Seriously low FPS when initially connecting to the server

[EDO43]

I'm wondering if I'm the only one who's having this trouble.  Every time when I log in to the server, I get seriously low frame rates for a minute or so, then it jumps back up to where it should be for the card I'm using.  During this slowth period, the game disables my advanced graphics settings so each time I have to reapply the settings.  It's not a huge issue but it's getting to be a real PITA every time I log on.  Any suggestions as to why this is happening?

Here's some dxdiag info from my system:

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 9/7/2012, 22:10:22
       Machine name: TIMS-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120503-2030)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/08/10 11:45:19 Ver: 08.00.15
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
             Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 6136MB RAM
          Page File: 2247MB used, 10021MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
       Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
          Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x6798)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6798&SUBSYS_0B001002&REV_00
     Display Memory: 1764 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 3049 MB
      Shared Memory: 2811 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: ASUS VE278
         Monitor Id: ACI27F6
        Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz)
        Output Type: HDMI
        Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1124 (English)
     Driver Version: 8.961.0.0
        DDI Version: 11
       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
  Driver Attributes: Final Retail
   Driver Date/Size: 4/5/2012 22:20:04, 1067520 bytes
        WHQL Logo'd: Yes
    WHQL Date Stamp:
  Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-24D8-11CF-D677-0A2BBEC2C535}
          Vendor ID: 0x1002
          Device ID: 0x6798
          SubSys ID: 0x0B001002
        Revision ID: 0x0000
-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Speakers (SB Recon3D PCIe)
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1102&DEV_0011&SUBSYS_11020015&REV_1009
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: cthda.sys
         Driver Version: 6.00.0100.1036 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 2/29/2012 13:15:18, 1271384 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: CREATIVE
         HW Accel Level: Basic
              Cap Flags: 0xF1F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

            Description: SPDIF-Out (SB Recon3D PCIe)
 Default Sound Playback: No
 Default Voice Playback: No
            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1102&DEV_0011&SUBSYS_11020015&REV_1009
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: cthda.sys
         Driver Version: 6.00.0100.1036 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 2/29/2012 13:15:18, 1271384 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: CREATIVE
         HW Accel Level: Basic
              Cap Flags: 0xF1F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
            Description: Microphone (SB Recon3D PCIe)
  Default Sound Capture: Yes
  Default Voice Capture: Yes
            Driver Name: cthda.sys
         Driver Version: 6.00.0100.1036 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 2/29/2012 13:15:18, 1271384 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x1
           Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

            Description: What U Hear (SB Recon3D PCIe)
  Default Sound Capture: No
  Default Voice Capture: No
            Driver Name: cthda.sys
         Driver Version: 6.00.0100.1036 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 2/29/2012 13:15:18, 1271384 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x1
           Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

            Description: Digital-In (SB Recon3D PCIe)
  Default Sound Capture: No
  Default Voice Capture: No
            Driver Name: cthda.sys
         Driver Version: 6.00.0100.1036 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 2/29/2012 13:15:18, 1271384 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x1
           Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

There's a lot more information from the DXDIAG.txt file I saved and if needed, I can add to this.  I also just noticed that the drivers for my sound card seem to be a little old.  I'm going see if there are new ones out there.

[Skuzzy]

When you first connect online, there is quite a bit of data that is sent to your computer.  All of it requires the computer to allocate resources.  You have over 2GB of data in your page file, which seems a bit high, even for Windows.

It sounds like Windows is having a hard time allocating resources for the game.  Or it could be a high number of bit errors in the data stream (wireless connections are the worst) causing the game to have to retry over and over again to get all the data.

[gyrene81]

that is a big paging file, bet it's near 1.5gb on a fresh boot. i hope you're not running windows aero with the gadget bar. looks like you're using catalyst 12.4 without the hotfix, would you also happen to be using anti-aliasing in the vision control center? if you are, create a profile for ah and set anti-aliasing off or to application controlled.

[EDO43]

I've adjusted the page file size to 1 Meg.  The game still has the same issues it did before but now it's stalling when I'm in game.  the video stalls for a good 5 to 10 seconds some times and I'm at a loss as to why this is happening when it didn't before.  Maybe the page file size in some way is making this happen.... I am using Game booster to free up resources.  I don't even know what Windows Aero is.  My anti-aliasing is set  to application controlled and I'm now using Catalyst 12.8

EDIT:  It seems as though my page file was set to initially be 400M with a 1024M cap.  Now it's 1024M all the time and it seems to have smoothed out gameplay.  I'm still experiencing slow FPS upon entering the game though but doesn't seem to be as bad as it was.

[The Fugitive]

This is the line Skuzzy is talking about

Page File: 2247MB used, 10021MB available

The "used" portion is over 2 gig of memory which means that your computer has a lot of crap loaded and running. By knocking down the page "space" all you did was make it worst because it had less space to load all that crap in.

Turning off things like the advance terrain, the grass and such may help by freeing up space. Dropping the sliders on the view range and things back one notch to "faster" or "performance" may help as well.

[gyrene81]

you should cap your min page file size to the total memory in your system...6144mb
then set max page file size to 1.5 times the total memory in your system...9216mb

like Fugitive said, the page file usage is what was being referenced...

Page File: 2247MB used, 10021MB available

if that dxdiag was run after a fresh boot up, then there is a lot of junk running in the background that could/should be disabled. just one step that can make a difference in overall system performance...where you adjust the page file size, in the system properties/performance settings button, set visual effects to "adjust for best performance" and make sure "processor scheduling" is set for programs.

looks like you're using an intel x58 chipset mobo and a 3gb radeon 7970 video card. i'm betting part of your frame rate issue is that you're using some anti-aliasing which should be totally disabled in ah as well as the ccc. you probably also have environment mapping set fairly high with shadow settings that are taxing the gpu. try starting with in game settings like this...

[EDO43]

Thanks for the help.  It's been quite a few years since I've tweaked computers.  I set my page files as suggested, 6144M and 9216M.  I've also selected "adjust for best performance" from "adjust for best quality" for my computer settings so we'll see how that helps.

[EDO43]

Small Upate:  When I actually READ the pinned topics at the top of this forum AND perform the suggested modifications, SURPRISE! the game actually works well again.  I still get low FPS when I log into the server but it no longer disables my advanced graphics nor do I get freezes in game.  Imagine that, what a little reading can do for you!  I'm attributing the slow initial FPS to the data flood into my computer and the fact that I have a rather large amount of processes still running (even with all these running, my CPU fluctuates between 0% and 1% and has not hit 2% while I was watching it).  Good nuff, lets shoot things!

Thanks for the hep (best Rizzo voice).

[hitech]

The skin validation is what is causing the slow fps.
Once it completes you will see your FPS jump up.

HiTech