Fallout 3 Framerate issues

[omgnoname4me]

I recently bought Fallout 3 on steam and I am having major frame rate issues. It is so choppy that it is unplayable. The first 30 - 45 min were fine and smooth, besides the menu screen, but after that I get this problem. I checked on a website and it said my computer was higher than recomended settings. I tried putting everything down to the lowest possible but still the same thing. I uninstalled and reinstalled but it is still the same. Some help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[iyzik]

Could you post your system and os and all that good stuff

 

[omgnoname4me]

Oh yeah.


Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Lynnfield 45nm Technology
RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Acer Aspire M3910 (CPU 1)
Graphics
W2600 (1920x1200@59Hz)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 320
Hard Drives
488GB Seagate ST3500418AS (RAID)
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653G

 

[iyzik]

Wow, I was not aware they even made DDR3 RAM that slow. Your 667mhz ram could be the problem, it is very slow.

Try downloading MSI Afterburner and monitoring in game GPU usage and framebuffer usage and all that and then report back here with results. If the GPU is at 100% usage then your card is not strong enough. If not then its most likely CPU/RAM problem with a possibility of some software tweaks to fix them.

P.S. I have a laptop with a very similar CPU and a GT330M which is about as strong as that 320 and there's no way I could play Fallout 3 at even high settings at even 1680x1050. I play at med/low when I use the laptop.

 

[simon12]

If it runs fine for a bit then slows it is usually due to overheating, run CPUID HWMonitor to check.

 

[omgnoname4me]

Wow, I was not aware they even made DDR3 RAM that slow. Your 667mhz ram could be the problem, it is very slow.

Try downloading MSI Afterburner and monitoring in game GPU usage and framebuffer usage and all that and then report back here with results. If the GPU is at 100% usage then your card is not strong enough. If not then its most likely CPU/RAM problem with a possibility of some software tweaks to fix them.

P.S. I have a laptop with a very similar CPU and a GT330M which is about as strong as that 320 and there's no way I could play Fallout 3 at even high settings at even 1680x1050. I play at med/low when I use the laptop.

OK so it is switching between 10-25% sometimes jumps up high 30's but i can play it smooth up to a certain point in the game, it is right at the start and as soon as i get there this happens.
I can also play New Vegas on 'High' smooth with no problems so I dont know why this one doesn't

 

[omgnoname4me]

If it runs fine for a bit then slows it is usually due to overheating, run CPUID HWMonitor to check.

It doesnt do that. It is after a certain point in the game. I could just start it up and it will still be like this.

 

[iyzik]

OK so it is switching between 10-25% sometimes jumps up high 30's but i can play it smooth up to a certain point in the game, it is right at the start and as soon as i get there this happens.
I can also play New Vegas on 'High' smooth with no problems so I dont know why this one doesn't

Ok, that is defenite GPU bottleneck, I think I might know what problem you are having.

Okay go to Documents/My Games/Fallout3/ and edit Fallout.ini file with notepad. Look for a line that says bUseThreadedAI=0. Change that to say bUseThreadedAI=1
Right below that line add another line: iNumHWThreads=2

You can play with the number for HWthreads, but generally works like this;
Quad core, no HT: 4
Quad core, with HT: 8 (4 is sometimes more stable)
Dual core, no HT: 2
Dual core, with HT: 4


again those can be bumped around for stability, dont use odd numbers though

 

[omgnoname4me]

Ok, that is defenite GPU bottleneck, I think I might know what problem you are having.

Okay go to Documents/My Games/Fallout3/ and edit Fallout.ini file with notepad. Look for a line that says bUseThreadedAI=0. Change that to say bUseThreadedAI=1
Right below that line add another line: iNumHWThreads=2

You can play with the number for HWthreads, but generally works like this;
Quad core, no HT: 4
Quad core, with HT: 8 (4 is sometimes more stable)
Dual core, no HT: 2
Dual core, with HT: 4


again those can be bumped around for stability, dont use odd numbers though

I tried that and I didn't see anything different still the same.

 

[iyzik]

I tried that and I didn't see anything different still the same.

Hmm idk what to tell you then besides uninstall and reinstall game. If it doesnt bottleneck New Vegas then its not a CPU problem its problem with the game.

 

[MajinCry]

I had this problem.

Downloaded FSR, Fallout Stutter Remover.

Capped my frames @ 40 fps

Everything is no longer juddering and stuttering.