Game optimization or my CPU?

[Nero]

Before start I'll say that I do this more because I'm curious of what problems could someone have with the game or if there are known issues with some kind of hardware than to find a "fix" or at least know if it's because the game needs more optimization (that will come with future updates obviously ). Why I say this is because of this quote:

I had a look at this, but wasn't really sure what advice I could give due to your specs being perfectly high and Bioshock Inf being able to run perfectly...

If you haven't done it yet, trying a reinstall is always the standard troubleshooting tip. Other then that, looking back a bit, there have been more than one issue with that particular cpu (fx-8350). The game might be have issues with that cpu of line of cpu's in general? (I'm just guessing here I have no involvement with making the game).

I have an AMD-FX-8150 Eight-Core Processor (not many differences, almost no differences, with the FX-8350) 12 GB RAM and a GTX 970 I can run games like Watch Dogs (even with the bad optimization of the game) at stable 50-60 fps, BF4 at 100-120 fps and FarCry 4 65-75 fps all in ultra settings with no problems. But with Renegade X, game that doesn't have that high system requirements, is running at 50-60 fps with drops to 25-35 fps sometimes on nuke/ion explosion, EMPs and sometimes even when running through the map with a bigger field (like X-Mountain, Lakeside, Mesa II, specially in the cave). I have to say that they go up again to 45-50 fps in matter of seconds, but I should be able to run the game at least 60+ stable fps, as a friend do.

To end I'll like to say too that my game for some reason can't get more than 62 fps, idk the reason but it's weird because my friend gets 90 fps. Is there a reason?

Thanks for reading me and take your time to answer! ^^

~Nero

[Truxa]

As far as I know, the game still needs optimization. In what context and how much can be done is unknown to me (I'm not part of the team)

However, I am able to say that many people experience FPS drops and/or crashes and/or game-freezes when vehicles explode.

They seem to happen more frequently on maps like Walls: Flying, but that can also be due to people voting Walls most of the time.

I run Renegade-X on a stable 60 FPS (30 FPS on loading screens and intro's though) my specs:

Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz. Quad-core (task manager showing 8)

16 GB installed RAM

GFX: GeForce 660 GTX with 2GB onboard RAM

Games like Skyrim run perfectly at 60 FPS on ultra settings, but I do admit that I run Renegade X not on max settings. Some filters have been disabled as per recommendation from the Devs. (Cant recall which atm)

Perhaps a difference in AMD and Intel cores that's causing it? I recall reading some "whitenoise" about that a while ago. Don't know if it's true or not.

[Nero]

I have disabled the "Static decals" option as devs said it will give more performance to the game (that was the option devs said) before I changed the graphics card, I had a GTX 650 I could play the game on max settings but iwht the "dynamic lights" option with about 50 fps with some little drops due to some effects of the map (explosions didn't affect the fps unless there were 2-3 nukes exploding at the same time). Now I'm playing with that option enabled and got those fps but with the GTX 970 it's weird because as I said I should be able to run the game perfectly at 60+ fps.

If AMD CPUs can cause troubles with the game, as with some games do, then I should consider changing my cpu too

Edit: I tested some things, it seems that in low population servers I can run the game on stable 60 fps even in a ion cannon/nuke explodes in my head. The problem comes when playing on populated servers (20+ players), even if they aren't spamming vehicles as hell (what shouldn't be a problem) when fps starts to go down to 45-50 fps is when more players/bots are on the game.

Edit 2: Forgot to test the game with low graphics (everything on low and ALL options disabled) I still getting 45-50 fps when 24+ players are ingame, it's not a graphics problem, guessing something?

[Truxa]

Edit: I tested some things, it seems that in low population servers I can run the game on stable 60 fps even in a ion cannon/nuke explodes in my head. The problem comes when playing on populated servers (20+ players), even if they aren't spamming vehicles as hell (what shouldn't be a problem) when fps starts to go down to 45-50 fps is when more players/bots are on the game.

Edit 2: Forgot to test the game with low graphics (everything on low and ALL options disabled) I still getting 45-50 fps when 24+ players are ingame, it's not a graphics problem, guessing something?

These tests are reason enough for me to savely assume it's an optimization issue.

Ren-X was designed to have 64 players at a time, but due to lag/performance issues the total number was dropped to 40. Same with vehicles, the limit was lowered due to vehicle "trembling/shaking" as vehicle numbers grew.

Anyway, on a side-note: FPS is the amount of frames per second. Why is it so important to have 60+? For a human brain, 40-45 FPS translates to a smooth movement. 50 being ideal to account for FPS drops.

Furthermore, it's important to sync your monitor refresh time to the game FPS to perceive a fluidic/smooth experience.

e.g.

My monitor has a responsetime of 8 ms. Translated into FPS --> 1000/8=125 FPS. Anything more is useless.

My game settings are at a multitude of 60. Not ideal as 125/60 isnt a whole number.

Anyway, I don't care so much about game-FPS and why people want it to get higer and higher. 50 is enough for the human brain.

[vlatkozelka]

you might consider this as a nub answer but maybe its the amd cpu with NVidia gpu thats a bad combination ... amd and Nvidia really hate each other that much lol .

Im saying that cuz i have the GTX750Ti same maxwell architecture as the 970 (couldnt get the 970 myself cuz its not yet available here ) which makes me surprised ur getting such drops ... i rarely drop below 50 fps and NO WAY in tunns thats where my fps would jump to 80 ...

And truxa , it makes a hell of a difference between 40 and 60 fps . Its a common mistake for people : yes at 30 fps retina persistence is achieved but its not enough to call it smooth .

Nero , PSU you running on ? maybe the VGA isnt getting enough power ? (although 970 doesnt realy consume much that is the purpose of those ) but u said u upgraded maybe u forgot that detail . Also , if you really want to determine if its a problem with the game , install MSI afterburner (should come with ur driver CD ) or just download it .Configure on screen display and monitor GPU usage and power consuption ... if when the fps drops the gpu usage isnt 99% , then indeed the game isnt using all the gpu power .

[RokumanZA]

I run on an i5-2500k, 16 gigs ram and a gtx 760 and get 60 fps or more quite constantly although it drops here and there (often when lots of players actually). Which is why the problem with the 970 not getting it confused me a little... It seems it might be a bit of an optimisation issue after all but possibly still something amd side as well

[Jack Brace]

e.g.

My monitor has a responsetime of 8 ms. Translated into FPS --> 1000/8=125 FPS. Anything more is useless.

My game settings are at a multitude of 60. Not ideal as 125/60 isnt a whole number.

Anyway, I don't care so much about game-FPS and why people want it to get higer and higher. 50 is enough for the human brain.

I agree, and don't agree, but I get where you're coming from. Anything higher is still better, just as a straight copy from film to film on the same fps results in a lesser copy. The observer will always experience a smoother fps when the source is maximized. /off topic

to OP: I run an old mid-spec gaming PC and the game mostly runs fine. I'd troubleshoot your hardware, update drivers, and check for useless background processes consuming resources.

[Nero]

you might consider this as a nub answer but maybe its the amd cpu with NVidia gpu thats a bad combination ... amd and Nvidia really hate each other that much lol .

Nero , PSU you running on ? maybe the VGA isnt getting enough power ? (although 970 doesnt realy consume much that is the purpose of those ) but u said u upgraded maybe u forgot that detail . Also , if you really want to determine if its a problem with the game , install MSI afterburner (should come with ur driver CD ) or just download it .Configure on screen display and monitor GPU usage and power consuption ... if when the fps drops the gpu usage isnt 99% , then indeed the game isnt using all the gpu power.

Yes I know AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU doesn't feel very good with each other but never had true problems with that combination, I want to get a new CPU from intel, but I just can't do it until.... who knows, summer or next christmas, but anway my problem is not related to the graphics (that's why GPU usage will never go up to 90-100%) I got max fps possible when playing but when more than about 26 players are in the same server I start to get fps drops, the more players, the less fps.

I tried to play with 30 players/bots and I played at 50 fps a few more sometimes, then tried with 40 and got 45-50 fps, is not that low fps I know, that's why I said in my first post I'm more curious of what causes it than trying to find a fix.

Here's a pic of a normal game with (thanks Afterburner):

-GPU: Temp. / GPU usage / Fan Speed (this is just for me xP) / Core Clock

-D3D9: fps

-CPU: All the 8 cores usage

-CPU temp.

http://oi61.tinypic.com/264m2pk.jpg

If as Truxa said is a optimization problem, then I should wait for upcoming updates ^^ but as I said in the first post, a friend of mine got up to 90 fps (not always but it's really hard for him to go down to 50 fps), idk which graphics card he has but can't be much more potent than mine and even playing alone with all graphics on the lowest possible I can't get more than 62fps. It's like my game had a limit, nonsense (v-sync is OFF).

Edited January 5, 2015 by Guest

[OTT]

yeah , its strange that i can play other games with high graphics perfectly on my laptop ,but on RenX ,the fps rarely goes up to 40 , i still enjoy the game ofc.

[kenz3001]

if you are using win7 or under you need to get a windows hot fix for the 8150 (any of the "FX" bulldozer / piledriver cpu's) i have a FX8350 (overcloced to 1.4 but still runs 60 when now) with 16 gb of ram and a gtx 760 and i play all day @ 60 FPS 1080p (ultra 2x AA) on most maps .. i get some frame drops now and then but nothing to complain about

whats your res as that has a massive impact on the game

this hot fix just fixes some threading things in the windows manager stuff

hotfix

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2645594

[Nero]

if you are using win7 or under you need to get a windows hot fix for the 8150 (any of the "FX" bulldozer / piledriver cpu's) i have a FX8350 (overcloced to 1.4 but still runs 60 when now) with 16 gb of ram and a gtx 760 and i play all day @ 60 FPS 1080p (ultra 2x AA) on most maps .. i get some frame drops now and then but nothing to complain about

whats your res as that has a massive impact on the game

this hot fix just fixes some threading things in the windows manager stuff

hotfix

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2645594

I play and I've always played on Windows 8.1 with a resolution of 1920x1080 (full screen), I also tried to run the game windowed, it gives me 1 or 2 more fps but still in the same the windowed mode is a little more tiny but almost nothing, like 1780x1020 or something like that.

I have W7 in another HDD so if there I can get more stable fps then I'd play using W7, but I don't think the OS will be the problem here... or may be yes?

[kenz3001]

no if any thing win 8 is better with games then 7 and win 8 has the hot fix built in

with your set up i would expect more then what you are getting ...but with out more knolage of your system and how it playes with outer ue3 games i cant help that much

i will say this ... the bulldozer cpu's like to run hot and love to thermal throttle them selfs coz of it ... make sure your cpu isnt running over 60 - 65oc with core temp or something (i have a piledriver FX8350 and it loves to run hot ... i had to get a after market cooler for it)

also make sure hardware physics is enabled that will help too

[Nero]

You mean another games made in UE3? Because another games not from UDK I already said some of them . If that's what you're answering...

- Mirror's Edge: 60 stable fps (Playing on 4k resolution)

- Borderlands 1/2/The pre-sequel 50-60 fps (Playing on 4k)

- DmC: Devil May Cry 70+ fps (Playing on 4k)

- Thief 90 - 120 fps (1920x1080)

No problems with another UDK games and my CPU never goes higher than 45-50ºC (I have a very good cooling system with lots of fans around the "world")

If you need more info about the system or something just tell me what's needed

[RypeL]

Since you already tried to disabled the "Static decals" option and lowered other settings aswell without giving you much better results theres little more you could try. It is true though that with a potent GPU the game is more limited by your CPU then by your GPU. The game relies heavily on the CPU and we are still optimizing it. B4 will come with optimizations to lower CPU usage and it might be just enough to allow you to get 60 fps stable.

Yeah the game could definatly use more optimization. Commercial UE3 games were optimized like crazy. They have their army of experts to make sure their game runs good but we have a harder time with optimization. One of the main reasons why effects like Ion/Nuke or other weaponeffects can cripple your fps even if you have a very potent GPU is that most of the particle effects etc are calculated on the CPU cause they contain lots of particle physics calculations. So for lots of the effects the CPU actually does most of the work. For example we found that the Apache rockets and other rockets particle effects are very heavy on the CPU in B3 and we have already optimized them a lot for B4 without a visual difference.

[Handepsilon]

A little note, according to Left 4 Dead 2 note, windowed mode will slow your computer down since the computer will no longer concentrate performance on the game and divert some attention to your desktop

I believe this applies on other games too

As the dev said, resolution plays massive role on performance drop, especially for UE games. You might want to lower it considerably to... say, 1280 x whatever (personally I play it safe and drop it all the way to 640, but my laptop is far weaker so you can ignore this)

off topic : Speaking of resolution, some UI text blurs on low res

[Blubb]

Like the posts before, with all the adding of maps and stuff and gimmicks here and there.....when is optimization being tackled? Because there has not been any change since Beta 2, on the contrary my performance is getting worse, which is kinda laughable, i have EVERYthing on low, and thats the only way i can play. Which is not really enjoyable.....I've got similar specs than OP has, and i think i had my own performance topic once which kinda went under the rug. Still, it's lovely everyone can play it, it seems only a handful of AMD users, specifically 8-core users have terrible problems tom play the game. in beta 4 every little particle effect causes a lag now....on lower settings without any post processed effects whatsoever.

[Blubb]

Okay i just now tried to play a match and yeah...there is NO way to play RenX for me now because even on the absolut lowest settings it will lag like crazy when there's action, particulary when it involves explosions and smoke. So, thats it for me, no more RenX until ANYthing gets done in regards to performance.