Help me upgrade my computer

[nocthesis]

(I hope I posted this in the right thread!)

 

So I ran a little reddit thread today to ask what was common for people with the same graphics card as me - a Nvidia 970, to experience in terms of FPS in Downtown Boston. Most of them were experiencing at the very least 40, whilst mine can quite suddenly half from 60 to 30, sometimes dropping into the twenties. The stutter is absolutely horrible and ruins immersion in the cities.

 

I've tried lowering shadows to medium, turning Godrays off (no effect - I currently run them on Ultra with the performance fix on the nexus, but even with with them turned completely off I hardly gained any real FPS). I do use quite a few texture mods, but I recall this being just as much a problem before as now, and outside of Boston I usually sit on a reliable 60fps.

 

tl;dr I'm not the most technically minded person and I'd really appreciate some advice on how I can upgrade my PC to run better in cities. Or any other fixes in general people might have.

My specs are:

Processor Intel® Core i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s), Nvidia 970 and 16GB RAM

I run Fallout 4 on an SSD too.

Am I missing something here? I really am not sure why my gameplay experience is so vastly different to people with the exact same card as me :/

Edited June 1, 2018 by nocthesis

[WastelandAssassin]

I think there are some mods meant to fix these issues , though I haven't touched the game in a while , so I don't recall the names

just look up downtown Boston fix , or something along these lines , you should find threads discussing this issue in detail (you could search through Google , you are bound to find answers)

also , I remember a mod that changes shadows dynamically to improve performance

you should be able to find these on the FO4 site , as well as on mod lists (as this is a rather commonly used mod\tool , if I recall correctly)

[nocthesis]

I think there are some mods meant to fix these issues , though I haven't touched the game in a while , so I don't recall the names

just look up downtown Boston fix , or something along these lines , you should find threads discussing this issue in detail (you could search through Google , you are bound to find answers)

also , I remember a mod that changes shadows dynamically to improve performance

you should be able to find these on the FO4 site , as well as on mod lists (as this is a rather commonly used mod\tool , if I recall correctly)

Thank you for the reply, but I've already tried the Boston Fix. Unfortunately it seems to conflict with a great deal of mods that break precombines, and I haven't really been able to get it to work.

 

Just as a quick update, I've been reading that the 970 is notorious for slowing down when exceeding 3.5gb of VRAM. If I'm using lots of texture mods, could this be the answer to why my frames die in cities? If so what should I upgrade to? (bearing in mind I don't have all the money in the world lol), is a 1060 worth it?

[reakktor909]

 

(I hope I posted this in the right thread!)

 

The stutter is absolutely horrible and ruins immersion in the cities.

 

Well, stutter (almost always) means you run to a limit while transferring stuff - some data is not getting through fast enough. In your case I think it's the Nvidia 970, which is actually using only 3.5GB and some weird memory mapping on the last 500MB.

 

Your CPU seems sufficient, als well as RAM.

 

Bethesda games like a lot of VRAM, especially when modded - and *especially* with different texture sets, as you mentioned.

 

So back to the topic - I personally think in your case:

- get an Nvidia 1080x with at least 8GB or more. But quite expensive with all that crypto mining crazyness going on right now....

- replace HDDs with SSDs where possible

- never ever raise 'uGridsToLoad' *g*

 

Do you use LOOT to avoid other corruption?

 

You didn't mention resolution combined with settings - running 4K with this rig won't work well ;)

[EyMi]

 

(I hope I posted this in the right thread!)

 

So I ran a little reddit thread today to ask what was common for people with the same graphics card as me - a Nvidia 970, to experience in terms of FPS in Downtown Boston. Most of them were experiencing at the very least 40, whilst mine can quite suddenly half from 60 to 30, sometimes dropping into the twenties. The stutter is absolutely horrible and ruins immersion in the cities.

 

I've tried lowering shadows to medium, turning Godrays off (no effect - I currently run them on Ultra with the performance fix on the nexus, but even with with them turned completely off I hardly gained any real FPS). I do use quite a few texture mods, but I recall this being just as much a problem before as now, and outside of Boston I usually sit on a reliable 60fps.

 

tl;dr I'm not the most technically minded person and I'd really appreciate some advice on how I can upgrade my PC to run better in cities. Or any other fixes in general people might have.

My specs are:

Processor Intel® Core i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s), Nvidia 970 and 16GB RAM

I run Fallout 4 on an SSD too.

Am I missing something here? I really am not sure why my gameplay experience is so vastly different to people with the exact same card as me :/

 

 

The 970 is okay, but for your goal since u wanna go with ultra settings and mods the wrong gpu (more or less). One probl the 3,5GB vram + 0,5gb slow one will have sooner or later a hard time loading all the stuff.

*also depending on your resolution and if u run 4k texture mods, enb and so on.

 

Anyway. you could try to tweak some stuff via the game ini and the nvidia control panel. It may can squeez out some extra fps.

And lowering the resolution if u run DSR or real higher res.

 

Rest of the rig is good enough, if you wanna have some fun for the next x years I would skip the 1060 (dont wanna say its bad, but eh..), go with the GTX 1080, just make sure its not a basic line like the asus dual or blower. aim for a gpu like the asus strix, msi gaming, kfa²/galax ex oc or hof and so on, better cooling and a backplate.

Coz of the price, keep an eye on the market, got weeks ago a nice deal on a 1080 ti for ~ 750.

*Eh and make sure it will fit in your case.

 

Optionally, heat can also impact your performance, so what about your temps while playing and your cooling setup?

And maybe a new psu if u wanna upgrade, but depends on your current one, quality, age and so on.

[nocthesis]

 

 

(I hope I posted this in the right thread!)

 

The stutter is absolutely horrible and ruins immersion in the cities.

 

Well, stutter (almost always) means you run to a limit while transferring stuff - some data is not getting through fast enough. In your case I think it's the Nvidia 970, which is actually using only 3.5GB and some weird memory mapping on the last 500MB.

 

Your CPU seems sufficient, als well as RAM.

 

Bethesda games like a lot of VRAM, especially when modded - and *especially* with different texture sets, as you mentioned.

 

So back to the topic - I personally think in your case:

- get an Nvidia 1080x with at least 8GB or more. But quite expensive with all that crypto mining crazyness going on right now....

- replace HDDs with SSDs where possible

- never ever raise 'uGridsToLoad' *g*

 

Do you use LOOT to avoid other corruption?

 

You didn't mention resolution combined with settings - running 4K with this rig won't work well :wink:

 

Thanks for the advice. I do use LOOT.

 

Damn though the 1080 is hella expensive. Would a 6gb 1060 be any improvement? It isn't much more expensive then the 970, and obviously that's another 2gb of vram. Is there anything less than a 1080 that will let me go through Boston without 25fps with mods? lol

[EyMi]

Thanks for the advice. I do use LOOT.

 

Damn though the 1080 is hella expensive. Would a 6gb 1060 be any improvement? It isn't much more expensive then the 970, and obviously that's another 2gb of vram. Is there anything less than a 1080 that will let me go through Boston without 25fps with mods? lol

 

It is an improvment, 6gb, no slower ram and so on, but rly depends on your goal and future plans.

 

Do you wanna play @ 1080p? Or do have plans to go wild with 1440p/144hz or 4k?

 

Alternatively, 1070 / 1070 ti. You can get a evga sc black for ~ $450.

Edited June 2, 2018 by EyMi

[nocthesis]

 

Thanks for the advice. I do use LOOT.

 

Damn though the 1080 is hella expensive. Would a 6gb 1060 be any improvement? It isn't much more expensive then the 970, and obviously that's another 2gb of vram. Is there anything less than a 1080 that will let me go through Boston without 25fps with mods? lol

 

It is an improvment, 6gb, no slower ram and so on, but rly depends on your goal and future plans.

 

Do you wanna play @ 1080p? Or do have plans to go wild with 1440p/144hz or 4k?

 

Alternatively, 1070 / 1070 ti. You can get a evga sc black for ~ $450.

 

Really I'd just like my setup now to play properly. I run it at a standard 1920 x 1080 resolution - my monitor isn't great, but I don't have massive sums of money rn. I do generally like how my game looks right now - I generally use a lot of 2k (and the occasional) 4k texture, and this really runs fine outside of the big cities. Just not having it dip below the 40s at the very least would be nice.

 

Also honestly on the matter of coolers I'm completely clueless. I don't know what I have now but my computer gets ridiculously hot. How expensive are they?

Edited June 2, 2018 by nocthesis

[EyMi]

 

 

Thanks for the advice. I do use LOOT.

 

Damn though the 1080 is hella expensive. Would a 6gb 1060 be any improvement? It isn't much more expensive then the 970, and obviously that's another 2gb of vram. Is there anything less than a 1080 that will let me go through Boston without 25fps with mods? lol

 

It is an improvment, 6gb, no slower ram and so on, but rly depends on your goal and future plans.

 

Do you wanna play @ 1080p? Or do have plans to go wild with 1440p/144hz or 4k?

 

Alternatively, 1070 / 1070 ti. You can get a evga sc black for ~ $450.

 

Really I'd just like my setup now to play properly. I run it at a standard 1920 x 1080 resolution - my monitor isn't great, but I don't have massive sums of money rn. I do generally like how my game looks right now - I generlaly use a lot of 2k (and the occasional) 4k texture, and this really runs fine outside of the big cities. Just not having it dip below the 40s at the very least would be nice.

 

Also honestly on the matter of coolers I'm completely clueless. I don't know what I have now but my computer gets ridiculously hot. How expensive are they?

 

 

If you wanna stick to 1080p@ 60hz (60 fps) the 1060 is fine enough with 6gb and 192-bit.

But you may still need some ini tweaks and via the nvidia control panel for a smooth/smoother gameplay.

Beth's engine is sometimes a hit and miss in performance.

 

Cooling, well check your temps while gaming, heat can/will throttle the performance.

And you could open your case and take a look what u have inside.

Since you have the i7 non-k, possible you have the intel stock cooler, basic, nothing special.

 

A good one for example Cryorig H7 or be quiet pure rock~ $35

A case cooling setup with at least 1x intake and 1x exhaust would also help a lot. Most brands like corsair offering a fan pack with 2 or 3 Fans for ~ $25-$30

 

 

To make things a bit easier..

 

Is it a custom or pre-build pc?

 

And what's your budget?

 

Only running mods or stuff like enb and or reshade too?

[JimmyRJump]

Since you have 16GB of system RAM, try ENBoost. It fools the game into "thinking" that system RAM is V-RAM.

 

Rule of thumb for the enblocal.ini RAM settings is System RAM + V-RAm - amount of RAM the operating system needs, which is around 3GB. In your case that would be 16+4-3=17GB that can be allocated to the game, but setting it to 12288MB should suffice to cover the 10GB RAM spikes encountered in the game.

 

Also be aware that the game is so badly optimised that everybody, even owners of a 1080 or 1080ti, experiences serious drops in fps in Downtown Boston, Boston Commons, Freedom Trail and in other unspecified places. I'm running on a Vega64 and have the same appaling results. It's just the nature of the game. Don't be fooled by those who claim they have a constant 60fps everywhere or even over a hundred. Not possible in FO4...

 

Getting an SSD for FO4 won't help either as FO4 is maybe the only game around that doesn't benefit from an SSD because of the switch from direct rendering to in-game streaming Bethesda introduced with version 1.3 or 1.4 of the game. This was done to alleviate stress on the GPU, but the streaming slows down RAM flushing and the speed gain of the SSD is neutralised through the slow buffering/flushing of the RAM. It also makes for textures staying murky for a while or even constantly when RAM stops flushing altogether. FO4 is also very badly optimised for RAM use supervision, you see.