Another FPS thread!

ApplesTheDestroyer

Horrible FPS?
So I was recently gifted this game and was overjoyed, having been a long player of the first one. However, the game is entirely unplayable for me due to extremely low FPS. I average 60-70 in the main menu, yet when the game begins, I'm down to 4-7. This makes it absolutely impossible to play, even as commander.

Specs below, I'm hoping someone might have some useful advice. I've tried everything from dropping my graphics, setting the priority to high, adjusting the resolution, disabling VSync and I've been linked to the tips and tricks thread half a dozen times. My PC isn't a super computer but it runs Battlefield 3/4 well enough, there's no reason for it not to run this game. Especially when a friend of mine (who has a potato for a computer when compared to mine) can run it perfectly fine.

Has anyone else run into this issue?
Help pl0x!

Windows 7 - 64
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 3.4GHz
6.00GB RAM
NVIDIA GTX 560 TI

NeXuS

Try turning everything to low, ESPECIALLY Ambient Occlusion. I run 720p with high textures, AA, and everything else off. I get anywhere from 140-80 fps.

ApplesTheDestroyer

As I said, I've tried turning down my graphics, dropping everything to absolute bare minimum and disabling all effects. I even went as far as manually disabling it in my NVIDIA control panel, it didn't help. I also just tried a reinstall of the game which also failed to solve the issue.

I'm to the point where I'm pretty much giving up.

2cough

Strange man, I'm wondering if something else is going on. My cpu is a little slower than yours and I have a gtx 550 ti, less ram even, and my men also gets 60 fps. Textures are high, reflectiins on, etc, and game runs fine enough for me.

Neoken

I have almost the exact same specs (a 955@3.4GHz, 8GB RAM and 560Ti). The game should not be running that badly for you. When ingame, open up the console and type r_stats. Take a screenshot and post it here. See if "waiting for GPU" is over 0ms. Check "waiting for cpu" as well. It may help pinpoint the problem to either the GPU or CPU. I've seen issues like this one caused by some automatic underclock feature (to save energy) not disabling properly for instance.

In any case, select DX9 in the options (dx11 may still cause some issues) and update your drivers if you haven't already. If your'e on the latest driver version already, you could also try to downgrade to a previous version just to check. Also, in the nvidia control panel, look for the "power management mode" in the 3D settings, and make sure it's set to "Max performance" and not "Adaptive".

Confused

So, the biggest issue here is actually the ns2 is pretty cpu bound when compared with most other games.

I would turn on the minimal marine hud if you can. On the worst machine i own that gets me 5fps. However that machine is primarily graphics limited.

I suspect that you are actually cpu bound. You can check this using r_stats in game and it should tell you if you are waiting for the graphics card or the engine on each frame.

finally there is a list of handy commands here: http://wiki.unknownworlds.com/ns2/Console_Commands#Render_Options

that might help you out.

ApplesTheDestroyer

[SOLUTION FOUND]
For NVIDIA users at least.
Go to your NVIDIA control panel - Manage 3D Settings - Program Settings - NS2.exe.
In the settings below find CUDA - GPU and set it to use your GPU, usually the second option. Then press apply and go to the "Adjust Image Settings" tab.
There should be Nvidia logo rotating, below it are 3 options.
Select "Use my preference"

IronHorse

Weird.. how are ati users getting around not using cuda but nvidia cards stumble if they do not?
Thanks for posting the solution!

DC_Darkling

Odd... it should use GPU for cuda in most cases. Thats like.. the default.

Ghosthree3

I believe the default is actually to do what the 3D application tells it to do.

NS2 what have you done...

EDIT: Actually no the default is "all". "All" being all the graphics cards in the pc.