Series drops in FPS for no reason?

99atlantic · 07-17-2006, 03:59 PM

This is a really weird problem - I'm either at the cap(60fps) or I'm at 15fps.

Let me explain - in the starting level if I go into the bathroom and look outside, I'll be at 60fps. If I poke my mouse a little to the left all of a sudden my fps drop and stay at 15fps, until I remove and look at a different angle.

Screenshots -

http://members.shaw.ca/irondog/prey1.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/irondog/prey2.jpg

They're both in the exact same place, the only difference is that the 2nd one i tilted my mouse like 1/2mm down, and fps tanked from 60 to 15.

I'll have a solid 60fps (i.e., it doesn't bounce from 20 up to 60 down to 20, etc..., it stays capped at 60) walk around the corner, no special lighting or effects or anything and bam, be down to 15fps.......it's not a drop form like 60 to 15 back to 60, it's from 60 to 15 and stays at 15. I'd hate to see what happens when the actual firefights start :/

It's definately not my system - quake 4 and doom 3 ran flawlessly (4800+ o/c'd to 2.9ghz, SLI'd 7900GTX's o/c'd).

I know prey doesn't support dual core or SLI yet, but WTF, I shouldn't be getting 15fps just standing in a hallway, yet tilt the house up/down/left/right and all of a sudden i get a constant 60fps.

It happens whether I have all the options maxed out for visuals@1600x1200, or if I turn everything off and run at some insanely small resolution (e.g., 640x480)

MichaelLong · 07-17-2006, 04:11 PM

Are your video drivers up to date?

99atlantic · 07-17-2006, 04:31 PM

yes.

GambitMR · 07-17-2006, 04:42 PM

have you tried setting the prey-process affinity to one core ?

99atlantic · 07-17-2006, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GambitMR

have you tried setting the prey-process affinity to one core ?

tried it, didn't work.

It's frustrating because everything's smooth as silk, then turns to shit at pre-defined points.

E.g., I go into the bathroom

I go to the toilet and I stare straight ahead, I get 60fps. I lower my mouse mm by mm and it stays at 60fps, then once i've dropped my vision enough in a split second it goes from 60fps solid to 15fps solid.

I keep loweirng my vision and all of a sudden it jumps from 15 fps back to 60.

And it happens at the exact same point, again and again. This is frustrating as all ****.

9Nails · 07-17-2006, 06:26 PM

You have more power than most Space Shuttles, and you still overclock your cards?

Have you tried running your computer/video cards at their natural clock rates?

99atlantic · 07-17-2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9Nails

You have more power than most Space Shuttles, and you still overclock your cards?

Have you tried running your computer/video cards at their natural clock rates?

Why would I want to do that. My system is fine - there's obviously some bugs in their code. I mean, they didn't even enable SLI/dual core in the initial release....that doesn't exactly say a lot *shrug*

9Nails · 07-17-2006, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 99atlantic

Why would I want to do that. My system is fine - there's obviously some bugs in their code.

It doesn't sound like your system is fine if it's stalling... But I'll take your word for it. I only make the suggestion because it has worked for some. See: Don't Overclock!. I was noticing that there's a link to a discussion from John Carmack which talked about how YMMV with overclocked systems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 99atlantic

I mean, they didn't even enable SLI/dual core in the initial release....that doesn't exactly say a lot *shrug*

It kind of says that it wasn't coded for those things! Bleeding edge system owners usually fall into the 1% category and bear the burden of lobbing for the technology to come up to the new hardware levels. But then again, I'm probably wrong!

99atlantic · 07-17-2006, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9Nails

It doesn't sound like your system is fine if it's stalling.

Let's see

I ran Doom 3 flawlessly

I ran Quake 4 flawlessly (both based on the same engine)

Every other game I've played (epsx PSX isos, need for speed, counter-strike, oblivion, etc..) runs flawlessly

I'm a hedge fund manager so when I"m not using my computer for gaming it's running complex mathematical portfolio simulation and options modeling situations....far more CPU/RAM intensive than any game could be, without problems.

Mmm, yea, somehow I don't think it's my computer

Syranetic · 07-17-2006, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Let's see

I ran Doom 3 flawlessly

I ran Quake 4 flawlessly (both based on the same engine)

Every other game I've played (epsx PSX isos, need for speed, counter-strike, oblivion, etc..) runs flawlessly

Your point? Overclocking can cause instability with some engines. It's not always predictable. It doesn't matter if you ran Doom 3 and Quake 4 fine, this is Prey. The engine isn't an absolute duplicate of the original D3 engine, some things are different. You come here asking for help and yet you reject a more than plausible problem...

Quote:

I'm a hedge fund manager so when I"m not using my computer for gaming it's running complex mathematical portfolio simulation and options modeling situations....far more CPU/RAM intensive than any game could be, without problems.

Mmm, yea, somehow I don't think it's my computer

When you become the authority on computers you can be positive of that last statement. I run a similarly rigged machine and you would be surprised what games have issues with overclocking. If your problems still persist after putting back stock settings then we have eliminated that possibility and we can try to help you in other ways.

I'm not intending to sound overly harsh but you're being a bit ignorrant.

9Nails · 07-17-2006, 09:54 PM

I guess it's not *MY* problem if you don't want to try a simple test and prove me wrong.

Peace!

99atlantic · 07-17-2006, 11:07 PM

To please you both I lowered my clocks to stock. Same thing occurred. There's probably some rendering flaw that was missed or something with the drivers in and of themselves

(I know there's a prey SLI profile in the nvidia 91.33 drivers, but i'm using the 84.25s since they're proven more stable overall)

Quason · 07-17-2006, 11:11 PM

It's hard to say it's a rendering flaw when someone like me whose PC isn't even half as powerful as yours doesn't experience that same problem (I just fired up the game and checked the same spot you described just to make sure). At no point did my framerate drop below 50.

I can't help you figure out what the issue is since I don't know much about this kind of thing, but I can confirm that it's not a game problem.

addict · 07-17-2006, 11:23 PM

The same thing happens to me, when I play MP for more than 20 min or so my framerate drops from around 90fps to 20-60fps. And like you I have a decent gaming rig:

P4 3.6Ghz OC'd to 4.0Ghz
-Thermaltake XP-90c heatsink w/90mm cooling fan(70cfm)
7800Gtx slightly OC'd
4GB Ram @ 600Mhz

My temps aren't getting very high at all. When I played FEAR my temps were really pushing the envelope and I didn't run into any issues at all. I'm just thinking that nvidia needs to come out with some new drivers, seeing that this game was developed for ATI cards.

99atlantic · 07-18-2006, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by addict

The same thing happens to me, when I play MP for more than 20 min or so my framerate drops from around 90fps to 20-60fps. And like you I have a decent gaming rig:

P4 3.6Ghz OC'd to 4.0Ghz
-Thermaltake XP-90c heatsink w/90mm cooling fan(70cfm)
7800Gtx slightly OC'd
4GB Ram @ 600Mhz

My temps aren't getting very high at all. When I played FEAR my temps were really pushing the envelope and I didn't run into any issues at all. I'm just thinking that nvidia needs to come out with some new drivers, seeing that this game was developed for ATI cards.

Well, it's "good" to know it's not just me having these problems (although it happens to me right away, not after 20 minutes)....temperatures are well w/i an acceptable range for me....but yea, FEAR really stressed out my cars, haha. Temps were pretty high when playing FEAR.

99atlantic · 07-18-2006, 11:47 AM

BI-FVCKING-NGO

I knew it was a problem with the how the game was rendering

I unlocked the fps cap and saw in rooms i was gettign 170fps, but turn around it it locked down at 20.

So I changed the rendering path <r_renderer nv10>

(instead of it using the default best -> arb2, I forced it to use NV10) and BANG, CONSTANT frame rates at 170 (60fps when capped).

See guys, never doubt the all-mighty hedge fund manager, muahahahahaha ^_^

So, in summary, it seems NV10 rendering is fine, ARB2(what it defaulted to for me), has SERIOUS bugs in it.

pmacarthur · 07-18-2006, 12:00 PM

The Arb2 rendering path is still recommended, nv10 path may have some artifacts, quality issues. Have you tried turning your SLI off for the game. SLI is not currently supported by the game (until the patch) and I've seen some people having serious issues with it enabled.

99atlantic · 07-18-2006, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmacarthur

The Arb2 rendering path is still recommended, nv10 path may have some artifacts, quality issues. Have you tried turning your SLI off for the game. SLI is not currently supported by the game (until the patch) and I've seen some people having serious issues with it enabled.

Havn't tried turning it off........don't think I will since I'll more than happily take some quality issues over having FPS zoom up to 60, drop down to 15, just by moving my mouse slightly.

MichaelLong · 07-18-2006, 01:59 PM

If you disable SLI you probably won't have that problem, and you'll have the better quality graphics as well. But it's your call.

rfisher983 · 07-18-2006, 02:35 PM

No issues with prey demo or prey full version w/ my setup:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1.550V @ 11x252 2779 MHz
A8N-SLI Premium Rev. 1009 w/ thermalright XP-120
2x512Mbs (1024Mbs) OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Platinum Rev 2 @ 504Mhz 3-3-3-5-T1
eVGA 7900GT N567 580/1580

Brian Karis · 07-18-2006, 04:35 PM

A single 7900 will run the game just fine. The nv10 path is not supported, hasn't been worked on or bug fixed, and looks like crap. Also take a look at the other sli threads for work arounds to not turning sli off.

rfisher983 · 07-18-2006, 05:23 PM

Prey doesn't support SLI yet and some one else was having an issue just like you. Disable one of the cards and try it, let us know what hap

skitzo · 07-19-2006, 12:46 PM

I had major problems running MP ..after lowering my settings...turning alll off on ati catalyst...up to date everything...the game just did not run smoothly ----laggy,choppy,,,everything bad. But now the cd serves a purpose it lays shiny... and bright underneath my coffe cup. Lag cured..netcode fixed... STOP being in denial the game has major flaws and don't even try to blame the end user. And again 10 servers up 5 people playing MULTIPREY. Now officially known as multiPRAY.

Get real find a patch or fix and listen to the many many complaints p.c and 360.

07-17-2006, 04:11 PM	#2
MichaelLong Human Head Staff	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? Are your video drivers up to date? __________________ -Michael

07-18-2006, 12:00 PM	#17
pmacarthur Human Head Staff	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? The Arb2 rendering path is still recommended, nv10 path may have some artifacts, quality issues. Have you tried turning your SLI off for the game. SLI is not currently supported by the game (until the patch) and I've seen some people having serious issues with it enabled.

07-18-2006, 01:59 PM	#19
MichaelLong Human Head Staff	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? If you disable SLI you probably won't have that problem, and you'll have the better quality graphics as well. But it's your call. __________________ -Michael

07-18-2006, 04:35 PM	#21
Brian Karis Human Head Staff	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? A single 7900 will run the game just fine. The nv10 path is not supported, hasn't been worked on or bug fixed, and looks like crap. Also take a look at the other sli threads for work arounds to not turning sli off.

07-17-2006, 03:59 PM	#1
99atlantic	Series drops in FPS for no reason? This is a really weird problem - I'm either at the cap(60fps) or I'm at 15fps. Let me explain - in the starting level if I go into the bathroom and look outside, I'll be at 60fps. If I poke my mouse a little to the left all of a sudden my fps drop and stay at 15fps, until I remove and look at a different angle. Screenshots - http://members.shaw.ca/irondog/prey1.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/irondog/prey2.jpg They're both in the exact same place, the only difference is that the 2nd one i tilted my mouse like 1/2mm down, and fps tanked from 60 to 15. I'll have a solid 60fps (i.e., it doesn't bounce from 20 up to 60 down to 20, etc..., it stays capped at 60) walk around the corner, no special lighting or effects or anything and bam, be down to 15fps.......it's not a drop form like 60 to 15 back to 60, it's from 60 to 15 and stays at 15. I'd hate to see what happens when the actual firefights start :/ It's definately not my system - quake 4 and doom 3 ran flawlessly (4800+ o/c'd to 2.9ghz, SLI'd 7900GTX's o/c'd). I know prey doesn't support dual core or SLI yet, but WTF, I shouldn't be getting 15fps just standing in a hallway, yet tilt the house up/down/left/right and all of a sudden i get a constant 60fps. It happens whether I have all the options maxed out for visuals@1600x1200, or if I turn everything off and run at some insanely small resolution (e.g., 640x480)

07-17-2006, 04:31 PM	#3
99atlantic	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? yes.

07-17-2006, 04:42 PM	#4
GambitMR	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? have you tried setting the prey-process affinity to one core ?

07-17-2006, 06:26 PM	#6
9Nails	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? You have more power than most Space Shuttles, and you still overclock your cards? Have you tried running your computer/video cards at their natural clock rates? __________________ "The world is full of complainers, and from time to time they permit themselves to post." - Nessus

07-17-2006, 09:54 PM	#11
9Nails	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? I guess it's not MY problem if you don't want to try a simple test and prove me wrong. Peace! __________________ "The world is full of complainers, and from time to time they permit themselves to post." - Nessus

07-17-2006, 11:07 PM	#12
99atlantic	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? To please you both I lowered my clocks to stock. Same thing occurred. There's probably some rendering flaw that was missed or something with the drivers in and of themselves (I know there's a prey SLI profile in the nvidia 91.33 drivers, but i'm using the 84.25s since they're proven more stable overall)

07-17-2006, 11:11 PM	#13
Quason	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? It's hard to say it's a rendering flaw when someone like me whose PC isn't even half as powerful as yours doesn't experience that same problem (I just fired up the game and checked the same spot you described just to make sure). At no point did my framerate drop below 50. I can't help you figure out what the issue is since I don't know much about this kind of thing, but I can confirm that it's not a game problem.

07-17-2006, 11:23 PM	#14
addict	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? The same thing happens to me, when I play MP for more than 20 min or so my framerate drops from around 90fps to 20-60fps. And like you I have a decent gaming rig: P4 3.6Ghz OC'd to 4.0Ghz -Thermaltake XP-90c heatsink w/90mm cooling fan(70cfm) 7800Gtx slightly OC'd 4GB Ram @ 600Mhz My temps aren't getting very high at all. When I played FEAR my temps were really pushing the envelope and I didn't run into any issues at all. I'm just thinking that nvidia needs to come out with some new drivers, seeing that this game was developed for ATI cards.

07-18-2006, 11:47 AM	#16
99atlantic	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? BI-FVCKING-NGO I knew it was a problem with the how the game was rendering I unlocked the fps cap and saw in rooms i was gettign 170fps, but turn around it it locked down at 20. So I changed the rendering path <r_renderer nv10> (instead of it using the default best -> arb2, I forced it to use NV10) and BANG, CONSTANT frame rates at 170 (60fps when capped). See guys, never doubt the all-mighty hedge fund manager, muahahahahaha ^_^ So, in summary, it seems NV10 rendering is fine, ARB2(what it defaulted to for me), has SERIOUS bugs in it.

07-18-2006, 02:35 PM	#20
rfisher983	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? No issues with prey demo or prey full version w/ my setup: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1.550V @ 11x252 2779 MHz A8N-SLI Premium Rev. 1009 w/ thermalright XP-120 2x512Mbs (1024Mbs) OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Platinum Rev 2 @ 504Mhz 3-3-3-5-T1 eVGA 7900GT N567 580/1580 __________________ DORK~hollywood #n1gaming on irc.gamesurge.net hywdx80 on xfire

07-18-2006, 05:23 PM	#22
rfisher983	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? Prey doesn't support SLI yet and some one else was having an issue just like you. Disable one of the cards and try it, let us know what hap __________________ DORK~hollywood #n1gaming on irc.gamesurge.net hywdx80 on xfire

07-19-2006, 12:46 PM	#23
skitzo	Re: Series drops in FPS for no reason? I had major problems running MP ..after lowering my settings...turning alll off on ati catalyst...up to date everything...the game just did not run smoothly ----laggy,choppy,,,everything bad. But now the cd serves a purpose it lays shiny... and bright underneath my coffe cup. Lag cured..netcode fixed... STOP being in denial the game has major flaws and don't even try to blame the end user. And again 10 servers up 5 people playing MULTIPREY. Now officially known as multiPRAY. Get real find a patch or fix and listen to the many many complaints p.c and 360.