Hello Black Desert Community,

I am a dedicated longtime player of Black Desert Online, and your game has a special place in my gaming experience. My system features a Ryzen 7950X3D processor, which is widely regarded as the best CPU for gaming. Interestingly, you have even hosted contests to give it away. However, since the implementation of Xigncode, I have encountered significant instability and thermal issues that have severely impacted my ability to enjoy BDO.

Observations:

- Xigncode seems to place a considerable strain on my CPU, causing overheating and, in some cases, system shutdowns to prevent damage.

- While monitoring my hardware, I noticed that the tctl temperature rises by 10 degrees higher than the actual package temperature when Xigncode initiates a system scan.

The tctl temperature is an algorithmic calculation that helps manage various CPU-related aspects, including fan speed. This significant increase suggests that Xigncode is overburdening the v-cache, prompting the CPU to require additional cooling. Typically, the difference between tctl and actual package temperatures should be minimal, not as high as 10 degrees!

I included the following video to further demonstrate how this happens: https://youtu.be/GobuI0_et8o

The video starts by me resetting the statistics from simply starting up BDO and i proceed to open another application (Slack - chatting application) which causes the tctl temps to spike to 92C. It's important to note that my thermal shutdown occurs when tctl hits 95C.

- I have attempted various solutions, including downclocking memory, undervolting my CPU (which led to further instability), and manually reducing my CPU's thermal limit by 10 degrees, among other measures.

- As a workaround, I have manually disabled BDO's use of my 3D V-Cache to avoid thermal issues. Unfortunately, this solution results in a 50% performance loss, significantly diminishing my gameplay experience.

These issues prevent me from comfortably playing or recommending BDO, despite my passion for the game. The possibility that a game could potentially harm my hardware is concerning.

I understand that licensing agreements with Xigncode may pose challenges. However, the current situation significantly alienates players with high-end AMD systems, thereby limiting your player base and potentially affecting BDO's reputation.

I urge you to prioritize the investigation of these compatibility issues between Xigncode and Ryzen X3D processors. Please consider exploring alternatives, including investing in a different anti-cheat solution that does not compromise the experience of a significant portion of your players.

I am a genuine fan of Black Desert Online and believe it sets a high standard for MMOs. I aspire to be a proud ambassador for your game, but the current technical issues prevent me from doing so.

Thank you sincerely for your time and consideration. I eagerly await a solution that will allow me to fully enjoy the game I love and make the most of my high-end hardware.

I appreciate all the incredible work you do!

Sorry to reply to this as a member of the community and not as a part of either AMD or the software company.

I would make my pleas for adjustment to Xigncode as they have the responsibility to make sure that the software works within acceptable parameters on all chipsets. Include the testing you have done with evidence that points specifically to the software being the issue and propose some sort of collaboration for testing the resolutions.

Don't expect a response and don't expect collaboration but if you don't try you won't get surprised!

Good luck!

there have been other posts on here about xigncode interracting with certain amd chipsets and frying ram/boards, crashing, or getting unreasonably hot as a result of how xigncode does it's scanning.

I have the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and a 4080 Gcard.  I notice my Gcard getting pushed to 99% but I put that down to the lack of any V Sync option.  My processor runs at about 2% most of the time but does hit 75 degrees with the water cooling hitting 40 degrees.  I have a display on my keyboard which shows me temps of my drives, speeds of fans, etc (ICue Nexus) so I do monitor all the time.

I was not aware of this issue, but thank-you for raising it here so I noticed it.  I'll keep an even closer eye on the processor now and run some tests on other games to see if it is BDO causing the heat issues.  Incidentally, I am in a closed beta test soon of a game similar to BDO so a good test. 

Oh, I have noticed a weird slow down on the black desert dice game.  It goes so slow that I just shut it down now before the reward is shown.  This is a recent event and is this linked?

ya, its not just a you thing, this happens to me too, and only when loading bdo up

no other game or application does this

Ryzen 7800x3d 

I recently contacted AMD regarding the issue and they indicated that it is the responsibility of the game developers to address the problem.

Additionally, I reached out to Wellbia, who reported difficulties in replicating the issue. To assist in identifying the problem, I have outlined the steps to reproduce it on my system:

- Start BDO, ensuring it operates on the CCD with the 3D V-Cache. This can be achieved through various methods; most players utilize affinity masks, in my case, I use CPU sets combined with an affinity mask to disable SMT.

- Upon launching, Xigncode begins a system scan while the screen is black. During this scan, temperatures immediately spike to 89°C, signaling overheating. Temperatures normalize once the title screen appears.

- Enter the game with any character.

- Launch another application, such as Slack in my case. When other applications are opened, Xigncode scans them, leading to severe overheating (92C+) and occasionally activating the thermal shutdown protection on my motherboard.

I urge Pearl Abyss to address this matter. The absence of this issue on your known issues page suggests a lack of acknowledgment and accountability for a problem occurring with your product, which is extremely frustrating.

After more communication with AMD, we were not able to find any hardware or software issues with my system.

I also asked AMD if it was possible for them to contact the developers and, as expected, they said they are open to inquiries if the developers want to contact them directly.

Here is the last response I received from AMD:

"Since the issue lies with only this game, the game developer can fix the issue. They can contact AMD engineering if their findings conclude the issue is related to an AMD component.
The overheating issue happens only in this game and not in any other games or applications, which should rule out the possibility of CPU failure."

I really don't know what to do from here. The latest update to the security module on May 9th didn't address the issue. In fact, it kind of felt like it made things worse, but I didn't extensively test it. I'm getting a little tired of this. 

The issue is also still not listed on your known issues page, so honestly, I don't know if Pearl Abyss even cares...

It's heartbreaking to see you create the best MMO and one of the best gaming products out there, then destroy it by coupling it with a poorly designed anti-cheat software that hinders it.

Thank you for following this painful adventure. I'll probably call it quits here.

I wonder if it would be worthwhile contacting WELLBIA, the company that develops XIGNCODE3, to report the issue with Ryzen X3D CPUs. No other anti-cheat, not even the infamous nProtect GameGuard, has an issue with CPU utilisation at start up.

It's so dumb how there isn't a seperate forum specifically for Technical Issues, instead we have to compete with other threads to get recognition in the Adventurer Feedback Board. Most games, even the small indie games have Discord text channels for providing feedback in regards to technical issues. Ryzen X3D CPUs ain't new either, they've been around for over a year now. 

I noticed that there is a significant difference in CPU temperature when launching the game with Remastered versus Very Low graphics settings. With Remastered settings, the CPU temperature will briefly spike towards the CPU's Tjmax, however with Very Low settings, the CPU temperture remains stable or unchanged.