I think I know what's causing poor FPS for some users (no fix yet)

Not entirely true, GPU underutilisation should only occur due to CPU bottlenecking (assuming reasonable spec CPU) on fleet, so it really depends on the system in question. Seeing as I see only 10% usage at most when I'm on fleet suggests that I'm not CPU bound, at all, but I'm still seeing a pretty nasty drop in GPU usage ( to around 10-20% total usage).

One thing I can say though, my RAID array for my 2 SSDs collapsed due to a dead drive, so for a little while I was back on a standard HDD. For me the issue then became much worse, it was pretty dreadful.

I've since reconfigured with the stripped SSD's and it's still far behind what I would expect from a game developed in 2011/2012, but the difference between SSD and HDD is night and day.

I've disabled my Page file, and that made another noticeable improvement, generally with the exception of Fleet and Ilum the game performs in such a way that it's not nearly as annoying.

I guess to summarise:-

1) SSD's vs HDD's do make a difference, your own results may vary though.
2) Disabling the page file (8GB+ GB RAM recommended) did provide me with notable gains.

Edit - I must stress NONE of this should be necessary for getting the game to run properly, but alas, since things don't seem to be progressing as hastily as we'd like in the performance department, it's nice to know there are a couple of things we can do to 'help'.

Phil

As I said; more than 4gb RAM won't matter unless you run a 64bit executable which the game is not. Your 550 (which is a low end card for gaming) won't matter when a lot of players are in the same spot as it's the calculating of position, physics and ability use which slows your game down, IE CPU load.

In Dx9 applications the CPU takes a bigger hit than the GPU and will not handle it as well comparitively.

I run a 5970 with 12GB RAM (as I run the Adobe 64bit photo and video apps at the same time) and I still have ~8-10fps when it's 24v24 at Ilum (forced AA). I run AoC with Dx11 with the same amount of players faster, I run BF3 with Dx11 with the same amount of players faster (even though it's hard to compare).

In Battlekeep situations when AoC launched there were a lot of lag issues. What happend? Funcom removed a lot of the AI in those zones (ie NPCs) and ambient physics and particles. Most of that is CPU dependant. FPS got much better. Had closer to 35fps with 2x old 8800s in 40v40 battles. That from... yep 10-15.

Short answer, please read my OP carefully. I have already stated that we are looking at a combination of issues. We now know that one of the effects files is a huge performance sink in warzones. I never stated that data loading alone is the source of every problem.

Long answer...I agree that the data in a wz shouldn't change much. But again like I said in the OP, part of the problem here is system resource/game asset mismanagement. Along with poor handling of game effects, in warzones and other enclosed areas, I imagine that the game just doesn't cache what it has already loaded for long enough. Could be why on the fleet for example, FPS is fine in one area, then you move to another section and FPS sucks, then recovers. Then if you go back to the area you were just in, it's the same thing. Again, there is a combination of factors causing a lot of issues.

I must have missed the line in the requirements that said 6Gb SATA interfaces with 6Gb SSD drive attached. Something like this cannot be realistically required for any game.

I agree there is some benefit to an SSD for this game but it's not a cure-all. People are running SSDs and are still having problems.

When I get the Low FPS spikes, I just doubleclick the window title bar to change it to a non-maximized window, and then again to make it maximized again, and the problem is fixed immediately. This fix has worked for others too.

I'm right there with you at this point. It either works very soon or it gets the ax.

i removed that swtor_main_art_fx_1.tor really makes difference but , playing huttball is a pain you cant see anything flames , ball etc...

untill bioware makes a promissing progress with this game engine i will not buy any original bioware game , just download the prite because they do not deserve it , Why? simple
if a company says to that they fixed something wrong with their codes and if the bug still exist this means 2 things

1 - They are having fun with you

2 - they dont have any idea what they doing and their developers are crap

(for example Kira carsen , They released a patch saying she was fixed but she wasnt )

bioware saying that making an mmo is hard etc etc , BUT THIS IS VERY POOR level of job

i really been patient level like 3 chars and always backed up this game , but i had enough

YOU ARE CRAP BIOWARE fire you developers and get new developers or do something but fix the game

You're my hero!!! It's time for a revolution!! Burn it down, burn it all down!! But seriously, i think you're right. It's incredible how some of you seem to understand it better than BW dev's....

whole forum is full with bugs reports ,There isnt any patch note about warzone wins not being counted

Haha yeah, i get by through looking at map to work out who has the ball. Its not a perfect solution but it means the game is actually playable and smooth instead of a stuttering mess.

This file being absent also means, for me anyway, that I cant use my intergalactic map in my ship, and I cant see things like phase wall markers, and lift controls. Its a small price to play for smooth gameplay though. Gonna remove the sound files instead, as recommended earlier and see how that works.

I would really love to be able to play this game at lower graphics settings to increase performance, but it just doesn't seem possible. As I have already said, graphics settings seem to have no effect on my performance in WZ, fleet and Ilum. Lowest with all off and crap res is more or less the same fps as highest with all on and 1600x900.

I'm used to my graphics settings being almost like an FPS controller on other games. The better I choose to have my graphics, the lower the fps. It just doesn't seem to work like that in this game - in fact if anything my system runs ever so slightly better with textures and res on high.