FPS drops after U33

dadester · January 2023

Being gone for about a month, haven't seen any improvements. Any updates ZoS? Maybe to your minimum game requirements at least?

AvalonRanger · January 2023

Group dungeon is almost unplayable now. Dungeon FPS rate is too much terrible even in year 2023.
Developer team still ignore this critical problem though.

dadester · March 2023

If anyone is curious, there hasn't been any changes

blktauna · March 2023

so I've noticed

Zastrix · March 2023

For me there is a change kind of. I swapped out to running Fedora Linux 37 (Silverblue // Kinoite) and the KDE version of it SUPER IMPORTANT THAT IT'S THE KDE VERSION. Running steam in a flatpak i.e. containerized and using Goverlay/MangoHUD to limit my FPS. If you're running under Xorg you need to press ALT+SHIFT+F12 to disable compositor or just select Wayland where you don't need to do that.

Way less FPS stutters, FPS doesn't go wild during load screens, lower CPU and GPU usage.

Loading screen CPU/GPU usage:

Mornhould on basically max settings:

Video settings:

It can stutter of course, but mostly smooth sailing.

Sarannah · March 2023

As my issue seems very similar as to what is posted about here, I'll link this thread and how I fixed my FPS drops(PC EU).
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/623661/horrendous-memory-leak-frame-drops-recently/p1

My issue seemed very similar to the video @Red_Feather posted on page 8. So maybe this can help some of you, hopefully! (Note: going on 7+ ESO sessions now, and not a single FPS drop anymore)

My reply(fix) taken from the other thread about similar FPS drops:

I hate it when things do not work right, so I experimented quite a bit to get this issue fixed. And I was able to fix it completely, for the last four playing sessions(2+ hours each) my FPS was a steady 60 FPS again. And I specifically went to the areas where the issue used to appear for me, just to check if it was still happening. Which it no longer did.
So I did everything I could think of: Updating drivers, changing ESO settings, even updated my BIOS drivers(very risky), checked windows settings/updates, etc. But none of it worked. So after some research, I found out Nvidia has 'recently' added some new power management settings, one of which is "optimal power". Nvidia was so kind(ahem) to automatically select this option for everyone. Which for normal applications/games is no issue, as they draw a constantly similar amount of power for the GPU to use. But in ESO, which can have load spikes(the trigger), this is a bad thing. Because every time the game had the GPU require more resources/power, this power wasn't available due to this setting. Meaning: in order to compensate the GPU lowered it's output, causing the FPS to drop drastically. How much the drop and how often, depends on the GPU and display settings someone would be using.

What I did to fix it:
**Before changing any settings, write down what settings you are changing, and what the original value was. Just in case you want to change everything back. Lower the ESO's in-game graphical settings beforehand, just to be sure.**
Step 1: Go to the Nvidia settings control panel -> go to manage 3D settings -> click the tab for program settings(do not change these settings globally, or your GPU will be working overtime even when staring at the desktop) -> click the list of programs and find elder scrolls online - > select elder scrolls online -> when elder scrolls online is selected, change the power management setting to "optimal performance". -> After doing this, click apply in the bottom right.
Step 2: Now check the desktop icon(right click -> properties) with which you start ESO, and repeat the above steps while adding that specific path to the Nvidia settings program list as well. This way you can be 100% sure this setting is applied, no matter how you start ESO.

Note: With this new setting, depending on your GPU and your ESO gamesettings, your GPU may run at a hotter temperature and will draw more power when running ESO. My GPU remained the same temp, as my gamesettings are quite low. Check the GPU temp, and lower your gamesettings accordingly. (maybe lower the in-game graphical settings beforehand)
Note: After applying the fix, run ESO and check if you need to lower your in-game graphical settings. You may need to lower your ESO settings, to make sure your GPU does not become too stressed with "optimal performance" on. (for me turning v-sync on was an option, as my monitor only runs at 60hz(FPS))
Note: My "max FPS" and "max background FPS" are off and my vertical synchronisation is on for all ESO additions in these Nvidia settings. While in the ESO game itself, my v-sync is on, my limit background FPS is off, and multi-threaded rendering is off. Some of you may need different settings for these, to keep your GPU from going insane. Mainly the "max FPS" setting may help with this.

Hopefully this 'fix' will help some of you as well. And be careful, if you are unsure if your in-game graphical settings are too high for this fix, lower them before trying this fix. You can always turn the in-game graphical settings back on/up again after trying the fix.

PS: For some players this option could have automatically been set already, due to using GeForce experience or through steam settings. Personally I set all options/everything manually, so when programs automatically change settings, I have to figure things out all over again.

PPS: I'm playing in 4k, on a max 60hz(FPS) monitor.

TLDR: Change the Nvidia power management option for ESO to "optimal performance".

ixthUA · March 2023

Zastrix wrote: »

For me there is a change kind of. I swapped out to running Fedora Linux 37 (Silverblue // Kinoite) and the KDE version of it SUPER IMPORTANT THAT IT'S THE KDE VERSION. Running steam in a flatpak i.e. containerized and using Goverlay/MangoHUD to limit my FPS. If you're running under Xorg you need to press ALT+SHIFT+F12 to disable compositor or just select Wayland where you don't need to do that.

Way less FPS stutters, FPS doesn't go wild during load screens, lower CPU and GPU usage.

You can use dxvk under Windows, just put those dlls into game executable folder (where ESO64.exe resides). I do not know, however, if that will be enough to eliminate stutters.

Red_Feather · April 2023

Sarannah wrote: »

As my issue seems very similar as to what is posted about here, I'll link this thread and how I fixed my FPS drops(PC EU).
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/623661/horrendous-memory-leak-frame-drops-recently/p1

My issue seemed very similar to the video @Red_Feather posted on page 8. So maybe this can help some of you, hopefully! (Note: going on 7+ ESO sessions now, and not a single FPS drop anymore)

My reply(fix) taken from the other thread about similar FPS drops:

I hate it when things do not work right, so I experimented quite a bit to get this issue fixed. And I was able to fix it completely, for the last four playing sessions(2+ hours each) my FPS was a steady 60 FPS again. And I specifically went to the areas where the issue used to appear for me, just to check if it was still happening. Which it no longer did.
So I did everything I could think of: Updating drivers, changing ESO settings, even updated my BIOS drivers(very risky), checked windows settings/updates, etc. But none of it worked. So after some research, I found out Nvidia has 'recently' added some new power management settings, one of which is "optimal power". Nvidia was so kind(ahem) to automatically select this option for everyone. Which for normal applications/games is no issue, as they draw a constantly similar amount of power for the GPU to use. But in ESO, which can have load spikes(the trigger), this is a bad thing. Because every time the game had the GPU require more resources/power, this power wasn't available due to this setting. Meaning: in order to compensate the GPU lowered it's output, causing the FPS to drop drastically. How much the drop and how often, depends on the GPU and display settings someone would be using.

What I did to fix it:
**Before changing any settings, write down what settings you are changing, and what the original value was. Just in case you want to change everything back. Lower the ESO's in-game graphical settings beforehand, just to be sure.**
Step 1: Go to the Nvidia settings control panel -> go to manage 3D settings -> click the tab for program settings(do not change these settings globally, or your GPU will be working overtime even when staring at the desktop) -> click the list of programs and find elder scrolls online - > select elder scrolls online -> when elder scrolls online is selected, change the power management setting to "optimal performance". -> After doing this, click apply in the bottom right.
Step 2: Now check the desktop icon(right click -> properties) with which you start ESO, and repeat the above steps while adding that specific path to the Nvidia settings program list as well. This way you can be 100% sure this setting is applied, no matter how you start ESO.

Note: With this new setting, depending on your GPU and your ESO gamesettings, your GPU may run at a hotter temperature and will draw more power when running ESO. My GPU remained the same temp, as my gamesettings are quite low. Check the GPU temp, and lower your gamesettings accordingly. (maybe lower the in-game graphical settings beforehand)
Note: After applying the fix, run ESO and check if you need to lower your in-game graphical settings. You may need to lower your ESO settings, to make sure your GPU does not become too stressed with "optimal performance" on. (for me turning v-sync on was an option, as my monitor only runs at 60hz(FPS))
Note: My "max FPS" and "max background FPS" are off and my vertical synchronisation is on for all ESO additions in these Nvidia settings. While in the ESO game itself, my v-sync is on, my limit background FPS is off, and multi-threaded rendering is off. Some of you may need different settings for these, to keep your GPU from going insane. Mainly the "max FPS" setting may help with this.

Hopefully this 'fix' will help some of you as well. And be careful, if you are unsure if your in-game graphical settings are too high for this fix, lower them before trying this fix. You can always turn the in-game graphical settings back on/up again after trying the fix.

PS: For some players this option could have automatically been set already, due to using GeForce experience or through steam settings. Personally I set all options/everything manually, so when programs automatically change settings, I have to figure things out all over again.

PPS: I'm playing in 4k, on a max 60hz(FPS) monitor.

TLDR: Change the Nvidia power management option for ESO to "optimal performance".

I didn't have nvidis so unfortunately it couldn't have helped me. I got a new computer and can play better games. I've moved on. I come back sometimes to see if it's still bad since it went on for a year without being fixed. I lost hope completely in the studio. It's dead to me.

Parasaurolophus · April 2023

It's terrible to see that the topic is still relevant.

Red_Feather · May 2023

Parasaurolophus wrote: »

It's terrible to see that the topic is still relevant.

I'm not surprised. My new computer can play eso now, but my old computer it's still bad. Clearly whatever changed 14 months ago never got looked into. But I don't play eso now so it doesn't matter much to me. I feel bad for others though. And kind of angry.

Fabi95 · January 29

dadester wrote: »

Being gone for about a month, haven't seen any improvements. Any updates ZoS? Maybe to your minimum game requirements at least?

Interestingly, enough time passed that the requirements have changed now as per the newest PTS patch notes:

With the launch of Update 41, we will be updating the recommended and minimal specs for PC and Mac, though those on the current specs will still be able to play.

Unfortunately the remark that follows has does not acknowledge this current thread:

While ESO has been highly optimized for a wide set of hardware over the years, [...]

After 2 years, I still have the CPU core workaround enabled inside the UserSettings.txt file, since the FPS drops and hitching in cities are just unnecessarily long otherwise.

Whibbs · March 8

Not going to lie, this issue and/or fix confused me for the better part of a week. I'm still in my first month of playing this game, so it was pretty frustrating to experience such horrible performance.

Although this thread got me on the right track, I was still confused, hesitant to change lines in UserSettings.txt, and overall concerned about what may or may not happen. I'm paranoid and full of anxiety, what can I say lol.

In any case, I did my own research and couldn't find a direct answer so I.......... asked ChatGPT........... :P

Rather than paraphrasing, here's the "conversation:" https://chat.openai.com/share/9e3aaa3d-3f87-4e46-8271-3191cb11af9c

Honestly baffled that this is still an issue after so much time has passed. Hopefully that link reassures/informs others as it did for me.