Huge Slowdowns In Batman Arkham Asylum

This game has a particularity when its played on ATI cards.

When Physx effects are enabled ,it simply crawles to 15 FPS cap (no matter the ATI card series) ,its a know trick to favour Nvidia s(the game sponsor ) Physx .Before saying that BD is the culprit make sure the Physx effects are off.

Second ,the ATI drivers are imature and still unfinished for that new card .You may encounter strange problems either because of conflicts either because of driver bugs.From what i observed BD 2010 is still not 100% compatible with W7 and W7 is still at its beginings.

Freezes are also caused by power problems ,not enough power from the Power Supply for the system (card /CPU) ,overheating (CPU/ GPU) ,overcurrent protection ,badly paired memory modules.

If removing BD 2010 solves the problem then i would guess its some incompatibility ,mostly with W7.

I had this problem too with my previous card, a 4870x2. I'm not talking about slow FPS like 10 or 15, I'm talking about a full game stop, the image freezes, FRAPS says 0. I bet it's a compatibility problem between BitDefender and Windows 7, because as soon as I disable BitDefender, the game is smooth as silk. My system runs stable, it's got an 800W PSU and runs perfectly Prime95 and every test I throw at him. BTW CPU, memory and graphics card ARE NOT overclocked at all, everything is at default speed. I am a long time PC gamer and I can tell you that BitDefender is causing this issue.

Believe me, it's not PhysX / ATI problem, my system also has a GeForce 9600GT for PhysX, I play with PhysX on high and I get constant 60fps whenever BitDefender is disabled (and I have finished the game). I have even completely disabled PhysX on this game, ran the game benchmark, and the result is the same: stops, freezes and stutters.

I would like to know if anyone else is having this issue. Is there something I can try?, I don't know if I can enable some kind of log on BitDefender to help to track this issue.

Please I would like to know what BitDefender guys know about my issue. I can't play Batman unless I disable BitDefender. Well I can, but with pauses and slowdowns. This issue could happen with other games too.

cberneanu

Try to add an exception in Active Virus Control for the game.

Berneanu Cristian ,there seems to be an issue with Unreal 3 engine based games.

I have a huge performance drop in Unreal Tournament III version 2.1.I m using an Nvidia (8800GT+182.50 driver) card so LordJuanlo seems to have right.He has an Intel based system mine is AMD based.XP SP 3 here.Performance drop as in huge lags even in menus.

Gaming mode or not the lag is there.

Only removing BD helps.

So what could it be the problem ?

Try to add an exception in Active Virus Control for the game.

I tried to add my entire games folder to the exception list, and it didn't help. The only cure for me is to completely disable BitDefender. BTW I have watched CPU usage and it's the same with BitDefender enabled or disabled, first I though BitDefender could be taxing the CPU, but it's not the case.

Just take a look at how long the game benchmark needs to start, without BitDefender it starts in a couple of seconds, with BitDefender it needs around 10. If you look at the 'bat' that spins on the lower right corner of the screen when loading, you can see that it slows down with BitDefender. I will record a FRAPS video and post it.

Berneanu Cristian ,there seems to be an issue with Unreal 3 engine based games.

I have a huge performance drop in Unreal Tournament III version 2.1.I m using an Nvidia (8800GT+182.50 driver) card so LordJuanlo seems to have right.He has an Intel based system mine is AMD based.XP SP 3 here.Performance drop as in huge lags even in menus.

Gaming mode or not the lag is there.

Only removing BD helps.

So what could it be the problem ?

Did you added an exception for this game in Active Virus Control list?

If problem persists let us know.

I tried to add my entire games folder to the exception list, and it didn't help. The only cure for me is to completely disable BitDefender. BTW I have watched CPU usage and it's the same with BitDefender enabled or disabled, first I though BitDefender could be taxing the CPU, but it's not the case.

Just take a look at how long the game benchmark needs to start, without BitDefender it starts in a couple of seconds, with BitDefender it needs around 10. If you look at the 'bat' that spins on the lower right corner of the screen when loading, you can see that it slows down with BitDefender. I will record a FRAPS video and post it.

Hi,

You didn't it right. You must add only path to game executable file in Active Virus Control list.

If you don't know how to do this, simply try to disable Active Virus Control only (not Antivirus shield) and post here the results.

If problem disappears please provide additional informations about games names and versions.

Thanks!

Ok ,i ve done some researching by myself into the issue with UT 3

I.Adding the game path at exceptions doesnt do the trick.For clarification the path would be X:\Folder Y\UT 3 (game folder) in this case and the game appeares in the exception list as listed .

II.

1.I ve tryed a thing ,a clean BD installation ,so uninstalled BD 2010 AV ,used the uninstall tool and reinstalled.

2.Disabled all unneeded antivirus options via Expert Control Panel ,except the real time shield (with custom settings below) ,AVC ON (as default settings) and autoupdate left on as well.Manual Gaming mode switch was used .So Vulnerability , Crypting ,Automatic Laptop/Game modes disabled and Privacy/Control Date (all options under the category) were OFF/Disabled.

Under Antivirus options Antiphishing module was disabled and in the custom real time scanner settings ,messenger trafic scanners were unchecked/disabled.

I runned the game once with this settings and everything seemed normal ,as performance wise ,the performance was what i call normal on my hardware ,performance/lag was equal with the one obtained with BD removed from the system.

3.Enabled the Riskware category and ticked some of the options ,as i was using the antivirus when i observed the problem (few days ago).This was the trigger for low performance - enableing riskware detection ,no matter the options (spyware /adware/etc) i ticked there was lag and performance drop.

4.Went and enabled the Exceptions ,added the game path ( like in the I section) and had no effect .So the scan affects the game via some system files ,considering that the Exceptions option works properly.

5.The strange thing is that after reverting to the settings exposed at the II/1 up ,in the same session ,the lag continued ,i had to restart the system to play acceptable .It was like the interface swithches had no effect (i observed this with internet related settings as well ,always they need restart to take into effect)

Aditionally there seems to be a performance drop that continues to exist even after restart.The game was moving much better with the initial settings II/1 then now with the same settings :wacko: .

I personally suspect an interface bug along with the agresivity of the riskware scanning .

LordJuanlo ,what are the settings of the Real Time Scanner .Do you happen to have Riskware enabled manually or indirectly by using the highest preset ?

Adding the game path to the exclusions didn't help. Disabling antiphishing didn't help. I have Active Virus Control set to Agressive, I have lowered it to Default but it didn't help. And I have riskware disabled too. For me the only thing that works is disabling antivirus.

Adding the game path to the exclusions didn't help. Disabling antiphishing didn't help. I have Active Virus Control set to Agressive, I have lowered it to Default but it didn't help. And I have riskware disabled too. For me the only thing that works is disabling antivirus.

Have you manually entered Game Mode,right click on the BD icon, or you used the automatic Game Mode setting ?

After you set up the antivirus shield at default have you restarted the PC ?

Have you manually entered Game Mode,right click on the BD icon, or you used the automatic Game Mode setting ?

After you set up the antivirus shield at default have you restarted the PC ?

I have used automatic mode, when I alt-tab out of the game I can see that Game Mode is enabled, I can see the G on the BitDefender icon. No, I didn't restart the PC after setting shield at default, will try this when I get home

HI LordJuanlo and Sm3k3r,

You both are not doing it right when you are excepting the game from Active Virus Control list. You should add the full path to executable of the game, like C:\Program Files\Unreal Tournament\Unreal.exe (and the same for other games). Adding directory path of games to AVC exclusion list will not prevent applications from these directories to be inspected by AVC.

Below are some snapshots indicating the steps of adding an application (msn messenger) to AVC exception list. (for explanation).

Try that then post the results.

Cheers!

HI LordJuanlo and Sm3k3r,

You both are not doing it right when you are excepting the game from Active Virus Control list. You should add the full path to executable of the game, like C:\Program Files\Unreal Tournament\Unreal.exe (and the same for other games). Adding directory path of games to AVC exclusion list will not prevent applications from these directories to be inspected by AVC.

Below are some snapshots indicating the steps of adding an application (msn messenger) to AVC exception list. (for explanation).

Try that then post the results.

Cheers!

And pictures...

AVC has no effect on the issue no mater its state ,On or Off.As i already showed its the riskware thing that generates the problem.

AVC has no effect on the issue no mater its state ,On or Off.As i already showed its the riskware thing that generates the problem.

Sm3K3R, how do you get good performance in UT3?. You enable Riskware and leave all its options unticked like in your previous screenshot?. I have always had Riskware unticked and I'm still getting horrible performance with BitDefender 2010 (btw it worked perfectly with BitDefender 2009).

FIXED

Now I have correctly added the game executable to AVC and performance is good again. Anyway I think BitDefender should look into this Unreal Engine problem and get it fixed as soon a possible. Now I don't trust my antivirus, and when a game performs bad I will always try to disable it to check if a particular game works better without it. I don't want to start adding games to AVC, Game Mode should get rid of it of those problems. That's why I have chosen BitDefender, because I don't want to manage exclusions lists for my games.

If I can help BitDefender to track and solve this issue, I will do it. Batman Arkham Asylum version is 1.1 (it updated itself through Games for Windows Live).

FIXED here too without adding any exception :huh: .

I don t know what exactly happened ,but i can tick all riskware options and i can have AVC enabled (though usually i keep it off),now when i turn ON Gaming Mode the lag is no more ,so Gaming Mode is doing its job.

During the day i had one lock up in Dirt and some BD updates (the only changes that happend on the PC since yesterday).

Tomorrow checking with another CPU.

Glad its fixed .

I would like to know if BitDefender guys have found out something about this problem. Because now I'm suffering slowdowns in a non-Unreal engine game: Left 4 Dead. But it's not easy to see, it happens only with explosions. I play at 1920x1200 with 4xAA, vsync and triple buffer. The game runs at 60 fps all the time.

But when I shoot an explosive barrel, frames per second go down to 40-45. As soon as I add Left 4 Dead to BitDefender exceptions list, this does not happen anymore.

That's not my picture of a gaming antivirus, or a game mode. I don't want to keep manually adding every single game I play because BitDefender 2010 is making my games slower. I have played around 100 hours of Left 4 Dead, and I have BitDefender two years ago (I renewed for my third year last week), and I had never experienced slowdowns with BitDefender 2009, this has started happening with 2010 version.

I would like this issue to be looked at and fixed, if I can help BitDefender in any way (beta software, log mode, anything), I will do it. But I would like to know if BitDefender is aware of those problems that BitDefender 2009 didn't have.

Same issue with Serious Sam HD game, that just unlocked on Steam. 45-50 fps until I add the game to exceptions list. Then it runs at fixed 60 fps again.

There is something definitively wrong with BD Antivirus 2010

Alex Stanciu

Hello LordJuanlo,

Thank you for reporting this sittuation. As you may see in the pined topic that we have created last week:http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=16865, we are interested to find what applications are interfering with the BitDefender Active Control option . I assure you that we are currently analyzing these situations and rest assure that we will come back with a fix as soon as possible.

In case you may find any other applications that are not working properly if they are not added to the AVC exceptions list, please add your reply on the topic that I mentioned, with the name of the application and its version.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, I will add the games I have found, and I will keep adding new ones if I find more in the future

aostang

I, too, am experiencing problems with all Unreal Engine 3 based games (Unreal Tournament 3, Mirror's Edge, Nurien). I also have far lesser CPU scores most times I execute 3DMark Vantage (32kish when it works vs 25kish when it doesn't). Very occasionally, any one of the above will work fine, but once any one UE3 games is run, performance is crap until a reboot. It's a shame that it took a complete reinstall for me to finally narrow it down to being Bitdefender that was my problem. By adding each of the above mentioned games to the AVC exception list, the performance immediately went back to normal.

Now I'm just in the habit of adding games to the AVC exception list as I install them, which I shouldn't have to worry about but am now paranoid that the games won't function right in major or minor instances otherwise. Subscribing, as I'm hoping for an announcement that the problem has been isolated and a fix is on the way.

Brief system specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate x64

QX9300

280M SLI (182.67)

640GB RAID 0

4GB