Good computer Bad Fps with Oblivion

[SrgInsane]

My Problem

 

Computer specs

Intel Quad Core 2.4gz

8800gt 512

4gb of RAM of Kingston

Nvidia 680i SLI LT Mother Board

 

Hello Im having a problem i while ago i switch my RAM because it caused a bunch of system erros ,so i went and started playing oblivion. What happened next has baffled me more then any else my Oblivion was getting massive lag spikes in fps and worse fps in general. So before I switch my RAM I got great fps 60fps always in caves and at a, minimum outside 40fps, it was so wierd i tryed defraging my hard drive, cleaning my registry, rolling back and updating my G card. The bad RAM i had talked about corrupted a windows file which i repaired, could that be the cause, i talked with technical assistant and he said the RAM i have is compatible so whats going on then, also fallout 3 has the same problem.

I play on Ultra High settings

no AA or AF and no V sync my resolution is 1024x768

I REALLY REALLY NEED HELP!!!!!!

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE AWSOME!!!!!

[reaper9111]

have you check your settings for the video card... i guess you did...an other thing is to try reinstalling you games...

[SrgInsane]

I reinstalled oblivion didnt make a difference.

[SrgInsane]

Anyone still want to lend any help

[bben46]

Your specs look good, so unless you got another bad stick of ram it should be a software problem.

 

Are you running any background applications? Sometimes they steal processor time from the game. This usually causes a crash. Some antivirus progs run constantly in the background. MS indexing service will start up at the worst possible times to try to re index everything on your hard drive. An auto defrag prog can continuously be trying to rearrange everything on your HD. I worked on one computer where the user had 2 auto defrag progs that each used a different method of arranging files. One would move a file, and the other one would move it back. Everything ran in slow motion. Multiple anti spyware progs will slow things down as well, as each one has to check every disk I/O. Also, multiple spyware (malware) progs running will slow you down as well as call home with your credit card numbers.

 

When playing, I shut down my internet connection and turn off or stop all Antivirus, firewall, antispyware, HP printer drivers, IM progs, skype, xfire and anything else I can to get as many resources free as possible. The indexing service is shut down anyway as it was a nuisance.

 

After you have excluded all external influences you can concentrate on any problems with Windows and the game itself.

 

Check this website for Windows, video card and Oblivion tweaking: http://www.tweakguides.com/Contact.html

 

For testing, I suggest using FRAPS to keep track of your Frame rate. It can display the FPS in large yellow numbers in which ever corner you choose. Do your testing with only vanilla Oblivion, No KOTN, SI or mods. do use the latest patch though. I recommend a clean install - use the following procedure to save everything - mods, save games, .ini KOTN and SI.

 

Bben46 Complete Reinstall Procedure for Oblivion

 

This is usually a last resort and your game is already trashed. I cannot be responsible for any damage you manage to do to your game when trying this. You are free to use this procedure and post it as you see fit.

 

When you uninstall Oblivion it doesn't really uninstall everything. Then when you start adding mods before you have started the game, some things may not get initialized properly. Here is my recommended procedure for uninstalling and reinstalling.

 

The game uninstaller does not remove your mods, save games or Oblivion.ini or the entries that the original installation of Oblivion placed in your Windows registry. It also does not remove helper programs such as OBSE, OBMM, Wrye Bash, The construction set or any other programs you have installed in the \Oblivion folder or the save game folder. I recommend that you go ahead and delete them, then re download and install the latest version of them again later. After you have verified that the game works.

 

I would appreciate any feedback on this as it is something I expect to post often and I hate to give bogus or useless information.

 

Uninstalling Oblivion

 

DO NOT DELETE THE GAME FOLDERS YET! This is very important.If you delete them,it causes problems later.

 

My instructions assume you are using Windows XP and have installed Oblivion into the default location. If you are using Vista or Linux, the file locations may be different, however, the procedure will be the same.

 

For a full reinstall, first you can try to preserve your mods and save games. I recommend that you save them in a new folder with a new name. Create the new folder in C:\Backup_Oblivion - or any other name you will remember, just as long as it is not in the programs folder.

 

Then copy the data folder where your mods are to the new folder - do not erase them, copy them. And in the new folder, rename the \data folder to \olddata. Then copy and rename the folder that has your saved games and Oblivion.ini, C:\documents and settings\your user name\my documents\My Games\oblivion to something like \My games\Old Oblivion - this saves your saved games and the oblivion.ini file.

 

 

Then, using the original CD, NOT the Launcher on your Hard drive. Select uninstall.

 

After it completes the uninstall, reboot your computer - this is important as it allows Windows to remove some references to the original Oblivion.

 

This would be the time to erase all of the helper programs you have in the \Oblivion folder. Such as OBMM, OBSE and some others. The simplest way is to delete the folder completely. The new install will re create the folder for you along with a fresh oblivion.ini and when you start the game and make a save, a new save folder and new \data folder.

 

Now you can delete the game folders if you want to do a complete fresh reinstall. Your original saved games & mods are backed up if you want to try to resurrect them later.

 

To remove the registry entries that were left behind. If all else fails, this usually works to resurrect your game.

 

I do not recommend manually editing the registry unless you know what you are doing. A mistake here could make your entire computer unusable.

 

There are several good programs for removing left behind entries. The one I use is ccleaner. Be sure to reboot before using it, and again after. It is free and available here:

 

http://majorgeeks.com/download4191.html

 

This would also be a good time to do a file clean up. Run the built in Windows 'Disk Cleanup' routine. If you uses the ccleaner, most of this has already been done, but it won't hurt to do it anyway.

 

Now that everything is cleaned up, do a full defrag on your hard drive to leave a large uncluttered area to reinstall to. This prevents your game from installing in a fragmented way, with parts scattered all over the drive. It also will speed up the install a little. It takes a while, but may speed up you game as well as the rest of your computer.

 

 

 

Now to Reinstall.

 

Again using the original CD, install Oblivion.

 

NOTE: If you are using Vista, DO NOT install to the default directory. Instead make a new directory I recommend C:\Games. Install Oblivion there to avoid the hassle with Vista UAC blocking mods.

 

Before adding any mods, patches, helper programs, Shivering Isles or anything else, start the game and make a save. This initializes some stuff that needs to be initialized.

 

If you are using the Game of the Year version of Oblivion you should not need any patches, skip the patching part.

 

Now, If you DO NOT use Shivering Isles, patch the game using ONLY the latest Oblivion patch. All of the stuff from the earlier patches is included.

 

Be sure you use the proper language patch. If you use the wrong one it may work, but with a strange mixture of languages. (Germanglish?) Or it may crash.

 

NOTE: there are two English Patches UK & US and they are different. (Some people actually think we speak the same language) Use the one that matches your original disk.

 

If you use Shivering Isles, Install it now. DO NOT install the Oblivion patch. Install Shivering Isles, then ONLY the latest Shivering Isles patch. All of the updates for Oblivion are included. There is only one Shivering Isles patch for both US & UK English (Maybe sometimes we do speak the same language.)

 

Now, again start the game, make sure it looks right, move around a little to test it, and make a save. Test to be sure everything is working right (No purple objects or yellow blocks)

 

Before adding any mods, back up both your \data folder and the save game folder. Copy them, don't move or rename them, to a different folder - such as \Bethesda\Clean Oblivion\data and \Bethesda\clean Oblivion\saves. Note that this is a different folder than the one used for your old data and saves.

 

Note, Your Oblivion.ini file is in the same folder, but separate from, the save game folder.

 

Now, if you want to try to run with your old mods, first rename the original folders. The \data folder to \newdata and the \oldata back to \data. this restores all of your mods. You should now have 2 data folders \data, and \newdata in your \oblivion folder

 

To restore your original saves and ini file, rename the new My Games\Oblivion to something like \New Oblivion. and the \Old oblivion to \oblivion - this restores all of your saved games and your original Oblivion.ini file.

 

DO NOT erase the files you renamed. These are your backup files in case the original mods do not work or give you the same problem.

 

If you have the same problem, it is most likely caused by a mod. However, you now have a clean install to fall back on. You can You can COPY (NOT move or rename) the backup files back to what they were and be back to your clean install without having to reinstall again.

 

Sounds like lots of work, but you will have a clean install and a back up clean install when you are finished.

[SrgInsane]

Ok well i did every thing you asked and guess what i got my old fps back but when i put my old mods back on the fps went wacko.

[bben46]

Well, now you know.

Adding mods means more stuff to load in the game, more stuff to keep track of, more stuff to render in each frame.

Especially mods that increase the visual appeal - high def, stuff.

Try reducing the video settings and see if your FPS doesn't increase.

There was one mod I remember that totally killed my FPS, I think it was called Gold Bagger and added piles of gold, bags of gold and trunks of gold.

 

Just adding One pile in a small room caused a drop from 25 to 11 FPS. The second pile took it down to 2 FPS. However, it only affected the cell they were in. The coins in the piles were too detailed and took too long to render.

 

Look for a mod that adds stuff in all of the cells where you have the slow down.