Hi All,

 

I recently updated my GPU from a Geforce GT 640 to a Radeon R9 280. Because of this, I decided to upgrade my very, very old monitor to a new one that can display 1080p graphics. Here are my current system specs

 

AMD FX-6300 3.5 Ghz

MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB DDR5

16 GB DDR3 RAM

Samsung S23C350 23 inch Monitor

 

My problem is that now that I am playing with a 1920x1080 resolution, the FPS that I'm getting is lower than I'd like. I've turned down essentially all graphics settings (except resolution and grass/tree quality) down to essentially the bare minimum, but I'm still seeing 10-15 FPS in 16 man Ops. It's not unplayable, but it's not ideal either. What's most surprising to me, though, is that the FPS meter is showing that I'm GPU bottle-necked. I would have assumed (perhaps naively), that my CPU would have been bottle-necked before my new GPU. Then again, I'm no expert.

 

In addition, I've looked at what optimal settings the AMD Gaming Evolved application thinks I should use with my current setup, but they're telling me to turn pretty much all the graphics settings up way higher than they currently are.

 

Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for suggestions on how I can improve SWTOR's performance with this setup. Do I just need to turn down the resolution on my monitor, and play at less than 1080p? Or are there other options? Thanks!

 

Edit: I should add that I literally just upgraded the monitor this week, so I don't know if any of my performance issues could also be related, in part, to any of the ongoing issues associated with the 3.0 changes.

Edited December 7, 2014 by CmdrShpd

Anybody?

Really with that set up you shouldnt have any problems... what kinda frame rate you get on fleet? I dont raid much so i cant tell you what to expect there.. One thing i would start with is truning shadows down/off they make a HUGE difference.. I just upgraded my vid card.. I was running 2 nvidia 560ti's in SLI and i ran with everything turn to max except shadows and was getting 50+ no matter what i did.. i have a nvidia 970 now.. and i have everything maxed out including shadows and got 60-100 everywhere.. I will say this.. this game has something up with the frame rate.. i can sit and watch my FPS hover around 60 but only using about 50% cpu and 60% GPU.. it should be higher..

 

Also i believe this game has a hard cap on FPS of about 100.. i've never seen it go above this regardless of options

Really with that set up you shouldnt have any problems... what kinda frame rate you get on fleet? I dont raid much so i cant tell you what to expect there.. One thing i would start with is truning shadows down/off they make a HUGE difference.. I just upgraded my vid card.. I was running 2 nvidia 560ti's in SLI and i ran with everything turn to max except shadows and was getting 50+ no matter what i did.. i have a nvidia 970 now.. and i have everything maxed out including shadows and got 60-100 everywhere.. I will say this.. this game has something up with the frame rate.. i can sit and watch my FPS hover around 60 but only using about 50% cpu and 60% GPU.. it should be higher..

 

Also i believe this game has a hard cap on FPS of about 100.. i've never seen it go above this regardless of options

 

Thanks, I'll take a look at my shadows setting. My fleet FPS fluctuates very heavily. Anywhere between 25-60 FPS, depending on where I'm at, and how fast I'm moving.

The first question that needs to be asked is are you running the latest ATI drivers for the card?

 

The latest Betas are 14.11.2 from Nov 17. The latest WHQL are 14.9 from Sept 15. If you're still running the drivers that shipped with the card, assuming they didn't just direct you to download from their website, then the R9 release drivers where a little buggy from what I've rrecall.

 

Did you clean the previous drivers before installing your video card?

 

Beyond those few suggestions I can't help you. I run a ATI 7950 and get 60fps consistently (I run in windowed mode so I'm capped to v-sync) with only shadows set low. The R9 280 is effectively a re-branded 7970 so should be getting better performance.

The first question that needs to be asked is are you running the latest ATI drivers for the card?

 

The latest Betas are 14.11.2 from Nov 17. The latest WHQL are 14.9 from Sept 15. If you're still running the drivers that shipped with the card, assuming they didn't just direct you to download from their website, then the R9 release drivers where a little buggy from what I've rrecall.

 

Did you clean the previous drivers before installing your video card?

 

Beyond those few suggestions I can't help you. I run a ATI 7950 and get 60fps consistently (I run in windowed mode so I'm capped to v-sync) with only shadows set low. The R9 280 is effectively a re-branded 7970 so should be getting better performance.

 

Yep, I am running the latest beta drivers. And yes, I uninstalled all my previous Nvidia drivers before installing the AMD ones. Thanks for your suggestions, though.

It's good to know that I should be getting better performance. I'll have to dig into this further.

Edited December 7, 2014 by CmdrShpd

Actually I had one more thought. Grab and re-install the latest Direct X 9c package from Microsoft.

 

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/4/A/84A35BF1-DAFE-4AE8-82AF-AD2AE20B6B14/directx_Jun2010_redist.exe

Trying to get good fps in pvp/raids in swtor?

 

well....

Ur gpu is fine... swtor is an ancient type of programing, prehistoric age maybe. They use 90% cpu power, so your cpu is ur problem.

 

Meaning, even if you buy a gtx980 with that cpu... someone with an i7 quad or 6 core cpu and a r8 270 gpu... will get double fps than u in swtor.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Oyranos

Ur gpu is fine... swtor is an ancient type of programing, pre-monolithic age maybe. They use 90% cpu power, so your cpu is ur problem.

 

I also assumed that my CPU would be the limiting factor, but my FPS meter is usually red. Doesn't this indicate that the GPU is the source of the bottleneck?

Ur gpu is fine... swtor is an ancient type of programing, prehistoric age maybe. They use 90% cpu power, so your cpu is ur problem.

 

Meaning, even if you buy a gtx980 with that cpu... someone with an i7 quad or 6 core cpu and a r8 270 gpu... will get double fps than u in swtor.

 

Well his CPU IS a 6 core 3.5 ghz cpu..

 

and i have 0 issues and i'm "only" running a quad core.. intel i5

I would be fairly confident the issue lies with your CPU ( or more how SWToR works with those CPUs ).

 

Possibly something to do with the parked cores issue with especially the AMD CPU's also?

 

I don't run an AMD CPU so could only speculate on many ways to fix the issue or exactly where in it lies but I think it would be better perhaps if some of the users who have actualyl managed to fix their AMD cpu issues were to post how they did so?

 

I would start with reading up on the forums about the parked cores though, that seemed to help people a lot from what I've read.

 

From there you would be looking at power saving settings etc. in your bios that could be throttling it back.

 

That GPU won't be bottle necking you unless it's stuffed, tested on other games fine?

 

Also have a read in this thread:

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=769108

 

Whilst not the same CPU as you some users were poitning out some of the flaws with AMD cpu's and ways to possibly fix them.

Edited December 8, 2014 by MeNaCe-NZ

1 intel core = 2-3 amd cpu cores... lol (its the truth)

 

In the other hand, AMD does not have threads, so when an intel is quad = 4 cores 8 threads... AMD is 8 cores (its like 4 cores 8 threads) but weaker.

 

Your GPU may be a rebrand, but with newer tech support and last year mid to high range model... so you are good for 2 more years and if you get 1 more in crossfire, for 4-5 years...

 

I bet in your cpu.

 

Here is a link with performance fx-6300 vs and 4xxx I5 http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4670K-vs-AMD-FX-6300

 

the i5 is about 15-20% better.

 

Since you have AMD platform, dont spend to much, upgrade your cpu with the new 8xxx amd cpu. But again an I5 is faster than the 8xxx series cpu by amd! http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2247753/intel-core-4670k-4ghz-amd-6300-core-5ghz.html

 

If you ever considering upgrade, wait for the new skyline intel cpus in about 6 months... Or get the 8350 amd cpu, still much better performance than the fx 6300.

 

look at this link, it has all the cpus, look the amds, which is the best for you. https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

 

PS: the only good thing I like with AMD, is the lifespan of their sockets. You have 1 motherboard that supports many generation of their cpus and you dont have to change both mob and cpu each time you upgrade... So since you have amd platform, check if you motherboard supports the 9xxx amd cpu... it looks promising, but make some research before you buy. (dont get the FX-9590 its problematic, very hot cpu and very electricity hungry, i searched it).

Edited December 8, 2014 by Oyranos

This is rlly **** becouse i have win 7 64 i7 3775k msi r9 r290 16gb ram latest drivers, core parking off, the dx9 retail and i tryed everything what ppl have suggested.

Im running on maxed out and i get hmm like 90-100 fps BUT in wz and raids or planets wiht lot of ppl my fps drops in action to 15-25... If i put everything on very low it doesent make any difference, ok maybe like 10 fps but still its ****!

I have changed 3 different ATI videocard and all same ****. I have upgraded my corp for like 2 yers for this game only but i havent buyed SSD. Im gona do it tomorrow and gona see how it chages the gameplay. If its still the same **** i will just delete the game, becouse i cant take it anymore.

Edited December 8, 2014 by valibad
ram

Everyone that has problems,

 

try this,

 

it HELPS A LOT.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=529567

 

Those who have 16GBs of ram max out the whole thing (I got 8GB so 3.3GB reserved in the SWTOR Unleashed program)

 

Also when you switch from nvidia or do any driver uninstall for that matter, always use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller). First you uninstall the drivers from Control Panel (express uninstall all), then go safe mode and use DDU to clean all, then install new ones.

Edited December 8, 2014 by AssajiStarseed

Thanks, everyone for your suggestions. I agree that the problem is likely my CPU. However, if that is the case, why is my FPS meter red? It is my understanding that red = GPU bottleneck and green = CPU bottleneck. Is this not the case?

Everyone that has problems,

 

try this,

 

it HELPS A LOT.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=529567

 

Those who have 16GBs of ram max out the whole thing (I got 8GB so 3.3GB reserved in the SWTOR Unleashed program)

 

Also when you switch from nvidia or do any driver uninstall for that matter, always use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller). First you uninstall the drivers from Control Panel (express uninstall all), then go safe mode and use DDU to clean all, then install new ones.

 

While the quoted message is a very useful way to improve the game's performance, it is intended to help most with loading times. I would not expect this to have a big impact upon problems with FPS drops like the OP is having. It has the potential to help them, but only marginally. The big gain from using SWTOR Unleashed is loading times are drastically reduced because the game client is being run in memory where data read/write speeds are drastically improved over physical hard drives and solid state drives.

Thanks, everyone for your suggestions. I agree that the problem is likely my CPU. However, if that is the case, why is my FPS meter red? It is my understanding that red = GPU bottleneck and green = CPU bottleneck. Is this not the case?

 

Here's a general rule of thumb about bottlenecks.

 

If lowering the graphics settings has no effect on frame rates, then the bottleneck is your CPU

If lowering the graphics settings increases the frame rate, then your GPU is reaching its upper limits

 

 

The most simple way to explain why a CPU can bottleneck a GPU is to say that the CPU has to decide if a data packet should be processed by the CPU or if it should send it to the GPU. When a GPU is bottlenecked by a CPU it means the CPU is making so many decisions and processing so much data that it is slow to send work over to the GPU and the GPU is left twiddling it's thumbs waiting for the CPU to assign a task to it.

While the quoted message is a very useful way to improve the game's performance, it is intended to help most with loading times. I would not expect this to have a big impact upon problems with FPS drops like the OP is having. It has the potential to help them, but only marginally. The big gain from using SWTOR Unleashed is loading times are drastically reduced because the game client is being run in memory where data read/write speeds are drastically improved over physical hard drives and solid state drives.

 

Have you tried this?

 

The game runs faster for me, 100% confirmed, whether it decreases load times or not.

i'd start by going Very Low setting basically turn everything off and see fps(make sure the ATI control panel settings are all "Let the Application Decide"). Next change your DESKTOP RESOLUTION DOWN to 1680x1050 then do so in-game and remark fps. Keep lowering screen resolution(s) till you find your happy spot then start turning up the shiny graphical effects to your liking fps-wise. I think just dropping to 1680x1050 you should see quite a big gain.The reason I say turn down desktop size is because of the way WDM driver(Windows) works ie if your desktop is set at full 1080p size and say you have a lower screen resolution for a game all windows does is scale down the FULL 1080p picture to game resolution setting which is alot of number crunching/bottlenecking in itself. Edited December 8, 2014 by phattisimo

Have you tried this?

 

The game runs faster for me, 100% confirmed, whether it decreases load times or not.

 

Yes, I use SWTOR Unleashed. It's basically RAMdisk. What the program does is it takes a portion of your system's RAM and uses it like a hard drive. When you launch the SWTOR Unleashed program it loads all of the game files into memory and then runs the game client from those files loaded into memory. Since RAM has ten or more times the read and write speed of a standard HDD, this can increase game performance significantly.

 

However, when your cpu or gpu are being bottlenecked, this does little to improve anything because it doesn't address the bottlenecks created by your cpu or gpu. It only addresses the bottlenecks created by the read and write speeds of you data storage solution, and these bottlenecks tend to impact loading screens more than FPS.

Thanks, everyone for your suggestions. I agree that the problem is likely my CPU. However, if that is the case, why is my FPS meter red? It is my understanding that red = GPU bottleneck and green = CPU bottleneck. Is this not the case?

 

what you means your fps is red... You use FRAPS?

 

there 2 speculations..

 

FRAPS gets red ONLY when you record the game... you make a video of it... then the fps meter turns red

 

if you use other application, red means low fps.

It's interesting that most people that experience this issue run i7's or AMD FX cpu's.

 

Never seems to be too many troubles with the i5's.

what you means your fps is red... You use FRAPS?

 

there 2 speculations..

 

FRAPS gets red ONLY when you record the game... you make a video of it... then the fps meter turns red

 

if you use other application, red means low fps.

 

I'm talking about the in-game FPS meter that you get when you hit ctrl-shift-f while playing the game. According to Bioware posts in the forums, this meter is supposed to be red when GPU bottlenecked and green when CPU bottlenecked.

Interesting addendum to this discussion:

 

I was just playing Dragon Age: Inquisition on my PC at 1080p. Most settings were on Ultra (MSAA was turned off), and I was getting WAAAAAAY better performance in combat situations than I was recently getting in SWOTOR during 16-man Ops.