Unusually low FPS

[zedundead]

Hello,

I've had this game for awhile and I love it. I have a fairly decent system which should be able to run this game max with pretty consistent 60+ fps.

When I set it to Ultra high I'm getting anywhere from 30-40+ fps which is pretty bad for my system.

 

Usually I set everything on high and don't really worry about it. Then one day I read the benchmarks on certain sites like tomshardware and techpowerup.

They have almost an identical setup as mine and they are getting much better performance.

 

I was hoping somone could give me some info or point me in the right direction as to why I cannot max the game out.

 

PC specs:

 

AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3.6ghz

ATI Radeon 5870 @ stock

8gb DDR2 800mhz

500gb 7500 rpm HDD

 

running Windows 7 x64 home edition

 

I've gone through tweakguides on Fallout 3 multiple times trying different settings to no avail.

I have vsync forced off in the fallout.ini

 

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thank you.

 

-Zed

[anokii]

Personally I would get so hung up on framerate or comparing statistics.

If it looks good to you that's the important part. Reason I say this is I went through the same exact thing you are now and it nearly drove me around the twist.

At the end of it I've got max settings, no stutters, great performance, beautiful visual and audio and one happy camper. I can't match the exact numbers other boast about but I don't care anymore.

I even went so far as to spend on additional hardware in my quest to "get those numbers".

 

One has to understand that getting consistent and valid framerate measurements requires delving deeper into the OS and other aspects. If you want to get your numbers higher try things like;

 

- disable all non-essential windows services (e.g. Aero interface, Search, on and on and on)

- disable your AV / AS

- ensure ALL drivers are up to date including BIOS, graphic card firmware, etc

- it may also be a case of reverting back a version or two for the graphics driver (some versions have problems with certain games [e.g. NVidia had a couple of version where framerates with FO3 were a known problem])

 

Sorry not exactly helpful but I do know where your coming from (and possibly heading).

[zedundead]

Hey,

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm happy to hear I'm not alone. Unfortunately I've done everything I possibly can to get the performance I want to no avail.

I've switched in between 2-3 driver versions on my video card with little or no change. I never have Aero enabled as it totally screws with most of my games strangely.

Don't have an Anti-virus or an active Anti-spyware.

 

My BIOS are all up to date. I don't really know what to do. I'm still playing on High as of right now. Just trying to deal with all the micro stuttering.

I guess I'll just have to live with it. It seems this game engine is pretty stressful so I guess I shouldn't fret.

 

Thank you Anokii,

 

Zed

[bben46]

30 FPS is actually better than both movies and TV. So work on the stutter which is a noticeable change in FPS and don't worry about the actual FPS as long as it is over 30. Note: I think Xbos is locked at 30 fps max. but you don't notice it as there is less fluctuation and thus less noticeable stutter.

[Spaceritual]

Hello,

I've had this game for awhile and I love it. I have a fairly decent system which should be able to run this game max with pretty consistent 60+ fps.

When I set it to Ultra high I'm getting anywhere from 30-40+ fps which is pretty bad for my system.

 

Usually I set everything on high and don't really worry about it. Then one day I read the benchmarks on certain sites like tomshardware and techpowerup.

They have almost an identical setup as mine and they are getting much better performance.

 

I was hoping somone could give me some info or point me in the right direction as to why I cannot max the game out.

 

PC specs:

 

AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3.6ghz

ATI Radeon 5870 @ stock

8gb DDR2 800mhz

500gb 7500 rpm HDD

 

running Windows 7 x64 home edition

 

I've gone through tweakguides on Fallout 3 multiple times trying different settings to no avail.

I have vsync forced off in the fallout.ini

 

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thank you.

 

-Zed

 

There is a proggy called Gameboster that might be worth a try as it closes down no essential apps , and also a Fallout 3 Stutter remover mod which I use to good effect..

 

Also I notice you have win 7 64bit so you are using the more than 3gb enabler which is also in mod form?

 

Edit. Sorry about the double post...this one would be the one to read..not sure what happened there...but then again I am confused mostly...

 

Fixed, Bben46

[zedundead]

I'm using both Gamebooster and Large Address Enabler. It really doesn't make any sense to me how these benchmarking sites can be getting so much better performance than me.

[anokii]

Like I said - it will drive you mad - but you know what, once you get used to wearing the nice white jacket with the pockets in the back and the medication kicks in everything will be just fine.

 

If it looks good to you then that's all that matters.

 

I did have the micro-stutter problem for awhile to which I found an obscure thread on another forum (NVIdia itself I think), reverted back several versions (192 to 185) and my performance jumped dramatically. I am running the latest now and the micro stutter cam back so I tried this: http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8886

 

Worked for me.

 

Benchmarking is arbitrary and your reading something that was posted to the internet (which as we all know is the source of all truths). Unless you can physically see the machine perform its testing and then confirm the parameters AND consistently duplicate the results its all bull....!!!! Don't get hung up in the numbers man.

[zedundead]

Thank you for the link it does seem to have reduced the stutter immensely.

 

I know that benchmarking is not real world performance always, but you know how frustrating that is, haha.

 

Thanks again

[GrindedStone]

Turn the settings down. Fallout 3 renders 4 times as much on screen than privious bethesda games. Then you don't really need AA with a game like fallout 3. Using 2X or 4X AF can clean up the vanilla textures an LOD rather than using a much more taxing HD texture pack to do so. That being said depending on what you plan to do while in fallout on that day, you might want to turn AF off as well. Getting used to it isn't that hard. If you ask me the game still looks good enough on 4 clicks an zero AA or AF. Which is just another reason to add more NPC's that want to kill yah.