FPS issues, Game too fast/slow, stuttering

[MissFortune]

Hello

 

I have this problem with New Vegas; after a fresh install, the game seems to run too fast, yet at the same time it stutters, like it's skipping frames.

 

What I've tried:

 

- reinstalled the game like 10 times already...

 

- VSync On/FPS clamp off = game runs too fast at times, like my character is Flash, and yet there's a slight stutter/frame skipping

- VSync Off/FPS clamp off = above problem but game is even faster

- VSync On/FPS clamp on = game runs smoothly, but when there's a lot going on or I'm in graphically demanding places, the game goes into slow motion

- VSync Off/FPS clamp on = same as above

 

- tried Stutter remover ... from what I can tell it does the same as FPS clamp (?), per default the MaxFPS was set to 30, the game extremely slow, so I set it to 60, same problem I get

as with FPS clamp on

 

I don't know what else I could do anymore. :O I run the game on really low settings but it doesn't matter how low I turn the settings, these FPS issues persist. There's absolutely no difference in performance whether I turn settings to the maximum or to the minimum.

 

I also have the newest GPU drivers.

 

My system:

OS: Windows 7

CPU: i7 950 @ 3.07 GHz

RAM: 12 GB DDR3

GPU: MSI GTX680 Lightning

 

I don't have any problems with other games. Can run Farcry 3, Tomb Raider on highest settings without any issues... just good ol' Fallout, my favourite game, that won't run properly.

 

 

Appreciate any help and any ideas on what else I could try.

 

/edit:

 

I forgot to add, I have this problem whether I use mods or not. But just for good measure, my load order currently:

 

FalloutNV.esm=1
DeadMoney.esm=1
HonestHearts.esm=1
OldWorldBlues.esm=1
LonesomeRoad.esm=1
GunRunnersArsenal.esm=1
T6M Equipment Replacer NV.esm=1
Lings.esm=1
Project Nevada - Core.esm=1
Project Nevada - Equipment.esm=1
Project Nevada - Rebalance.esp=1
Project Nevada - Extra Options.esm=1
AWorldOfPain(Preview).esm=1
Interior Lighting Overhaul - Core.esm=1
AWOPLowLootMWeaponsArmor.esp=1
AWOP Tweaks.esp=1
T6M Unique Item.esp=1
T6M Dead Money Armor.esp=1
Legion_Modernization.esp=1
Immersive Karma.esp=1
KillingKarmaFix.esp=1
Bullet Impact Increased LOD.esp=1
BetterGamePerformanceV4.esp=1
Project Nevada - Rebalance Complete.esp=1
CASM.esp=1
EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp=1
LingsPrettyThings.esp=1
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp=1
The Weapon Mod Menu.esp=1
G43.esp=1
ILO - A World of Pain.esp=1
ILO - GS Shack.esp=1
ILO - PipBoy Light.esp=1
Interior Lighting Overhaul - Ultimate Edition.esp=1

Edited May 16, 2013 by MissFortune

[drbeavis]

I'm assuming you've tried the mods Better Game Performance (http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/40128//?) and/or New Vegas Configator (http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/40442//?) If you haven't, I'd try messing with those. Next, I would do a little digging around to see if you have a past version of Direct X installed, I know that, since Fallout is a few years old, that it may be a little wonky if you only have a Direct X 11 installation...I'm not sure how that stuff works, but that is definately where I would be looking.

[SMB92]

Here are some tips for your system:

 

MAKE SURE YOUR SETTINGS ARE ULTRA!

1. Go find Game Companion, this is for Fake Fullscreen mode.

2. To get GameCompanion working, disable fullscreen and Vsync in NV.

3. Disable AA and Anistropic filtering in NV -AND YES, you can turn on Vsync in Nvidia CP, it won't hurt GC (doesn't on AMD anyway, and produces better frames).

4. Enable 4x SSAA in Nvidia CP, and 8x Anistropic Filtering. Set it to override all applications for now

5. Quickly check NVSR - make sure maxFPS is 60, make sure minimum is 10, but make sure bAllowSlow is 0. Also ensure bfastExit is 1.

6. Get NV Configator/Open it

7. Look for the Multi-threading settings. Try them all on. Include MT audio, this is in a separate area in Configator from the other MT settings.

8. Change Object LOD/Fade to 35000 and TreeLOD to 35000.

9. Set all the other fade settings to 12 (Object, item, NPC).

10. Make sure HDR and Bloom are not on at the same time.

11. Open up fallout.ini and falloutprefs.ini. Whatever timescale you plan to use in game, i.e 5, change the following line to HALF your timescale: bLODfadeseconds (just press Ctrl+F in notepad, look for bLODfade)

12. Turn Max Decals down from 10 to 8.

13. Make sure use of Shader Model 3 is on.

14. Change shadow resolution to 1024

15. Set Max Shadows and Interiors and Exteriors to 3 and 5 respectively.

16. Set Water multi sampling to 2, down from 4. With Soft reflections enabled, it is useless at 4x.

 

Now these are my recommended setting for that rig only. With that LO, your game should be running at 60FPS. Also I wonder if you are deliberately using that loadup of Project Nevada, because not all the files are there. There are 5/6 esp files needed. Now if you still experience lag, check for audio codecs on your system, such as FFDshow, and disable them whilst in NV at least.

 

The biggest setting that are responsible for lag and stutter (like stutter you get when walking around the wastes outside) are the Object/Tree fade sliders. experiment with what works for you with these. The fade settings (ones that go to 15 by default max), can be left at 12. 15 might be too much for your 950. Also, the next best taxing thing is AA, surprisingly many have found the higher quality the method (i.e Multi sampling vs Super sampling) the better the performance. 2x SSAA override in your GPU CP will have a massive difference then 4x, as far as the eye can see with fps anyway. Personally I wouldn't play the game at less than 4x AA, but with my recommended settings 4x AA should be fine for you.

 

make sure you set Game Companion to be run as administrator. You can do this by going to program Files after install, right clicking on GameCompanion.exe, select properties, and under "compatibilty" tab, make sure Run as admin is checked. I had problems with this not running as admin, so advise you do this. Then make sure you close and reopen GC. By default GC doesn't make a desktop shortcut, but will start on Windows boot, so it's best to create a shortcut while your there in Program Files.

 

Please post back with our results :).

[MissFortune]

First of all, thank you both very much for taking the time to answer!

 

Here are some tips for your system:

 

MAKE SURE YOUR SETTINGS ARE ULTRA!

1. Go find Game Companion, this is for Fake Fullscreen mode.

2. To get GameCompanion working, disable fullscreen and Vsync in NV.

3. Disable AA and Anistropic filtering in NV -AND YES, you can turn on Vsync in Nvidia CP, it won't hurt GC (doesn't on AMD anyway, and produces better frames).

4. Enable 4x SSAA in Nvidia CP, and 8x Anistropic Filtering. Set it to override all applications for now

5. Quickly check NVSR - make sure maxFPS is 60, make sure minimum is 10, but make sure bAllowSlow is 0. Also ensure bfastExit is 1.

6. Get NV Configator/Open it

7. Look for the Multi-threading settings. Try them all on. Include MT audio, this is in a separate area in Configator from the other MT settings.

8. Change Object LOD/Fade to 35000 and TreeLOD to 35000.

9. Set all the other fade settings to 12 (Object, item, NPC).

10. Make sure HDR and Bloom are not on at the same time.

11. Open up fallout.ini and falloutprefs.ini. Whatever timescale you plan to use in game, i.e 5, change the following line to HALF your timescale: bLODfadeseconds (just press Ctrl+F in notepad, look for bLODfade)

12. Turn Max Decals down from 10 to 8.

13. Make sure use of Shader Model 3 is on.

14. Change shadow resolution to 1024

15. Set Max Shadows and Interiors and Exteriors to 3 and 5 respectively.

16. Set Water multi sampling to 2, down from 4. With Soft reflections enabled, it is useless at 4x.

 

Now these are my recommended setting for that rig only. With that LO, your game should be running at 60FPS. Also I wonder if you are deliberately using that loadup of Project Nevada, because not all the files are there. There are 5/6 esp files needed. Now if you still experience lag, check for audio codecs on your system, such as FFDshow, and disable them whilst in NV at least.

 

The biggest setting that are responsible for lag and stutter (like stutter you get when walking around the wastes outside) are the Object/Tree fade sliders. experiment with what works for you with these. The fade settings (ones that go to 15 by default max), can be left at 12. 15 might be too much for your 950. Also, the next best taxing thing is AA, surprisingly many have found the higher quality the method (i.e Multi sampling vs Super sampling) the better the performance. 2x SSAA override in your GPU CP will have a massive difference then 4x, as far as the eye can see with fps anyway. Personally I wouldn't play the game at less than 4x AA, but with my recommended settings 4x AA should be fine for you.

 

make sure you set Game Companion to be run as administrator. You can do this by going to program Files after install, right clicking on GameCompanion.exe, select properties, and under "compatibilty" tab, make sure Run as admin is checked. I had problems with this not running as admin, so advise you do this. Then make sure you close and reopen GC. By default GC doesn't make a desktop shortcut, but will start on Windows boot, so it's best to create a shortcut while your there in Program Files.

 

Please post back with our results :smile:.

 

I tried everything you listed and unfortunately it did not resolve the issue. While changing the settings, using GameCompanion and forcing AA, Vsync and stuff through Nvidia Control Panel did have some effect on performance (for better or worse), it did not affect the main issue... game is still either too fast with frame skipping (fps clamp off) or goes into slow motion sometimes (fps clamp on).

In case you're wondering, no I don't mean the Bullet Time feature of Project Nevada ;-)

I also tried all of that with and without stutter remover. Again it seems to have the same effect that fps clamp has.

 

Oh and about Project Nevada. I don't use the Cyberware portion of it, that might be the one missing. When you install PN via fomod, you can choose which modules to install so I figured that would be okay if I didn't use all of them.

 

I'm assuming you've tried the mods Better Game Performance (http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/40128//?) and/or New Vegas Configator (http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/40442//?) If you haven't, I'd try messing with those. Next, I would do a little digging around to see if you have a past version of Direct X installed, I know that, since Fallout is a few years old, that it may be a little wonky if you only have a Direct X 11 installation...I'm not sure how that stuff works, but that is definately where I would be looking.

 

I did try both of these and messed with them aplenty ;-) What I haven't tried is different version of Direct X. I didn't know you could have multiple Direct X version installed on your system.

 

What version would you recommend? Sorry for asking but there's so many.

 

 

Thanks again both of you for your help.

Edited May 18, 2013 by MissFortune

[SuperMegaSuperMega]

You have a similar system to mine and are having similar problems. This is what I did to solve the problems I was having. Can't guarantee it will work for you but give it a shot. I tried so many things and through trial and error, testing and reading what others have done I created these steps to get it working.

 

1.

Use the fnv4gb fix from Nexus Mods.

Place the fnv4gb.exe and fnv4gb_helper.dll in:

C:\Games\Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout New Vegas

Create a shortcut for fnv4gb.exe and place it on the desktop. Launch Fallout New
Vegas with this shortcut but launch the game once through Steam first before using
the fnv4gb.exe Shortcut.


2.

Find C:\Games\Steam\Steamapps\common\fallout new vegas\Fallout_default.ini and edit using notepad.

Change the following:

iFPSClamp=0

and change it to:

iFPSClamp=60

This is for a monitor with a refresh rate of 60hz. This fix works whether vsync is switched on or off. If for some reason you can't set your refresh rate on your monitor/lcd then change "iFPSClamp=" to whatever your refresh rate is.


3. Use the Nvidia D3D9 Perf Fix from Nexus Mods and place the d3d9.dll file in:
C:\Games\Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout New Vegas


4.

Use MSI AfterBurner and in the MSI On Screen Display Server setup a profile for
FalloutNV.exe and set the FPS limit to 60. Also make sure "Enable compatibility
with modified Direct3D runtime libraries" is enabled.

 

 

Hope it helps.