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Fixes For Performance Issues - Updated 1/3/2019

user.cfg performance Guide

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#1 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 08 September 2015 - 06:28 PM

This post contains tips, tricks, and tools to help you gain performance.

recent stuff
======================================================================================
Update 1/3/2019 - Windows Game Mode
Spoiler


Update 8/7/2018 - a few new tweaks to play with: Resolution and memory allocation.

Spoiler


Main Thread
===========================================================

This is the basic user.cfg that we're workin with right now, it doesn't include the custom options I mention above, those options are...... optional. If you expeience worsened performance, then delete the last commands in the user.cfg starting at "sys_job_system_enable = 1" and below (there are about 8 or nine commands at the bottom of the config that you would delete); Or if you want, you could just delete those if you wanna experiment with it, wont hurt nothin. But yeah, this is supposed to be max performance at any cost of quality.

Thanks for all the contributions. Here is a direct download of the user.cfg if you have trouble creating one. here

User.cfg Directions, and where to put it - This will help you control features unavaliable to you from the game settings. It'll help alot.

1. Make a user.cfg file if you dont have one (or download the one I supplied up top). Make a file named "user" with notepad and make sure it has the file extension .cfg. When you move your mouse over it windows should identify it as a config file.

This will go into your installation folder C:/program files/piranha games/ Mechwarrior online.

2. Paste all the stuff from the spoiler into it.

Spoiler


User.cfg Directions, and where to put it - This will help you control features unavaliable to you from the game settings. It'll help alot.

1. Make a user.cfg file if you dont have one (or download the one I supplied up top). Make a file named "user" with notepad and make sure it has the file extension .cfg. When you move your mouse over it windows should identify it as a config file.

This will go into your installation folder C:/program files/piranha games/ Mechwarrior online.

2. Paste all the stuff from the spoiler into it.

Note: sometimes user.cfgs dont work, in that case, rename it to "systemoverride" and save it.


Another note: if you decide to tinker, keep in mind that some values cannot be changed to 0, and some values are actually meant to be higher for improvements in performance. Do a little reading.

One more note, make sure its not saved as user.txt, or user.cfg.txt. It should be user.cfg



=========================================================================
Optional - Game booster

Gamebooster

I've also been experimenting with gamebooster (you can read about it below in some of the replies to this topic) Its standard options didn't impress me much, but I gave the two options "launch on game desktop" and "close explorer.exe" a try, and i was somewhat impressed with the performance boost. It basically turns the computer into a game console, with absolutely nothing else running apart from the game (no desktop, no start menu, absolutely nothing but the game). the performance boost I got was decent. Just make sure you have sound volume where you want it before you turn gamebooster on, because on some platforms the option to change sound might be disabled. If you wanna try game booster, follow these steps:

1. download gamebooster here, make an account with whatever email address you wanna use (can be a random *** address that you will never use again)

2. go to the utilities/or boost tab and go over all the options, make sure you have "launch on game desktop" and "close explorer.exe" selected (I would not use their "Game power solutions" option. I tried it and it actually set my power use to saving mode)

3. turn on "automatic boost" in the utilities/or boost tab

4. in the "games" tab, add Mechwarrior Online exe, C: program files/pirahna games/ Mechwarrior online/ bin 32/ MechWarriorOnline.exe (there is only one of these exe.s, and its in the 32 bin; if somehow there is also one in the 64 bin, add it too)

5. click on it after its added to the list. click the little play button, and enjoy.

6. The computer will revert to normal mode when mechwarrior is closed.



=============================================================================
Tips and tricks: There are also a few other things that you should check to make sure you are getting as many frames as possible.

1. Make sure computer power use is set to "performance,"

2. Make sure you have your graphics card interface settings set to "use application setting". If you have the option, make sure that you have thread optimization on. (I think only Nvidia users have this option)

3. try setting your desktop appearance to performance and not quality, there are also plenty of windows features you can turn off, all that extra junk you dont need. (Control panel/programs/programs and features/Turn Windows Features on or off)

4. Other hidden windows gadgets here - Open control panel/System and security/System/Change settings/advanced tab/performance button/ and then play around with that stuff.

5. Go to task manager, startup tab, and turn off a bunch of that stuff, we dont need Itunes helper running!!

6. Hold the windows key, and press R. Or open the "run" tool another way. Type in "msconfig." you can then go through the services tab and turn off things that maybe impacting your pc's performance.

7. Always use directX 9, check the option after every patch, sometimes it reverts. Running the repair tool will also likely revert it back to dx11

8. If you have MORE than 4GB of ram, make sure you are using 64-bit, if you have less than 4, use the
32-bit. (This option maybe unavaliable now)

9. Lowering your screen resolution in game will help. Try setting it as low as you can tolerate.

10. Disable your anti-virus while you play.

11. I disabled my ATI graphics console( the one that pops up in options when you right click on the desktop) and it freed up a lot of resources. Your graphics card, and all the drivers and stuff will still work, apparently you only need it running if you are messing around with it's settings for other games, which most of the time is pointless. I imagine the same can be done for the Nvidia console. You can disable it at startup through the "startup" tab in task manager.

12. Use a cooling pad if you have a laptop. Or, put a box fan on your desk, and set it on top of that, homemade cooling pad. I actually run my laptop with a normal desk fan to the side, blowing air across it, and pushing more air under it where the vents are. Believe it or not, this does help. Just dont set it up so its blowing the computer's heat exhaust back in (put it on the opposite side of the computer's fan)

13. Ive been made aware through your comments of an important feature called "turbo boost" for laptop users. Its a built in overclocking feature that speeds up the cpu over the factory recommended limit. But its regulated by standards that may hold your laptop back. This may actually directly effect your fan speed... and stuff, the theoretical result is that you get better performance. I honestly noticed no difference. Here is a link if you wanna take a look yourself http://www.tautvidas...el-turbo-boost/ provided byTarl Cabot. I'm just gonna leave it as default myself... I dont like messing with actual hardware settings. Also Im not responsible if anything happens to your pc. I dont think anything bad would happen though. Just read through the link, and take a look at this post here.

1. If you wanna give it a try, open control panel,

2. Select "hardware and sound",

3. Then select "power options"

4. select "change advanced power settings"

5. scroll to "Processor Power Management"

6. change "minimum processor state" to 98%

7. Change "maximum processor state" to 99%



========================================================================
Maintenance

1. Run the repair tool every so often, a corrupt installation is going to inconvenience you.

2. Delete the shader cache every so often, supposedly it may increase performance, worth a try.

3. Defrag the hard drive.

4. Shady pornography sites can give you viruses that slow your pc. Run a scan once in a while.

5. Blow the dust out of your computer so it cools better (dont use your breath, you exhale water; water is bad)
============================================================================
Lowest Possible Settings Through Attributes.xml

I was given this through support -

Hi Gigliowanananacom,

The best thing I could suggest you is to copy the attached attributes.xml file over to C:Users<your username>Saved GamesMechWarrior OnlineProfiles<your pilot name> folder, replacing the existing attributes.xml. These custom attributes will force the lowest possible settings for your MW:O client. It won’t be pretty and we can't guarantee that these settings will boost your performance to the level you are expecting, but they may help.

Regards,

Stella Ku
Technical Support Representative
Piranha Games


Attachment(s)
attributes.xml
============================================================================
General Troubleshooting - I am going to work on this section in the future, but this is a start.. a lazy start by me... (this is from support)

Stella Ku

Stella Ku (Piranha Games)

May 10, 12:02

Hi Gigliowanananacom,

I usually look at their computer data and send steps based on their specs. I will attach general FPS troubleshooting steps to this email that you can forward to them.

1) Run repair tool or verify game cache based on game client they use
Please try running the Repair Tool. It can be found on the Patcher, under the Options menu (Pictured as a Cog beside the Close/Minimize buttons). Give that a run, and make sure to check all the boxes point in the tool Options.

If you prefer to use Steam, please try to verify the integrity of the game cache for MWO running through your Steam app. To do so, in the Library tab of your Steam App, right click on MechWarrior Online and select 'Properties.' Now in the 'Local Files Tab', select the 'Verify Integrity of Game Cache' and wait for the app to complete Validating MerchWarrior Online files.

2) Update drivers using official websites

3) Make sure Windows is up to date
When you get a chance, please also check to see if there are any other Windows Updates that need to be applied and make sure to apply them.

4) Check Power Options
- Start Menu
- Search for and run Power Options
- If 'High Performance' isn't already selected, click the 'Show Additional Plans' arrow and select 'High Performance'

5) Clean shaders cache folder
When you get a chance can you please head over to the following location on your PC and delete the Cache folder located here and let me know if this issue persists:
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Saved Games\MechWarrior Online\Shaders

6) Remove Mechwarrior folder
Could you also try backing up and removing your MWO profile folder from C:\Users\<windows name>\Saved Games\MechWarrior Online and see if issue persists?

7) Ensure that all third party applications are turned off while running MWO

Cheers,

Stella Ku
Technical Support Representative
Piranha Games

Edited by Dillion Harper, 04 January 2019 - 10:41 PM.


#2 Kiiyor

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Posted 08 September 2015 - 06:37 PM

How much of this stuff is depreciated though? If you're seeing a performance increase, some of it must be working, but I thought the vast majority of these were disabled.

#3 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 08 September 2015 - 07:09 PM

View PostKiiyor, on 08 September 2015 - 06:37 PM, said:

How much of this stuff is depreciated though? If you're seeing a performance increase, some of it must be working, but I thought the vast majority of these were disabled.

As far as I know, there is know way to know what PGI has disabled (fill me in if there is a list). But yeah, i think alot of it does work, because there is definitely a noticeable increase. Im not finished with it either, Ive been reading the Cryengine 3 manual, and some guides, later I plan to do more tweaking. But i dont have the patience to go testing each command 1 by 1 to see what works. If it doesn't work, no harm done, if it does, then great.

#4 Kiiyor

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Posted 08 September 2015 - 07:14 PM

View PostGigliowanananacom, on 08 September 2015 - 07:09 PM, said:

As far as I know, there is know way to know what PGI has disabled (fill me in if there is a list). But yeah, i think alot of it does work, because there is definitely a noticeable increase. Im not finished with it either, Ive been reading the Cryengine 3 manual, and some guides, later I plan to do more tweaking. But i dont have the patience to go testing each command 1 by 1 to see what works. If it doesn't work, no harm done, if it does, then great.


Sounds good to me. I may test a lot of these, as I am currently running MWO on a potato (albeit a potato with a GTX970 attached).

#5 Ano

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Posted 10 September 2015 - 09:10 AM

View PostKiiyor, on 08 September 2015 - 07:14 PM, said:


Sounds good to me. I may test a lot of these, as I am currently running MWO on a potato (albeit a potato with a GTX970 attached).


Wut?

Madman!

#6 ApolloKaras

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Posted 10 September 2015 - 09:22 AM

View PostKiiyor, on 08 September 2015 - 07:14 PM, said:


Sounds good to me. I may test a lot of these, as I am currently running MWO on a potato (albeit a potato with a GTX970 attached).

I'm curious ... what processor are you running? lol

#7 Kiiyor

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Posted 10 September 2015 - 02:18 PM

View PostSaxie, on 10 September 2015 - 09:22 AM, said:

I'm curious ... what processor are you running? lol


A Q6600!

#8 S1man

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Posted 12 September 2015 - 01:41 PM

Thank you very much man. I was compiling my own user.cfg for hours last week from multiple sources but water and lasers was still too good by some reasons, I was really glad to see your version disables it just as I wanted.

Also I myself tweaked your .cfg a bit, lowering some values as I seen in some other guides:

First I set this values from 1 to 0, since in cryengine official documentation this parameters min value is 0:
Spoiler


Disabled Flares
Spoiler


Lowered physics parameters:
Spoiler


Switched to trilinear filter
Spoiler


And limited dynamic lights count (default 8 as well as I know)
Spoiler

I will also try some other tweaks I know about, and if it will prove itself useful will upload my version of user.cfg.

Edited by S1man, 12 September 2015 - 01:43 PM.


#9 visionGT4

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Posted 15 September 2015 - 01:39 AM

Thanks for putting this together guys, im playing on a laptop (amd A10-570m & 8970m) and have been messing around with user.cfg for about 6 weeks to improve performance. The cfg listed here is amazing if your looking for pure performance. Thanks again!

#10 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 15 September 2015 - 10:18 AM

View PostvisionGT4, on 15 September 2015 - 01:39 AM, said:

Thanks for putting this together guys, im playing on a laptop (amd A10-570m & 8970m) and have been messing around with user.cfg for about 6 weeks to improve performance. The cfg listed here is amazing if your looking for pure performance. Thanks again!

Glad it helped, as long as people are using this, I guess Ill keep trying to improve it, I know there are some more things I can do with particles. PGI disabled the ability to remove smoke and fog completely, but I can still slow down the refresh rate of particles so that they look more slideshow like, with static pictures updating every 30 frames or so. Ill work on that next. Particles are one of the biggest problems for performance, they have smoke and fog everywhere, and it doesn't help when every corpse is spewing fumes out.

#11 Oldbob10025

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Posted 03 October 2015 - 02:24 PM

I hope this helps... I've made a video on a program called razer that helped me in my games by not running back ground programs.. here it is



#12 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 05 October 2015 - 09:07 PM

View PostOldbob10025, on 03 October 2015 - 02:24 PM, said:

I hope this helps... I've made a video on a program called razer that helped me in my games by not running back ground programs.. here it is



Thx for taking the time to try to help people; and for posting your video. I have used game booster in the past, and it usually caused a bit of instability on my computer. More than one computer too. But that was a few years ago; I had wrote it off and forgot about it. I am still weary of its quirks but maybe ill give it another shot.

#13 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 07:53 PM

Hey, thought it would be important to add this; check your in game settings after EVERY patch. In my case, it reverts back to DX11 every time. I only just recently noticed this, Its only been doing it for the past 3 patches for me. But its worth checking. DX11 can be a major drag on performance.

#14 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 06 April 2016 - 04:59 PM

Still adding stuff, if anyone has any suggestions for boosting performance, please send it my way and ill add it.

#15 Tarogato

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Posted 06 April 2016 - 05:38 PM

View PostGigliowanananacom, on 08 September 2015 - 07:09 PM, said:

As far as I know, there is know way to know what PGI has disabled (fill me in if there is a list). But yeah, i think alot of it does work, because there is definitely a noticeable increase. Im not finished with it either, Ive been reading the Cryengine 3 manual, and some guides, later I plan to do more tweaking. But i dont have the patience to go testing each command 1 by 1 to see what works. If it doesn't work, no harm done, if it does, then great.


If you look at your omicron.log after loading up the game, it will tell you which commands weren't recognised (therefore disabled).

#16 Tarl Cabot

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Posted 06 April 2016 - 07:47 PM

Since you have a section concerning laptops, older laptops have issues trying to maintain a more steady FPS, disable Turbo boost. Many players have had success with it.

http://www.tautvidas...el-turbo-boost/

Set to min/max at either 98% or 97% instead suggested 99%. For some 98% made no difference but 97% did. I believe it may have had to do with the number of OC steps that may be available.

Edited for clarification.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 07 April 2016 - 05:26 PM.


#17 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 06 April 2016 - 11:38 PM

Ok, updated it again, keep throwing me suggestions if you got em.

Thank you a thousand times for your imput!!!!

i also got rid of all the little work notes i had all over the place, kind of looks like a legit guide now

Edited by Gigliowanananacom, 07 April 2016 - 12:08 AM.


#18 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 03:54 AM

View PostTarl Cabot, on 06 April 2016 - 07:47 PM, said:

Since you have a section concerning laptops, older laptops have issues trying to maintain a more steady FPS, disable Turbo boost. Many players have had success with it.

http://www.tautvidas...el-turbo-boost/

Set to 98% or 97% instead suggested 99%.

did you mean set the minimum to 97%, and the maximum to 98%? I dont understand, please reiterate.

#19 Tarl Cabot

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 05:41 PM

View PostGigliowanananacom, on 07 April 2016 - 03:54 AM, said:

did you mean set the minimum to 97%, and the maximum to 98%? I dont understand, please reiterate.

edited original post. Set min/max at 97% or 98%. For most setting it at 98% worked but a few had to set it to 97%.

#20 MechWarrior319348

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Posted 29 April 2016 - 04:36 AM

Ive added a new section

Antivirus programs


Ive also given Game booster its own section, I feel its a critical part of my game play experience,

===================================================================

I added one more little note in there that I didn't want you to miss. did this a little later. read it in the main thingy though, not here





"Actually I ended up just turning that feature off entirely. I dont need it to tell me that I'm putting work load on my CPU. Turning off features like this can free resources. You might also find that if you open task manager and view processes, things such as the system runtime, or system idle are actually in cahoots with your antivirus program. They are bouncing info back and forth trying to create a firewall."


Edited by Gigliowanananacom, 29 April 2016 - 04:35 PM.






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