Borderlands 2 -- low framerate

lambent

Honorable
Mar 10, 2012
4
0
10,510
Hi.

I seem to only be getting about 25-30 fps in Borderlands 2, regardless of whether I'm running at max settings or at the lowest settings and the lowest resolution. I'm thinking it should be higher than that.

My PC:

FX-4100 @ 3.6 GHz
GTX 770
8GB RAM
Windows 7 64-bit

I just upgraded to the 770 from an HD 6850. I was getting pretty much the same frame rate with that card, have seen very little improvement (in this one game) since I upgraded. My drivers are up to date. Also, my CPU usage is only at about 40% with the game running.

Any ideas?
 
Solution


That's not what matters. I guarantee you that it's because your CPU is crap, and you need to upgrade it. CPU usage isn't always going to be at 100%, even if nothing is bottlenecking it and it's still underperforming; at least that's what I've seen. It's not like with GPU usage which most of the time without V-Sync on will work at 99% usage unless there's a bottleneck.

But trust me, it's your CPU. I've spent many a time scratching my head wondering about my fps drops too, even though my CPU usage in the game wasn't always getting to 100% or anywhere near that...
Welcome to the world of bottlenecking!
Population: You and I

I don't have it nearly as bad as you though, because an FX-4100 is pretty terrible. I have an FX-6300 and it's decent, but with certain games such as Borderlands 2 and Skyrim, even though I can usually get 60 fps with my GTX 770, there are some points where my frame rate drops a lot. For Skyrim it's down to around 45 fps occasionally, but for Borderlands 2 there are numerous, relatively infrequent areas where my frame rate drops to around 30 - 45.

You'll seriously want to upgrade that CPU. My recommendation is the FX-8320 (I don't think the FX-8350 is worth the extra $40 between the two of them since the only difference is clock speed and the FX series is great for overclocking anyway) so you should get that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Make sure your PSU is up to the task, though.
 


I can get a consistent 60 fps in Skyrim though and an average of 80 fps in Arkham Origins, which is why I thought it was strange that Borderlands 2 was so low.

I'm not trying to play in 1080p, only in 1360x768 because that's all my TV supports.

 


That's not what matters. I guarantee you that it's because your CPU is crap, and you need to upgrade it. CPU usage isn't always going to be at 100%, even if nothing is bottlenecking it and it's still underperforming; at least that's what I've seen. It's not like with GPU usage which most of the time without V-Sync on will work at 99% usage unless there's a bottleneck.

But trust me, it's your CPU. I've spent many a time scratching my head wondering about my fps drops too, even though my CPU usage in the game wasn't always getting to 100% or anywhere near that:

CPU1.png


As you can see, your FX-4100 doesn't even register on the chart, but for the record the FX-4170 is the same as the FX-4100 just overclocked.

You should try overclocking, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll yield. For me, the difference was an extra 6 - 8 fps added to my minimum frame rate for the game after overclocking from 3.5 to 4.2 GHz. But realistically, the only way you'll get smooth frame rates is by upgrading your CPU.
 
Solution


Yeah, I'm not questioning that I need to upgrade the CPU. That was my next planned upgrade anyway. I just don't understand why I'm able to get 60 fps in both Bioshock Infinite and Metro: Last Light, at max settings no less, but only 30 fps in Borderlands 2 on the lowest settings. Is Borderlands 2 that poorly optimized?