Skyrim Object Fade is causing a big FPS hit? (7950)?

[Deathwing514]

Alright so this is kind of weird and I am not sure if this is exclusive to AMD users or what. I average at 60+FPS in most of the game, but in some areas, such as the top of the stairway of whiterun, the entrance of whiterun, and other specific areas in the game, my fps takes a major hit to the 50's.

 

So, what I tried doing was lowering every single setting and then raising it one at a time to see which is causing the most performance hit. I lowered absolutely everything and saw that I was getting a constant 60FPS until I increased the "Object Fade" setting. I literally could put every setting to the lowest possible but keep "Object Fade" up and it would be lagging.

 

I did some googling around and could not find any solution to this issue. I actually looked up what the performance hit is if you increase object detail, and everywhere that showed it was a minimal performance hit.

 

Does anyone else have this issue? If I have the fade setting any higher than like 3 it drops my FPS down substantially. Here are my specs:

 

CPU: i5 2500k 3.5ghz

Graphics: AMD 7950 3GB

Memory: 8GB RAM 1600

HardDrive: SSD 128GB

 

Any help in this area would solve the only performance issue I have with the game.

[Salvador]

Alright so this is kind of weird and I am not sure if this is exclusive to AMD users or what. I average at 60+FPS in most of the game, but in some areas, such as the top of the stairway of whiterun, the entrance of whiterun, and other specific areas in the game, my fps takes a major hit to the 50's.

 

So, what I tried doing was lowering every single setting and then raising it one at a time to see which is causing the most performance hit. I lowered absolutely everything and saw that I was getting a constant 60FPS until I increased the "Object Fade" setting. I literally could put every setting to the lowest possible but keep "Object Fade" up and it would be lagging.

 

I did some googling around and could not find any solution to this issue. I actually looked up what the performance hit is if you increase object detail, and everywhere that showed it was a minimal performance hit.

 

Does anyone else have this issue? If I have the fade setting any higher than like 3 it drops my FPS down substantially. Here are my specs:

 

CPU: i5 2500k 3.5ghz

Graphics: AMD 7950 3GB

Memory: 8GB RAM 1600

HardDrive: SSD 128GB

 

Any help in this area would solve the only performance issue I have with the game.

Strange, I never tested this, but it should indeed not cause any significant performance impact.

Looking at your hardware your CPU is the only thing that can be holding you back on this, also this type of thing, especially in Skyrim is CPU dependant not so much GPU. I have the same CPU but OC to 4.5Ghz, gave me massive boost in FPS in Skyrim.

 

Another thing. If your FPS goes below 60 with Vsync on, it goes down to about 50 to stay 'in sync' you could try doing the same test with vsync off.

 

Other than that, I don't think there is much you can do to improve it.

[Aiyen]

Its fairly logical really.

Object fade determines how many objects you have at various distances from you, up to the cell limit. More objects rendering need more CPU time, since there is most likely some physics calculations going on. If not that then just the fact that they need to be loaded into display will take up something.

 

This is also why your performance drops if you install stuff like SFO full with lots of extra trees etc. More stuff that needs to be rendered = performance drop.

 

Also I assume you tried to disable shadows entirely while doing this. Otherwise that also factor in on performance. More objects, hence more shadows need to be rendered.

 

Other then that then I am surprised if you could notice a drop from 60 to 50 without having the numbers displaying. As long as you are in that region then everything should still be fluent in every way.

 

regardless the only "solution" to this issue is to reduce the amount of stuff rendering, get lower detail meshes, lower res textures etc etc. That said then yes there are some areas that are just horrible in terms of FPS spikes. Heck in some areas you get only an FPS spike when looking in a given direction. Most of the time this can be traced back to shadow settings however.

[torminater]

Could you try to do some benchmarking how your CPU/GPU/RAM perform whilst playing with high fade or low fade?

[Salvador]

Its fairly logical really.

Object fade determines how many objects you have at various distances from you, up to the cell limit. More objects rendering need more CPU time, since there is most likely some physics calculations going on. If not that then just the fact that they need to be loaded into display will take up something.

 

This is also why your performance drops if you install stuff like SFO full with lots of extra trees etc. More stuff that needs to be rendered = performance drop.

 

Also I assume you tried to disable shadows entirely while doing this. Otherwise that also factor in on performance. More objects, hence more shadows need to be rendered.

 

Other then that then I am surprised if you could notice a drop from 60 to 50 without having the numbers displaying. As long as you are in that region then everything should still be fluent in every way.

 

regardless the only "solution" to this issue is to reduce the amount of stuff rendering, get lower detail meshes, lower res textures etc etc. That said then yes there are some areas that are just horrible in terms of FPS spikes. Heck in some areas you get only an FPS spike when looking in a given direction. Most of the time this can be traced back to shadow settings however.

Shadows are only rendered till a certain distance as dictated by the ini. Any objects further away will not receive shadows. Also the objects that are regulated by the Object fade are just that, objects. Not things like Foliage or Trees, and since he/she tested every setting, those clearly don't affect his performance, indicating something unrelated to shadows, as tree and grass shadows give the biggest performance hit (GPU dependant, which is not the OPs problem). This would also suggest that lower res textures aren't going to help related to the object fade setting. 3GB is plenty and he has a fast GPU. The rest is all correct. I suggest OP OCs his CPU. as that is what the 2500K is really good at and I assume it is also the reason he bought it? As there is otherwise no need to pay for the extra premium over the non K counterpart. Simpel way to do it is to simply set the turbo boost on all cores to 4 Ghz, if you have a decent PSU and MOBO. I am still surprised though about a 10FPS drop from simply further away objects. They shouldn't give that much of a hit. OP has pretty good CPU as is.

 

To Deathwing: Did you try the multicore CPU tweaks? They gave me a 5FPS boost, backup your ini though!!. Now it should be noted that most of the tweaks are placebo and not supported by STEP. However, since I don't have the time to figure out which I just kept them and haven't harmed me in the last year.

 

Do you have full step installed?

[Aiyen]

Yes but he might have some crazy shadow settings... some people do, hence why I point it out! :)

 

This could also simply just be a case of poorly optimized engine. But the issue is so small that I can understand why Bethesda did not bother trying to fix it. Yes a drop of 10 FPS from 60+ is would be a small issue for a game that is made for consoles.

 

Also about the OC one very vital thing that should always be said. Make sure you have enough money in the bank just in case! And in this case for both CPU and MOBO, since if one goes the other most likely also does.

Just because other people can OC without issues, then its just good OC practice to make sure you can replace stuff if anything goes wrong! Its so annoying to have to wait months for new parts to get in.

 

Also Salvador: If you would then please do identify which... you would be one of the few to say they got and FPS boost, and a rather large one at that from using those tweaks! If anything just narrow it down and I will do some testing. Since like you say, then for most then they do absolutely nothing. Could be that its only does something for certain CPU´s even. But would be nice to know!

[Salvador]

Yes but he might have some crazy shadow settings... some people do, hence why I point it out! :)

 

This could also simply just be a case of poorly optimized engine. But the issue is so small that I can understand why Bethesda did not bother trying to fix it. Yes a drop of 10 FPS from 60+ is would be a small issue for a game that is made for consoles.

 

Also about the OC one very vital thing that should always be said. Make sure you have enough money in the bank just in case! And in this case for both CPU and MOBO, since if one goes the other most likely also does.

Just because other people can OC without issues, then its just good OC practice to make sure you can replace stuff if anything goes wrong! Its so annoying to have to wait months for new parts to get in.

 

Also Salvador: If you would then please do identify which... you would be one of the few to say they got and FPS boost, and a rather large one at that from using those tweaks! If anything just narrow it down and I will do some testing. Since like you say, then for most then they do absolutely nothing. Could be that its only does something for certain CPU´s even. But would be nice to know!

Ok, Agreed.

 

I should note, I use ENB and I also run at ~30FPS due to that ENB. I try not to drop below that. I removed the multicore tweaks on Boris his advise, and was no longer able to maintain 30 FPS. Hence I put them back in, and now I run fine with 30FPS and mostly 2K textures on a 6950 2GB. I am going to reinstall everything with 1K as the 2GB is holding me back on FPS and although 30 should be fine, I still notice stutter and drops from time to time. As I have not much time at the moment to even update my MOD, testing will be a while. But I'll provide some evidence at some point as to which settings actually do something. This will be difficult, as some of them might only perform together, so lots of testing to do there. For now, these settings have not hurt me at all and are easily reverted.

[Deathwing514]

@Salvador

 

Thanks for the tip. Ill defiantly take your advice and disable the vysnc and also overclock my CPU to see if it fixes my issues.

 

Now regarding the Multi Core Tweak that you mentioned. I am still on the fence if those ini tweaks actually do anything, but for testing purposes I will try those tweaks out and see if it actually improves my fps at all.

 

@Aiyen

 

During my testing process, I did indeed turn off shadows entirely and found it wasn't the source of the problem.

Considering I am using shadows on High instead of Ultra (which has a signification fps impact) and lowering my exterior/interior shadow distance to 2800. It doesn't seem likely that the shadows setting is the cause of my major fps dip in those specific areas.

 

It is also surprising to me that I can notice the lag between 50 to 60, when in most games it wouldn't be an issue. It seems skyrim is a special beast that doesn't follow the same rules compared to the other PC games in the market.

 

@torminater

 

What type of benchmarking were you looking for?

Did you want me to do a benchmark with all of my settings on low?

 

PS:

For further information regarding my setup

I am using the Performance/Basline version of STEP (1024k textures)

[DoYouEvenModBro]

I have a 7970 ghz. I average about 35-45 fps in outside areas with extreme step (highest textures, ELFX, ENB, etc etc.) on a 1080p monitor. Dipping into the 50s at the top of Whiterun on a 7950 sounds extremely normal to me. I don't see the issue.

[Deathwing514]

I have a 7970 ghz. I average about 35-45 fps in outside areas with extreme step (highest textures' date=' ELFX, ENB, etc etc.) on a 1080p monitor. Dipping into the 50s at the top of Whiterun on a 7950 sounds extremely normal to me. I don't see the issue.[/quote']

The issue is not the relative FPS loss, but the fact that one setting in all of skyrim is causing the major loss of FPS.

 

The fact that most sites also state that the "object fade" setting only impacts the fps at a minimal level, it is baffling to me how my computer loses 10 to 15 FPS by increasing it by only 3.

 

I have talked to friends and coworkeres alike that have played skyrim, and pretty much every single person besides one stated they had no issues.

 

The person who did have issues with the setting was a AMD user (like myself).

 

Whether this be a coincidence or not, I truly believe this is a AMD related issue and not an issue for NVIDIA users.

[phazer11]

Possibly driver related if the reports coming from Origin dumping AMD/ATI cards for their offerings are anything to go by. 

[Salvador]

Why are we talking about GPU brands?

 

Object fade is purely CPU related when combined with any decent GPU. I have a 4.5Ghz OC on my CPU (2500K). Now it is difficult to isolate 1 setting, but I can assure you that changing the object fade with the OC has no effect. I also have AMD GPU 6950 NO OC showing that a lower level GPU does not reflect in FPS change in object Fade.

Now if I remove the CPU OC I do see a FPS loss by increasing object fade, albeit minimal. Simple experiment.

 

Now I know other factors might influence this, but I am pretty sure this has nothing to do with GPU and thus drivers.

All the reviews and everything you see that mention object fade do have 2 things in common, they don't run STEP and they have a good CPU as they want the CPU to not influence any benchmark they do.

 

Now off topic: FPS hit because of object fade is no reason for Origin to drop AMD, object fade is the discussion of this thread. I have been most pleased with my 6950. In fact so pleased I intend to buy AMD again next time. There is no better or worse here. It is a continuous debate based on gut feelings and personal experiences. Because I am pleased with my AMD and was not with my previous NVIDIAs does not mean all NVIDIA is bad or all AMD are good. I personally never had any driver issues with AMD (I did with NVIDIA and reading some recent posts here, there still are problems around new NVIDIA drivers) and am rather pleased that AMD only updates drivers every month and not more. The reason for Origins public drop seems to be their pride. Read for example here. The fact that AMD will be in both Playstation 4 and XBOX One is something that would indicate there is nothing wrong with AMD graphics. It seems their lack of communication with smaller vendors was the reason. Or if you believe sites like THIS, something else entirely. Now I believe in teh good of people , so I just assume it was the former problem.