Fallout 4: why is this happening??

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

My computer specs:
-i5 4460 3.20GHz
-MSI GTX 970 4GB
-Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz 2x4GB Dual Channel 8GB kit
-1920x1080 LG monitor
-500w Corsair CX Bronze
-1TB WCD Hard drive
-ASRock Z97 Anniversary Motherboard
-Windows 7 Ultimate

Hi community

Simply put when I try and play Fallout 4 no matter what settings I am on and when I'm in a city be it Lexington or Diamond city I just get big dips down to 45fps when overlooking buildings and structures, I get a clean 60fps in the wasteland open forest areas which is great and all. I have tried the latest game ready driver but that makes fallout and my other games play terrible and I mean awfully so I rolled back my driver.

All my other games such as Killing Floor 2, Skyrim, Fallout 3, Metal Gear Phantom Pain I can all play Ultra. Killing floor is amazing and I am so glad my system can play it swimmingly.

Why is this happening? Is the game just terribly un-optimized or is there something wrong with my system and Steam won't give me a refund as well which is a pain..

Please help!

sizzling · Nov 13, 2015

Its a very demanding game, that performance sounds right. You can always tweak a few settings. Maybe new drivers when they are released will help a little

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

So what's wrong with my system? ie CPU, GPU

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

Don't I basically have the best cpu for my socket as I've been told the i7 4770k is the best socket 1150 but comparing each of them they are similar power wise? how can I play Fallout 4 at a constant 60fps on at least high settings.

Cons29 · Nov 13, 2015

maybe it's a game related issue. i think assasins creed had something like this. or was it oblivion or something. the game series is not really known for flawless game launch

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

So on paper is my CPU good enough to get a constant 60fps or is it the games faults that I am getting these issues... please tell me its the games fault

Cons29 · Nov 13, 2015

i don't know, i don't own a copy and not part of the team who made the game. google a little, if others are having the same issues then maybe it's a game issue. 45fps is not bad, just play the game. they should be able to patch that

gotovato · Nov 13, 2015

The performance you're getting sounds about right. Aside from updating your gpu driver, and lowering a setting or two, fallout4 seems to be very CPU heavy in some areas. A few early benchmarks show that even a 6600k has trouble maintaining 60fps. Dips down to 45fps sound right. This may be fixed in a patch but for now that performance seems right

sizzling · Nov 13, 2015

What is your CPU and GPU usage when you get these dips? I wouldn't be surprised if you are actually maxing your gpu

James Mason · Nov 13, 2015

Your being overly picky.
It's not a problem that it's dropping FPS.
You can try disabling v-sync and then caping your FPS though, as v-sync can be overly taxing: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2856750/fallout-sync-fps-locking-mouse-acceleration-sensitivty.html

And you can turn off Godrays as well since they're also pointlessly taxing.

FO4 doesn't even use 100% of my i3's porcessing, and your i5 is quite a bit stronger. It's your GPU that's not able to max it and keep it at 60. But that's because some graphics settings are unfairly taxing, and don't really add anything you can notice.

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

Would adaptive vsync help?

James Mason · Nov 13, 2015

Wayfall :

no, you're going over your GPU's "real vram" cap, and hitting the 3.5 limit, and going over it is giving you performance hits.
Turn down the settings for things like AA and god rays, and shadows.

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

What can I use to monitor my vram? I have some msi software that came with my gpu that is apparently meant to monitor my card including vram but it doesn't work, keeps not responding.

James Mason · Nov 13, 2015

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+monitor+vram+usage

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

Linked picture - http://imgur.com/qEBEg0M

Why am i getting low fps on recommended settings. Makes no different what settings i change same low fps.

Cons29 · Nov 13, 2015

again, 45 is not bad. if you're being picky, would you stop playing the game just because it dips to 45? i mean, sure, with the amount we spend on hardware we want good performance. but there's also the software side. it's a new game, there will be bugs and perf issues.
good thing you don't have 120/144hz, otherwise you'd probably be really pissed now

Wayfall · Nov 13, 2015

But why is it my gpu isn't at full load when im indoors the gpu is at 25% while outdoors it 50-75%

James Mason · Nov 13, 2015

Cons29 :

I do.
I capped it at 60. But that first conversation with Preston was super weird because everything was out of sync.

Wayfall · Nov 15, 2015

Why is my GPU not at full load?

Cons29 · Nov 15, 2015

you said it yourself, all you other games that you mentioned plays well.
so if you think about it, same hardware, different game, it should give you the answer

Wayfall · Nov 16, 2015

How often did they patch Skyrim then we can presume when they will patch Fallout 4 if they ever do that is.

Cons29 · Nov 16, 2015

you could also do some research about those

Jonathan Cave · Nov 16, 2015

Wayfall :

The specific setting which results in FPS drops in Lexington , or Diamond City Markets is Shadow Draw distance.

Change this to medium for minimal FPS loss and visual fidelity.

I have spent countless hours looking into this - The draw count required jumps to 7000 units on high setting when compared to 2000 units on Medium.

My computer specs:
-i5 4670k 4.2GHz
-EVGA GTX 980 Ti 8GB
-DDR3 1600Mhz 4x4GB Dual Channel
-3840 x 2160 Acer XB280HK monitor
-850w XFX Black Bronze
-Samsung 840 Pro SSD
-MSI G45 Gaming z87
-Windows 10 Pro

Some Testing i completed:

- Running Fullscreen imrpoves FPS by ~3 BUT re-introduces microstuttering in camera movement.
- Running Shadow Distance - Medium vs High improves FPS by 5 at 4k Resolution. (Screenshots below for comparison)

- Running Rolled back driver resulted in ~2fps loss.
- Lighting Quality - set to medium as "In Fallout 4, the impact of the effect is subtle, and only truly observable during dialog when characters and the action are static, and the camera's close to an actor's face" - according to Nvidia's tweaking guide found Here.

- Screen Space Reflections - Reduce performance alot in busy area's and just reflect images in water. not worth the hit imo

Final Settings:

Resolution - 3840 x 2160 ( Windowed Borderless - to fix Microstutter but lose ~3fps)
Antialiasing - OFF- increased FPS @ 4k
Anisotropic Filtering - 16 Samples
Texture Quality - Ultra
Shadow Quality- Medium - Best for performance / vidual fidelity tradeoff i found
Shadow Distance - Medium - Best for performance / vidual fidelity tradeoff i found
Decal Quality - Ultra
Lighting Quality- Ultra
Godrays Quality - Low - higher settings i dont see any difference but a massive drop in performance
Depth of Field - Standard
Ambient Occlusion - SSAO
Screen Ambient Reflections - Enabled
Wetness - Enabled
Rain Occlusion - Enabled
Motion Blur - Disabled- personal preference
Lens Flare - Enabled

madmatt30 · Nov 16, 2015

^ excellent info mate - will be trying those settings out myself.

Wayfall · Nov 16, 2015

Ye I already have my shadows on medium on both settings and god rays off and all the other small settings such at the rain wetness off

Fallout 4: why is this happening??

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