I tried just 1 core for NFS Payback which was unplayable. 2 Cores still unplayable, 3 cores it is getting a bit better and with 4 cores selected for the game the game was quite playable but still had some freezes so i tried 5 cores which gave me a sporadic little freeze but not very heavy anymore. With 6 cores selected the problem got back again so what I think is that NFS Payback can not use all cores to it's benefits and even limits the performance enourmously. I helped some other users on this forum setting up a program called: Process Lasso I gave them a solution so that every time they start the game it will only use 4 or 5 cores depending on their system and it's working for them all. I hope you can figure out a way to create a fix in the coming days where this matter will be handled and we can use the 8 cores without any problem. The load of the game is quite heavy in comparison to other games I play and the 5 cores are sometimes using 99 % of their capacity while playing even though i'm not running anything else. Please roll-out a solution for all those gamers that like the game but can't play because it's unplayable right now. Thank you, Mark van Velsen
What is your gamertag/PSN ID/EA Account name? markvvelsen
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
Can you tell us the date (MM/DD/YYYY) that you saw the bug? 02/15/2018
What time did you see the bug? (HH:MM AM/PM) 17:00
What is your time zone? ECT - GMT + 1:00
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Use a system with a 1080 Ti card and a minimum of 8 cores CPU
What happens when the bug occurs? Enormous stuttering and unplayable gameplay after a couple of seconds... sometimes minutes... You can see the FPS with Vsync on going from 60 - 61 fps to 67 - 71 fps instantly.
What do you expect to see? 60-61 fps while Vsync is on and smooth gameplay
Please select your region Europe
Were you connected to other players when the bug occurred? No
My post to other players which was a solution to all of them with the same heavy machines:
Hey guys...
After the big patch in December the stuttering was gone for me but after the new big update last month the stuttering got back and even worse...
I have had contact a couple of times with EA and they can't seem to find a solution for this but.... I found one after long searching and trying a lot of different things...
Most of the people i see online are on a machine using multiple cores... I have a pretty mean machine myself and i think the problem is limited to these kind of machines:
Core i7 7700K
Asus Maximus Formula IX
32 GB 2666 HyperX memory
Asus GTX 1080 Ti OC 11 GB
960 Pro NVME 512
4K screen
I GOT IT TO WORK NOW!!
If you have a machine with more then 4 cores you will get the stuttering in some configurations and you can fix it:
1. I downloaded a simple program called 'Process Lasso'
2. Installed it and started Need For Speed Payback.
3. Lookup NeedforSpeedpayback.exe in the processes
4. Rightclick the process and click the second line: CPU affinity
5. Now select Always...
6. Click CPU affinity
7. deselct a couple of cores but leave 5 cores checked...
8. Go back to the game
9. Enjoy stutter-free (but occasionally mini freezes as a little downside)
Why this program you ask? Because this sets this affinity with the cores every time you start the game instead of doing it manually via Task Manager in W10.
It's not a real solution of course but now it's playable without getting tears in your eyes and a headace after playing for about 10 minutes...
I hope this also works for you all...
If you first want to test it you can of course set the affinity in the task manager first to check if it solves the problem for you. With 2 cores it's unplayable, 3 cores is still quite bad, 4 cores it's finally playable but 5 cores is the limit of the game (so it seems).
If any of the EA crew are reading with me... Please fix this issue... None of my other games have this problemwhile playing every game @ 4K ultra.
Good luck to you all!
Greets,
Mark
