Is my computer too weak to play Fallout 4?

[JoeC1989]

Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.00GHz
8.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 1199MHz (11-13-13-35)
MSI Z97-G45 GAMING (MS-7821)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (MSI)
S23C350 (1920x1080@60Hz)

That is my computer. I bought Fallout 4 recently and I've been playing it since launch. While at first glance my computer can run Fallout 4 on ultra 1080p @60fps, it started to get worse and worse. There are areas (not the towns) around the center of the commonwealth where the game will just lose frames. At first it was dropping to 40fps, which is fine. But then it keeps getting worse and worse. I got to an all time low of 10 fps at some raider camp.

Now I see a bunch of people saying that the 970gtx can run fallout 4 at 60 fps ultra 1080p without going below 55 fps. Either this is a lie or there is something about my computer that I don't know. I've played games with far better graphics such as far cry 4 and that didn't even go below 45 fps even when there was a ton of shit on the screen.

Is Fallout 4 really that demanding? Is my computer just shit? I read stuff on the internet and it makes me think that there is something wrong with my computer. Everyone says the 970 can handle fallout 4. Maybe my CPU is too weak or my ram? I don't know what it is.

Edit:

Windows 10 Home 64-bit
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0
ADATA XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model AX3U2400W4G11-DGV
Rosewill Hive-750, Hive Series 750W Modular Power Supply
MSI Z97-G45 Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1150 BX80646I74790K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600

No disk drive. No overclocking. That's everything I could think off.

Intel Core i7 4790K
Cores 4
Threads 8
Name Intel Core i7 4790K
Code Name Haswell
Package Socket 1150 LGA
Technology 22nm
Specification Intel Core i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Family 6
Extended Family 6
Model C
Extended Model 3C
Stepping 3
Revision C0
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Intel 64, NX, VMX, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3
Virtualization Supported, Enabled
Hyperthreading Supported, Enabled
Fan Speed 1359 RPM
Bus Speed 100.0 MHz
Stock Core Speed 4000 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 100 MHz

RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 4
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 2
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 8192 MBytes
Channels # Single
DRAM Frequency 1199.8 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 11 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 13 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 13 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 35 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 2T
Physical Memory
Memory Usage 38 %
Total Physical 7.95 GB
Available Physical 4.87 GB
Total Virtual 9.20 GB
Available Virtual 5.66 GB
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Slot #1
Slot #2

Motherboard
Manufacturer MSI
Model Z97-G45 GAMING (MS-7821) (SOCKET 0)
Version 1.0
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Haswell
Chipset Revision 06
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model Z97
Southbridge Revision 00
System Temperature 31 °C
BIOS
Brand American Megatrends Inc.
Version V2.3
Date 7/22/2014
Voltage
AVCC 3.360 V
3VCC 3.344 V
CPU CORE 1.224 V
VCCIN 1.904 V
DRAM 1.648 V
+12V 12.144 V
+5V 5.120 V
PCI Data
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation J6B2
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J6B1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 1
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J6D1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 2
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J7B1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 3
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J8B4
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 4
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J8D1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 5
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Bus Width 32 bit
Slot Designation J8B3
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 6

Graphics
Monitor
Name S23C350 on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Current Resolution 1920x1080 pixels
Work Resolution 1920x1040 pixels
State Enabled, Primary
Monitor Width 1920
Monitor Height 1080
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Model GeForce GTX 970
Device ID 10DE-13C2
Revision A2
Subvendor MSI (1462)
Current Performance Level Level 1
Current GPU Clock 405 MHz
Current Memory Clock 324 MHz
Voltage 0.868 V
Bus Interface PCI Express x16
Temperature 26 °C
Driver version 10.18.13.5891
BIOS Version 84.04.31.00.14
Count of performance levels : 4
Level 1 - "2D Desktop"
GPU Clock 405 MHz
Memory Clock 324 MHz
Level 2 - "Default"
GPU Clock 405 MHz
Memory Clock 810 MHz
Level 3 - "3D Applications"
GPU Clock 540 MHz
Memory Clock 3004 MHz
Level 4 - "3D Applications"
GPU Clock 540 MHz
Memory Clock 3505 MHz
Storage
Hard drives
WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0
Manufacturer Western Digital
Heads 16
Cylinders 121,601
Tracks 31,008,255
Sectors 1,953,520,065
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ACS2
Serial Number WD-WCC3F3ZLE8L4
Firmware Version Number 01.01A01
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 628 times
Power On Time 156.4 days
Speed 7200 RPM
Features S.M.A.R.T., NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface SATA
Capacity 931 GB
Real size 1,000,204,886,016 bytes
RAID Type None
S.M.A.R.T
Status Good
Temperature 32 °C
Temperature Range OK (less than 50 °C)
S.M.A.R.T attributes
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #0
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number FA929E7B
Size 349 MB
Used Space 263 MB (75%)
Free Space 86 MB (25%)
Partition 1
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter C:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number D2942D00
Size 930 GB
Used Space 557 GB (59%)
Free Space 373 GB (41%)
Partition 2
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #2
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number C0F04886
Size 449 MB
Used Space 356 MB (79%)
Free Space 93 MB (21%)


Let me know if I missed something

 

[Geekwad]

Something else is most certainly affecting your symptoms, either hardware or software. Can you list your full system specs, and what OS you're running. Also interested in any configuration off of stock you've made, including over-clocks and such.

 

[dudeman509]

Your computer is great, certainly among one of the better systems running the game, but the GTX 970 will indeed dip to 45 in some towns.

I've never seen anything THAT low, though.

 

[Geekwad]

Two things: Can I assume that with Win 10 you upgraded from something else, and when you did you chose to 'keep files', and that this is not a clean install of Win 10? The other thing is, can you list what your PSU voltage performance is....preferably to monitor it while you're gaming and experiencing the symptoms?

 

[Deepesh Shenoy]

Open Task Manager And CHeck What Is Using Your Disk / Memory ( RAM ) And Processor ....If Nothing Uses Above than 90% , Use Low end Patch and Run The Game

Also Check That You Have Enabled The High Performance Mode Active

 

[JoeC1989]

Two things: Can I assume that with Win 10 you upgraded from something else, and when you did you chose to 'keep files', and that this is not a clean install of Win 10? The other thing is, can you list what your PSU voltage performance is....preferably to monitor it while you're gaming and experiencing the symptoms?

Sure. How would I go about listing my PSU voltage performance?

 

[JoeC1989]

CPU Utilization 40% 4.37 ghz
Ram In use 5.5 70%

That's what my computer is like when the frame rate issue occurs.

 

[Deepesh Shenoy]

CPU Utilization 40% 4.37 ghz
Ram In use 5.5 70%

That's what my computer is like when the frame rate issue occurs.

And The Disk ?

 

[JoeC1989]

99% Disk

 

[dudeman509]

99% Disk

Find out what's chewing up disk usage, because that's probably your culprit. Windows update in the background perhaps? Task Manager in W10 will show you programs using the most disk access as well.

 

[Deepesh Shenoy]

The Disk can be the Problem It Is Fully Used ....Check What is Using The Most Of The Disk

 

[JoeC1989]

It's just fallout 4 taking the much disk up. everything else is low. 15mbs/s for fallout 4

 

[Deepesh Shenoy]

Is it external HDD ?

 

[Deepesh Shenoy]

It depends on more than just the hard drive speed. Some newer 5400 rpm drives are faster than most older 7200 rpm drives. Mostly this is because newer hard drives tend to have information stored more densely on the spinning platters ....SO If Its An Older HDD , It Can be The HDD Which makes The Game Lag....

 

[Geekwad]

99% Disk

Find out what's chewing up disk usage, because that's probably your culprit. Windows update in the background perhaps? Task Manager in W10 will show you programs using the most disk access as well.

Agree.....find the disk muncher!

On a side note (getting back to the general state of your rig): an overall really great update to your system would be a SSD for your OS and main programs . For under $100, a 120-240Gb SSD (120 get's the job done, but 240 allows for even more programs to be on the fastest drive) will make everything snappier. Note: it won't improve game performance per se, but loading times could be reduced.

What would be a big help, in my opinion, is to do a clean install of Win 10. If you did that though, then no sense in doing it on your HDD. With the ability to use a Win 7-8 key on a clean Win 10 install now, going to SSD isn't as painful as it was where you had to reinstall, update (for a day), and then upgrade again to the 'keep nothing' option. At a minimum, ~$50 for a SSD and ~$50 for another 1tb drive for a 'backup' could get you easily completely switched over.

That's the easy way out though

If it isn't possible, or just don't want to do it, then we can keep going if the disc usage can't be brought under control.

 

[galeener]

Ya i see nothing in your build that would be causing this Hell I run ultra on my gtx680 and a 3820 system. Does it do this on any other game?
I would get a copy of ddu and totally remove the vid drivers and reinstall to start.
Your hdd is a wd blue which is a solid drive not as fast as a black or ssd but still an ok drive.

 

[bloodroses75]

By chance, what antivirus are you using? I know some of them out there don't play very nicely with games and will cause every file the game reads and writes to be scanned.

 

[James Mason]

Disabling v-sync and then capping the FPS (because above 80 the game gets more dangers of getting stuck exiting a terminal and building settlements becomes harder because objects rotate too fast) can help, because v-sync is a big drain on system resources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fo4/comments/3s6ile/disable_vsync_for_zero_input_lag_and_limit_fps/