Hi!
I am experiencing this issue now for a couple of days. It started exactly after the game patched to 41.0.
Every 90 seconds the game freezes for 3 seconds.
I can reliably reproduce this issues in every match I play.
The very first freeze always happens when the match timer shows 0:51 seconds.
From that point on exactly every 90 seconds the freezes repeat (2:21, 3:51, 5:21, 6:51 etc.).
The screen is completely still during that 3 second freeze. I cannot ping, move the camera view or whatsoever.
Never happened before to me and I didn’t change anything to my rig except the HOTS patches to 41.0 and 41.1 recently. All drivers, Win10, router etc. are up to date. I tried all usual “fixes”. Deactivated all but the vital background processes without any effect.
I am very sure that this problem is caused from the game itself because it follows the described time scheme. No matter how long I wait in the lobby, which time of the day and what the weather is outside. The first freeze always reliably happens at 0:51 and then the 90 seconds rhythm persists in every match.
If any external trigger would be responsable for this behaviour at least the very first freeze wouldn’t occur always at the same time after the start of a match.
Or do I miss anything here?
Is anybody else seeing this issue?
Thanks and bye!
1 Like
Hi KronosMercy,
I’m not sure what is included in those “usual fixes” so please bear with me: did you already check your power management settings? Please make sure they are on high performance.
Please double-check also your background applications - if, for example, you have One Drive running, the automatic sync might cause issues on some systems. Make sure you close all those programs your system does not need to function properly.
Should there be no improvements, please add a link to your DxDiag and MSInfo files - you can upload both to Pastebin (or to another similar website of your choice). To add links to your reply, just highlight them and use the </> button (preformatted text).
Thank you!
Feedback? Click here! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Vyraneer
I can confirm I too have been having this problem (I’m SO glad I’m not the only one).
It is a 3-4 second lag where the fps will drop to 0. CPU usage will drop to 0 and I/O will spike to ~20mb W + R in Process Explorer.
It occurs every 90 seconds like clockwork. I can reproduce it in AI matches and if I pause the game by pressing esc it won’t be every 90 seconds by the match clock. Staying in the game though it will always occur every 90 seconds.
I would say it started about the same time for me as KronosMercy.
I wasn’t certain whether it was a GPU update, windows update or hots update at first as I did all 3 updates at once. I have ruled out GPU update by completely removing drivers using DDU and reinstalling older ones and replicating the issue.
I too would say I have tried all the usual fixes
- can’t replicate on same machine on macOS
- can’t replicate on different machine on same network
- replicate regardless of wifi/ethernet (swapped cables/ports on router etc)
- powercycled network equipment
- disable gameDVR
- disable superfetch
- disable onedrive
- disable real-time protection for windows defender
- untoggle 1 CPU in processor affinity in task manager
- set to high prio in task manager
- exit battle.net upon launching game
- toggle vsync
- toggle reverb in sound (and other sound settings i.e. no. of channels)
- rollback/completely reinstall old nvidia drivers
- turn off fast-startup
- high performance power management
- maximum/minimum processor state in processor power management
- using different audio sources (BT/3.5mm/internal speakers)
I’m sure I’m forgetting some things I’ve tried.
Edit - I tried to add some links to my dxdiag and MSInfo but I get a message saying I can’t add links to my post 
Edit 2 - Here’s the extra bit at the end of the pastebin URLs
- dxdiag /GM7uYNiT
- MSInfo /83JAt7yT
Hi Vyraneer,
power management is on high performance, I killed all background processes, no onedrive, no dropbox or similar programs running.
The problem still occurs.
Once again:
If any process or event outside of HOTS would trigger these freezes, then they would not occur always at 0:51 into each and every match! It it was an external cause then at least the first occurence would be at a more random timing.
I created the diag files you asked for:
https://pastebin.com/1uWPteaQ
https://pastebin.com/6UBmy9Kp
I just want to confirm it is happening to me also at 0:51, 2:21, 3:51, :5:21, 6:51 etc
edit - and nothing from the following link regarding startup items fixes the issue
https://eu.battle.net/support/en/article/23848?utm_source=internal-support_forums&utm_medium=posting&utm_campaign=BlizzardCSEU&utm_content=solution
edit2 - Forcing a Windows 10 update from Version 1803 to 1809 didn’t help either
I know this is gonna sound crazy. But… Have the task manager running while you play HOTS. (dont change any settings, just hit alt+ctl+del and leave the task manager running in the background while you play.) Thank me later, and happy gaming
That doesn’t do anything, and I’ve literally had it open whilst doing about 1/2 these tests anyway.
Some more things I’ve done since last post.
- SFC scan
- Completely uninstall HOTS + Bnet and reinstall
- Changing Processor affinity to match physical cores (0,2,4,6)
- Setting I/O to high priority (requires 3rd party software)
- Disable dynamic thread priority boost
- Complete Virus Scan
- I’m sure some other stuff as well
Here are a few (semi-)related threads from the past/US forums, I’m sure there are more out there.
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/heroes/t/disconnecting-at-0-51-seconds-exactly/156
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/heroes/topic/20755625808
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/heroes/t/ages-to-start-up-game-and-game-bugs-at-51-secs/5387/11
If anyone has any suggestions, or would like to offer support in any way whatsoever that would be very welcome.
Edit - I also tried making a new admin user account and playing from that didn’t fix it either.
sad it worked for me, i hoped it would help
1 Like
The problem still persists with patch 41.2.
But there is a change. Instead of 3 seconds now the game freezes for 5-6 seconds!!!
@AkILaY4: Makes no difference if I have the Taskmanager running or not. And of course I ran it in order to analyse my system during the freezes and to shut down all unnecessary processes.
Any word from the support?
No response since I submitted the diagnose information you asked for…
I am really frustrated with such behaviour! Why did I invest the time to collect the data when nobody cares about the issue?
I played this game for over 2 years and spend real $$ in the shop to support it. And now I have to abandon it because it is simply unplayable for me!
1 Like
I can confirm the problem still persists.
It is in no way sporadic in terms of timing.
It always occurs at these times.
If a blue could at least have a dialogue about the situation it would be greatly appreciated. I’m certain that it isn’t a coincidence that problems occur at these times specifically.
I assume it is something to do with auto-saving to reconnect in case of disconnect (please correct me if this is a false assumption).
The only step I haven’t taken to attempt to resolve this issue is a reinstall of Windows. I have continued troubleshooting but at this stage it is just wild stabs in the dark. I am hesitant to try reinstalling Windows without anything to indicate that this is absolutely necessary. It is also an inopportune time of year for me to undertake such a drastic troubleshooting step. Maybe I’ll get round to it in the New Year if no progress is made by then!
If there is any other way myself or others can try to find support for this issue please state so. I’m frankly losing confidence in this company as of late. I’ve supported them for so many years but this is probably an issue that will go unresolved because it has been deemed unprofitable to fix. The following core values are ignored more and more every day.
http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/about/mission.html
I can confirm that the same issue happens to me at exactly same times. First I thought it was something with my connection. Monitoring CPU/GPU temps, ping and FPS during play. I can tell that only the FPS changes to 0 during the 2-3 sec “lag”. This issue can’t be reproduced in training mode (forced offline). It points me in the direction of some sort of connection problem in the end? Please help! It’s unplayable.
To mention. I’ve played hots for 2 years without problems and then suddenly I face this… sad… it is!
1 Like
Hello everyone,
I can see that at least some of you appear to be running the game in Boot Camp. Please, keep in mind we don’t offer support for games that are installed/running in a Boot Camp partition or any virtual desktop, as stated here.
On the other hand, please keep in mind the forum was originally designed for player-to-player interaction. While there are Blizzard employees helping, and we try to do so as much as we can, we can’t guarantee a reply to the thread, specially a fast reply.
That clarified, and after checking the system files you’ve provided, couple of things that can help:
- Make sure you deactivate Game DVR:
battle.net/support/article/92046
- Avoid using any VPN software, since it can sometimes cause issues.
- Make sure you disable any overlay (Discord, Overwolf, etc).
- Close background applications to make sure there’s no other program interfering with the game:
battle.net/support/article/23848
Got feedback about the support I’m providing? Leave your comments here!
I tried everything without any success. The problem still persists as originally described.
And yes, I was running the game under Windows 10 on an iMac in Boot Camp when I experienced the issues. The game ran smoothly for over 2 years under this setup. And the problem started with patch 41.0.
Now I switched to Mac OS and installed the game (on the same machine). There it runs without any freezes.
So, I’ll play the game under Mac OS and consider that my “solution”…
Bye!
Hi, im joining the club. Any cure for this? The issue began on my laptop with Imperius patch. everything seems fine, like always but the 3 secs freeze just arrive. Affects team performance badly 
and its annoying af tbh. I dont know much about this kind of issues so I cant give any new ideas 
Hello Megakiller,
Have you tried these general steps here already?
Kind regards
What’s your opinion?
Same problem here. No problem before Imperious. Seriously impacts my game now. I frustrate a lot.
1 Like
I followed the steps, I downloaded Nvidia Geforce experience and suddently this annoying problem dissapear. I dont know if it dissapear cause of it but anyways i want to thanku ur support! Nice, time to play!!
Good morning Megakiller,
That is good news. Glad to hear it. Thanks a million for letting me know.
Kind regards
What’s your opinion?
Good morning Aeric,
Did you try any of the steps I have linked?
Kind regards
What’s your opinion?
Having an exactly the same problem. Every single game at about 20-40 seconds into the game I get one freeze and then another one. I am running on an 9700k, GTX1070, 32GB RAM on 3200Mhz and it can’t handle that. I am having no issues in other games or any other software.
There seems to be some very heavy task in the game that blocks the main thread that has to be optimized.