Fixing FPS issue - ideas?

fmcco

Hi all, lately my son's PC that we built about 4 years ago has had a very reduced FPS rate when he's playing CSGO. It was up > 90-100 he thinks but now peaks out at about 60. Network seems fine and the GPU looks ok too.... It's not running hot, fans aren't going mad, utilisation looks OK. Similarly the CPU seems happy enough, you can flick in and out of CSGO with Resource Monitor running and the CPU does not seem to be struggling. Is RAM the next port of call? As far as I can remember there are only two DIMM slots on the MB so without buying better RAM ( there's 8GB in it, 2x 4GB) I can't add more to check this out.
Is there a way I can prove it is/is not a RAM problem? In Resource Monitor the 8gb is visible.
Thanks!

K.O.Kiki

Did he turn V-Sync on?

fmcco

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Did he turn V-Sync on?

Thanks....We had a look and he doesn't think he changed any of the VSync settings. It was set in the NVidia control panel to take the settings from the 3D app. We had a good play around with the different VSync settings in the game and in the NVidia control panel but none of them seemed to improve it. We could make it worse though.

Any other ideas? Gaming settings aren't my thing anymore...when I was a gamer the state of the art was 2Forts5 in the original Team Fortress...

ED E

Id expect bad RAM to cause it to crash, not perform consistently slower. If he's maxing out and going into swap that'd be an issue. Get him to close everything and then check he's below 4GB used just idling.


Has windows updates enabled Xbox DVR?


Running some benchmarks to see where you stand would be good info.

Robert ninja

Run a virus and malware scan. I'm no expert but AFAIK they eat resources mining for crypto and sometimes are able to disguise that to the system. For game settings turning shadows down and disable most of the post-processing features like anti aliasing.

Last time I used windows it had some perceived FPS issues if you were running multi monitor setup windowed/fullscreen depending on the game. If you think it's something else in the system check the startup programs and disable any that seem useless. And of course make sure you're not using anything else heavy when playing the game. Something like Chrome or modern browsers with lots of tabs can drain some fps I've found.

BloodBath

Have a look at how much ram is being used while he's running his normal software with a game open.

8gb of ram is pushing it tight these days. Graphics memory could be being filled as well. Stuff like youtube/discord etc will also use graphics memory from the gpu if it's set that way too. Using more than is available for either will drop performance as they will then have to constantly swap in and out info from memory from your storage.

Dcully

8BG should fine once its fast ram.

OP is the fps locked at 60 or fluctuating?
If its locked at 60 then your not lacking in horsepower its a setting somewhere limiting it.

ancapailldorcha

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Did he turn V-Sync on?

I remember asking with my build ages back and it turned out this was the issue.

Is there a reason it slashes FPS?

K.O.Kiki

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I remember asking with my build ages back and it turned out this was the issue.

Is there a reason it slashes FPS?

Yes, it tells the game to try and run at the same speed as your monitor (60Hz => 60fps)

ancapailldorcha

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Yes, it tells the game to try and run at the same speed as your monitor (60Hz => 60fps)

I do and don't understand it. Apparently, if you've a 144 Hz monitor and you're at, say 130 FPS then it cuts it to half the set amount, 72 in this instance.

I was googling for ages before I found this out.

fmcco

Thanks for all the replies. So far we have:

• checked VSync but think it was always on. No VSync setting seems to improve it.
• confirmed Xbox DVR is off
• run a full virus & malware check, nothing sinister going on
• looked at RAM usage when idling. It's down around 2.8-2.9GB so looks OK.
• @Dcully the FPS fluctuates a bit - downward only - but never gets above 60, apart from flicking up over 100 occasionally during a loading screen. So maybe there is something throttling it to 60 as you say. I've a pain in my hole going through all the setting at this stage though...

I can run benchmarks if someone can recommend a good (and preferably free) package to use?

Dcully

hmm Any software like afterburner running that could have a limit on fps?
Longshot but any chance your son added a custom config for CSGO? does fps go above 60 on other games?

Thing is with nvidia control panel vsync can be on for ALL 3D applications but can also be set to on/off/adaptive for individual games/programs.
For example it may well be off in nvidia control panel but could be turned on specifically for CSGO.

in nvidia control panel go to "manage 3d settings", first of check global setting [im sure you did so already] but also go to "program settings" look for an entry for CSGO and see what vsync is set to in there.

Also may sound obvious but make sure resolution and monitors refresh rate in nvidia control panel are also set to monitors native resolution and refresh rate.

Cordell

Install the latest Nvidia drivers (or reinstall them if you already have the latest) and make sure you select "perform a clean installation" while doing it - this should clear all settings driver side. Make sure both CPU and GPU are not overheating and/or throttling down - monitor both clock speeds and temperatures for both.

fmcco

Dcully wrote: »

hmm Any software like afterburner running that could have a limit on fps?
Longshot but any chance your son added a custom config for CSGO? does fps go above 60 on other games?

Thing is with nvidia control panel vsync can be on for ALL 3D applications but can also be set to on/off/adaptive for individual games/programs.
For example it may well be off in nvidia control panel but could be turned on specifically for CSGO.

in nvidia control panel go to "manage 3d settings", first of check global setting [im sure you did so already] but also go to "program settings" look for an entry for CSGO and see what vsync is set to in there.

Also may sound obvious but make sure resolution and monitors refresh rate in nvidia control panel are also set to monitors native resolution and refresh rate.

Thanks for sticking with this....no Afterburner or custom config. FPS is low in Rainbow Six Siege too.
In Program Settings (NVidia control panel) there is no entry in the drop-down for either R6S or CSGO, so presume it's using the global settings. As before changing any of the VSync/resolution/etc settings seems to make no difference.
The resolution and refresh rate match the monitor.

Tearing the hair out at this stage...

Robert ninja

Did you do a full clean reinstall of the GPU drivers?

Dcully

With new nvidia drivers there is a setting for max framerate, make sure this is off.

TheDoc

Did he start streaming by any chance?

There is some setups and configs for streaming that will lock a game into 60fps as opposed to reaching its max.

tazzzZ

you said the pc is about 4 years old... just curious if you have ever re applied thermal paste? Also clean out the case of dust if you can. resource manager might not show the temps of the cpu. Also in csgo cpu is the most important thing and most likely cause of framerate drops. Also at 4 years old I personally like to put a fresh windows install onto the pc every few years. I would say a few other things but you have tried alot already.

Also what are the specs of the pc and what resolution does he play at?

Skerries

has he changed the video cable or connected it to the onboard video?

fmcco

Thanks again all. Bit of a delay getting back to this but there's some other stuff going on that's keeping me from the important stuff like this...

So, stuff I have tried/looked at:
- max framerate is off
- has not started streaming
- I did a full clean driver reinstall. This improved it a little, but the FPS during gameplay is still throttled at 60.
- no new cables or other hardware
- I had a good poke around inside the case when all this started, doesn't look too bad for dust. I never considered putting in new thermal paste on the CPU - it doesn't feel or smell like it is running very hot though.
- main specs for the build: i3 quad 3.6GHz; 8MB ram Ballistix Sport; GEForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB GPU; MSI H81 MB; 250GB SSD with 72GB free; 1TB HDD with 460GB free. I know it's not the greatest spec but was working fine up to a few weeks back and deteriorated suddenly rather than tailing off.

Current symptoms (Rainbow 6 Siege is actually the sore point rather than CS:GO, so referring to that throughout):
- during loading screens etc. FPS can be up in the 300/400s
- if I run the display benchmark routine, I'm getting ~100FPS
- as soon as you go into the game proper the FPS appears to be throttled at 60, never goes above it. If other players come near, the FPS drops down to ~40.
- VSync off, FOV at 60, resolution is set to 1600x900. We have tried at various resolutions and it doesn't seem to make a difference

Thanks again for your help, would be great to get this sorted as there is a lot of downtime at the minute!

Lu Tze

You CPU is a dual core. Is it possible it can't keep up in multi player as not enough cores/threads? Does it happen in single player? Can you track the CPU utilisation when playing?

minitrue

Here's a few more ideas, including editing it's ini file, disabling full screen optimisations (whatever the hell that is) and disabling the steam overlay which seems to have been the problem for them (and some commenters).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi8AS_KX150
The fact it's dropping to 40 though when players appear suggests the machine is struggling at that point which is a different problem :-/

fmcco

Lu Tze wrote: »

You CPU is a dual core. Is it possible it can't keep up in multi player as not enough cores/threads? Does it happen in single player? Can you track the CPU utilisation when playing?

CPU is at a steady ~30% while playing, doesn't seem to shift when other players are around.

fmcco

minitrue wrote: »

Here's a few more ideas, including editing it's ini file, disabling full screen optimisations (whatever the hell that is) and disabling the steam overlay which seems to have been the problem for them (and some commenters).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi8AS_KX150
The fact it's dropping to 40 though when players appear suggests the machine is struggling at that point which is a different problem :-/

The various things in this video seem to have improved it a lot, thanks! The FPS isn't quite back where it was but the game is playable again. Not sure sure which fix hit the spot or if it was a combination of several.
Funnily enough the FPS doesn't seem to be affected much by other players approaching now.

Thanks for all the replies!