Share your frame-rates & tips on getting better rates!
vizioNz
InversionNS2.com Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24595Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester
InversionNS2.com Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24595Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester
<div class="IPBDescription">Screenshots to prove your rates!</div>What is the highest FPS you can get in this game? Mine seems to stop at 60-62FPS while playing on a team (marines or aliens) and in the 115-130FPS range while in the ready room.
I'm running:
<ul><li>2600K OC'ed @ 5.0GHz (idle temp @ 28-30c)</li><li>16GB running @ 1600Mhz with 8-8-8-2N timings</li><li>GTX-580 SC/DS running @ stock clocks.<i> (I noticed if I run my OC'ed settings, NS2 runs sluggishly. NS2 is the only game that does this)</i></li><li>NS Settings at Max everything and nothing set to false w/ the resolution of 1920x1080 on my AW2310 @ TRUE 120Hz (DVI).</li></ul>
Should I be getting better frame-rates?
<b>P.S. - </b>I also noticed that if I attempt to record with FRAPS in the background, my game become unplayable with very low frame-rates. NS2 is the only game that does this. Any ideas on why this is happening?
<b>Quick picture of my hardware for proof:</b>
<div align='center'><img src="http://www.jodriscoll.com/NS2/FPS-Post/2011-07-24%2010.57.35.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
<b>FPS Prior to Nvidia Control Panel configuration (Capped at 60FPS):</b>
<div align='center'><img src="http://www.jodriscoll.com/NS2/FPS-Post/2011-07-30_00003.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
I'm running:
<ul><li>2600K OC'ed @ 5.0GHz (idle temp @ 28-30c)</li><li>16GB running @ 1600Mhz with 8-8-8-2N timings</li><li>GTX-580 SC/DS running @ stock clocks.<i> (I noticed if I run my OC'ed settings, NS2 runs sluggishly. NS2 is the only game that does this)</i></li><li>NS Settings at Max everything and nothing set to false w/ the resolution of 1920x1080 on my AW2310 @ TRUE 120Hz (DVI).</li></ul>
Should I be getting better frame-rates?
<b>P.S. - </b>I also noticed that if I attempt to record with FRAPS in the background, my game become unplayable with very low frame-rates. NS2 is the only game that does this. Any ideas on why this is happening?
<b>Quick picture of my hardware for proof:</b>
<div align='center'><img src="http://www.jodriscoll.com/NS2/FPS-Post/2011-07-24%2010.57.35.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
<b>FPS Prior to Nvidia Control Panel configuration (Capped at 60FPS):</b>
<div align='center'><img src="http://www.jodriscoll.com/NS2/FPS-Post/2011-07-30_00003.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
Comments
Not trying to show off, mainly trying to figure out why it doesn't run better when my card is on an Overclock tune and why it runs like poopie when I have FRAPS recording in the background.
I still don't think my system should only get 60FPS...
[list]
[*]2600K OC'ed @ 5.0GHz (idle temp @ 28-30c)
[*]16GB running @ 1600Mhz with 8-8-8-2N timings
[*]GTX-580 SC/DS running @ stock clocks.<i> (I noticed if I run my OC'ed settings, NS2 runs sluggishly. NS2 is the only game that does this)</i><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Congratulations, you have the highest performance you can get in a desktop pc at the moment.
So the thing that's way more interesting is: what is you average / lowest FPS you get? And when does is occur.
Have you tried to run a server on that machine? Maybe it could produce 30 ticks constantly....maybe
<!--quoteo(post=1864708:date=Jul 29 2011, 09:09 PM:name=Zuriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zuriki @ Jul 29 2011, 09:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864708"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Most of the perceived fps lag comes from ###### netcode that pretty much does not compensate for anything. Instead, it just hitches and causes the renderer to hang in the process.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's called server performance, not netcode
<blockquote>I do have a memory clock. That might be my issue! I will look into it tonight and post my results. Thanks for the tip! I am very familiar with Overclocking all my hardware other than my GPU. I don't know how the numbers come into play for that...
</blockquote>
<!--quoteo(post=1864709:date=Jul 29 2011, 02:09 PM:name=Zeno)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zeno @ Jul 29 2011, 02:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864709"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Congratulations, you have the highest performance you can get in a desktop pc at the moment.
So the thing that's way more interesting is: what is you average / lowest FPS you get? And when does is occur.
Have you tried to run a server on that machine? Maybe it could produce 30 ticks constantly....maybe<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<blockquote>Well, I could have a GTX-590 lol. My average FPS is in the high 50's/low 60's. My FPS has drop down into the 30's (usually when I am traveling from the area on summit where Reactor Core and Crossroads connects for a split second). If there is a lot going on, I have hit high 40's a few times. If the server is lagging, it does not matter what I am doing, I will lag all over the place.
I have not tried running a server on it because I have no clue how to set one up! lol</blockquote>
<!--quoteo(post=1864713:date=Jul 29 2011, 02:12 PM:name=ScardyBob)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ScardyBob @ Jul 29 2011, 02:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864713"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->FRAPs is always going to tank your fps when recording (that's why source's demo recorder was such a god-send). The only options to fix that is a) record at a lower resolution or b) set the video capture setting to 'half-size'. I also like to lock my framerate at 30fps because I know I can get that consistently (but you might want to try higher if you think your rig can handle it).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<blockquote>Hmm, are there any other options out there? Does anyone know how NS2HD records his videos? I know I didn't have issues with FRAPS in the past when I attempted to setup a NS2 Bug Reporting YouTube channel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NS2BugReporter" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/user/NS2BugReporter</a>. It's out dated, but I used FRAPS for all those videos...</blockquote>
I don't know of any, but if there are they will probably have the same problem. The issue is that FRAPs is another program in the background eating up CPU/GPU cycles. Since NS2 doesn't multithread, it might help to try to get NS2 and FRAPs to run on separate cores, but I haven't tried that yet.
<blockquote>I've never had that issue and I should have an issue with NS2 and FRAPS sharing resources. I've never gone above 40% CPU or RAM usage since I built this machine 2 weeks ago.</blockquote>
I kind of agree here. Seems like the renderer is waiting for info from the server. Not sure if it needs to.
If the server is lagging or theres a lot of latency, I think the prediction code does more work -> less FPS. Generally, local gaming is a lot smoother.
GPU Z is a good tool btw.
FRAPS is highly dependent on your harddrive. If you're writing to the same partition as your OS/game drive, it's going to slow down the game dramatically. You need a separate physical drive (ideally a SSD) to really be able to record and play at the same time.
I haven't tried it with NS2, but GameCam is nice recording software too. Unlike FRAPS, it can record to a buffer and you can save the buffer when something interesting happens. That way you don't waste drive space recording useless stuff. So if you just got through mowing through 10 marines in one go, you can write that sequence to disk and not save the 40 sec you spend evolving. Only thing is it can't record at the highest resolution in this mode.
I am mainly worried about fraps and my oc on my gpu running smoothly.
P.s. Andrew remember me? (exi.longtermFX)
I am going to have to focus on sorting out my fraps and oc tonight.
Guys, post screenshots too!
FRAPS is highly dependent on your harddrive. If you're writing to the same partition as your OS/game drive, it's going to slow down the game dramatically. You need a separate physical drive (ideally a SSD) to really be able to record and play at the same time.
I haven't tried it with NS2, but GameCam is nice recording software too. Unlike FRAPS, it can record to a buffer and you can save the buffer when something interesting happens. That way you don't waste drive space recording useless stuff. So if you just got through mowing through 10 marines in one go, you can write that sequence to disk and not save the 40 sec you spend evolving. Only thing is it can't record at the highest resolution in this mode.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
My OS and NS2 are on a SSD with TRIM enabled and insane read write rates. My two backups drives are WD Caviar Blacks running SATA6. I shoult not be having any trouble with FRAPS writting to either of my drives.
Well spotted, I also believe this is the case. I noticed OnProcessMove being run something like 7-10 times pr. frame on my client, taking up a good deal of CPU time. Assuming the code works like quake3, this makes perfect sense. You need a valid server snapshot to predict from, and with servers running 10 ticks/s, that means your client may be something like 100-200ms worth of client frames ahead. 100-200ms for a client running 60 fps is 6-12 frames. I guess they could cache the predictions, so clients could get away with 1 prediction pr. frame (except for when there's a prediction error, like when colliding with moving entities.. that would still require a full prediction).
amd 1090t 6-core 3.2ghz no oc
4gb ram overclocked
radeon hd 6870 1gb
7200rpm hd
gigabyte mobo
@1920x1200 resolution
(i would consider my computer slightly above gamer average machine B- B+ maybe)
avg fps i get is 50-60 this is all on highest gfx mode btw. Obviously the lows are very low, as they are for everyone else, but when playing on a fresh server with 8-12 people I get real good fps, and real good ping(there are 2 servers I get ping under 50 average even when full, my connection is only average ~8mb), but I still get stuttering, especially when around other people obviously. The numbers are much higher when I play not on a server.(as a long time gamer I consider anything under 70 ping, and over 50 fps playable, with a well optimized game being sub 40 ping and over 70 fps. So I feel like on the performance end of the game itself they are not far off, but the server side is still very messed up and causing strange hangs and stutters.)
I'll post screens later, too busy playing starcraft2 right now lol.
No he was referring to the poor server performance as being a result of the netcode. In other words, as the netcode is optimized, made more efficient, server performance will become better.
He was describing something more specific than the broad blanket term of "server performance".
You are running this all cores 24/7?
Vcore(core voltage)? (Cpu-Z screener maybe)
Load temps with prime95(or any other cpu stresstest)?
Is it prime stable and for how long did you test it?
You either must have gotten a pretty awesome batch, or you are running this with a potentially dangerous vcore. (while it is true that intels say maxs vcore of sandy bridge is ~1.5, every oc forum/guy/whatever will tell you 24/7 settings => dont go above ~1.4(1.35 if you are playing it really save) if you dont want to shorten its lifespan, or worse)
PS: while this cpus are good and easy for oc, you lose warranty if you overclock (no matter if its in "save"(<1.5vcore) regions or not)
PPS: RAM recommended voltage is 1.5 (plus/minus 5%), maybe check that in your bios/uefi too. (most 1.65v ram can run with 1.5 without problems - timings doesnt matter with sandybridge - only very very small messureable improvements/ so id suggest, leave it at stock)
PPPS: just hope you got an awesome cpu :)
Vcore(core voltage)? (Cpu-Z screener maybe)
Load temps with prime95(or any other cpu stresstest)?
Is it prime stable and for how long did you test it?
You either must have gotten a pretty awesome batch, or you are running this with a potentially dangerous vcore. (while it is true that intels say maxs vcore of sandy bridge is ~1.5, every oc forum/guy/whatever will tell you 24/7 settings => dont go above ~1.4(1.35 if you are playing it really save) if you dont want to shorten its lifespan, or worse)
PS: while this cpus are good and easy for oc, you lose warranty if you overclock (no matter if its in "save"(<1.5vcore) regions or not)
PPS: RAM recommended voltage is 1.5 (plus/minus 5%), maybe check that in your bios/uefi too. (most 1.65v ram can run with 1.5 without problems - timings doesnt matter with sandybridge - only very very small messureable improvements/ so id suggest, leave it at stock)
PPPS: just hope you got an awesome cpu :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Koruyo, this thread really isnt about my, processor, but I got one of the first batches of the 2600k which seem to be extremely stable. I followed this guide: <a href="http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overclocking/39184-p67-sandy-bridge-overclocking-guide-beginners.html" target="_blank">http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overclockin...-beginners.html</a> and managed to get a solid 5.0ghz clock. I normally run a 4.8 clock everyday, but used my 5.0 clock as an example of the capabilities of my build and why I was confused on my performance results.
We can chat privately if you want to see screenshots and bios setting :)
This is my default OS setting. As you can see, I let my computer make up it's mind for everything on my computer.
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/3D-Group1.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
I have set up a specific configuration for my NS2.exe. I have turned off almost all the settings that are turned on by default. I did not loose quality in game, but I managed to gain some serious FPS doing this.
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/3D-Group2-1.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
This is the big one. What is absolutely needed for NS2 is to force VSYNC off. It really hurts your FPS and the benefit of doing this is insane. I want to note that for Texture filter - Quality is the same setting as the first image in this post but specific to NS2. What I realize was changing from Performance to High Quality was an actual gain in FPS when using High quality.
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/3D-Group2-2.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
Taking unnecessary stress off the CPU, I set the PhysX to be forced into processing on my GPU other than both my CPU&GPU which the default setting is "Auto-Select".
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/3D-Group3.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
What I want to point out for those with 3D capabilities is changing the "Select when the display is in 3D mode" drop down eliminates 3D Vision from being turned on in NS2 (which is currently not fully 3D supported).
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/Stereoscopic3D-Group1.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
Opening up your Task Manager while NS2 is running then right clicking on NS2.exe and selecting "Set Affinity" allows you to consolidate which cores NS2 runs on. Having a 2600K, I dedicated NS2 to my 2nd and 3rd cores which then stabilized my frame-rate much better.
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/SetAffinity.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
</div>
After changing the above settings, I realized what my GPU was really capable of. Normally I was being capped at 60FPS on ns2_Summit, now I'm seeing my FPS hit 80-100 stable at 1920x1080 with 120hz and a 3ms refresh rate during the beginning/end game/in combat/etc. I still have shadows, lights, and the highest quality setting turned on within NS2, so I haven't lost any quality in game!
I also figured out my FRAPS issue. I had my "Video Capture Settings" set at 30FPS and the "Lock framerate while recording" feature selected. This was forcing NS2 to lock my frame-rate down to the selected 30FPS which caused a horrible in game frame-rate. I set FRAPS to record at 30FPS and then un-selected the "Lock framerate while recording" option. FRAPS now records seamlessly! I also setup FRAPS to dump my recordings on my Secondary HD (Caviar Black SATA6 1TB) and not on my Primary HD (Samsung 256GB SSD [w/TRIM]) where my OS, FRAPS and NS2 are located. Here's a quick screen grab of my FRAPS > Movies settings:
<div align='center'><img src="http://jodriscoll.com/Gaming/NS2/FPS-Post/Fraps.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
It appears everything has been fixed and solved in terms of my low frame-rates. Hopefully anyone experiencing these same issues will gain some valuable information into attaining better FPS.
Perpetuating this myth is not helpful. You are confusing 'netcode' with server tick slowdown caused by resource use unrelated to 'netcode.'
Great to see you found a tangible way to boost your FPS vizionz! Thanks for posting all the info, I bet it will help many. Looking forward to seeing your vids!
Great to see you found a tangible way to boost your FPS vizionz! Thanks for posting all the info, I bet it will help many. Looking forward to seeing your vids!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hey NS2HD. That reminded me: I experienced the same problem with Lerk Snipe as you did in your video. I couldn't even hit Marines that were apparently standing still! I hope that issue can be resolved soon.
(Update: Never mind! The reactor prop in Reactor has a larger bounding box than it appears to have. Watch out next time you try to snipe in it Hugh! :P)
It could be the map summit but i guess its the Occlusion Culling?
In all big areas, for example if you stand on the command station, and you look to the north (down the stairs) you see left and right.
The peformence goes down very much.
For example you see here 2 marines, 2 infrantry portals and 1 armory and i got [PC System below]
<img src="http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/528/21fps.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Later in the game its realy not playable, before 183 it was i guess.
PC System:[that]
CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 955
RAM:
4GB
GPU:
Ati Radeon HD 6850, 1GB GDDR5.
OS:
W7
Its not the best system but i should get a bit more fps then 20 on worst pef. places.
Even in Games like GTA IV (bad pc port) i got 30 fps at the worst peformence places.