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FPS Issues in Borderlands 2

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  • Video Games
Last response: in Video Games
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July 6, 2014 9:10:01 AM

Hello TH, So I have recently built 2 new systems, one for my lovely wife and myself. The specs are almost identical but ill give them to you anyways. Mine is i5 2500k, G.Skill 8gb 1333, ASRock Z77 Extreme4, 120gb Samsung EVO, 2x 500gb Seagates,Antec HCG 750w, Corsair H60, XFX R9 280x Black edition. Hers is i5 2400, unbuffered generic 8gb, ASRock Z75 Pro3, 1tb WD Green, EVGA 750w, Corsair H60, XFX R9 280x non over clocked edition.. So we both have Physx enabled via ini file being as our cards are AMD, with everything else maxed out, with the frames set to 120, with vsync enabled on both. Her system runs it perfectly and never slows down at all. But mine will drop down to like 11fps during heated battles and explosions, while her system is pumping out 50-70FPS!? I have played around a lot with the CCC settings to see if it was something there, with no luck. Do I have a bad card? should I under clock it? Any thoughts? or do you need more info? Thanks in advance for any insight to my issue!

More about : fps issues borderlands

July 6, 2014 9:56:09 AM

Having an AMD card pretty much kills your performance with anything PhysX-related. Being PhysX an Nvidia-optimized technology, if it doesn't find an NVidia GPU in the system, it'll fall back to the CPU with heavy and unoptimized libraries.
It would be your best bet to set it to low.

Also, setting it by ini-file changes nothing from setting it in-game. All options are unlocked for any card (I tried setting max PhysX on my old 6870 before my current 290x, with obviously a huge dip in FPS), and anyway, setting them by ini file actually reverts them back if you start the game by launcher and confirm option changes.
The only way to keep ini configurations permanent are either setting the file as read-only or adding the "-nolauncher" parameter to Steam; to do that, right click on Borderlands 2 in your Steam library, select "Properties" -> "Set launch options", type in "-nolauncher" without quotes and press OK.

I suppose that's what might have happened to you, as your partner might have launched the game and clicked yes on the "Save settings" prompt, switching PhysX back to low :p 

As a side note...aren't 750w PSUs a bit overkill for a 280x?
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July 6, 2014 10:01:41 AM

Hmm I don't think that's the issue, The setting stays on high no matter how its launched. Also PhysX isn't running off the CPU, There is no usage change what so ever from when its low, medium or high. It just doesn't make any sense why hers is able to power through it, while mine dogs it..
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July 6, 2014 10:04:47 AM

drydenspyduh said:
Hmm I don't think that's the issue, The setting stays on high no matter how its launched. Also PhysX isn't running off the CPU, There is no usage change what so ever from when its low, medium or high. It just doesn't make any sense why hers is able to power through it, while mine dogs it..


The PhysX has to be running off the CPU, unless it's not running. AMD cards don't support it, and their drivers divert it to the CPU. The only way PhysX isn't running on the CPU with your cards is if it's not running at all.

Have you confirmed that PhysX is actually running for her? It's pretty noticeable. Cloth should break apart when it gets shot, goop from dissolved enemies should flow down hills, etc.
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July 6, 2014 10:24:20 AM

Oh yes it is indeed running for her, I wonder if it has to do with my cpu being unparked, and hers parked... If what your saying is true that it relies solely on CPU then that makes more sense.. You would think that since mine is the more powerful CPU and being unparked it would run it better though, no? I don't have much running in the background either...
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July 6, 2014 1:20:08 PM

If hers was parked and yours wasn't, it would run worse on her PC and better on yours. And anyway, if Windows works his magic right (a thing which it usually doesn't do), it will park and unpark cores dynamically when needed. As Rationale explained, PhysX either runs on an Nvidia GPU or on the CPU, unless it's not running at all. The game also doesn't have the option to turn off PhysX, and even by forcing it off from ini settings, it will run at low, so it MUST be running on the CPU.

If you're sure PhysX is running on both PCs at the same identical settings, which means details, effects, FoV, PhysX, resolution, etc... then something quite doesn't add up here. It's simply not possibile to run PhysX effects on AMD-GPU powered systems without losing a lot of FPS, unless you've got a highly overclocked AMD CPU or a decently overclocked i5/i7 K-version CPU. I've tried with my ASUS R9 290x and my i5-4670, maxing out PhysX makes me go from the 150~250 FPS range down to under 30 FPS in combat...

Are you absolutely sure every single setting from the in-game option menu is identical between the two PCs?
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