What is wrong with Borderlands 1? FPS degrading more and more in-game.

[The_Golden_Man]

Update: Turns out it's the Steam version of the game causing low GPU usage and FPS degradation, not the retail version! Retail version has 90 - to almost 100% GPU utilization in-game, higher framerate and no FPS degradation!

I've recently discovered that my retail version has version 1.4.1.0 of the Borderlands EXE file, while my Steam version has version 1.4.2.1 of the Borderlands EXE file. Now if I could get hold of the older 1.4.1.0 version for Steam to test with.. hmmm..

So, I've searched the net and found others with the same problem.

After I've played the game for an hour or so FPS is slowing more and more down. I have disabled FPS Smoothing, disabled Dynamic Shadows, DOF, Ambient Occlusion and use only one of my GTX 670's at 1920x1200. Seeing 80 - 120FPS the first hour or so. After that it seems to slow more and more down.Yesterday I played it for over an hour and was starting to see the 50FPS mark. I've tried with Vsync on, every in-game setting on and SLI, and have seen it as low as under 40FPS if I remember correctly. In-game settings does not affect it, it slows down no matter what. Seems like some kind of memory leak. Only thing helping is to restart the game.

This is the Steam GOTY edition. It's a great game, but this is very annoying.

And no, it is not temp related. All my temps are great and are perfectly fine in all other games.

So what's up with this?

System specs in signature.


Others with the same problem:

Here is a guy with the excact same problem http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=127260

Also, there are more threads on the net. Found no solution

http://forum.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366573

Graph from the above link showing the problem:

Update:

I've found the cause of the problem! It's the fucking Steam version of the game which is causing problems!!

I got hold of a Borderlands GOTY retail edition and installed the latest 1.41 patch.

Here is what happened, I uninstalled the the Steam version, backing up my savefiles from my documents folder, I installed the retail version in drive C: instead of my Steam partition, I copied back my save files, tuned everything the way it was in-game in the Steam version and loaded up the same spot - Krom's Canyon....

First of all in this retail version I had around 205 FPS on that same spot VS 140 - 145FPS in the Steam version, secondly my GTX 670 nr.1 (Disabled SLI when testing. Also because Borderlands 2 runs like crap in SLI) had almost 100% GPU utilization now. I think Steam version had around 60 - 70% with one GPU (If it was that high at all!), also Kepler boost was up from 900 something MHz in the Steam version to almost full boost - 1124MHz, and lastly, the FPS did not degrade after a while! It was steady! Also, when alt-tabbing out to task manager, Total memory use now shows about 3.3GB using the Borderlands retail version, when compared to about 4.3GB using the Steam version of the game.

Something is wrong with the Steam version of this game. I think the links I posted earlier to people with the same problem, also used the Steam version.

I'm glad I finally found the cause of it. This has been very annoying to say the least! I wonder if I can install my Steam version again and try to copy the Retail version over it! I would like to have my Steam achievements activated!


Update:

So I installed my Steam version again (Took a Steam Backup before I uninstalled the game), just out of curiousity. Started the game again, with the same settings as the retail version. GPU usage again went down from almost 100% in the retail version down to 65%, also FPS was 135FPS when loading up Krom's Canyon compared to 205FPS in the retail version, and FPS started to drop gradually when just standing there. When this happens GPU utilization also started to drop. And again, as stated earlier, the retail version does not have this FPS degradation over time!

So what I will try now is to take the ini files from the retail (Which was in my documents game folder from the retail version) and copy them over the files Steam installed. If that doesn't work I will try ini files from the Borderlands (Where game is installed) folder and copy them into Borderlands Steam folder.

Update 2:

Tried to overwrite various config files, folders and stuff from the retail version to the Steam version. All to no avail. When owerwriting config files the Steam version still performed like shit and overwriting various other files and folders and the game did not run.

The retail version works perfect though. I really want my achievements when playing, but looks like I'm out of luck here. Well, at least the game works like it should now. So this has nothing to do with the Nvidia drivers, it's the Steam version of the game causing it. Probably something that affects Nvidia cards only.

 

[Aikouka]

I had an issue with one of the mods that you use in conjunction with Oasis (the Ned Particle Patch or whatever it is). It would randomly cause my game to drop down to 5-10 FPS. I removed it, and my game works fine.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

I had an issue with one of the mods that you use in conjunction with Oasis (the Ned Particle Patch or whatever it is). It would randomly cause my game to drop down to 5-10 FPS. I removed it, and my game works fine.

I was talking about Borderlands 1, not Borderlands 2.

 

[Aikouka]

Umm I am talking about Borderlands 1.

 

[DaveSimmons]

A lot of games have memory leaks or resource leaks and need to be restarted after an hour or two.

Older Bethesda games were notorious for crashing if you play them for too long, though I haven't seen it with Skyrim.

I also ran into this with Mass Effect 1, which is an Unreal engine game like BL 1.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

Umm I am talking about Borderlands 1.

Oasis? Is that a location in Borderlands 1? I thought that was the Location for the new DLC in Borderlands 2..

Anyway, I tested Borderlands 1 again now. I started at the beginning in Krom's Canyon. Had 120FPS. After about half an hour I was down to 70FPS. There is something wrong with this game and new hardware/drivers. As I've said, I've searched a little on the net, and I think this happens mostly on newer hardware/drivers.

I wish there was a solution. By the way, I use no mods for this game.

 

[Synthet1X]

Oasis? Is that a location in Borderlands 1? I thought that was the Location for the new DLC in Borderlands 2..

Anyway, I tested Borderlands 1 again now. I started at the beginning in Krom's Canyon. Had 120FPS. After about half an hour I was down to 70FPS. There is something wrong with this game and new hardware/drivers. As I've said, I've searched a little on the net, and I think this happens mostly on newer hardware/drivers.

I wish there was a solution. By the way, I use no mods for this game.

Do you check your resource manager when you experience the drop?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Oasis is a very well-known mod for BL1 that adds a hub for fast travel to locations that Gearbox neglected to add in their DLC, and also added travel to user mods.

http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/End-User_Created_Content

Gearbox apparently liked the name and borrowed it for BL2.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

Okay, So I loaded up the game with SLI enabled. My character just stands besides the Fast Travel station in Krom's Canyon, looking forward against the vendor machines. It started out at 140FPS and after about 10 to 15 minutes it's down to 100FPS, and still falling...

 

[The_Golden_Man]

Here is a guy with the excact same problem http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=127260

Also, there are more threads on the net. Found no solution

http://forum.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366573

 

[frozentundra123456]

Here is a guy with the excact same problem http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=127260

Also, there are more threads on the net. Found no solution

http://forum.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366573

I did not notice that problem in Borderlands 1 or 2. However, I have seen the problem in Skyrim and Dragon Knight Saga, which I believe is based on the oblivion engine. I never found out the what caused it. The games would start out with decent framerates and gradually slow down to the point of unplayability. The problem would not happen if I lowered the settings though. And it seemed to go away in Skyrim after the patch which lowered the CPU demands.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

I have two things to try out here.. I can try Borderlands on my secondary PC, which has 2x 5770 Crossfire. I'm sure it will be fine there, as I think this is a Nvidia latest generations graphicscards/driver issue.

I could also try out a non Steam version of the game.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

I've found the cause of the problem! It's the fucking Steam version of the game which is causing problems!!

I got hold of a Borderlands GOTY retail edition and installed the latest 1.41 patch.

Here is what happened, I uninstalled the the Steam version, backing up my savefiles from my documents folder, I installed the retail version in drive C: instead of my Steam partition, I copied back my save files, tuned everything the way it was in-game in the Steam version and loaded up the same spot - Krom's Canyon....

First of all in this retail version I had around 205 FPS on that same spot VS 140 - 145FPS in the Steam version, secondly my GTX 670 nr.1 (Disabled SLI when testing. Also because Borderlands 2 runs like crap in SLI) had almost 100% GPU utilization now. I think Steam version had around 60 - 70% with one GPU (If it was that high at all!), also Kepler boost was up from 900 something MHz in the Steam version to almost full boost - 1124MHz, and lastly, the FPS did not degrade after a while! It was steady! Also, when alt-tabbing out to task manager, Total memory use now shows about 3.3GB using the Borderlands retail version, when compared to about 4.3GB using the Steam version of the game.

Something is wrong with the Steam version of this game. I think the links I posted earlier to people with the same problem, also used the Steam version.

I'm glad I finally found the cause of it. This has been very annoying to say the least! I wonder if I can install my Steam version again and try to copy the Retail version over it! I would like to have my Steam achievements activated!


Update:

So I installed my Steam version again (Took a Steam Backup before I uninstalled the game), just out of curiousity. Started the game again, with the same settings as the retail version. GPU usage again went down from almost 100% in the retail version down to 65%, also FPS was 135FPS when loading up Krom's Canyon compared to 205FPS in the retail version, and FPS started to drop gradually when just standing there. When this happens GPU utilization also started to drop. And again, as stated earlier, the retail version does not have this FPS degradation over time!

So what I will try now is to take the ini files from the retail (Which was in my documents game folder from the retail version) and copy them over the files Steam installed. If that doesn't work I will try ini files from the Borderlands (Where game is installed) folder and copy them into Borderlands Steam folder.

Update 2:

Tried to overwrite various config files, folders and stuff from the retail version to the Steam version. All to no avail. When owerwriting config files the Steam version still performed like shit and overwriting various other files and folders and the game did not run.

The retail version works perfect though. I really want my achievements when playing, but looks like I'm out of luck here. Well, at least the game works like it should now. So this has nothing to do with the Nvidia drivers, it's the Steam version of the game causing it. Probably something that affects Nvidia cards only.

 

[n7]

You can swap saves between steam and retail just fine, unless they are different versions.

 

[I4AT]

That's usually the sign of a memory leak. Maybe the latest patch for the Steam version has a compatibility issue with your hardware, or it's just game breaking for everyone. You can try searching for a way to roll-back to a previous version of the game in Steam, not sure how as I've never needed to, but it's probably do-able.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

If others would like to test if they are affected by FPS degradation in the Steam version of Borderlands please do the following.

Go to Steam Folder/SteamApps/Common/Borderlands/Engine/Config/ then open BaseEngine.ini. Search for "bSmoothFrameRate=" (without the quotes). It will be bSmoothFrameRate=True. Set it to bSmoothFrameRate=False. Keep in mind when doing this the game will reset all it's Video settings. Just set them back again. You will now have unlimited FPS instead of the 62FPS cap.

Use FRAPS or even better MSI on-screen display to monitor both FPS and GPU usage. Load up a savegame and just stand there looking at your FPS and GPU usage. It will only take a few minutes for the FPS and GPU usage to begin dropping if you are affected. In fact, it begins the moment you enter the game. It drops fairly slowly, but within 5 minutes it should have dropped at least 5 - 10FPS.

Would appreciate if others took the time to test this. This way we can report to Gearbox that the 1.42 Steam version of this game has a serious problem.

I guess most people does not see this because of the 62FPS cap. It can take up to an hour on a modern system before the FPS drops below that cap.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

I have found the problem!!

It was Nvidia 3D vision drivers causing the problem! I uninstalled both 3D Vision drivers and GPU utilization is up to the same levels VS Borderlands retail version 1.41, so are FPS and no more FPS degradation!!

Strangely Nvidia3D vision drivers did not affect the retail Borderlands GOTY 1.41 version, but only affected Steam version 1.42!

I'm so happy I've finally found the problem! It has been so annoying!

 

[gibman]

I have found the problem!!

It was Nvidia 3D vision drivers causing the problem! I uninstalled both 3D Vision drivers and GPU utilization is up to the same levels VS Borderlands retail version 1.41, so are FPS and no more FPS degradation!!

Strangely Nvidia3D vision drivers did not affect the retail Borderlands GOTY 1.41 version, but only affected Steam version 1.42!

I'm so happy I've finally found the problem! It has been so annoying!

Thank you so so much!!

I had a problem where my framerate was literally about 1 FPS even on the intro scenes and the menu system (odd for an i5 with a gtx 460.. when it was fine on my old machine with a 260). I removed Nvidia3D vision drivers and boom, it works like a dream.

 

[Aikouka]

I never saw that you found the problem, but I was wondering whether you have a nVision 3D capable system? I haven't played Borderlands 1 since the release of the sequel, but I never noticed any weird drops while playing through Steam with the 3D drivers installed. I do have a 3D-capable system though, which I wouldn't imagine would cause a difference as nVision 3D is currently disabled in my settings. I actually manually enable it using shortcuts I put on the desktop.

 

[peppaz]

No to resurrect a dead thread, but none had the simple answer that fixed my issues.

Run the Borderlands.exe in steamapps in compatibility mode for Windows XP, this will fix all performance issues including low gpu utilization.

Navigate to \SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Borderlands\Binaries\Borderlands.exe and go to properties, compatibility, and then set it to WIndows XP. Worked flawlessly, instant 70 fps from 23/ The game does not use the GPU on any other compatibility mode, including native windows 10.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I thought they fixed the low GPU utilization issue already. I have around 650 hours into BL1 and I never noticed any FPS degradation issues like the TC described almost five years ago.

 

[Alienware Gamer ALX]

it s your terrible gaming rig!
with my gt 750m it s perfect!

 

[Smoblikat]

I own the GOTY version of Blands on steam, and on my 7970 and 290X I never had any of the issues youre describing. Ark loves to drop to 0% GPU usage mid game though, but im pretty sure thats best case scenario with that "game".......

 

[Stg-Flame]

Just so everyone is aware, this topic was created in 2012.

 

[oobymach]

In willowgame.ini change the following to the values listed, much smoother gameplay without a thousand objects waiting 10-20mins to disappear, just so you know ragdoll removal is corpses and drop lifespan is all things dropped by enemies, I think it affects ammo boxes too, but lots of time to pick up stuff. If you find you need more time with drops change longliveddroplifespan to 300 (5mins), default is 1800 (30 mins).

[WillowGame.WillowPawn]
SecondsBeforeConsideringRagdollRemoval=60.0
SecondsBeforeVisibleRagdollRemoval=60.0
SecondsBetweenRagdollRemovalAttempts=1.0
SecondsBeforePhysicsShutsDown=15.0

[WillowGame.WillowProjectile]
SecondsBeforeConsideringRemoval=120.0
SecondsBetweenRemovalAttempts=1.0

[WillowGame.WillowPickup]
ShortLivedDropLifeSpan=120
LongLivedDropLifeSpan=150
PickupShrinkDuration=15