low FPS/unresponsive PVP

[ZephixLeer (Zephic)]

Does anyone else have problems in warzones/large scale world pvp? By issues, I mean problems that seem to be latency related or sudden drops in FPS that don't happen anywhere else. (Or maybe only on Taris?) I saw some severe rubber-banding and sudden drops in FPS last night in warzones. Basically, making healing near impossible.

I noticed this thread on the official forums, which pretty much sums up my own experience:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=48982

Although my processor is lower end, I have no issues anywhere else in SWTOR.

Intel core 2 duo 1.8Ghz
Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
4GB RAM

It has been a while since I built this system, but I've upgraded the video card recently and have plenty of hardware to exceed the minimum requirements. I realize this doesn't mean I'll get 60 FPS everywhere, but I should at least be able to play with minimal FPS drop.

-And I do, anywhere but warzones or in world pvp that exceeds 10 players on each side or so, I get at least 20 FPS on the low end. When I get into a warzone, it may very well drop to 5 or less FPS, sometimes locking up and hitching similar to Taris.

I'd normally chalk this off to just needing a new processor, and I surely do need a new one... However, it also seems like there is some fix needed here on SWTOR's side too.

Is anyone else noticing issues in PVP? Aside from FPS drop, I also noticed some odd lag. I'll hit an ability and it doesn't "fire" for a few seconds in some cases, and not at all in others. -As if I had hit it in the middle of a global cooldown. However, at the time I'll have less than 70ms connectivity.

Anyone else seen this?

[Ketamininja]

GFX Card is more than adequate.
What OS do you have running on there?

I'm suspecting that Vista, even with updates, may be causing issues (simply because it hogs resources - memory and CPU). In a way, I'm hoping you say Vista because that would make sense.

Presuming your memory is running at efficient speed (see thread made by Caydnn about his woes)? Also, if you running 32-bit then you may only get around 3.25GB to play with, so consider that when checking memory usage. If you are running 64bit, then although you will get the full 4GB available, the OS actually uses more memory anyway, so it will be like you only have the 3.25 anyway. In 64bit systems I always  recommend above 4GB otherwise you are not really getting any benefit (other than being able to run 64bit apps).


You could try to disable all non-essential services and running processes before launching SWTOR. Do you have a spare HDD?
You can stick that in as your primary and install Windows and SWTOR to see if that resolves the issue?? A bit extreme I suppose, but can definitely tell you if there is some other software that is causing issue (rather than hardware)

[Saint]

I havent done alot of pvp, i have anly done 2 warzones, mostly my pvp has been open world. I have great fps at all times even in warzones. however last night it was like all my skills were on one large global cooldow in pvp. couldnt really do anythin. and it seemed like when i did do a forcepush ability it wouldnt affect anyone. my fps and connection remained good. i also have never seen this in open world.

[Arawn]

I got Win7 64-bit. On beta i had issues, i really couldn't PvP. On launch I tweaked my laptop and now I do pretty good in Warzones. Yes I do have fps issues getting like 30 at BEST, but I manage to still get 6-7 medals

Of course im running on low settings, shadows off.

Laptop:
AMD Turion II P520 Dual Core at 2.30GHz
4GB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

I changed the Power Options, choosing for Performance instead of the HP Recommended Option. And also changed the Aero looks on Win7... Chose to disable all the good looking things for more performance... Yes it looks like shit but makes me kinda useful in PvP Only bad thing is like i feel back in Win95 -_-"

[ZephixLeer (Zephic)]

GFX Card is more than adequate.
What OS do you have running on there?

I'm suspecting that Vista, even with updates, may be causing issues (simply because it hogs resources - memory and CPU). In a way, I'm hoping you say Vista because that would make sense.

Presuming your memory is running at efficient speed (see thread made by Caydnn about his woes)? Also, if you running 32-bit then you may only get around 3.25GB to play with, so consider that when checking memory usage. If you are running 64bit, then although you will get the full 4GB available, the OS actually uses more memory anyway, so it will be like you only have the 3.25 anyway. In 64bit systems I always  recommend above 4GB otherwise you are not really getting any benefit (other than being able to run 64bit apps).


You could try to disable all non-essential services and running processes before launching SWTOR. Do you have a spare HDD?
You can stick that in as your primary and install Windows and SWTOR to see if that resolves the issue?? A bit extreme I suppose, but can definitely tell you if there is some other software that is causing issue (rather than hardware)

First off, thanks for the help.

I am running Vista 64bit ultimate. I realize it uses a lot of RAM, but 4 GB has always been enough in many other games, including Skyrim, Aion, and even developing projects in Blender 3D and Torque 3D.

I am fairly computer savvy and have done tech work in the past. I am a programmer, 3d artist, and level designer who works primarily off of this system. All of my software suites run fine.

Now, that said... I don't claim to know it all when it comes to computers and software, but I do feel I have one up on the average gamer.

I've tried changing settings in-game to get better performance, as well as disabling windows features and turning off unused programs. At this time I've disabled everything aside from the basic processes that windows uses to run. Even then, the minimum requirements to run the game state you only need 2 GB of RAM.

Given, I'd never want to run at that, but the point is that even after windows takes its chunk out of available RAM, I should be well above the requirements for the game.

Also, I don't believe it is hardware related. I've seen dips in FPS related to my processor (seeing it tapped out at 100% for the swtor.exe process) but I do not see 100% usage during pvp. That's the part that is troubling in fact... if my performance isn't up to par, shouldn't my PC be tapping out all resources to try to get the best performance? I'd think so.


I really feel like there is more going on in the warzones.

World PVP was similar, but my processor was at least working hard during that time.

Anyway, I have decided to spend the money on a new motherboard and processor sometime after the first of the year. I'll be upgrading RAM too, of course. I think that will help me get better performance overall, but I also believe that the warzones have something more going on. Why they have such odd delays is beyond me. It's lik network latency but there's none showing up. Maybe that in combination with what would normally be just a drop in FPS for a moment causes the unplayable feel I get during warzones. *shrug*

Either way, I'm thinking about the intel core i7 2600K (Although for some reason, it doesn't show up on pricewatch... something I should know?) Maybe this will help get past some of the issues.


-Quick note: I did notice the issues got better after the last patch, though they are still there.

[Tbone]

I had an issue with SLI and shadows. Once I turned SLI off I was fine, though. Since you aren't using dual cards though, I'm not sure what the issue is.

[ZephixLeer (Zephic)]

Yeah, I had heard of the shadow issues. They are supposed to be rolling out a fix for those soon, if it didn't already hit in the patch last night (im kind of off a day because of work)

So far, changing graphics settings does little to improve performance. I think that for me it is a combination of a lower end processor and some SWTOR-side issues that need to be patched coming together to feel like some really, really serious problems that make PVP nearly unplayable at times.

Either way, I'll get myself a new mobo/processor and RAM as soon as money allows it. I priced an ASRock Z68 Extreme3 and i7 2600K with 8Gigs of 1600 RAM for about $670 tonight online. Bit more than I can afford right this moment. :/

[eeth]

you're not alone in  this boat Zeph. i'm right there with ya. and i am even running a quad core 3.0GHz processor.

have all settings on low and some warzones are barely bearable.

my hope is that i actually have a bad 6950 Radeon, that once i get replaced, will improve things. if not, then the processor i'll upgrade i suppose.

(oh and another issue that doesn't help is the 120Hz refresh rate monitor i have, i'm sure that screws things up for me a bit.)

[Avzeke (Khr0n1k)]

This may help someone. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=695042#edit695042

Hey everyone, we have an update on this issue for you. Our development team and our production team have been investigating this issue and we want to thank everyone who has posted constructively on this thread. You've provided the development team with a basis for investigation into the low FPS issues, and with your help they have identified and are in the process of resolving the indoor framerate drop.

Please note: this applies to people experiencing a severe framerate drop only when inside buildings, or alleviated symptoms when turning off shadows. Please keep in mind that there are always numerous factors at play when you experience an issue; the more specific you can be with your report, the better you are equipping us to investigate and fix it.

If you are experiencing a framerate issue that does not fall under that very specific category, please respond to this thread with the following information:
A clear and concise description of your issue.
Your DXDiag (please use spoiler tags).
Have you followed these specific steps (see my note about "Low" settings):
Change settings to high, click apply. You should see a loading screen as settings are applied.
Change settings to low, click apply. You should see another loading screen.
Observe whether there is any change in performance.

Some of you have already pointed this out, but there is a separate issue at play here that might be adding another layer of confusion. Your settings will always display as "Low" on first run of the game - but they might actually be on Medium or High!

Thank you for your patience, and know that we are keeping a very close eye on the forums.

[Ketamininja]

Very quick note on Christmas day!

The i5 2500k is better then the i7 in most tests and cheaper I think!

2gb is specification but that means 2gb "free", so check that vista is not using 2gb or more before starting SWTOR. Anything close to 2gb being used alrerady will mean lots of page file swapping.

[ZephixLeer (Zephic)]

you're not alone in  this boat Zeph. I'm right there with ya. and I am even running a quad core 3.0GHz processor.

have all settings on low and some warzones are barely bearable.

my hope is that I actually have a bad 6950 Radeon, that once I get replaced, will improve things. if not, then the processor I'll upgrade I suppose.

(oh and another issue that doesn't help is the 120Hz refresh rate monitor I have, I'm sure that screws things up for me a bit.)

This is pretty much why I even bothered posting. I noticed others with solid specifications having problems just the same.

I admit my system needs an upgrade, but obviously if there is some other issue at play, I'd love to see that fixed before dropping cash for new hardware sooner than I can really afford.



@Ketamininja:
-Also, I was going based on this chart, when searching for a new processor.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

It shows the i7 2600k near the top, and a pretty good value for the performance.

Is there another resource I should check out for that i5? I'm not always up on hardware, and tend to only keep in the loop when I get ready to purchase again.

[Ketamininja]

My data on the i5 vs i7 is a little old, but comapring pricve for performance the i5 soared ahead previously.

I'll see if I can find the link when I'm at a computer. Saying that, if the i7 is (now?) Showing great performance the go for it. 8 core is very handy. I'm running an i7 at work, but then I didn't have to pay for that (runs SWTOR great!!)

[likwidtek]

Use this buying guide.  http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-overclocking,3077.html  (ignore the overclocking)

[Ketamininja]

I found the data I was quoting.
The i5 is highlighted, but the i7 is seen on the same graph.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2500K+%40+3.30GHz


So the i7 gets an extra 2500 points, but you pay over the odds for these extra 2500.


Of course there are different ways to evaluate a CPU!!

[ZephixLeer (Zephic)]

So that I'm clear... am I correct in understanding that the only difference between an i5 and i7 is that the i7 has 8MB of cache while the i5 (almost all of them anyway) have 6?

Are there any other technical differences that I should be aware of before making my choice?