[Vanilla] FPS Plummets with light sources

[FiftyTifty]

Alrighty, first things first:

 

 

 

Specs:

 

CPU - AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE @ Stock @ 3.4GHz

GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 - 13.2 Beta Drivers

RAM - 8GB DDR3 1600MHz

Mobo - Asrock M3N78D

 

 

 

For the problem:

 

The problem, quite simply, is that when there are lights, my FPS plummets. Say I'm in the starting dungeon. Soon as I go down those steps and find the hole in the ceiling, my FPS goes from 60+. to 42 (Yes, I've accurately measured this. RadeonPro.). Throw in a torch, and it goes down to 28 FPS.

 

For another example: Fighters Guild in Bruma. I position myself at the wall opposite the door and move my camera to the round table where there are 3 lights. My fps hovers between 23-27, depending on the angle.

Should I go in the console and type 'tlb', which means 'ToggleLightBright', my fps shoots up from the 23-27 in the Fighters Guild, to 130-140 fps. That is just...Sheesh. The problem with that, is I get ugly LOD over the landscape, so my character's waist and below is more-or-less covered by the LOD of the terrain. Mountainous places aren't bad, but Bruma? That town is half-submerged under a big LOD plane.

 

Outdoors, I get a solid 55+ FPS. I experienced NO framerate dips, no matter what was going on (Unless I pulled out a torch, then it would go to around 37 fps).

 

In the imperial city, I get an average of 37 fps, with the fps going to around 45-48 when viewing to the left/right.

 

It's not a shadow setting; lowering the resolution of shadows causes my FPS to drop by 3-4 fps, in actuality.

 

 

 

I've not installed any mods, so that possibility is ruled out...Sadly. Changing the shadermodel doesn't do a thing, editing Oblivion.ini to have "bUseHighQualityLighting=1" GAINS me 3-4 fps (Included in the FPS reports mentioned above), which is odd.

 

 

Am I doomed to forever be throttled by the lighting of Oblivion, or is there something that I can do? Gave Oblivion a final try before throwing away the disc, and this time, I'm strangely enthralled by it. So I would indeed like to get this working.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 8, 2013 by FiftyTifty

[Striker879]

First about ToggleLightBright (which is a console command interface for the change that the bFullBrightLighting INI file setting implements). Here's a quote from Koroush Ghazi's Oblivion Tweak Guide:

bFullBrightLighting=0 - If set to 1, alters the global lighting method to one which is far less detailed and doesn't use complex shaders, hence is much less strenuous for older cards. The results are graphically unpleasant as most textures look terrible, and there will be some graphical glitches, but this should allow older cards to run Oblivion more smoothly.

Your card isn't a candidate for ToggleLightBright. Lighting, especially overlapping light sources, cause a drop in frame rate. Oblivion is not a First Person Shooter and has no online format where 'he who has FPS rules'. Dips in frame rate do not necessarily mean 'unplayable'.

 

You will need to exercise restraint when adding mods that use high poly models or increased texture sizes. Best advice is get a baseline without mods and then add one at a time. Test thoroughly between adding mods so you have a good idea how each affects your game. It's certainly alright to keep an eye on frame rates, but it's actual game playability that matters.

[FiftyTifty]

I'll shorten what I said in my first post: I get god-awful FPS when lights are involved. I can't stand playing at around 25 fps.

 

What are you on about, with my graphics card not being 'a candidate for TLB'? My fps increases by 5.2X! That's a MAJOR improvement. Though, it causes LOD buggery.

 

Incidentally, I've found that using the console command "slp 1" provides a 5-6 fps boon when lights are involved. Although shadows are no longer rendered by lights, It allows for interiors to have a stable 30fps.

 

If there is something going on in Oblivion with the lighting system which prevents me from having 50+fps when indoors/in cities (I get 50+ fps outdoors), I would absolutely love to find out what it is.

[Hickory]

The problem, quite simply, is that when there are lights, my FPS plummets. Say I'm in the starting dungeon. Soon as I go down those steps and find the hole in the ceiling, my FPS goes from 60+. to 42 (Yes, I've accurately measured this. RadeonPro.). Throw in a torch, and it goes down to 28 FPS.

 

Welcome to Oblivion. That is normal, no matter how powerful your rig.

 

 

I'll shorten what I said in my first post: I get god-awful FPS when lights are involved. I can't stand playing at around 25 fps.

 

No, you don't. You are focusing on FPS when you should be playing the game. Unless the game actually stutters, your eyes will not care one iota for FPS.

 

 

If there is something going on in Oblivion with the lighting system which prevents me from having 50+fps when indoors/in cities (I get 50+ fps outdoors), I would absolutely love to find out what it is.

 

Yes, it's called an old game engine. Striker is right, Oblivion is not a shooter where FPS 'rulez!' Let me tell you that some people would kill to get the frame rates you are quoting.

[Striker879]

The quote about ToggleLightBright was to illustrate what it was introduced for ... so that people with marginal equipment back shortly after the game was released could play (and Bethesda could receive their money). For years after Oblivion was released it was one of the top tests for kick-ass hardware. That same game engine that brought bleeding edge hardware of yester-year to it's knees hasn't been updated to take advantage of any of today's hardware's advances (and some of those advances, like multi-core CPUs are nearly totally wasted on Oblivion ... CPU GHz are king for this game).

 

My own hardware is older and slower than yours (Core2 Duo @ 3 GHz and 2 GB RAM and an old 9800GT with 512 MB VRAM). I'll take your FPS if you're not happy with them.

[FiftyTifty]

OffTopic/

 

You guys are just telling me to 'deal with it'? Sheesh. Great help guys.

 

"No, you don't. You are focusing on FPS when you should be playing the game. Unless the game actually stutters, your eyes will not care one iota for FPS."

I know what I see. When I go from being smooth as silk @ 30 fps when looking at the ground (or @50fps when I'm outside), to a near-slideshow when my camera pans over a light, I notice it. It's awful. Every time I move my camera, I'll happen upon a light, and my framerate slows to a crawl.

 

\OffTopic

 

I've now found that typing 'slp 1' into the console removes shadows being rendered, and nets me an average of 4 fps. 21 fps is better than 17, but it's still far less than the 30+ people normally get. Heck, the XBOX360 gets a steady 30fps.

[Striker879]

The Oblivion Tweak Guide that I linked has a lot of tips for optimizing the game.

[Hickory]

You guys are just telling me to 'deal with it'? Sheesh. Great help guys.

 

What do you want? A solution that doesn't exist? Tell you what... when you come up with it, please share.

[SoulReaver911]

Oblivion Stutter Remover is capable limiting the fps.

You might try setting the cap to 30, so that when it drops, it's not as noticeable, and over time, your eyes will adjust.

And thanks for all the console tips FiftyTifty, I'm going to see if two of them will help my setup.

Edit: Also, lowering the Specularity slider will increase performance when it comes to lights and how far away their effects can be seen.

Edited May 16, 2013 by SoulReaver911