Fps Issues

Hey guys and gals.

I'm a bit stumped and would like your advice/help.



When i first log into CoH my FPS is always at a steady 30 or so. After 10 minutes or so it drops to 15 and lower, then stays fluctuating there for the rest of my gaming session. I've tried altering all the graphics/sound setting to see if it boosted performance but once it dropped to 15FPS it seemed no matter what a turned off/scaled down it didn't move.

My rig is getting old now, so i know not to expect the best performance from it and put this FPS drop down to old gear and decided to upgrade, piece by piece as i haven't got the money to get everything at once.

I've currently got:

Msi P965 platinum mobo
Vista 32bit
Dual core 1.8 E6300
2 GB DDR 667 ram
Segate 500gb HDD
Geforce 7800GTX/GTX260


I started upgrading with the HDD. I had an 80gb one but it was ancient and was getting very poorly. Then, just recently i upgraded the GFX card as it's the next oldest thing in the machine.

I assumed, while the CPU would hold it back, it would perform leaps and bounds over the 7800 but apparently not. The same thing occurs.... Loads up with 40-50 FPS but then 10 minutes or so later, it plummets to 15.

I only use a 17" display with 1280x1024 resolution so it's not like i'm asking much of it.


My guesses are: CPU is really bad, lack of power or faulty ram. Although i have done a memory test and everything was good.


So guys, what do you think? Here's CoH Helper

Thanks.


---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.8---

DxDiag gathered at November 6, 2009 18:30 (+00:00)
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Basic (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.090803-2339)
System Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
System Model: MS-7238
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.9GHz
Memory: 2046MB
.Net Memory Report: 1434MB out of 2046MB available
Page File: 3490MB (959MB currently in use)
C Drive: (ST3500418AS ATA Device) 373289MB out of 476937MB (78%) free
D Drive: (AOPEN COM5232/AAH ATA Device) zero-size drive
E Drive: (SONY DVD RW DW-D22A ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 7.00.6002.18107 (32-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce GTX 260
Video Memory: 1649 MB
Driver Version: 8.16.0011.9107
Driver Date: 01/01/0001 00:00:00
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6002.18005
Driver Date: 04/11/2009 04:43:02

Sound Device Description: Digital Output Device (SPDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6002.18005
Driver Date: 04/11/2009 04:43:02


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: MS-7238
Motherboard Version: 1.0
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: Default System BIOS
BIOS Version: M S I - 10000715
BIOS Release: 20071015000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1280x1024
3D Resolution: 1280x1024 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes

Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: 4x
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High

World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0.052
Music Sound Volume: 0.047

Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: Unknown bytes/second
Current Game Version: 1600.20091015.6T
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers has 214 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Midnight_Squad has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 34 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files

I've got a gtx280 and something similar happens to me as well.

FPS is silky smooth 40-60 fps and then halves after that, usually after zoning or as I play about 10-15 minutes in.

It probably has something to do with some kind of setting in the nvidia driver and the graphics engine.

I've been too lazy to try and figure it out.

This is a real silly question, but:

With the FPS on, there is the frame rate number, then another set of numbers in parenthesis, something like (17m/m). What do the parenthetical numbers mean?

I've seen some odd reports of problems from people using the 191.07 nVidia drivers that you are using.

You may want to try going back to an older version of the drivers to see if that resolves any of your problems. You can find older nVidia Vista drivers at Guru3d as well as the DriverSweeper program. Download the drivers, download and install DriverSweeper, then follow the instructions on the DriverSweeper page to properly uninstall the old drivers and get the new drivers installed cleanly.

I had already thought it would be the drivers and had tried a few different ones. I've now done as you advised Texas and with DriverSweeper each time, i have tried 190.83, 191.00, 191.01, 191.07 and even the beta 195.39.

I'll try a few 18#'s and a few 17#'s but i'm getting doubtful it is the drivers.


Any other idea's?

Have you tried disabling Vertical Sync in the game's graphics options?

We'll see....

I have previously turned everything off/down separately to try and isolate the problem and nothing significantly boosted my fps.

So then i tried safe mode... And it did the exact same thing. It was weird because even the safe mode fps was only 30-40 to start with which dropped to 15 after then 10 minutes play.

I'd put it down to a faulty gfx card if i hadn't tried 3 different cards.

I tried the MA mission... And the same thing.


I don't know what it was about that mish, but something made me pull the side off my comp and point my desk fan at it. Instantly the FPS went up which made me investigate.

Currently using 3 core temp utilities which are all reporting different temperatures. If i take the average, my CPU is idling at about 52 degrees (with desk fan still) and under load, i saw it reach 90 (one instance of CoH). Not good lol. It's been doing this for a while so i think i've been lucky that it's not fried or melted by now.



Anyway, the point of this post is to say thanks for all the help and suggestions given as ultimately, they helped me find the cause of my problem, even though it wasn't what we thought it was.

So, thanks all

at least it isn't running a steady 110 like mine is >.>