Poor performance in Fallout 4+ other issues.

[aryamanp56]

I play the game at a combination of high and medium settings at 1080p (godrays-low). I get 30-40 fps on avg but when i go to the populated areas(college square/lexington), my fps takes a dump and i'm down to the low 20s sometimes dropping to 15. I've seen similar rigs to mine pull 30+ in these areas which gives me cause to worry.Furthermore, the INI files keep switching back to "read only" mode even when i uncheck the option. Games like the witcher 3 work just fine at high settings. I'm running Fo4 in borderless windowed mode which yielded a slight fps increase- (as suggested by someone on steam) Any help would be appreciated!
specs-
FX-6300@3.8
R9-270
8 gigs of kingston hyper-x@1600mhz
Corsair CX500
1tb mechanical drive

 

[HEXiT]

run the game, tab out and open task manager.
right click on fo4 and select go to details.
right click again and select set affinity.
set the affinity to core 0 or 1 apply close task manager and go back into the game.

 

[affinitydesigns]

Fallout 4 is a demanding triple A game. The R9 270 really doesn't have the horsepower to push through it at 1080p in the medium to high range and always keep 30+ frames. The benchmarks you see are using a standard test to reach the numbers you see. There are also different aftermarket versions of the 270 which means yours might not have as high of a clock speed as others. There's also different VRAM models so some have larger amounts of VRAM which can help a lot in rendering larger cities. Unfortunately it looks like you might need to lower your settings to low/medium or try lowering the resolution to 720p to see if that is more playable. Also, the CX500 isn't a good PSU for a gaming build. You might want to consider replacing that. Take a look at the PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 

[Dunlop0078]

Turn god rays off completely, I have a similar setup and I play at ultra with shadows at medium and I am at 60fps the majority of the time with dips into the 40s occasionally. Just use this mod its a config tool it will set the ini to read only and give you an easy way to edit it, as well as making a registry tweak so that fallout 4 always launches with high cpu priority if you choose to do so and at stock my game was only using 3 of my cpu's 6 threads setting inumhwthreads or something like that to 6 helped performance you can do it easily using the config tool I linked.

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/102/?

 

[Dunlop0078]

Fallout 4 is a demanding triple A game. The R9 270 really doesn't have the horsepower to push through it at 1080p in the medium to high range and always keep 30+ frames. The benchmarks you see are using a standard test to reach the numbers you see. There are also different aftermarket versions of the 270 which means yours might not have as high of a clock speed as others. There's also different VRAM models so some have larger amounts of VRAM which can help a lot in rendering larger cities. Unfortunately it looks like you might need to lower your settings to low/medium or try lowering the resolution to 720p to see if that is more playable. Also, the CX500 isn't a good PSU for a gaming build. You might want to consider replacing that. Take a look at the PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

I dont agree, no matter what 270 he has it is most certainly capable of getting better than 30-40fps at settings higher than medium 1080p.

 

[aryamanp56]

Fallout 4 is a demanding triple A game. The R9 270 really doesn't have the horsepower to push through it at 1080p in the medium to high range and always keep 30+ frames. The benchmarks you see are using a standard test to reach the numbers you see. There are also different aftermarket versions of the 270 which means yours might not have as high of a clock speed as others. There's also different VRAM models so some have larger amounts of VRAM which can help a lot in rendering larger cities. Unfortunately it looks like you might need to lower your settings to low/medium or try lowering the resolution to 720p to see if that is more playable. Also, the CX500 isn't a good PSU for a gaming build. You might want to consider replacing that. Take a look at the PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

I didn't mean to pick your's as the best answer. I have the 2 gig sapphire version of the card(2 gigs being more than enough to render fo4's textures) which i've OC'd slightly although a few 100mhz isn't going to mean the difference b/w playable and non-playable fps in this case . My PSU is more that sufficient for my build and has nothing to do with the performance of this game or any other i play and you mentioning the same really brings nothing to the conversation. I play skyrim with over 60 mods including a full fat ENB+2k textures and that seems to work just fine (40fps+) despite running on what is basically the same engine.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Fallout 4 is a demanding triple A game. The R9 270 really doesn't have the horsepower to push through it at 1080p in the medium to high range and always keep 30+ frames. The benchmarks you see are using a standard test to reach the numbers you see. There are also different aftermarket versions of the 270 which means yours might not have as high of a clock speed as others. There's also different VRAM models so some have larger amounts of VRAM which can help a lot in rendering larger cities. Unfortunately it looks like you might need to lower your settings to low/medium or try lowering the resolution to 720p to see if that is more playable. Also, the CX500 isn't a good PSU for a gaming build. You might want to consider replacing that. Take a look at the PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

I didn't mean to pick your's as the best answer. I have the 2 gig sapphire version of the card(2 gigs being more than enough to render fo4's textures) which i've OC'd slightly although a few 100mhz isn't going to mean the difference b/w playable and non-playable fps in this case . My PSU is more that sufficient for my build and has nothing to do with the performance of this game or any other i play and you mentioning the same really brings nothing to the conversation. I play skyrim with over 60 mods including a full fat ENB+2k textures and that seems to work just fine (40fps+) despite running on what is basically the same engine.

Whats really holding you back is the cpu not the gpu, for some reason fallout 4 really hates AMD cpu's it took me a while of tweaking before I got fallout 4 running at what i consider acceptable, and my cpu is overcloked as high as I could get it so I would expect yours to perform even worse. It will run at 60fps but not without turning down some settings and accepting your going to stutter a lot. Since you are a modder I would recommend what I am using the difference is night and day in a performance sense especially with the texture optimization project I linked below.

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/978/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1769/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1355/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1400/?
Fallout 4 cpu benchmarks: http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

 

[affinitydesigns]

Review the comments on the PSU tier list about the CX series or ask anyone that is knowledgeable about PSU about having a CX series in a gaming rig. You listed your specs and it can be a cause for issue in the future. It doesn't have a direct affect on performance, but does on longevity. In an apples to apples comparison with Skyrim vs FO4, Skyrim has nearly double the average frame. The engine does not determine the graphical performance limitations inherently. Need for Speed and Battlefield 4 both run off the Frostbyte engine. They don't have anywhere near the same graphical requirements.

Having an overclock might edge you out 3-5 fps which when you're dangling around the 30fps mark can be a visual difference.

Recommended Requirements are created for 1080p at high with playable frame-rates throughout the game.
Here's Fallout 4s

Recommended
Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
Intel Core i7 4790 3.6 GHz/AMD FX-9590 4.7 GHz or equivalent
8 GB RAM
30 GB free HDD space
NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB/AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB or equivalent

The 2GB R9 270 isn't going to run that at 1080p. I'm sorry. You're going to get dips.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2177-fallout-4-pc-video-card-fps-benchmark-all-resolutions

Check out benchmarks. I'd love to tell you what you could do besides get a better graphics card to run at high+ at 1080p, but it's not realistic.

 

[HEXiT]

Fallout 4 is a demanding triple A game. The R9 270 really doesn't have the horsepower to push through it at 1080p in the medium to high range and always keep 30+ frames. The benchmarks you see are using a standard test to reach the numbers you see. There are also different aftermarket versions of the 270 which means yours might not have as high of a clock speed as others. There's also different VRAM models so some have larger amounts of VRAM which can help a lot in rendering larger cities. Unfortunately it looks like you might need to lower your settings to low/medium or try lowering the resolution to 720p to see if that is more playable. Also, the CX500 isn't a good PSU for a gaming build. You might want to consider replacing that. Take a look at the PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

lol...
it may not be able to manage ultra settings but it will certainly manage a mix of high and ultra while still giving 50-60 fps.

 

[aryamanp56]

Fallout 4 is a demanding triple A game. The R9 270 really doesn't have the horsepower to push through it at 1080p in the medium to high range and always keep 30+ frames. The benchmarks you see are using a standard test to reach the numbers you see. There are also different aftermarket versions of the 270 which means yours might not have as high of a clock speed as others. There's also different VRAM models so some have larger amounts of VRAM which can help a lot in rendering larger cities. Unfortunately it looks like you might need to lower your settings to low/medium or try lowering the resolution to 720p to see if that is more playable. Also, the CX500 isn't a good PSU for a gaming build. You might want to consider replacing that. Take a look at the PSU tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

I didn't mean to pick your's as the best answer. I have the 2 gig sapphire version of the card(2 gigs being more than enough to render fo4's textures) which i've OC'd slightly although a few 100mhz isn't going to mean the difference b/w playable and non-playable fps in this case . My PSU is more that sufficient for my build and has nothing to do with the performance of this game or any other i play and you mentioning the same really brings nothing to the conversation. I play skyrim with over 60 mods including a full fat ENB+2k textures and that seems to work just fine (40fps+) despite running on what is basically the same engine.

Whats really holding you back is the cpu not the gpu, for some reason fallout 4 really hates AMD cpu's it took me a while of tweaking before I got fallout 4 running at what i consider acceptable, and my cpu is overcloked as high as I could get it so I would expect yours to perform even worse. It will run at 60fps but not without turning down some settings and sccepting your going to stutter a lot. Since you are a modder I would recommend what I am using the difference is night and day in a performance sense especially with the texture optimization project I linked below.

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/978/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1769/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1355/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1400/?
Fallout 4 cpu benchmarks: http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

I have the config tool and vivid fallout installed already! My mobo isn't full heatsinked which really limits my OC capabilities :/ You've been a great help man. thanks!

 

[Dunlop0078]

Review the comments on the PSU tier list about the CX series or ask anyone that is knowledgeable about PSU about having a CX series in a gaming rig. You listed your specs and it can be a cause for issue in the future. It doesn't have a direct affect on performance, but does on longevity. In an apples to apples comparison with Skyrim vs FO4, Skyrim has nearly double the average frame. The engine does not determine the graphical performance limitations inherently. Need for Speed and Battlefield 4 both run off the Frostbyte engine. They don't have anywhere near the same graphical requirements.

Having an overclock might edge you out 3-5 fps which when you're dangling around the 30fps mark can be a visual difference.

Recommended Requirements are created for 1080p at high with playable frame-rates throughout the game.
Here's Fallout 4s

Recommended
Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
Intel Core i7 4790 3.6 GHz/AMD FX-9590 4.7 GHz or equivalent
8 GB RAM
30 GB free HDD space
NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB/AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB or equivalent

The 2GB R9 270 isn't going to run that at 1080p. I'm sorry. You're going to get dips.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2177-fallout-4-pc-video-card-fps-benchmark-all-resolutions

Check out benchmarks. I'd love to tell you what you could do besides get a better graphics card to run at high+ at 1080p, but it's not realistic.

Those benchmarks are with everything at ultra, TXAA on, and godrays your right the 270 wont handle that very well as those benchmarks show, but what they dont show is how it runs a lower settings and from personal experience it runs much better than that. I also think the CX500 is crap for a gaming computer, but they work and I am trying to help the OP with his question not tell him to go out and buy a new psu.

 

[HEXiT]

dont forget to give the affinity tweak a try... if it doesnt work its not a permanent change and will reset 1s you restart the game or manually change it back.

 

[jaguarskx]

The problem is due to the fact that the FX-6300 and the R9-270 are not exactly powerful components. The following benchmark shows CPU performance with a GTX 980 Ti @ 1080p with medium settings. The FX-6300 is not listed, but at stock speed it would perform between the A10-7870k and the FX-8320E. Based on the benchmark it seems Fallout 4 is pretty CPU demanding. AMD CPUs are weaker than Intel CPUs; the i5-4690k get a little over 41% better performance than the FX-8320E when both are paired with the GTX 980 Ti and running at stock speed.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

The benchmarks below are for GPUs. The hex core i7-5930k is used in the test rig (and performs similarly to the quad core i7-4790k). The resolution is 1080p and medium quality graphics are used. The Radeon R9 270 is not part of the benchmarks, but the R9 270X is. That means the R9 270 will provide lower performance than the R9 270X. Also, if you swap out the i7-5930k and use a FX-6300 instead the performance would tank (see above CPU benchmarks).

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2177-fallout-4-pc-video-card-fps-benchmark-all-resolutions

 

[affinitydesigns]

Might consider trying this. Some interesting information in the article as well:
"TL;DR; If your Fallout 4 is dropping FPS in the city areas, you can try redownloading it OR verifying game cache, it might help."
https://www.reddit.com/r/fo4/comments/3sd7ck/fallout_4_pc_players_if_you_are_having_issues/


EDIT: Also, can you run the game and get to where your frames are dropping and use HWMonitor or some utility to show both your CPU and GPU usage while your frames are low?