Getting low fps on a high end machine

Post by **Cygnus the Blue** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:02 am

Hey all,

I don't know what the problem is here. I have a high end machine yet Q4's fps still fall into the 30s and 20s. Even playing on recommended settings (high quality, 800x600) the game still lags.

My average fps isn't always in the 30s and 20s, but at certain points (when theres alot of action or in large open areas of maps or both) it does lag.

I've noticed from playing online that alot of other people are complaining about lag. I don't think the fps should fall in the 30s and 20s on a high end machine like mine, and especially when running recommend settings.

Any ideas? Anyone else having similiar problems?

Specs:
Geforce 7800GTX 256mb
Athlon FX-55 2.6ghz
2gb Corsair Twin-x ram

ps-I have the lasest version of directx, nforce amd 6.70 drivers, and the 84.21 drivers for my video card. I was having problems with the latest video card drivers so I switched back to 84.21. All my other high end games (CS:S, DOD:S, COD2, FEAR, Battlefield 2, e.t.c.) run fine.

Post by KO » Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:56 pm

Its a decent setup for Q4. You will get low 20's if your playing with >8 players on small map or gametypes like deadzone where every player converges on a specific area.

Are you using much AA / AF ? I would'nt reccommend going above 4x on both. Can be a fps killer.

Also "r_forceambient" 0.1 to 1 will save you 20-30fps.

Post by KO » Tue Aug 08, 2006 3:42 pm

Also using OpenAL can be a fps killer if you aint got an X-fi card.

Even if you have an X-fi card, it can still take alot of fps..

With 32 buffers, 6% cpu utilization
64, 11%
70, 12%
72, 24%
75, 48%
80, 63%
100 buffers uses 93% of my cpu.

Possibly to much calculating for the x-fi-chip when you have 60+ voices and cmss3d-headphone mode. Maybe just a driver issuse or bug.

Use seta s_maxChannelsMixed "24"

Post by **Cygnus the Blue** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 6:00 pm

I have the AA turned to off in Q4 but I'm not sure if Q4 uses AF when in high quality mode (I have both AA and AF both set to application controlled under the nvidia control panel). So I tried turning the AF to off under the nvidia control panel and played at 800x600 high quality, but I still get lag in the open areas of maps, like in the open areas of the ctf maps when theres a decent amount of players on screen.

I also tried changing r_forceambient to 1 but it really degrades the graphics quality so I turned it off.

Also my soundcard doesn't support openal, so thats not cousing any lag.

So you think this is normal for my system?

Also I forgot to mention that my soundcard does not support openal at all, so I can't use it even if I wanted too. My sound system is set to default, sound device is set to generice hardware, eax advanced hd is disabled.

Post by **Ver1tas** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 6:48 pm

I was curious how many FPS couldst my older PC get with the Ambient Light option (PR 1.3)

Testbed and Methods I.

CPU: Athlon XP 3200+
RAM: 1024 MB (400MHz)
VGA: ATI Radeon 9800XT

ATI CATALYST 6.4

1024x768, Medium Quality, Shadows off, Bump Mapping off - id_demo001.netdemo (Quake 4\q4base\demos)

Without Ambientlight: (r_forceAmbient "0")

timedemo: 59,18 FPS

With Ambientlight: (r_forceAmbient "1")

timedemo: 87,28 FPS

Difference: 47,48 %

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Testbed and Methods II.

CPU: Athlon XP 2500+
RAM: 512 MB (333MHz)
VGA: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro

ATI CATALYST 6.4

1024x768, Medium Quality, Shadows off, Bump Mapping off - id_demo001.netdemo (Quake 4\q4base\demos)

Without Ambientlight: (r_forceAmbient "0")

timedemo: 47,10 FPS

With Ambientlight: (r_forceAmbient "1")

timedemo: 68,30 FPS

Difference: 45,01 %

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Testbed and Methods III.

CPU: A64 3800+
RAM: 1GB 566MHz
VGA: Geforce 6800 Ultra

ForceWare 91.31

1024x768, Medium Quality, Shadows off, Bump Mapping off - id_demo001.netdemo (Quake 4\q4base\demos)

r_forceAmbient "0" = 76,91 FPS

r_forceAmbient "0.1" = 107,11 FPS

r_forceAmbient "0.3" = 107,09 FPS

r_forceAmbient "0.5" = 107,21 FPS

r_forceAmbient "0.8" = 107,19 FPS

r_forceAmbient "1" = 106,33 FPS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I suggest you to run this timedemo (playnettimedemo id_demo001.netdemo)You should get at least 85 - 90 FPS with your PC.

Post by **raw** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:23 pm

Do you work for Veritas or something or do you just like their products?

Post by KO » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:15 pm

r_forceambient 1 is too bright, use 0.5, anything over 0 is same fps boost.

Post by **Cygnus the Blue** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:32 pm

Can someone tell me the name of the demo that you run to get your average fps? And its timedemo (demoname) to run the demo in Q4 right?

oops I missed that KO at the end of your message, nm

Post by **Cygnus the Blue** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:55 pm

1280x1024, high quality, no AA or AF, r_forceambient=0: 60.44 fps
1024x768, high quality,no AA or AF, r_forceambient=0: 60.22 fps
800x600, high quality, no AA or AF, r_forceambient=0: 60.36 fps

So I should be getting about 25 or 30 fps more?

Kinda strange that my fps remains 60 even when lowering the resolution.

Post by **Tormentius** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:12 pm

KO wrote:... You will get low 20's if your playing with >8 players on small map or gametypes like deadzone where every player converges on a specific area...

:icon27: No, he shouldn't see fps drops into the 20s on that hardware if his system is even half decently configured.

Post by KO » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:24 pm

Yes Cygnus, its 60fps cap, use:
r_swapinterval "0" to disble vertical sync.
"PlayNetTimeDemo id_demo001"

Post by **Cygnus the Blue** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:37 pm

I have v-sync disabled already and its set at appliciation controlled under the nvidia control panel.

Very odd.