How to raise my FPS in a game? Way to low for my build!

[Artista]

I am playing Metro Last Light through Steam. (Also others but none stutter like this game) It was getting slow, stuttering, so I turned on the FPS tool and found my FPS drop down to lowest 8-12 but high as 250 at other times. I am not talking about loading times. I am talking about when the map is loaded and I am playing. Even just sitting the FPS suck at times (10-12 FPS).

I uninstalled all AMD drivers. Then used a driver uninstaller to make sure register clean and AMD folders gone. Then reinstalled all AMD drivers to latest Catalyst (non beta) drivers. Still not performing so great.

I installed the AMD gaming evolved app. Optimized to "Balanced" Did nothing. Uninstalled that and AMD drivers, reinstalled (again) AMD drivers only.

All other associated drivers installed through steam. (NVIDIA tool/driver for Radeon video card, etc)

My build (All factory default speeds)
Asrock Z 75 Pro 3 Mother Board
CPU: Intel Ivy bridge i5-3570k @ 3.4Ghz
RAM: 16 Gb Gskill 1600 RAM
GPU: AMD Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X Over Clock Version 4 GB on board video memory
Boot drive: SSD 256 GB (plenty of room left)
Game Drive: Seagate 1Tb 7200 performance hard drive
OS: Windows 7 pro
Screen: LCD-LED Hannspree 25 inch TV/monitor

Edit: Power supply: Antec Earthwatts EA-650 650 watt

What should I do? (over clock CPU to 4 Ghz?, overclock GPU with AMD software?, etc)

If I do overclock GPU, what setting do I use to not fry video card?

Thank you!!

 

[bystander36]

Download MSI Afterburner and monitor the CPU and GPU temps and usage. The most likely cause of that type of behavior is your CPU is overheating and throttling as a result.

 

[Gryz]

The biggest problem with the Metro games seems to be physics. It's been a while since I played it, and looked at it, but I kinda remember that many complaints went away when people turned off in-game physics.

AMD videocards don't have hardware-enabled PhysicX, that's only for nVidia cards. Even with nVidia cards the physics could be harsh on your system. But with AMD-videocards I think the physics stuff has to be computed on the CPU. Can be very painful.

So turn off all physics. I don't think it has any impact on gameplay. And hardly any impact on graphics. Hopefully that helps.

 

[IllogicalGlory]

I think the above is the answer. I remember having this problem as well. Turn PhysX off.

 

[TheELF]

First off put every setting on low and see if it stops,if it does stop it means that some setting kills the performance of your card.
cpu is more then enough to get you more then 10 fps.

 

[Artista]

I will try those solutions. I found my RAM at 1333 speed for some reason. I set it to 1600. I also overclocked my card a little with the AMD Catalyst overdrive.

I am not sure how to check if the CPU is throttling down while I am actually playing a game. FPS seem up a little but certainly difficult to play in a heavy action scene.

Sad. Next time I will buy a NVIDIA top end card.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I assume your TV is 1080p? If so, there is something wrong. That system should have no problem with MLL at 1080. As others said, make sure physX is turned off. I played the game on a HD7700 and an old i5 cpu. If I recall correctly, I could run medium at 1080p.

 

[Artista]

I assume your TV is 1080p? If so, there is something wrong. That system should have no problem with MLL at 1080. As others said, make sure physX is turned off. I played the game on a HD7700 and an old i5 cpu. If I recall correctly, I could run medium at 1080p.

Oops. Yes the TV/LCD-LED is 1080. Max 1920x1080

Yes, and thank you, something is wrong. I was wondering for sure.

I need to figure this out. It would be embarrassing to take my rig into a local computer shop to get tweaked. lol


How do I check for CPU throttling? I know I can look at CPU speed while on a regular screen. How do I see if CPU is throttling and see the RAM performance while gaming?

Is there software to tell where the bottle neck is at?

Thank you

 

[IllogicalGlory]

Turning off PhysX really is your solution. Here's someone who's had the same problem:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...-metro-light-causing-massive-frame-drops.html

Just untick that box (I think it's under "gameplay") and you should be good to go.

 

[bystander36]

Oops. Yes the TV/LCD-LED is 1080. Max 1920x1080

Yes, and thank you, something is wrong. I was wondering for sure.

I need to figure this out. It would be embarrassing to take my rig into a local computer shop to get tweaked. lol


How do I check for CPU throttling? I know I can look at CPU speed while on a regular screen. How do I see if CPU is throttling and see the RAM performance while gaming?

Is there software to tell where the bottle neck is at?

Thank you

Download MSI Afterburner, as said already. Monitor temps and usage on all the cores. Do the same with your GPU. If your CPU temps are high, throttling is likely occuring.

If your GPU usage is low, your CPU is holding you back. If your GPU usage is high, then your GPU is holding back. If PhysX is on, and temps are low, PhysX is the problem.

 

[Artista]

Download MSI Afterburner, as said already. Monitor temps and usage on all the cores. Do the same with your GPU. If your CPU temps are high, throttling is likely occuring.

If your GPU usage is low, your CPU is holding you back. If your GPU usage is high, then your GPU is holding back. If PhysX is on, and temps are low, PhysX is the problem.

I down loaded MSI after burner. How do I view the MSI console while playing the game? (I assume I monitor while playing?)

Should I use MSI afterburn to OC my card or AMD software?

Thank you

 

[MajinCry]

In CCC and/or RadeonPro, does setting Texture Filtering to "Performance" help?

And aye, you'll want to make sure your CPU isn't throttling.

 

[Headfoot]

PhysX turned up throttles this game hard. Make sure PhysX is not on high

 

[frozentundra123456]

I down loaded MSI after burner. How do I view the MSI console while playing the game? (I assume I monitor while playing?)

Should I use MSI afterburn to OC my card or AMD software?

Thank you

Most convenient is a second monitor. Otherwise you might be able to do it on one in windowed mode, but better to use a second monitor.

Basic rule though, is if you are having issues, set everything back to stock. I would try both the cpu and gpu at stock, monitor temperatures, and check cpu and gpu usage.

But again, *dont* ignore the physX issue. Even with an AMD card, I think it my be on by default, at least at higher graphical settings. If it is on, it will tank your performance with an AMD card, since it offloads it to the cpu.

 

[Artista]

Most convenient is a second monitor. Otherwise you might be able to do it on one in windowed mode, but better to use a second monitor.

Basic rule though, is if you are having issues, set everything back to stock. I would try both the cpu and gpu at stock, monitor temperatures, and check cpu and gpu usage.

But again, *dont* ignore the physX issue. Even with an AMD card, I think it my be on by default, at least at higher graphical settings. If it is on, it will tank your performance with an AMD card, since it offloads it to the cpu.

ok I will check by disabling the PhysX.

Also then the other stuff with a second monitor.

Steam installed PhysX on my computer so I could play PhysX game. I downloaded the latest and installed it to see if it helped. The FPS did go up so now in the opening I get 30-56 but in action scenes it bogs right back down.

Will try solutions and post the results.

 

[bystander36]

I down loaded MSI after burner. How do I view the MSI console while playing the game? (I assume I monitor while playing?)

Should I use MSI afterburn to OC my card or AMD software?

Thank you

There are a few ways. Go to the settings in MSI Afterburner and go to the Monitoring tab. From there, there is a list of things you can track. You have a few options on how to track them:
1) You can use OSD (on screen display), which will show over the game in a corner.
2) You can simply show it in the graph, on the main MSI Afterburner page. So you'd game, then exit the game, and you can see a history of what the temps and usage was.
3) You can use a Logitech LCD to display the information.

 

[tweakboy]

Change resolution to 1440p insetad of 1920x1080

Use 16x AA normal AA .... and it will boost your framerate a bunch. Also if tearing doesnt bother you turn off the vync.. gl. vsync on no tearing and smooth mouse and game play. GL

 

[daveybrat]

What's the make/model of your power supply?

 

[Artista]

What's the make/model of your power supply?

Antec Earthwatts Model EA-650, 650 Watts Max


I tried activating the Lucid Virtu MVP which in addition to my graphics card can use the integrated Intel 4000 chip to off load some work. It didn't seem to help.

 

[Headfoot]

Oh you need to turn Lucid Virtu totally off and uninstall it.

I had a buddy who has a 290 and 2500k build and would have his games randomly drop frames and run terrible. Took me hours and hours of googling but I finally figured out it was because of the Lucid Virtu driver, even if you dont have it turned on. It's a total piece of junk. Uninstall that, turn PhysX to off or low (I cant remember what the lowest setting for it is in M:LL) and report back

He couldn't get more than like 30 FPS in Mass Effect 2 when Virtu was installed

 

[mysticjbyrd]

You should contact support on the game's forums.

 

[daveybrat]

Antec Earthwatts Model EA-650, 650 Watts Max


I tried activating the Lucid Virtu MVP which in addition to my graphics card can use the integrated Intel 4000 chip to off load some work. It didn't seem to help.

From Sapphire's website:

System Requirement 750 Watt Power Supply (Suggestion)
2 x 8-pin AUX Power Connector
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive for installing software
PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard.

The only thing i don't like is that the Earthwatts model you have has split dual 22A rails. I tend to like a solid single rail power supply better. Also that unit is only 80-plus certified rather than a Bronze or Gold 80 unit.

It is a good power supply but i'd still consider a newer model from EVGA or Corsair personally.

 

[boozzer]

I have the same gpu and I can get 60+ easily on max. and I also have ivy as cpu, so almost the same setup.

there is something sucking up your horse power.

have you try other games? or is it just this game? the answer should narrow down your problem/cause. only this game = 100% game related. across all games is 100% hardware bottle neck somewhere or virus.

you need to find out what the problem is before you can fix it.

 

[Techhog]

I will try those solutions. I found my RAM at 1333 speed for some reason. I set it to 1600. I also overclocked my card a little with the AMD Catalyst overdrive.

I am not sure how to check if the CPU is throttling down while I am actually playing a game. FPS seem up a little but certainly difficult to play in a heavy action scene.

Sad. Next time I will buy a NVIDIA top end card.

There's nothing sad about it. Nvidia made PhysX, so it runs off of CUDA and doesn't work on AMD cards.

 

[Artista]

I loaded CPUZ and see that my Ivy bridge CPU core speed at rest is 1599 Ghz then when I open something it goes up to 4Ghz. I know my motherboard is set for minimum speed 1500 GHz Max 4Ghx (Turbo Mode). I guess that eliminates CPU at normal temp?

Multiplier: 16

Bus Speed: 99.98 MHz (I thought bus speed was supposed to be higher with this setup?)

Edit: CPU Core Voltage: .92v-.968v


Looking at better PS: Below

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...C-102215-Index-_-PowerSupplies-_-17139051-S0F

Will test other things one by one to find the cause. Just been busy.