Sound and Lag Issues

[ViktoriaLuise]

Decided to start playing FNV again after almost 2 years not touching it. Went to launch it, and it worked fine until you actually got into the game. There was no sound and my Fps dropped from 50 to about 4-7. I did a fresh install and updated drivers; still the same thing. Upon further testing this is happening with FO3, FNV, R6V, and R6V2.

 

Anyone know what the problem is and how to fix it?

[dubiousintent]

If the problem is happening across a variety of games, then it is probably OS or hardware related. Since this is the FNV forum, let's focus on trying to get that to work correctly.

 

Please provide ALL the information requested in the wiki "How to ask for help" article. Don't forget to identify things that do not appear in the "load order", such as NVSE and it's related plugins, texture replacements (specifically their larger image sizes: 1024x1024, etc.), and "post-processors" like ENB or SweetFX.

All of the following may not apply to your specific situation, but are worth repeating anyway.

* Be aware that one error may mask a number of other errors, which will not appear until those masking them have been resolved. Building a stable game consists of resolving each problem individually until none remain, and then realizing that every change you make thereafter (including updates to mods already installed) run the risk of introducing new problems. Be prepared to revert to a previous save if you do so.

* Did you install Steam to it's default location? If so, please see the wiki "Installing Games on Windows Vista+" article for why the original default Steam behavior of installing games to the "C:\Program Files" folder tree was bad (they learned better, and don't do that any more); and why "disabling UAC and running as Administrator" is NOT sufficient, with instructions how to move it. This is the single most important thing you can do to fix and protect yourself against problems in the future. As much of a PITA as that is, it's never going to be any easier than now. Please see the 'Restoring to "Vanilla"' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article as well.

* Are you running Win10? Did you get the "Fall Creator's Update" (FCU aka "RedStone 3")? Do you have "New Vegas Stutter Remover" (NVSR) installed? If all three are "true", then please see the 'Issue: Recent (post-Win10 FCU) CTDs after 10-20 minutes of play' (and other "heap size") entries in the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

The FCU update was released in mid-November 2017, so a "brand new" system probably did not come with it installed. However, the default configuration is usually to have OS updates automatically installed. (Those usually start being distributed on the second Tuesday of each month, but may take a week or more to get to everyone.) See the MS "Get the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update" article for how to check your version release and manually pull down the update if necessary. It is important to keep your OS always "up to date" to prevent malware infections.

Please see the 'Issue: NVSE - fails to load after update KB4058043 to Win10 FCU (v1709)' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide, where it talks about configuring for an application in the "Windows Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG)".

* Are you using the 4GB Patcher? If not, please see the 'Maximizing use of memory' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

* If you are using the full 4GB of memory, most likely your CTD problem (now or in the future) is the default "heap size" is too small. Please see the 'Solutions to "Crash To Desktop" (CTD) problems' section in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

* Move any "inactive" plugins out of the game "Data" folder. They count against the "plugin cap" because they get loaded by the game engine if found, and can cause "Missing Master" problems. Please see the wiki "Missing Masters" article if you get that error message.

* "Compatibility patches" to make one mod work with another need to be placed after (as in "physically lower, higher numbered") in the "load order" than both of the plugins they are designed to make compatible. ESMs should always be placed at the top (lowest numbered) positions in the "load order", followed by the related ESPs though they can be separated from their ESMs by other plugins. "LOOT" does a good job of determining those basic orders. Getting the "load order" incorrect will cause "Missing Master" errors as well.

* Don't install compatibility patches for mods you do not have installed/active (e.g. get rid of any "TTW" patches if you aren't running TTW).

* Don't install every optional file for a mod. Read the install instructions carefully. Optional files need to be selected on a "case by case" basis. For example: with any mod you usually only need one ESP (and possibly one ESM) "base" file depending upon whether you have all the DLCs active or not. Only if you don't have them all active do you need to install any specific DLC versions if there is an "Ultimate Edition/All/Merged DLC" version.

* Do not use an "Auto-purge" mod for game play. (That was old advice from before we knew better.) They are designed for debugging by mod creator's only, according to the author of the JIP extensions to NVSE. See the 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu', "Cause-2", "Solution-3" entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide for the game settings that do the same job.

* Please see the paragraph about "auto-saves" under the 'Essentials for Getting Started' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article. If you have been using the built-in "auto-save" feature and you get the endless "roulette wheel" when loading a save game, then your current save game file is corrupted and you will have to either go back to a save before the corruption occurred (hard to tell) or start over.

Re: Stuttering or "micro-stutters". All visual stuttering problems are caused by the video stream having to wait for the "art assets" required to render the display OR the game writing something to disk (such as a save game file or logging). Mostly these are due to the hard disk drive being orders of magnitude slower than VRAM, with System RAM (e.g. "ENBoost") and "solid state drives" (SSDs) being in between. Keep in mind that this game was designed for older PC and XBox console systems, and it is now possible for your new "latest and greatest" gaming machine to be faster than it can handle. There are internal design choices that cannot be overcome. The following are "mitigations" that have been found to help some people.

Please see the following entries under the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section in the wiki Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide if you haven't already.
* 'Issue: "Full screen mode" exhibits CTDs and stutters or micro-stutters'
* 'Issue: Lag or "micro stutters" even with "New Vegas Stutter Remover" installed'
* 'Issue: Win10 Screen tearing in "Borderless Windowed Mode"'
* 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu' for other settings that can indirectly affect micro-stutter.
* There are also some NVSR configuration suggestions under the 'Issue: Game in slow motion' and entries.
* The 'Issue: What's with these Solid Green billboard signs in the distance (LOD)?' entry under the 'Solutions to Mesh (Red "!" icon) or Texture (solid color) problems' section can also help if your problems started after you installed VWD/LOD texture packages.
* If you are using CASM or some similar "auto-save" mod to manage your save game files (recommended), try increasing the "time between saves" set in the "save frequency"; and reducing the number of occasions it saves to the minimum (e.g. disable most "Autosave Events" in CASM) and see how that impacts the game seeming to freeze temporarily.
* If you have "NVSE logging" enabled (see the 'Checklist Item #4' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide), disable it until actually needed.

Reading from or writing to disk for any reason is the slowest thing the game does.

As you can see, there are a number of things that can underlie your problem. If one of these doesn't fix it, I would be interested to hear about any eventual solution that does.

[Edit: added "stuttering/lag" mitigations.]

 

-Dubious-

[ViktoriaLuise]

CPU- AMD FX 6300 6 core(3.50GHz)

Graphics Card- AMD Radeon R9 200

Total RAM- 16gb

VRAM-4gb

Resolution: 1920x1080

Free Space: 94.5gb

Win: 10

 

I did have steam in the default location. As per the guide, I moved it, verified FNV's game files, and launched it to check, and the problem remains. I do have the Fall Creator's Update, but I do not have the stutter remover nor any other mods, patches, or plugins.

 

 

 

[dubiousintent]

The hardware is definitely sufficient. Even the vanilla game needs some patches. Please see the 'Towards Game Stability' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article. Then work through the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section in the wiki Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide if you haven't already. Pay particular attention to 'Cause-1' under 'Issue: Game in slow motion'.

 

-Dubious-

[ViktoriaLuise]

Finally solved, or at least "solved." While I was working through the troubleshooting guide you gave me someone responded to my question on the FNV steam discussion that had the same problem. Apparently they were advised by their friend to roll back the Windows update and sure enough, when I did it and went to check, the sound was back and lag was gone. I do hope Microsoft gets around to fixing this though.

[dubiousintent]

Glad to hear you have a solution of sorts. Which Windows 10 Update? (KB number please.)

 

-Dubious-

[ViktoriaLuise]

KB4056892

 

The newest security update, for me at least.

[dubiousintent]

Aha. The infamous "Meltdown and Spectre" patch. Thank you. Please see the 'Issue: NVSE - fails to load after update KB4058043 to Win10 FCU (v1709)' entry in the 'Solutions to Starting the game problems' section of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide for a potential mitigation.

 

-Dubious-