I am having frame rate stability issues and would like some help.

[kagenogetsu]

Hi, I am having issues with keeping my fps stable. I would describe it as a type of stutter but I will refrain from using the word stutter because I want to be clear that this is not the micro stutter issue. I am using the new vegas tick fix mod and it is installed properly. I also know that this issue isn't because of the use of mods; I have this problem with a clean install as well and without mods the game doesn't work very well anyway. All of my mods are installed correctly and I am using all of the recommended performance and stability mods for the game. Now to describe my problem in detail.

 

My fps will be stable at 60 fps no matter the location in the game, with exception of the strip obviously but that doesn't matter. When a distant object loads in on the game it lags and I lose anywhere from 10 to 40 fps for a couple seconds and it does this whenever an object loads into the game. My computer doesn't have the best specs but it doesn't have the worst either. I have checked the cpu, gpu, and disk usage while playing and they never hit their limit while I'm playing so I don't think those are the issues. My only thought is that it might be a hard drive issue. I'm using a 5+ year old laptop and the standard hard drive that came with it. I am not the brightest when it comes to computers though so I have no clue what the issue could be. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to fix this or if this can even be fixed for me without buying a new computer.

[dubiousintent]

Boilerplate response (updated) follows, but still applies.

 

All visual stuttering or "frame rate" 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. There are and will always be situations where the higher FPS will drop as you decide to head in a direction the game did not anticipate and "pre-load" into video memory.

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. This is especially true if you are attempting to run at a "frame rate" higher than 60FPS which can introduce unanticipated problems. (If you haven't already, try locking your video card to 60FPS for FNV.) The "video pipeline" has always been prone to problems.

The following are "mitigations" that have been found to help some people.

MAJOR UPDATE: The mod FNV Mod Limit Fix has revealed that the "140 plugin limit" existed was because the game was opening 3 file handles for each plugin. The game has a hard coded limit of 512 maximum handles that could be opened at once, AND IT NEVER LETS THEM GO until it closes. (Potentially this applies to ALL files it opens.) This fix simply bumps that up to 2048 to allow for more room for file handles. This obviously has a potential impact upon any file related issues and makes it worth a try for that reason alone.

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. (These will not help with the "Tick Fix" alternative mod, but the author of NVSR now has a suggested configuration for Win10 linked there.)
* 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.)

The size of your image files also has an impact. Larger/higher resolution is not always "better". Please see the wiki "Display resolution versus Image Size" article.

The 'Issue: What INI edits seem to be most beneficial to performance' entry of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide) may also be some help. However, the above mitigations are more likely to have a fundamental beneficial effect with or without any INI adjustments, so consider them as the last resort.

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.

-Dubious-

Edited April 22, 2020 by dubiousintent

[kagenogetsu]

Boilerplate response (updated) follows, but still applies.

 

All visual stuttering or "frame rate" 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. There are and will always be situations where the higher FPS will drop as you decide to head in a direction the game did not anticipate and "pre-load" into video memory.

 

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. This is especially true if you are attempting to run at a "frame rate" higher than 60FPS which can introduce unanticipated problems. (If you haven't already, try locking your video card to 60FPS for FNV.) The "video pipeline" has always been prone to problems.

 

The following are "mitigations" that have been found to help some people.

 

MAJOR UPDATE: The mod FNV Mod Limit Fix has revealed that the "140 plugin limit" existed was because the game was opening 3 file handles for each plugin. The game has a hard coded limit of 512 maximum handles that could be opened at once, AND IT NEVER LETS THEM GO until it closes. (Potentially this applies to ALL files it opens.) This fix simply bumps that up to 2048 to allow for more room for file handles. This obviously has a potential impact upon any file related issues and makes it worth a try for that reason alone.

 

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. (These will not help with the "Tick Fix" alternative mod, but the author of NVSR now has a suggested configuration for Win10 linked there.)

* 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.)

 

The size of your image files also has an impact. Larger/higher resolution is not always "better". Please see the wiki "Display resolution versus Image Size" article.

 

The 'Issue: What INI edits seem to be most beneficial to performance' entry of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide) may also be some help. However, the above mitigations are more likely to have a fundamental beneficial effect with or without any INI adjustments, so consider them as the last resort.

 

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.

 

-Dubious-

 

 

Thank you for your response to my problem and i do believe i learned something from it, however what i learned was unfortunately not a solution. I have tried everything you mentioned before and had no better results. The only thing I have yet to do is use an ssd and at that point I should upgrade to a new computer all together. What I did learn from this is what the problem is for once. I have never tried to run this game higher than 60 fps and have even tried limiting it to 30 fps and had the same problem. The highest resolution I have used is 1920 x 1080. I have tried this game on the lowest settings possible and have the same problem. Enboost will not help me and neither will ini tweaks. This is not a micro stutter and my resources on my pc are not being over used. Yes this game has problems because of how it was made and what it was made for but so many do not have my problem. So they either fixed it with something or there is something wrong with my hardware, like my hard drive. .

 

So now I know the exact problem but only have guesses as to what is causing it. Perhaps I will just live with it, the game is still playable. I will post my specs here just in case some one can point something out about them.

 

I have a Lenovo laptop that is 5 to 7 years old, tbh cant remember exactly. I have a GeForce GTX 960M graphics card. Intel Core i7 6700HG cpu @ 2.60GHz. 7.86GB RAM. And 60Hz 1920 x 1080 monitor. My drivers as of today are up to date.

 

[dubiousintent]

Sorry to hear that.

 

Before you pin all your hopes on an SSD, you might consider adding a "MicroSD" card connected through a USB 3 port. (Even a USB 2 port if that is all you have.) You will need to add an appropriate USB "memory card reader" hub as well, for about $10-20 USD. I added a Verbatim SDXC 256GB UHS-1 V30 card that way (off the shelf at Walmart for roughly $35 USD as I recall, though they come in various "flavors" such as Pro and Extreme at different price points), moved the game onto it (but you "only" need at least 128GB for just FNV with ~130 mods), and found that it was able to smoothly feed my graphics card (once the drive had been recognized by Windows) before I went the SSD route on my new box. Not seeing a difference in performance between the two (but I don't tend to do timing tests without a specific reason. Still find a use for the standard HD to store the "non-game" files not in use such as downloaded mods.)

 

Lots cheaper than a new box.

 

Out of curiousity, the FNV Mod Limit Fix didn't help this specific issue at all?

 

-Dubious-

Edited April 22, 2020 by dubiousintent