PvP Performance - FPS - How to improve it?

supernico · September 2014

When ESO came out I had to build a PC to be able to play it properly (at least that what I thought)(I used to play games on a laptop (Skyrim on Max settings, Diablo 3 on max settings)) so I invested some money in a budget PC, but apparently wasn't enough for what I wish I was prepared for. I knew I'd be focusing on PVP play but since it was my first actual PVP game didn't really knew what to expect and prepare for.

Since ESO went live I've been trying to understand (not really an IT guy) what produces the low FPS performance in heavy player enviroments like pvp zergs, keep defenses or sieges and why my fps drop to such low numbers and sometimes I get all these fps spikes when I move around in Open World. No matter how low the game graphic settings are there is no improvment in fps while in these specified conditions.
I'm bringing this up because my friend has a different rig (intel based) and his FPS doesn't drop that low as mine, I'm suspecting the poor perfomance might be related to AMD parts, but then I read on the forums that even people with 780ti and similar still have this kind of issue (I know someone with an Nvidia Tesla experiencing low FPS while in heavy zergs) and I am a bit confused.

So to get to the point this is my build:
CPU - AMD FX 8350
GPU - AMD Sapphire R9 270X
RAM - 8 GB
SSD/HHD - 256 GB SSD
Graphic Settings - Medium
Resolution - 1920x1080
OS - Windows 8.1
FPS Open World - 60-80
FPS in heavy Zerg - 10-20

I invite you all to post your PC configurations and together collect information and find the root of this very important problem and hope for a solution.

Copy-paste this:
CPU -
GPU -
RAM -
SSD/HHD -
Graphic Settings -
Resolution -
OS -
FPS Open World -
FPS in heavy Zerg -

Rune_Relic · September 2014

CPU - i7 3770 @3.4
GPU - Palit/invidia 770gtx 2gb
RAM -8gb
SSD/HHD - SSD
Graphic Settings - Ultra
Resolution - 1920x1080
OS - Win7 x64
FPS Open World - 55/60
FPS in heavy Zerg - n/a

1.4 introduced a new bug where the graphics stutters. FPS drops to 40 or less at this point before recovering after the random stutter. Probably register much lower fps if the logging was fast enough.

Thought I would add this to be indicative of fps anyway.

RinaldoGandolphi · September 2014

Hi, I'll try to help.

Intel has about a 25% better single core performance...this means that Intel on average will get about 5-7 more FPS average in most games..the only exception to this is games that support AMD Mantle in which AMD CPU's are better in every title.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-mantle-performance-benchmark,3860-4.html

With Mantle + an AMD CPU,the AMD CPU does better, this is due to specific CPU instruction sets left over from the old 3D now instructions and a few new ones that are patented by AMD.

That being said, Intel is a little better in ESO, but not all is lost. You cna easily overclock that FX 8350 to improve things quite a bit.

The stock vcore on that chip is 1.38v @ 4ghz.

You should be able to lower your vcore to 1.36 using a - 0.020 offset and setting LLC(Load Line Calibration) to the high setting preventing the vcore from dropping below 1.36 under heavy load for stability.

After setting that you should be able to bump your multiplier up to 4.4-4.5 Ghz (Essentially turning for 8350 into an FX 9370 cpu) My 8320 runs at 4.5 Ghz 24/7 with these settings and most Fx 8350 are better OC due to being better binned chips.

DO NOT OVERCLOCK ON THE STOCK CPU COOLER

The Stock cooler will not handle these speeds and will get too hot and damage the chip.

I reccommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212 evo which can be had for 35 bucks, it will handle these settings, maybe even pushing it a little more without issues.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

To test the OC, download Intel burn test and run 10 passes with the standard setting(to get a baseline)

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/intelburntest.html

Next download AMD Overdrive and run its CPU stability test for a few hours...this test is designed specifically for AMD cpu's and is a much more accurate indicator of stability on AMD chips then Prime95...that stability test in AMD overdrive is the same test AMD uses internally to test their chips...trust the test, if its stable it will have no issues in anything else you do.

http://www.amd.com/en-us/markets/game/downloads/overdrive

Lastly, do not listen to those who say 61c is the max safe temp...I used to believe that as well until i recently had a corespondence with an AMD Engineer.

AMD Overdrive is the only program that can accurately measure temps on AMD CPU's....look for Thermal Margin in Overdrive...if Overdrive says you have 51c Thermal Margin that means how many degrees you are away from hitting the Thermal margin, it works backwards...when you hit 0 Thermal Margin, the Chip will throttle itself back, I know this because i tested it extensively... This new found info allowed me to push my OC even farther 200Mhz(more when i feel like doing so)

its 100% safe to run your FX chip within the Thermal Margin as reported by AMD Overdrive....there is no temp sensor in AMD chips, instead temps are measured by a precise calculation and is very very accurate under load...socket temps should only be used as a temp estimate for idle temps only.

The AMD Kernel and BIOS developer guide confirms my findings on
page 140 of the document.

http://support.amd.com/TechDocs/49125_15h_Models_30h-3Fh_BKDG.pdf

You should easily be able to OC that cpu a good bit to improve your framerate...ESO only really uses two cores unfortunately and is not very well optimized for multi-threading, so even Intel users are held back to some degree. I hope this information helps you. If you need any assistance in OC that CPU, let me know.

babylon · September 2014

Turn view distance right down for Cyrodiil. It won't change the distance you can see other players at, so you won't be gimped.

ZoM_Head · October 2014

CPU - Intel i7 980
GPU - Nvidia GTX 670 4GB
RAM - 12Gb 1600 Mhz
SSD/HHD - 2x2TB
Graphic Settings -Ultra
Resolution -1920x1080
OS -Windows 8.1
FPS Open World - 60 FPS
FPS in heavy Zerg - 10FPS-17 FPS

Dudis · October 2014

babylon wrote: »

Turn view distance right down for Cyrodiil. It won't change the distance you can see other players at, so you won't be gimped.

This. I've found dropping it to 60 doesn't make much of a visual difference in most places but gives a huge boost to my FPS.

CPU - Intel® Core i7-3820 @ 4.16 ghz
GPU - Gainward GeForce GTX 660Ti 2GB @ 1005 / 3004 ghz
RAM - Kingston DDR3 HyperX 1600 MHz 16GB Black
SSD/HHD - System on SSD, game on HDD
Graphic Settings - High (except view distance @ 60)
Resolution - 1920x1080
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium
FPS Open World - 100-120 (unlocked in UserSettings config file)
FPS in heavy Zerg - 30-50 fps in the average siege but drop into the teens when there are several hundred people around in a server-crashing fight.

ZOS_GaryA · October 2014

Hey there folks,

We have a couple of suggestions to improve your performance.

While you're in the game, head to the Settings menu and choose Video. For the Display Mode, select Fullscreen in the first drop-down as opposed to using Fullscreen (Windowed) or Windowed to ensure the best performance.

A couple of new options were added to the Graphics section that will provide a boost to performance as well. There are two new sliders for Maximum Particle Systems and Particle Suppression Distance. Lowering these sliders will assist with FPS issues in larger battles where a lot of particle effects are in use.

TomLukman · October 2014

My particle effects are set to the Zenimax default (minimum). I can't complain about FPS, but game still crashes way too often.

Gillysan · October 2014

So View Distance has nothing to do with Character Draw distance?