Low FPS in BF4 with high end PC

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jkteddy77

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Jun 13, 2013
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I've been troubleshooting for 2 months now, and no one's been able to help, so short, sweet, and to the point:

8350 stock speed, R9 290 Tri-X 1000/1300, 850w Corsair, 8gb @ 1866mhz 9-10-9-28, Win 8.1 64bit

I'm getting 40-75 on DX11 on ultra preset, and like 50-100 with Mantle on. In both cases, my average framerate is generally around 55-75... should I not be running smoother and faster?
I want to eliminate my dips below 60, but there just doesn't seem to be a way...

When I say dips, I mean it will drop and MAINTAIN around 49-67fps in heavy maps...

What worries me the most, is that even when I turn down settings, only my Max FPS increases... I still get the same Min FPS as I did on Ultra... Yes, I resarted the game too, it just won't run smooth.
This happens most maps, but of course Altai Range, Guillen Peaks, Hainan Resort, Paracel Storm, and Shanghi all run the slowest.

I run all other games as fast as expected, and match most benchmarks of games. I'm not interested in OCing my 8350 that much, as even at 4.4ghz, I gained 2-3fps...

MY CPU is always about 60% and never over 53C on core
My GPU is always 90-100% usage, and its clocks never drop, never over 73C

I have so far:

-Clean installed drivers 13.12 through 14.3, all using DDU latest version.
-Installed latest Chipset drivers from AMD's site, 13-12 chipset, and my MOBO's latest chipset drivers.
-Unparked cores, did nothing for me as Windows 8.1 is already unparking my cores when I start the game...
-custom cfg settings change nothing
-perfoverlay.drawgraph shows my CPU usage slightly above my GPU, but not alarmingly higher... It spikes, but could it really be bottlenecking my 290? Already tried OC, didn't help.
-repaired BF4 and reinstalled PB
-Many other things I can't think of, to no gain or loss in FPS...
-and lastly, yes, I've gone as far as completely reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 again...

After OCing my CPU and seeing little difference, I don't know what else to do. OCing GPU helps a bit, but only like 5 fps and I want my card at its stock OC

Please, I've spent hundreds of hours just troubleshooting this game... I built this PC with the games AMD optimization in mind...

Any Ideas? What is there left to do?
 
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As i already said multiple time i have an FX-8320 and i get MUCH better framerates than OP, i tested disabling 2 of the 8 cores in the Bios and dropped the frequency all the way down to 2.8ghz and for me on my rig it still makes no difference, the game scale accross the other 6 remaining cores and it does not impact performance a bit...so defenetly not the CPU being the problem here the game scale very well and FX 6 and 8 cores CPU are the best performers (appart from the i7 2xxx and up) for battlefield...anyway just check some videos on youtube of the 8350 and r9 290 or GTX 780 and you will realsise that they all get over 65-70 fps average on ultra...juste like me.

 
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I have windows 8.1, the cores unpark themselves. All 8 cores are active while I play, 60-70% total usage. I tried manually unparking, did nothing as they already unpark themselves... I tried this like, first, 2 months ago. All of these hotfixes are a joke, something else has to be at hand here.
 
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I just talked to a guy yesterday with an 8150 and 780 getting 80-100 fps... says his lowest drop was 67 when mine was 54 the same map...
Talked to another guy with his 8350 and 780ti getting no bottleneck, says he never went below 70... on Hainan Resort... His GPU was 20% faster than mine, he didn't get this bottleneck....

yes, I have mantle on and driver 14.3. I'm doing everything right. They had their CPU's stock and they got that.... no way my 8350 could bottleneck my 290 could it? I turned off all power saving options and stuff in BIOS, game still doesn't run faster...
 
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Yes, and they are recording as well 0_o I am getting about 60-80 average (I mean, minus 2-3 fps is reasonable as I have these other monitors) but yeah, I don't see the drops to 53 or 55 like I get... even on the same maps...
 
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now, when we first started talking togheter about this you where sying you where getting FPS as low as 40fps at times, now you are talking about 53 or 55fps...is your condition got better or what? because i would start to guess thet if you get 53fps on hardest heaviest maps then this is normal man, i sometimes get lows in the 55-58 fos but my gpu as i stated is better than yours for BF4 and that would explain those...40fps is not normal for your system but 53-55 is totally expected...BF4 is quite a demanding after all at full ULTRA settings you know...if you're expectiing average fps a 80 and absolute lows at 65fps on ultra it's not gonna happen on your system...i overclock my components to the bone as you've seen and i have no anti-virus, not any programs running except afterburner, origin and BF4, everything (windows and BF4, afterburener and origin) is installed on a fast speed gaming/boot drive SSD...what i'm saying is my system is in the best condition possible, only 1 monitor 1080p plugged in the card, etc...you know..
 
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I 100% agree with this.

Additionally, jkteddy, BF4 is a MULTIPLAYER GAME. FPS drops are part of the territory. Fuhgeddaboudit!

This thread is getting ridiculous.
 
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Stop listening to what other people say about their fps, they are probably going to not tell you the true lowest number. People like to inflate their numbers when talking online. I think your framerate is fine.

Last night I decided to play BF4 so I could compare to everything I've read in this thread. There was one point where I was running along the water of Siege of Shanghai and my fps dropped to 50. If my system dips to 50, then I'm pretty sure it's normal for yours to do that as well. I have an i7 3770k @ 4.7 GHz and a 780 Ti @ ~1275 core clock.
 
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wow...4.7ghz stable on a core i7 ?! you're an overclocker master mate, hats off on that !
i think the framerates will also varies in function of the server you're on?, the speed of the internet connection and ping must have an effect on that as well isn't it? ...i'm on very high speed internet with monster bandwidth...maybe that helps.

 
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There are a few questions I have about those FPS differences, please answer them all:

Are you using Mantle? If yes, that has a huge effect on removing CPU bottlenecks.

Are you comparing Single or Multiplayer? Multiplayer has much bigger bottlenecks.

What FPS meter are you using? The in game FPS reading is very confusing, as it includes CPU FPS, which does NOT show how many FPS you are getting and it is much higher than your actual FPS.

What settings you are using? Everyone counts, including AA. Many people lie/exaggerate their settings by saying max or ultra when they have a couple settings turned down.
 
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Hah thanks. I have been strongly considering delidding so I can maybe get to 4.8 on air, plus temps become much better, but I'm not sure if I want to.

Anyways, internet speed shouldn't have an effect on the framerate. I just want to point out that he can't expect no drops below 60fps. The drop that I had to 50fps was rare. Normal framerate ranges from 85-130, so I would expect his normal to be around 80-105
 
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Fair enough, that's kind of where im at, 75 fps average, 105 fps when looking at a wall or the sky, drops to 55-60fps when it get really intense with tanks and choppers and 64 players on the screen at once (LOL LOL LOL hehe) but yeah, not often do i see anything bellow 60fps but it does happen at some points in the game, but i would say it's less than 1% of the time that i'm under 60fps...but on overclocked to 4.4ghz FX-8320 and overclocked to 1225mhz GTX 780...

 
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So, to clear lots of this up, I play on Ultra Preset with 100% scale in 1080p, most of the time with my two other screens connected in the background while I play on one (this can have an impact, as one is a full 1080p 39" Tv) but It still only takes about 2-3fps off my single monitor fps.

I am talking only MP, and mostly demanding maps with water like Hainan, Paracel Storm, Shanghai, and especially parts of the new Naval Strike Maps.

I get drops to 40 when using DX11, my average DX11 performance is 40-75.
I get drops to 50 at the minimum with Mantle, mostly 55-90 fps, with highs of 85-110 in clear areas.
FX-8350 stock 4.11ghz in turbo, and R9 290 Tri-X at 1ghz core clock

The perfoverlay.drawfps in BF4 is completely accurate, and matches what FRAPS reads it as.
Internet only plays a factor if you're lagging out of the game, then FPS will drop, but I get 24mb/s down... and play US servers only.

You expect I get 80-105? that was what I thought too... I think this game DOES bottleneck the 8350, and that If I had a 3770k or 4770k highly OC'd over 4.4ghz.

 
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Yes, I expected you to get 80-105 on average, but ALSO with dips to ~50, or perhaps even a little lower at times. It should be somewhat rare, but not like "WTF why am I at 50fps". Your numbers correspond to mine. They are slightly lower than mine, but I have a 780 Ti overclocked.

I'll play a bit more tonight, but I don't know how to get the ACTUAL average and minimum fps. I'm guessing on the average, but I definitely saw my fps 50 when I was running along the water of Shanghai. Tell me some other maps that you generally dip low on, so I can compare.
 
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I'm not complaining because I am 80-105. Yes, I get like 60-90 with mantle, but many of the maps, while I'm in the center of the map, actually playing, I get 60-75 or so... THIS is why I'm concerned, with it constantly riding over 55-65fps, it bothers me so much. I shouldn't be averaging that low should I? Very confusing, I wish I could show you video. The new maps, yeah, I'm 74-80 in some areas, but I do tend to run 55-70 in large areas of the new maps for extended periods of time, and It makes me cringe cause I'll drop below that golden 60 fps about 2-4 times a minute...

Doesn't help that I get mantle CPU spikes as well, but I can live with it as DX11 I drop below 60 every map and run 50-60fps on ultra...

This is why I'm concerned, what is you LOWER AVERAGE range of FPS, or averages on demanding maps? That's what I'm worried about, that's what I'm not content with. 280x, yeah, that is expected to ride that 55-65 line. A R9 290 that is 24% faster? no... that shouldn't be happen.
 
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If I stayed around 80fps all the time, and just had these spikes to 40-50, I'd be fine. Its the fact that I'm RIDING on that low fps on many maps, that others seem to play fine... these maps are CPU intensive maps...

It does matter, cause the fact that my GPU is 1-2 tiers AHEAD of other people getting my same fps... I paid over $250 more for the same performance as them... you see where I'm coming from?
 
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There are so many things that can lower FPS at any time, it is unreal.

The servers can affect you.
Your resolution and settings may be different than his.
Different people in the game, doing different things with different number of people, will make a difference.
Different game builds/patches have made changes to performance.
Different CCC settings make a difference, some times huge differences.
Different API, DX9/DX11/Mantle all have different performances.
Your GPU is very sensitive to heat and air flow. A different case may hinder its clocks.
 
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My GPU is at 71C, and holds its clock. CPU never over 52C, holds its clock and usage levels. People are playing better with my exact hardware and settings RIGHT NOW, on the same game version. Very few programs could impact the game performance, and I only have potify, Origin, and BF4 open.

What CCC settings could affect it? I have all of them set to AMD optimized or Use Application Settings, or off. Should run smooth as possible.

DX11 runs even worse, I'm only getting good FPS with Mantle.... Its the most optimized API there is... at least for 290 it is. and If I want to run DX11, I drop to 40fps and I'm always under 60...
 
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Your CCC settings may or may not be set the same as others. Some of those settings can make major differences.

What is your resolution? What are the actual settings of those you've talked to? It seems like 90% of those who say they play "Ultra" or "maxed" out are not in fact playing with those settings, as they fail to tell you that they have X setting turned down.

Your experience is much closer to that of what reviewers get. I don't trust random Joe in game, as I mentioned, most fail to tell you the whole truth about their settings.

Then there are those who use MVP Virtu on their motherboard and don't know that this feature causes your FPS counters to lie. It is a good feature, as it reduces latency, but the way it works causes your FPS readings to tell you much higher numbers than you actually get.
 
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Yes, this is all very true, but I see videos of people showing off their setting in game when the video starts, and they get higher FPS than me in spots I'd normally lose fps. In fact, some poeple only run like 73-95 the entire recording, not to mentin that they are losing like 5-10fps to recording software... I have yet to see a video or meet someone who actually has their setting smaxed that runs as poorly as I have... I know it could just be "a bad match" or "a good match" in terms of performance in someones video, But I am consistently lower than everyone I've seen every map...
 
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Nothing but anecdotal evidence (worthless) proves what you are trying to say. Every quantitative evaluation of BF4 with your hardware yields the same numbers that you are currently getting.

So stop worrying!!

This is what you have to do:
1. Use Mantle
2. Overclock your CPU (do NOT use auto settings, take the time and overclock it right, then stress test. There are a million and one guides out there that you can use to do it right)
3. Unplug those other monitors.
4. Keep Cool and Quiet and every other power saving feature turned off.
5. DO NOT USE FPS COUNTERS - They are driving you insane, you probably wouldn't even notice a problem if you disabled them all... I'm not joking. Keep 'em off.

According to everything you have reported, this will get you the best performance.

Stop worrying and start playing Battlefield! Or you can keep on trying to fix this "problem" and waste even more time.

I'm done with this thread.
 
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You were the one screaming cpu right? I just tried turning off AA, and everything else ultra... still get same minimum fps of 55-60, but I shoot as high up as 150fps... I still fin it hard to believe after all the performance tweaking that the CPU could be holding me back that bad! I almost get smoother FPS with AA on 4x!

I can stand with turning settings down... but it doesn't help... The reason I fret so much is that I want to go 1440p (which I should be able to, (I even ran into a guy yesterday with an 8150 and 770 running 70fps average on ultra with just no MSAA...), but jesus, can I? What if I get the same drops, but now they're doen to 35fps no matter the setting? I gotta get this figured out... I expect more out of this level of hardware.... how can my minimum FPS just not increase like that? could the entire CPU be faulty or?
 
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