Massive FPS drop after 2.9 Update, Kindly asking for some help!

[Fiber]

Hello guys!

I'm kindly asking for some help here, since this update 2.9 I had massive FPS drops.

When I played on the 2.8 version of the game I was used to getting 60 fps constantly with no drops at all, mirrors on, rain on, clouds, etc.

As I updated my game, fps went down to 30/40ish with exactely same pc specs.

I performed some benchmark settings and found lots of frame time spikes.

Pc Specs

Windows 11 / DCS 2.9 MT version

RTX 3070Ti

128Gb DDR5 5600Mhz

Core i7 13700KF

NVMe M2 2Tb

850W PSU 

Here are the pictures and track file attached

Even with low settings I saw some frame times spikes

 

Image 1 My Specs ingame 

Image 2 Low Specs ingame

Image 3 My Graphics Settings

Please find the Track File attached,

Thanks in advance guys!

Fiber

Syria benchmark.trk

Edited October 23, 2023 by Fiber
Pics description inverted

[Insonia]

Quote

Windows 11 , Core i7 13700KF

lot of people have good luck with this thread. too many P+E core cause some problems, and check Win11 powerservice "core parking" too.

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Insonia

[Sr.]

2 minutes ago, Insonia said:

lot of people have good luck with this thread. too many P+E core cause some problems, and check Win11 powerservice "core parking" too.

 

Thanks

I actually implemented the registry setting mentioned in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFz8HRk4WfI

No change.

[AdrianL]

2 minutes ago, Sr. said:

I actually implemented the registry setting mentioned in the video.

The problem with the video is that it says to search once. The setting needs to be applied to your active power plan, which might not be the first one found in the registry.

 

Download CPU Unpark (Does not need to be installed) and see what the parking index is. You want it to be 100 for the active power plan. You might need to reboot. See 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by AdrianL

[Fiber]

Hey guys, thank you for all the inputs, I already had unparked the cpus just like the video posted before opening the thread, but downloaded the cpu unpark just to be sure, set to unpark all and rebooted, no diference at all. Took the cpu 8 from dcs and still no diference.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Fiber
typo

[Sr.]

1 hour ago, AdrianL said:

The problem with the video is that it says to search once. The setting needs to be applied to your active power plan, which might not be the first one found in the registry.

 

Download CPU Unpark (Does not need to be installed) and see what the parking index is. You want it to be 100 for the active power plan. You might need to reboot. See 

 

 

Thanks

 

I'll try anything once.

 

 

Well, I'm happy to report that after using CPU Unpark, I can successful launch DCS MT again. Even switching between airframes.  this while remoting to my home PC and running non VR version. Will check VR side this evening.

I have used the previous version of Quick CPU in the past to create what was my power plan. This new version is the ticket.

 

Mucho Thanks!

Edited October 23, 2023 by Sr.

[Fiber]

Guys, update!

I had any hope left, decided to wait for a hotfix in the future, updated my GeForce Drivers again (had done the roll back to older config to see if it was the issue) after the driver update, played a little of ETS 2.

Later I decided to fumble with DCS settings a little more trying to find the performace drop culprit and to my surprise, the game was running smooth as butter!

I think the latest variable missing was the GeForce Driver update to 545.85. My configs are the same and running very smooth during the gameplay.

Only issues now are a sudden freeze after some time flying. I tried the CPU #8 afinity but no joy. If anyone is facing the same issues please let me know.

 

So the steps were:

            - Run the Unpark CPU program, set it to 100%

            - Update your GPU Drivers

            - Clean FXO and MetaShaders 2 (just in case)

            - Restart the PC and give it a shot, 

            - Play 1:30h of Euro Truck Simulator 2  (joking)

            - Open DCS MT

Well, that's it for me, hope this help someone else, sorry for typos and wish u guys blue skies!

HRP | Fiber out!

[Nimbur]

have the same problem here...always had 60 fps on multiplayer server, after the update 40 fps and i noticed, whenever someone dies on multiplayer server, for example shooting down a pilot, or killing ground vehicles, the fps drops to 12 fps for several minutes...through research i found out that almost all players have the same problems, no matter if they have a monster pc or not...unfortunately not playable anymore.

[silverdevil]

On 12/6/2023 at 1:55 PM, Nimbur said:

have the same problem here...always had 60 fps on multiplayer server, after the update 40 fps and i noticed, whenever someone dies on multiplayer server, for example shooting down a pilot, or killing ground vehicles, the fps drops to 12 fps for several minutes...through research i found out that almost all players have the same problems, no matter if they have a monster pc or not...unfortunately not playable anymore.

hello. it is best to start a new topic. it is very difficult for the ED helpers to get all the problems sorted into empirical data with all the people jumping on a topic saying "same thing".. 

there are a greater majority of users, me being one, not having issues. an example is users with newer intel CPUs have core parking issues. your problem could be anything out of a hundred fixes. for the problems to get fixed, everyone needs to help the helpers with being as descriptive as possible.

[Oberfeldmaus]

"CPU flex ratio override" in the BIOS enabled worked for me....

[ornitus]

Try this, never know what will help...: 

 

[Kanelbolle]

1 hour ago, ornitus said:

Try this, never know what will help...: 

 

This seam to be related to parked cores, no need to do this.

Better to just check your Windows power plan/mode,  change it to "Best performance". To change the power mode, select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery.

Check your DCS LOG file for this message: "CPU HAS PARKED LOGICAL CORES". Having Windows power plan/mode on "Best performance" should have fixed this, but if it does not you can search for the application "Parkcontrol" to unpark them.

 

[ornitus]

In my case I did almost everything - core parking disabled, power management for best performance, using process lasso etc... In DCL LOG I have no message "CPU HAS PARKED LOGICAL CORES" - I have disabled CPU parking (yes this is good to do for sure). Even with parking core off,  only this manual settings of affinity (as on video) directly in windows during running game works for me. When stutters occurs I am using this and it always helps.  Strange, but I will not investigate details more, I already spent a lot of time on it already and this is only solution for me since multithread is out. So - it just may help to others, that is all...

Edited October 7, 2024 by ornitus

[104th_Money]

I have noticed that in this thread, nobody has mentioned mods as a culprit. For an example, a few updates ago I was getting major stuttering and fps drop. After trying everything, I went to ED discord help and Special K checked some files for me. Turns out that the OH-6 mod had a script that was now causing major issues. Removed the mod and my issues went away. Not saying that all mods can cause issues but...after alot of trial and error, alot of mods can cause issues...If you arent using mods, this may not apply to you but if you are having issues and are using mods, do yourself a favor, remove them and check for stuttering. If it solves it, put them back one by one until you find the offending mod...

[Kanelbolle]

39 minutes ago, ornitus said:

In my case I did almost everything - core parking disabled, power management for best performance, setting power mode to best performance, using process lasso etc... In DCL LOG I have no message "CPU HAS PARKED LOGICAL CORES" - I have disabled CPU parking (yes this is good to do for sure). Even with parking core off,  only this manual settings of affinity (as on video) directly in windows during running game works for me. When stutters occurs I am using this and it always helps.  Strange, but I will not investigate details more, I already spent a lot of time on it already and this is only solution for me since multithread is out. So - it just may help to others, that is all...

This is some wird behavior. Is this the case only in DCS? Or have you checked in other MT games have the same issues, but you don't notice it by lag, since they are not demanding.

 

Have you checked if there is any BIOS update for you MB? Might also be a setting in the bios? What motherboard do you have?

 

 

Other then that, here is my checklist I go through if I experience lag/stutters:

 

1. Disable the DCS Launcher and run the game directly from "DCS.exe" (not dcs_update.exe) in the "mt-bin\" folder.
Some expariance stuttering in game when starting the game with the Launcher. (unknown why)

2. Try to update to the latest GPU drivers or reinstalling it. NVIDIA: Always use the option "Custom installation" and select "Clean installation".
Not doing a clean installation sometimes causes issues.

3. Nvidia graphics card: Check 3d settings in Nvidia Control settings if you have a custom profile for DCS. Changing these might help. Have not checked if you need to add both DCS.exe files from "\bin" and "mt-bin"  to this list and change the one you are running.

4. Disable VR and get the game running properly in 2D first at a good FPS.

5. Try setting the "Low" graphics preset for testing.

6. You can try this if you have a Nvidia GPU: Change "Background Application Max Frame Rate" to "ON" and example "100" (or what you want to keep it at) in "Nvidia Control Panel" under "Manage 3D settings". Start DCS and check if the problem is still there. It's a bug in the driver, if it's off... sometimes it does 30-40 fps.

7. Delete the content in the "fxo" and "metashaders2" folders from the saved games folder. ( usually under %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta or USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\DCS )

8. Run a cleanup and repair (slow repair) on DCS : https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/faq/709/

9. Remove all MODS. (scripts and mod files that were installed) Might need to rename your DCS profile folder to be Shure.

10. Turn off hotplug under "Adjust controls". (Disables DCS from checking if a device was connected while the game is running.) In some cases this can cause lag.

11. Always have the game and your windows page file on a SSD drive (not on a regular HDD). Also check if you're low on space.

12. Check that your system components are not throttled by heat. CPU, GPU and motherboard. Example with HWINFO64 while running the game.

13. Streamdeck export scrips might cause issues, remove them from the game if installed to check if they are the cause.

14. Unplug any USB hub if you use one. Sometimes hubs can cause problems in DCS. (For testing, plugg ut back in if you have testet it and can confirm it is not causing issues.)
When plugged back in go to Windows "Device Mangerer" -> "Universal Serial buss Controllers", open all USB devices and go to the "Power Manegment" tab and uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

15. If you have Windows 10/11:
Added both .exe files to the "Custom graphics settings" list in Windows Display settings.
You can find it under "Display Settings" ->"Graphics" or "System" -> "Display" -> "Graphics" in Windows.
Add both .exe files in "\bin" and "\mt-bin". Set it to "High Performance"

16. Check your Windows power plan/mode,  change it to "Best performance". To change the power mode, select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery.

17. Your CPU might have parked cores, check your LOG file for this message: "CPU HAS PARKED LOGICAL CORES". Having Windows power plan/mode on "Best performance" should have fixed this, but if it does not you can search for the application "Parkcontrol".

18. Disable "Game mode" and "Game bar" in Windows.

19. Disable Tacview if enabled or installed. If it has no effect, you can enable it again. But it is recommended to Options -> Specials -> Tacview and set "Multiplayer flights - As Client" to "Record local player only", recording all might cause stutters.

 

Edited October 7, 2024 by Kanelbolle

[elmo]

On 10/6/2024 at 7:46 PM, ornitus said:

Try this, never know what will help...: 

 

this is a brilliant workaround!... i have to say i was really impressed with the results.... its playable now.... a BIG thank you sir.... brilliant results on my ancient machine.... 2500k... 1080ti etc.

[jackd]

Tip: clean your shader cache files with Windows Disk Cleanup.

[Oberfeldmaus]

Am 2.10.2024 um 11:45 schrieb Oberfeldmaus:

"CPU flex ratio override" in the BIOS enabled worked for me....

Update, that was not right. I allways had massive FPS drops.

The mistake was "flache Schatten" (in German)  flat shadows...

I put it to "middle" and all works fine again as before.

(Xcuse my English)