18 replies to this topic

[Brixx]

Hello!

I just upgraded my PC with a new GPU, expecting better FPS. But in the case of MW:O, there aren't any more FPS than before.

I replaced my R9 280X with a Asus Strix R9 390 (yeah, I know the Asus-modell sucks, but I got it cheap).

Most other games run perfectly fine, e.g. Battlefield 4. Smoothest experience.

But for some reason, when playing MW:O, the GPU just won't hit its maximum core clock of 1070Mhz. Instead, it sits around 860ish on average. I know it's a dynamic clock with the R9 390s, but that would imply that it clocks down when it either gets too hot or isn't stressed enough. But it sits at around 60% load and my temps therefore - as the card is not stressed - stays at around 65°C for the core and at roughly 70°C for the VRMs.

The fact that I am seeing frequent drops to the mid 40s with High-Settings and Post-AA @ 1080p would say that maybe my card should boost up a little bit more. But it doesn't. It's a very jittery experience even when I get above 60FPS. It just doesn't feel smooth at all for some reason. I monitored frametimes as well and they don't seem to be that high and I don't see many spikes.

So why are there so many frequent FPS drops, why is the gpu clock not working properly, why is the GPU usage so low and why is it so jittery even way above 60FPS? As I said, it is working in every other game so far. I have some other games where the R9 390 won't go on full boost, but then it is because it doesn't need to

And I just can't imagine that I am running into a CPU bottleneck either. I know, the Xeon 1231v3 is not the fastest out there due to it's limited core clock, but it is still basically a Haswell-i7 that boosts to 3,7-3,8Ghz and has hyper-threading. Which afaik is supported by the CryEngine.

My other specs:

CPU: Intel Xeon 1231v3 with a Scythe Mugen 4
Board: MSI H97 Guard Pro
RAM: 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR 1600Mhz CL9
PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W
SSD: 840 Evo (MW:O is installed here)
Case: Corsair 500R with some additional fans
Driver: AMDs latest Crimson with hotfix.
OS: Windows 10

I also tried clearing the shader cache and ran the repair tool, which did not solve the problem.
And don't get me wrong, at some points, when not much is going on, I am getting well above 100FPS. But when some action is going on, I don't because CPU and GPU usage is so damn low.

Edited by Brixx, 03 December 2015 - 12:30 PM.

[Surn]

Turn on vsync and see if everything smoothes out to you monitor frequency.

It is now in you video settings screen.


It is also likely particles and glows are spiking..try to turn them off and see where you are. Then work back to your preferred visuals to find a balance.

[Brixx]

MechregSurn, on 03 December 2015 - 01:01 PM, said:

Turn on vsync and see if everything smoothes out to you monitor frequency.

It is now in you video settings screen.


It is also likely particles and glows are spiking..try to turn them off and see where you are. Then work back to your preferred visuals to find a balance.

V-Sync causes horribly squishy controls. I tried limiting via the Framerate-Control provided by AMD, but that didn't help either.

And yes, turning down the settings slightly improves FPS, but that still doens't explain why my GPU usage is so low.

I don't think I am supposed to rely on Medium settings to get 60FPS with a R9 390.

[Surn]

I use dual R9 290 and have my settings set very modestly to maintain a fluid 60fps @1440p. That includes vsync on, damage glow off, particles low, etc...

But I also have my AMD processor set with process priorities in the user.config, a batch file that sets my thread priority to high and closes a bunch of commonly running programs, and my gpu memory is hard coded in my user.config.

I have a R9 390x sitting for the last 2 months because I am unsure if drivers are ready for it to be used in this game. Previous AMD drivers are stable to 14.13 (14.5 driver version). I am due to try my hand with 1 or 2 390x.

[Goose]

Add

sys_physics_CPU = 1
sys_streaming_CPU = 0
sys_TaskThread1_CPU = 1
sys_TaskThread3_CPU = 0

to your user.cfg

Because you are a quad-core, that means there are more threads you'd need to find and move, from this list:

;ca_thread0Affinity = type: int current: 5
;sys_TaskThread2_CPU = type: int current: 4
;sys_TaskThread4_CPU = type: int current: 2
; lesser threads
;ca_thread1Affinity = type: int current: 3
;r_WaterUpdateThread = type: int current: 5
;sys_main_CPU = type: int current: 0
;sys_physics_CPU = type: int current: 1
;sys_streaming_CPU = type: int current: 1
;sys_TaskThread0_CPU = type: int current: 3
;sys_TaskThread1_CPU = type: int current: 5
;sys_TaskThread3_CPU = type: int current: 3
;sys_TaskThread5_CPU = type: int current: 1

where a "4" becomes a zero, and a "5" becomes a one, as you are only a quad.

But you can't move ca_thread0Affinity (so it's on one in your case,) and I know r_WaterUpdateThread is up on zero, as when I move sys_main_CPU onto zero, bad things happen.

See: I believe back on 22DEC2014, Teh Devs moved some threads around on their own, making the list I just showed you half as useful as it was prior. And if I was more energetic, I'd have already been able to tell you what is on "1" so you could move it without experimentation …

Also: If you'd been able to overclock to 4~4.2GHz, then things would have been simpler.

The game is supposed to be handling triple-buffering for v-sync on it's own, so you might need that new ATI driver with the frame-pacing tweak; Normally I talk up "sys_MaxFPS = 60" or 42, as it will bring up the minimum framerate, but what the hey. If V-sync and the framerate limit don't get along (you get micro-stuttering,) test each of a limit two points higher then lower.

I think you need to drop your Particles down to Medium, and Damage Glow to Off; Then you can test Shadows and Object Details, if that wasn't enough.

There is also the issue of Windows Power Plan not being set to High Performance …

And add "sys_budget_soundCPU = 5" to your user.cfg, also.

Keep in touch …

Edited by Goose, 04 December 2015 - 06:05 AM.

[Surn]

Well done Goose, I was at lunch and did not have my config in front of me.

The only thing I would add is that you can set you GPU memory options, which can make a big difference. a R9 390 likely has 8GB of memory. This game needs at least 512MB and probably 1GB of memory to run reasonably, as I ran some tests with 230MB of memory and frame rates were bad at all resolutions. I doubt PGI knows how to automatically optimize the game for 8GB of memory, so you need to figure that out.

If I get a chance,I will post my 4GB configs.

I might guess that your limitation is that the game is using 1GB of GPU Memory.

Edited by MechregSurn, 03 December 2015 - 06:33 PM.

[Modo44]

MWO is CPU-bound on most rigs. You can maybe tweak it a little via user.cfg, but it will still not use your GPU fully because it hits DX11 CPU bottlenecks. You would be better off with fewer cores on a faster CPU, like the 6700K. No, I am not kidding. My R390X is still underutilized playing MWO at 2560x1600 despite using the 4 GHz 4790K.

BTW, for the smoothest overall experience, use full window, turn the mouse sensitivity in MWO down to 0.1, and adjust mouse speed via drivers.

Edited by Modo44, 04 December 2015 - 12:27 AM.

[VagGR]

same issue with R9-290. no matter what, GPU usage never goes above 50%. after last patch though the game seems to be able to maintain 60fps (at mostly low settings including particles) so they may have changed something need to check it though i doubt it, i think they just optimised some parts of the UI.

and all that user file tweaking is nice and all but wouldnt it be better if PGI would just optimize their damn game? just saying.

[Goose]

MechregSurn, on 03 December 2015 - 06:31 PM, said:

I might guess that your limitation is that the game is using 1GB of GPU Memory.

I've seen the game overrun the VRAM on smaller cards alot, so "sys_budget_videomem = 8192" isn't gon'a change things here; If anything "r_ShadersUseInstanceLookUpTable = 1" being on a real short list of ways to make use of too much VRAM … but that unloads the GPU core, making the OP feel even worse.

Teh Gonzo Solution would be to turn on MSAA …

[Brixx]

Thanks for your replies so far.

I may have to add something: I don't think that V-Sync casues the jitters that I refer to. It's also not a drop in core clocks or frame-time spikes. It just feels like excessive micro-stutter, but I don't know why I would encounter it since I am not running a multi-gpu system.

One question remaining, as the user.cfg additions did not solve anything.

It talks about "TaskThreads". I do have a quadcore cpu, true, but it also has hyper-threading. Shouldn't it be 8 threads in this case? Or is this something the CryEngine handles itself?

Regarding VRAM: I use RivaTuner to monitor stuff and indicates a range of 1,3GB to 1,7GB of VRAM Usage. I have yet to see it demand more than 1,7GB. Therefore I don't think I am limited to 1GB of VRAM.

Another question: One thing that definitly adds to the very jittery impression - "micro-stutter" aside - is aliasing. It's just horrible. That's beyond what I would caul normal. I tried all anti-aliasing settings availble and even tried some driver-side improvements, but that effect is just insanely horrible. I feel a severe hit in FPS when I do that, but I don't see any improvements.

Mining complex is just the worst. I haven't seen a game that suffers from that much aliasing. I can live with some of it, but lasers in the distance get split into 3 or 4 "lanes".

And as someone mentioned the drivers. I just the latest AMD Crimson suit including the latest 15.11.1 driver. There are no more recent drivers.

Edit: Additionally, as i probably did not stress this enough in my first post, my CPU usage is also not very high. Like, both of them are sitting around 60-70% usage.

Edited by Brixx, 04 December 2015 - 03:48 PM.

[Goose]

Brixx, on 04 December 2015 - 03:40 PM, said:

It talks about "TaskThreads". I do have a quadcore cpu, true, but it also has hyper-threading. Shouldn't it be 8 threads in this case? Or is this something the CryEngine handles itself?

Nope: The game lists numbers zero though five. Hyperthreading is effectively invisible to this system: Place two threads on a single core, and as long both of them don't go over 50%, or ether goes over 55, and the hardware handles it …

Brixx, on 04 December 2015 - 03:40 PM, said:

Another question: One thing that definitly adds to the very jittery impression - "micro-stutter" aside - is aliasing. It's just horrible. That's beyond what I would caul normal. I tried all anti-aliasing settings availble and even tried some driver-side improvements, but that effect is just insanely horrible. I feel a severe hit in FPS when I do that, but I don't see any improvements.

I would'a said you have the horsepower for run 2EQx, or whatever ATI calls it.

The in-game Post + ReShade, for the SMAA, is OK, as it simply choosing the in-game "FXAA." But MSAA 4x is beyond all non-SLI users …

Brixx, on 04 December 2015 - 03:40 PM, said:

Edit: Additionally, as i probably did not stress this enough in my first post, my CPU usage is also not very high. Like, both of them are sitting around 60-70% usage.

An over-all 60~70%, on a Hyper-Threaded Quad, can mean anything I want.

Did you get "sys_budget_soundCPU = 5" into your user.cfg?

[M T]

Xeon's are usually not very high clocked right?

This game requires a recent Intel at 4+GHz for some decent frames. Preferably higher.

[JSmith7784]

I run this game on my I7-950 @ 3.5Ghz with 12gb ram and an EVGA770SC at 1080P, all high settings. Without combat going on I regularly see 100fps or higher on most maps. During combat I'll see anything from 40's to 80's. Once and a while I'll see a stutter, but usually I get a smooth gaming experience. I haven't changed anything in my config file. Using Logitech ARX I can monitor my CPU/GPU in real time using my iPad. My CPU seems to be using all 4 cores and even the HT cores. My GPU will spike to 100% during the loading screen, but usually hovers around 70-80% in game.

[Brixx]

MTs Cavia Porcellus, on 04 December 2015 - 04:32 PM, said:

Xeon's are usually not very high clocked right?

This game requires a recent Intel at 4+GHz for some decent frames. Preferably higher.

It's got 4x3,4Ghz, but the actual possible all-core boost is 3,6Ghz with the possiblity of boosting one core to 3,8Ghz or three cores to 3,7Ghz.

But unlike i5s, it compensates some of it through hyper-threading, which those i5s lack.

It's basically a 4790 non k with 200Mhz less.

I can't imagine that this would cause a day and night - difference.

I just played the Tukkayid-Event: My CPU had a usage of 30(!)%.

Edit: Here is my CPU usage after a full match on Dessert:



27% CPU Usage!

Edited by Brixx, 05 December 2015 - 03:37 AM.

[Brixx]

I just disabled HyperThreading and I see a severe increase in CPU usage. But that does not actually equal to THAT many more FPS. I think I saw some some improvements though.

CPU usage went up to close to double the HT-On-value. Now CPU usage is around 75%. And also now my GPU boosts too its max core clock. So I guess that actually solved it and brought me to my actual bottleneck.

Or did I just misinterpret the values? Because I expected some more improvement FPS wise when jumping from 35% usage to 75% usage. I rely on the usage value provided by Windows Ressource Monitor.

Or should I actually multiply the HT-On-Value by 2?

Edited by Brixx, 05 December 2015 - 05:52 AM.

[Goose]

… Because dividing by four instead of eight yields …

[Tarl Cabot]

Generally, iirc, disabling HT is done to allow more overclocking room. The higher the speed, the more MWO likes it.

But for your CPU, it really can not be OC very much, only way to get anything out of it is to increase the bclk (CPU BCLK Setting - default 100mhz)

http://www.miyconst....v3-overclocking

[xe N on]

MWO is quite bad programmed and provide quite bad graphics for it's high hardware consumption mainly because of it's intense CPU reliance.

However, if you want to be successful in MWO anyway, reduce everything to low except textures. All this fancy graphics just distract you from the main goal ... to melt enemy mechs apart.

I found to play alot of better if not eye blinded by all these smoke/laser/jumpjet/muzzle-flashes/gloom.

I use a Xeon 1230V2 (HT disabled) and a Radeon 7870. Usually I get min. 60 frames even in heavy combat ... and are actually able to see something with all these effects disables.

Edited by xe N on, 07 December 2015 - 11:42 AM.

[Brixx]

xe N on, on 07 December 2015 - 11:38 AM, said:

MWO is quite bad programmed and provide quite bad graphics for it's high hardware consumption mainly because of it's intense CPU reliance.

However, if you want to be successful in MWO anyway, reduce everything to low except textures. All this fancy graphics just distract you from the main goal ... to melt enemy mechs apart.

I found to play alot of better if not eye blinded by all these smoke/laser/jumpjet/muzzle-flashes/gloom.

I use a Xeon 1230V3 (HT disabled) and a Radeon 7870. Usually I get min. 60 frames even in heavy combat.

I am actually more on the casual side. So I play it because I love battletech and MechWarrior. Therefore going all low on options is simply not an option