Dark Souls 3 Frame Rate

[dolphinsupreme]

Hi

I recently got a new custom built pc with an i-3 6100 3.7 GHz with an R9 380 4GB. My goal was to play games at 1080p, 60fps at either medium/low settings. Many people told me I can run it. However, today I tried dark souls 3 and I'm hitting an average of 20 fps even on the lowest setting with the lowest resolution.

I've looked online for solutions, and adjusted some privacy settings on windows 10. I don't know what to do. Should I try to overlock the cpu? I have a Z170 motherboard, so I'm pretty sure I can overclock non-K series.

I'm desperate for answers! I spent a lot of money on this rig hoping it could. I feel confident it can but I just don't know how to do it

 

[Thomas_109]

There is something wrong, that setup should be able to get 60fps on med/high settings. Make sure your GPU drivers are the lastest. Do you have any issues on other games? Compare your framerate to those in benchmarks for your card..

 

[Dulith1118]

well u cnt overclock that cpu.....
U need a k processor to overclock....
The downfall is ut cpu doesnt meet the minimum requirements...
And dark souls 3 is a new game so u can expect that.... And how much ram do u have???

 

[RCFProd]

well u cnt overclock that cpu.....
U need a k processor to overclock....
The downfall is ut cpu doesnt meet the minimum requirements...
And dark souls 3 is a new game so u can expect that.... And how much ram do u have???

i3-6100 can be overclocked if It's paired with the right motherboard, however on Itself the CPU is already good enough for DS3.

Also, Dark Souls 3 shouldn't be anywhere close to 20 fps with his setup. More like 50-60 at highest settings all the time.

Which GPU drivers have you got installed OP? Feels to me like you might be running onboard graphics instead of your actual R9 380 4GB even.

I'm actually almost certain that you have onboard graphics enabled and GPU disabled.

So do the following steps:

1) Make sure your GPU is actually connected. So placed into PCIE Slot, PCIE cables connected, HDMI/DVI/DisplayPort cable connected to graphics card, NOT DISPLAY CABLE INTO MOTHERBOARD (STILL A FREQUENT MISTAKE).
2) Disable iGPU/onboard graphics in BIOS
3) Install latest AMD drivers here:
http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

By the way, which PSU are you using?

 

[Shaun o]

If I was to be honest with you.
You would of been much better off opting for an Intel i5 cpu and not an i3.

The i5 Intel is more suited to playing games with if the game uses a lot of physics in a game.
Where as an i3 cpu is classed for main stream computing such as web browsing, word processing.

It will cause a very big hit on any new game title you try to run.
Even if you have a high end graphics card fitted to your new system build.

It will be one of the main reasons why you are seeing only 20 Fps

You need to read and understand the drawbacks of trying to run games with an Intel i3 cpu.
I would recommend that, you return the I3 cpu if you can from where you bought it from, and ask if you can do an upgrade to an i5 model of cpu by paying the extra left to pay for an i5 with what the i3 cost.

And upgrade it to at least an i5 cpu in the mid i5 model number range.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/buying-advice/pc-components/whats-difference-between-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-3417091/

 

[RCFProd]

^ Very poor advice from you Shaun. With your reputation you should do better! Anyone with research done knows the i3-6100 is no joke for gaming, and hits 60 fps in most titles.

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbyGapxiGLQ"][/video]
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G-7bfPG2dE"][/video]

Let's focus on fixing his performance with the parts he already has.

 

[Shaun o]

It was a mere suggestion.

But, in any case. I hope you can resolve the Op problem.
I was pointing out what the drawbacks can be.

 

[RCFProd]

It was a mere suggestion.

But, in any case. I hope you can resolve the Op problem.
I was pointing out what the drawbacks can be.

In any normal situation the Intel i3-6100 should work without a middle range GPU being really held back. I think he's running onboard graphics by accident, or something is faulty.

It makes sense because this video exactly shows the ~20 fps at lowest settings and lowest resolution with HD 530 onboard graphics of the i3-6100. 100% is this OP's issue.

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQenvQiPK-w"][/video]

 

[gran172]

I agree with what RCFProd said, i have a R9 380 4Gb and i can run the game at 60fps locked with some drops to 50 on high settings (Depth of Field and Motion Blur off). You're probably using your onboard graphics

 

[dolphinsupreme]

well u cnt overclock that cpu.....
U need a k processor to overclock....
The downfall is ut cpu doesnt meet the minimum requirements...
And dark souls 3 is a new game so u can expect that.... And how much ram do u have???

i3-6100 can be overclocked if It's paired with the right motherboard, however on Itself the CPU is already good enough for DS3.

Also, Dark Souls 3 shouldn't be anywhere close to 20 fps with his setup. More like 50-60 at highest settings all the time.

Which GPU drivers have you got installed OP? Feels to me like you might be running onboard graphics instead of your actual R9 380 4GB even.

I'm actually almost certain that you have onboard graphics enabled and GPU disabled.

So do the following steps:

1) Make sure your GPU is actually connected. So placed into PCIE Slot, PCIE cables connected, HDMI/DVI/DisplayPort cable connected to graphics card, NOT DISPLAY CABLE INTO MOTHERBOARD (STILL A FREQUENT MISTAKE).
2) Disable iGPU/onboard graphics in BIOS
3) Install latest AMD drivers here:
http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

By the way, which PSU are you using?

I did as you said, and it's still not running very well. The DVI cable was plugged into the MB and not in GPU; I fixed that. I also went to BIOS to make sure the PCIE was selected, and it was. I don't think the onboard graphics is activated.
I have an EVGA 750B.
I also installed the latest driver. Not sure what's going on. Might take it to Microcenter. But it's nice to know that it isn't necessarily the quality of the products I bought. Must have messed up somewhere.
Thanks

Edit: after doing what you said, the frame rate is now around high 20ish. It does get to 60 in on screen and in Firelink Shrine. But no where else.

Edit 2: the driver version I have is 16.150.2211.0

 

[dolphinsupreme]

The frame rate starts at 60 but then drops to 20s. Ugh such a pain

 

[RCFProd]

Ok so the issue lies somewhere else. Might have to wait before taking the GPU to Microcenter, because It's not certain what's causing problems. Have you taken a look at your CPU/GPU temperatures? You can do this, best whilst playing a game, using a program like HWMonitor:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[dolphinsupreme]

I thought overheating might be it because I just read a similar problem somewhere else, so I decided to turn it off and sleep. When I came back on, it still had the same issue. It runs fine in the first 2 minutes (doesn't matter where I load) but then it drops and crashes (because my fps was so bad for multiplayer or something).
Do you think it could be the computer isn't prioritizing the game first?

 

[RCFProd]

I think your PC should actually stay at 60 fps. I'm not ruling out overheating parts, most likely the CPU but perhaps the GPU. It has said symptoms aswell so it could be it. The issue could be as simple as you not having installed the CPU Cooler correctly. Make sure to rule out overheating.

 

[dolphinsupreme]

Well now DotA 2 is running at 40-50 fps when it was originally running at 120fps before I played ds3.
Maybe resetting it will help?

 

[RCFProd]

Ok, try resetting. Did you rule out overheating because you didn't confirm it yet

 

[dolphinsupreme]

Yea I don't think it's overheating. I downloaded it and it kept low.
The frame rate drops almost immediately even after the pc has been shut down for hours.
Resetting now. I'm gonna check cpu fan next if this doesn't work

 

[dolphinsupreme]

Ok, try resetting. Did you rule out overheating because you didn't confirm it yet

Did a reset. Re-downloaded Steam, Dark Souls 3, Chrome, and InputMapper (for my ds4). Now it's at a stable 50-60 fps. Only dips during boss transformation and when saving icon appears.

The only thing I can think interfered with frame rate was maybe my Avast AntiVirus. I didn't have much else installed that would affect DotA2 frame rate as well.

Either way, I'm going to keep playing to see if it continues working.

Thanks everyone for your input

Special thanks to RCFProd for hanging in there with me

 

[RCFProd]

Seems like, luckily, it was a software problem then. Good to see you got it fixed without having to replace/rma your hardware.