Fallout 3 having lag issues, need help

[SylEm]

My computer specs are in my sig. I have a samsung 22" widescreen lcd, and its native resolution is 1680x1050. Everytime I run fallout 3 on default settings (which is set for "High") it runs great, as long as I keep the resolution to something around 1200x1000 (or something like that). But if I move it to 1680x1050 the game lags at a ridiculous rate. I even changed the settings to "medium" and ran it at 1680x1050 and still same lag problems. Any ideas on how to fix this? I was told with my build I shouldn't have issues running it at 1680x1050.

Thanks!

 

[Dorkenstein]

Are you running the pip boy radio? If so, try turning it off.

 

[SylEm]

I don't know if it is enabled, what happens in the game that would make me know if it is or isn't enabled?

 

[Dorkenstein]

You would hear Enclave Propaganda or soothing Jazz all the time while walking around. I am guessing it's off in your case if you haven't noticed it.

Give a look-see at the Bethesda forums, lots of people are having graphics-related and lag issues. I think you might find your answer there.

 

[imported_protoz]

Looks like it's either your processor or video card if it's the 320mb version. I have a Q6600 and 8800GT running it at that resolution on High with AA on.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Yeah, that could do it too. SylEM, check your advanced graphics options at the launcher and make sure shadows and lighting are kept at tame settings.

 

[HeXploiT]

Well first off the "default" resolution of a monitor means absolutely nothing. It's an advertising gimmick. Usually nowadays with lcd that means it's the highest resolution your monitor will do.
Secondly with settings on "high" this undoubtedly means that aa is set to high. Oblivion @ 1680x1050 with 8xaa is taxing on an 8800gts so naturally Fallout 3 will be even harder on the system at these settings.
Turn your aa down to 2x or even off and it should resolve the issue. Another option is to turn down draw distance a little.
I would leave lighting on high as it makes a big difference in picture quality & realism.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Good advice also. I was kind of tricked by the graphics options. Had to manually change resolution by editing an *.ini file.

 

[SylEm]

Originally posted by: Perry404
Well first off the "default" resolution of a monitor means absolutely nothing. It's an advertising gimmick. Usually nowadays with lcd that means it's the highest resolution your monitor will do.
Secondly with settings on "high" this undoubtedly means that aa is set to high. Oblivion @ 1680x1050 with 8xaa is taxing on an 8800gts so naturally Fallout 3 will be even harder on the system at these settings.
Turn your aa down to 2x or even off and it should resolve the issue. Another option is to turn down draw distance a little.
I would leave lighting on high as it makes a big difference in picture quality & realism.

I did try that, and nothing changed, still had lots of lag. And yes, my card is the 320mb one.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Hmm, in that case just run the launcher and make sure you lower the advanced options, if you haven't already.

 

[astrosfan315]

I have the 8800GT 256mb card and a 4800+ AM2. It put me at High by default. In the vault it worked okay..but I went in and killed the 4xAA which you can't really tell that much of a difference and in the vault that helped tremendously. However, when I hit the wasteland it went from 50fps to 2 fps. So I changed:

-turned off vert sync
-reduced AF to 4 samples and AA to none
-turned off shadows
-turned off HDR

now I run 65-80 fps and it still looks great. With not having as much memory on the card as the 512mb version or bigger some of the stuff needs to be turned off so that the textures have space to load. I run WS as well and looks really good. That's all the tweaking I've done so far, but I'm sure the tweakguide guys will be putting something out.