Poor Frame Rate - Very Poor

[neodad]

I have been having significant frame rate issues lately.  Jumping from 60+ down to the low teens and then back up again.  Needless to say it makes the game unplayable.  I have killed the usual suspect processes and tried a number of the ideas posted on the form without effect.  Here's what I have:

New Dell XPS8700 running Windows 8.1.  Intel core i7 @ 3.6 Ghz, 12 gb memory, and a Nvidia GEforce GT720 card.
I connect using wireless to my cable company, charter communications.
In game video settings :
    Resolution is 1920x1080 and max texture size is 1024.
    Object detail is set to middle
    ground object detail is about 1
    shadow texture is 1024
    Only Display Horizon, Bump Map Terrain, and Bump Map Clouds are checked.

Dxdiag file attached.

Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

neodad
former CO The Unforgiven

[The Fugitive]

I would drop the shadow and texture sizes down to 512 and try again. Shadows and texture add a lot of work per frame. Your video card memory is less than a gig, and them borrows from your system ram to increase it 4 gig, but then you losing system ram to do that. You may be just pushing your computer too hard.

The other thing is a wireless connection can add to problems.

[neodad]

Thank, Fugitive.  Tried that and it didn't help.  Odd thing though, in the Combat Challenge tonight the frame rate was fluctuating wildly for the first five to ten minutes or so and then stabilized at 59.  No idea why.

[38ruk]

Looking at different  reviews for the GT720  and it seems there are two versions  , a 1gb ddr3 and 2gb gddr5 card . Depending on which one you have, you may have to drop the resolution down from 1920x 1080 to 1280 x 720 and see if it gets any better . you can always jump back up to 1366 x 768 and then to 1600 x 900 depending on what your frame rate does.



This Graphics Card has 2 variants: one paired with 1GB DDR3 and another with 2 GB GDDR5.

This is the DDR3 version.
GeForce GT 720 is a middle-class level Graphics Card still based on the 28nm, Kepler architecture.

GeForce GT 720 offers the energy optimized GK208 Core with a SMX count of 1 and thus comes with 192 Shader Processing Units, 16 TMUs and only 8 ROPs, this on a 64-bit memory of 1GB of standard DDR3. While the central unit runs at 797MHz, the memory clock operates at 900MHz. The rated board TDP is of 19 Watts.

GeForce GT 720's performance is therefore reduced and only on pair with today's most powerful integrated graphics.
This Graphics Card needs to be paired with a decent modern processor and should only be used on a gaming mode below 720p, for optimal performance.

[Bizman]

I wouldn't call the GT720 even a mid-class card, it's the weakest of the 700 series. There's a reason why gamers get something from the upper half of the line. For reference, look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_700_series#GeForce_700_.287xx.29_series

[morfiend]

Since you are using a laptop,make sure the power mode is set to performance!

   If not the laptop may throttle back by reducing power to conserve your batteries,even when plugged into the wall!

  As others have said,try reducing texture size down to 512 and also try reducing the resolution,1920x1080p is likely pushing your card past it's limit.

  One other point and then I'll shut up.... check to see how many processes are running in background {task manager} and try to reduce any unneeded processes. You can do this manually or use a program to do it for you,if you're not sure of what is "needed" or not,try checking blackvipers website,just google blackviper to find.


  hope this helps.


   

[Skuzzy]

Any OEM computer is going to lose about 35% to 50% of its processing power to the bloated applications running in the background.  A laptop loses even more due to the power saving measures employed by the OEM.

Clean up the background nonsense and set Windows to run full performance and never let anything sleep and you will be reqwarded with a much, much better running computer.  That said, the 720 is a low end video card.  You will probably need to take heed of the others suggestions as well.

[Bizman]

Since you are using a laptop,make sure the power mode is set to performance!

Did I miss something? A google search says Dell XPS 8700 is a desktop computer, which means there's a slight possibility to upgrade both the PSU and the video card.

As for what Skuzzy said, the background nonsense is a very important thing to get rid of. Apart of what morfiend said about www.blackviper.com, which is very recommended reading, start with your ControlPanel->Programs and Features and see what you have installed. Basically everything having the name Dell in it doesn't belong to a clean Windows installation, but you might like to save a couple. The restore thing might be worth saving at least until you have created your reinstall copy. If you don't need Java, uninstall it. In Control Panel, look at the Flash and Java settings and disable their automatic update. Also disable automatic updates for your Dell, your printer, any other small program which may seem negligible. Their cumulative effect may be crippling at times! Further, when installing any device choose the custom procedure and choose only the absolutely necessities. Why install any "customer experience survey" if you're not going to contribute, ever? BTW some programs let you modify their installed package through Programs and Features, worth checking! Yet another thing to consider is to remove unnecessary Windows features, tutorial here (scroll down past the Win7 part): http://www.7tutorials.com/how-add-or-remove-unwanted-windows-features-programs-or-apps

[morfiend]

Did I miss something? A google search says Dell XPS 8700 is a desktop computer, which means there's a slight possibility to upgrade both the PSU and the video card.

 After rereading the OP,I think because he mentioned a wireless connection I had assumed it was a lapper,my bad as I know I made an assume of myself....

  windows still throttles back desktops if you dont set the power setting,atleast since vista it's been my experience. So I woud still set it to performance.


  I usually warn people,I know just enough about computers to really mess them up,and usually only offer advice I think will help,maybe I was incorrect with the lapper bit..... I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong..


   

[38ruk]

 After rereading the OP,I think because he mentioned a wireless connection I had assumed it was a lapper,my bad as I know I made an assume of myself....

  windows still throttles back desktops if you dont set the power setting,atleast since vista it's been my experience. So I woud still set it to performance.


  I usually warn people,I know just enough about computers to really mess them up,and usually only offer advice I think will help,maybe I was incorrect with the lapper bit..... I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong..


   

Nothing wrong with what you said ... oem desktops come with the same energy saving setting by default. Plus you made a good point about blkviper .... i always assume people have already cut the bloat down lol....so i skipped right past it haha.  I run 28 services on windows 7 with aces running ....but i cut more than most ( no printer ect ect ). I've avoided win8 like a plague on my own stuff , so im not sure how many services people can cut down to....but by the look of customers pc's ive fixed....some have been running 80-90 processes with win8 lol.

[neodad]

I appreciate all the suggestions.

The XPS is a desktop.  It's brand new and replaced an 4 year old version of the same model and that PC did not have any of these issues.  It was smaller and slower in all respects, used an on board graphics chip,and connected via wireless and I never had to go through this kind of troubleshooting.

I have disabled / uninstalled pretty much everything that has been suggested and written in the forum and the results are flaky, at least to me.  Some examples:
 Thursday and Friday the game was unplayable due to the frame rate issues.
  Friday night, in combat challenge, the first ten minutes were also unplayable and then it stabilized at 60 fps
  Yesterday all was good from signing in
  Earlier today all was good
  Just now it was terrible, fps fluctuated from 83 to 1.

I have a max of 45 processes running and the CPU load is never more than a few tenths of one percent.

This PC should be more than adequate to run the game at a consistent, reasonable level of performance.  I have to be missing something but I don't know what.

Sorry for the frustration coming through.

[Bizman]

I have a max of 45 processes running and the CPU load is never more than a few tenths of one percent.

This PC should be more than adequate to run the game at a consistent, reasonable level of performance.  I have to be missing something but I don't know what.

Your processes level is reasonable, I've seen that tripled without the owner noticing anything. Depends on what it's used fro, though. The computer is really good, too, for the most parts. But it's not built for gaming.

As for the frame rates, I'd blame your video card. It's the slowest of the 700 series using DDR3 instead of GDDR5, a much slower (and older) memory type only used in cheaper cards. Actually it's not better than a built-in, and I believe they even make motherboards with a built-in GT720 at least for laptops.

Found some good info about the two memory types and how they affect frame rates: http://www.goldfries.com/computing/gddr3-vs-gddr5-graphic-card-comparison-see-the-difference-with-the-amd-radeon-hd-7750/ . Although it's about Radeons, the memory comparison applies to nVidia.

[neodad]

Bizman, thanks for the information.

One last question on this topic.  Would the graphics card be responsible for the wild fluctuations in the frame rate?  I would think a low end card would produce a consistent low frame rate not one that can vary from 1 to the mid-80's, nor a rate that would stabilize after a few minutes of game play.

[Skuzzy]

Frame rates drift with the graphics load.  At any given moment the game may be rendering anywhere from 25,000 triangles, to 175,000 triangles per frame.  As the load changes, so can the frame rate.  Higher end video card will have far smaller swings in frame rate compared to a low end video card.

[Bizman]

Thanks for the exact explanation, Skuzzy! I have encountered the same problem but couldn't find out the reason why with my previous card. On some maps I got a steady 59 almost everywhere, on another there were places where my fps went down to the teens, going up again in a similar looking landscape.