Assassin's Creed 4, i5 3570k + HD 7850 can't get a constant 60fps on low...

mike2012 · Apr 1, 2014

Hi guys. I have a build with an i5 3570k processor and an HD 7850 graphics card. This build plays other games fine. I can play BF3 on medium at 60fps with 64 players at 1920x1080. I can play Tomb Raider on high at 60fps at 1920x1080. Even Crysis 3 on high never drops below 30fps.

But I just got AC4 today. I turned every detail to minimum or off and I'm still seeing drops to 50 fps. Is this a driver issue or something? I should easily be able to crank up settings and still get 60fps.

Or is the game just unoptimized?

i7Baby · Apr 1, 2014

You should try Googling first. Take a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHo3WPDXcmo

mike2012 · Apr 1, 2014

i7Baby :

That doesn't help. For me, the FPS will go all the way down to 20.

Any input from anyone who's actually played it?

i7Baby · Apr 1, 2014

So have you done a google search? The video shows fps down to 29 anyway and using a 3770k. Maybe if you o/c your card and cpu you can do better. Different games will play different fps and different scenes play different fps.

Also look at - http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1894236/assassins-creed-estimated-performance.html
and http://youtu.be/oeib2tnh4KU

Keep on googling. Have a look at the stuff listed below. Maybe that's all you get with a 7850.

mike2012 · Apr 2, 2014

i7Baby :

I guess I'll just have to wait for them to patch it then.

There's no reason this game should drop to 20fps on maximum settings.

There's no reason the game should drop to 20fps on maximum settings.

It seems it's an issue with the game, not my rig.

BF3 with 64 players never even drops that low.

I mean I could settle for 30fps; but my rig should easily be able to get 60fps. The game doesn't look that great. An i5 should not bottleneck this game. An HD 7850 is way above the recommended requirements, yet drops to the 50's on low.

No other game drops to the 50's on low.

mr91 · Apr 3, 2014

mike2012 :

i7Baby :

I guess I'll just have to wait for them to patch it then.
There's no reason this game should drop to 20fps on maximum settings.

There's no reason the game should drop to 20fps on maximum settings.

It seems it's an issue with the game, not my rig.

BF3 with 64 players never even drops that low.

I mean I could settle for 30fps; but my rig should easily be able to get 60fps. The game doesn't look that great. An i5 should not bottleneck this game. An HD 7850 is way above the recommended requirements, yet drops to the 50's on low.

No other game drops to the 50's on low.

Did you buy the game or download a pirated copy?

mike2012 · Apr 3, 2014

mr91 :

Bought the game with my own money.

If I put everything on max, at times the game will drop to 20fps.

It's not using all my GPU or CPU.

I can get a constant 30fps all the time if I turn down some settings.

But on a rig that handles games like BF3 and Tomb Raider on high, I would expect more than 50-60fps on low.

Crysis 3 has way better graphics and I get 30fps on high. But I drop to 20fps sometimes in this game?

I guess I'll just have to wait for Ubisoft to patch it.

mr91 · Apr 3, 2014

It's good that you bought the game, Pirated games reduce performance, I've noticed that some of the people complaining about performance issue's in this game have pirated copies.

Your video card cannot handle this game at max settings @ 1080p, You would need a 780 ti to max out this game and get god frame rates.

The game is optimized for Nvidia however the game play is decent on the higher end AMD cards.

You should be getting more than 20 fps on low unless you enabled God rays and other resource intensive settings.

I'm sure in the future your fps will improve slightly however I wouldn't expect more than a 20% improvement.

Your system has the approximate power of a ps4.

mike2012 · Apr 4, 2014

mr91 :

Yes, I know I don't have the best system. But I should atleast be getting a stable 30fps on max. The problem is the game will drop to 20fps in certain areas. I could be sailing and get a stable 30fps; but then it drops into the 20's in certain areas.

And in those areas it's only using around 70% of the GPU. It's probably not maxing out my CPU either.

I just tested Crysis 3 at 1600x900 on high settings with SMAA on High. I rarely dropped below 30fps.

Game is unoptimized. Unfortunately, only Ubisoft can fix it.

mr91 · Apr 4, 2014

You have a decent system however it's not designed to play the game at max settings. This Game has a lot of technology such as god rays that require a lot of power. Ubisoft has already released patches and worked with Nvidia and AMD to improve the performance for this game.

Crysis 3 is optimized for AMD however if you set this game to Ultra and 8x msaa even at 1600X900 your fps would be quite low.

mike2012 · Apr 5, 2014

mr91 :

If you say so.

I could understand if the game was using 99% of the GPU and CPU but it only uses 70% of the GPU when it drops to 20. That's 30% of the GPU'S power untapped.

It's not that it's not designed to play the game on max. It's that developers are too lazy to figure out how to use 99% of the CPU and GPU.

Crysis 3 uses new technology; never drops to 20fps on high. BF3 uses new technology; never drops to 20fps with 64 players and 4x msaa.

Crysis 3 runs better because it's optimized. It can use 99% of 4 cores.

Same with BF3.

AC4 barely uses 3 cores.

That's a whole core of the CPU untapped.

But of course, AC4 is just that demanding right? That's the only next gen game that makes my system drop to 20fps. The only other game that drops to 20 is Crysis 3 on very high at 1080p; which understandable because it's one of the best looking games out there.

AC4 looks like a last gen game at times.

Tell me why AC4 is the ONLY game that drops below 60fps on MINIMUM SETTINGS..

I'm just gonna wait for them to patch it. Or wait for AMD to add new drivers.

mr91 · Apr 6, 2014

I just tried the game right now @ 1440p 90-95 % GPU utilization " not bad, I noticed an improvement"

I started playing Assassins creed from the beginning and Haven't played this game for a couple weeks.

Have you played any other games in the Assains creed series?

Cpu core 0 90-95% usage
Cpu core 1 38%
Cpu core 2 40%
Cpu Core 3 76%

I enabled PysX which you shouldn't because you have a AMD cpu and God rays.

Effects like God rays use lot of single precision compute like Tress fx with Tomb raider.

If you play Crisis 3 on ultra with 8x msaa, I think the game is as demanding or more deamnding than AC4.

Crysis 3 has been out for about a year and I agree it makes better use of the cpu and gpu resources however in my opinion AC4 is a better game and also looks really good!

Perhaps in the future AC4 will make better use of the CPU & GPU however for now they're doing a decent job. Ubisoft is a great publisher.

mike2012 · Apr 28, 2014

mr91 :

Yep, Assassin's Creed Revelations gives me a constant 60fps. Assassin's Creed 3 even runs fine at 30fps only dropping FPS in some parts of Boston.

I play Crysis 3 on high at 30fps. Maxes out most of my cores. I play Tomb Raider with ultra shadows with TressFX hair and it rarely drops into the 20's. Most of the times being at a playable 30-40fps.

You can optimize a game for a slow 8 core, but not for a fast quad core? Nonsense.

I'm just going to give up on Assassin's Creed with PC. You can spend all the money on PC hardware, have a fast CPU, a fast GPU, but it doesn't matter because certain developers just don't care about optimization.

Again, the game drops to 50fps on low. No other game does that.

I'm just giving on Assassin's Creed on PC. From now on, I'm just buying AC for consoles. Ubisoft just doesn't care for optimization.

I could go get a GTX 780 Ti and an i7, but for a game that doesn't even look that great? Not to mention I can play better games without dropping to 25fps? No, I won't.

This will be the last AC game on PC I waste my money on.

mr91 · Apr 28, 2014

I disagree the game looks amazing! It just needs a lot of gpu power.

You don't need an I7 for this game a regular gtx 780 should be enough for a good 1080p experience.

mike2012 · May 5, 2014

mr91 :

Everyone has their opinion.

My main point is dropping into the 40's and 50's on all low settings on this setup is inexcusable.

I would expect this performance from a entry level card.

Nearly PS4 level GPU and a faster CPU than the PS4; but drops into the 50's on low? Inexcusable.

It's only this game too. Every other game runs at high at 60fps no problem.

BF3 single player at times runs at 60fps on ultra.

1600x900 all low.

mr91 · May 7, 2014

I wish I could help you however this is the graphics industry and in my opinion the game looks amazing with the right hardware combination.

Unfortunately you will need to upgrade your graphics card to get the full potential out of the game, If I were you, I would play the other good games that work well with the hardware & play this game when upgrading in the future.

Good luck!

mike2012 · May 12, 2014

mr91 :

So basically no Assassin's Creed games right?

Gotcha.

I'll continue playing Tomb Raider on High at 60fps and BF3 on medium with 64 players at 60fps, Crysis 3 on low at 60fps, Civilization V on large maps at 60fps and ignore Assassin's Creed PC releases.

Ubisoft just can't take advantage of your hardware like Dice or Crytek.
AC3 was unoptimized, with AC4 I went "Maybe they can get it right this time". Nope. This is the last AC game I buy for PC.

Even a top end card that should play this game at constant 60fps with 8x msaa, the GTX 780 Ti drops.

If I ever upgrade it won't be to more than a 7870.

http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/877854-Assassin-s-Creed-Black-Flag-PC-Graphic

I could get a 7970 and still lag in this game.

mr91 · May 12, 2014

You should be okay with Assassins creed 1, 2, Brotherhood and revelations however AC3 and AC4 are better optimized for Nvidia cards.
I suggest you call Ubisoft and let them know your concerns, I've called them before they're very nice.

I read somewhere that Ubisoft is in some soft of business partnership with Nvidia for AC4 & Watchdogs however don't quote me it's just a rumor...

Read this thread below, The guy had a 290 and he to lower settings to play the game in 1080p

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2125456/assassins-creed-lagg.html

I recommend BF4 if you like bf3 and I'm sure your graphics card will give you a decent experience.

mike2012 · May 25, 2014

Well, I've concluded it's some sort of optimization issue.

In Havana if I look at a certain way whether 1080p or 800x600 the game will drop to 50fps on low. This would be acceptable for integrated graphics, but not for a system that plays next gen games on med to high settings.

So yeah hopefully they'll patch it.

Rationale · May 25, 2014

It's less of an issue with Ubisoft and more of an issue with AMD. AMD cards don't support many of the effects used in AC3 and AC4, such as PhysX, HBAO, or TXAA. When you try to brute force HBAO and PhysX on an AMD rig, you'll end up with really severe framerate drops no matter how Ubisoft coded the game.

Assassin's Creed 4, i5 3570k + HD 7850 can't get a constant 60fps on low...

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