Unofficial : Significant performance loss when panning camera [any angle, any arc]

[Ranebow]

I disabled motion blur and it got a LITTLE better... like one or two FPS, but it was only dipping to ~48 for me to begin with, so not really a noticeable improvement. Depending on the system, it might be more noticeable.

Just mentioned it because I didn't see it on the list of things tried.

Great thinking Raist. In some ways it seems so obvious. I have now tried this as well and it was unable to rectify the issue - added to list.

[Kittra]

I've never personally experienced this issue (though I have experienced frame stuttering [Which I fixed]), however, I am extremely interested in finding out more about it.

As someone mentioned earlier, understanding the problem (and fixing it) usually goes hand-in-hand with how your system is setup (Ex: Hardware/software), what video drivers you have/are set up as, and what your in-game settings are.


I'd like to focus on the hardware/driver setup of the problem to try to understand it better (this is usually where most start). Chances are there are others with similar setups who do not experience this issue, or do experience it but have found a way around it and are unaware that others are having it, or just do not wish to take the time to help those with the problem to resolve it.

If anyone is experiencing this issue, I'd ask if you would please post your setup in the format of:

CPU: xxxxx @ x.xxghz (include any overclock information in the speed)
Motherboard: xxxxxxxxx
Memory: xxxxxxxx xxGB @ speed here
Hard Drive: xxxxxxx (This is the HDD the game is installed on, not windows)
Video Card: xxxxxxx xGB (include any overclock information)
Power Supply: xxxxxxx (include the wattage)

Driver Information
nVidia or AMD/Radeon driver information should go here along with whether or not you did a clean install or just over wrote the previous drivers.

Any Additional Information you feel might be relevant to the way your drivers are configured

[Kittra]

As an example (although I do not suffer from this problem):

CPU: Intel i7 3770k @ 4.5ghz
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
Memory: Kingston Hyper X Blu 24GB @1600mhz
Hard Drive: Samsung 830 SSD 256gb
Video Card: ASUS GTX 670 4GB (Overclocked to 1000mhz speed)
Power Supply: Corsair AX850watt Modular Gold Certified

Driver Information
nVidia drivers 327.23 WHQL installed as a clean installation via nVidia's driver install program.
Previously I was running the 326.41 Beta drivers with great results.
I've tested the 327.23 WHQL drivers for about 8 hours without any problems in FFXIV:ARR as of yet.

Any Additional Information you feel might be relevant to the way your drivers are configured
I've personally configured the nVidia drivers via their configuration tool in Windows.
Relevant information that effects the game as I've discovered:
FXAA - ON
Antialiasing - Gamma correction - ON
Antialiasing - Mode - Application-controlled
Maximum pre-rendered frames: 1
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance
Triple buffering - ON
Vertical sync - Use the 3D application settings


As I've said, I don't experience this problem, but I have experienced many others, the majority of which I have fixed through driver updates, driver configuration, CPU and Video card tweaking.
I also have 5 PCs all with different hardware that I "can" run the game on and test different elements with.

[Ranebow]

I considered having people put down their specifications to find a common denominator but when that was tried in the other performance threads, it went into 'well I have your components and I don't have that problem. But I did have a bad performance problem until I replaced my CPU fan' and it got all muddled.

Hopefully if this garners attention, it will stay purposeful.

FXAA - ON

Curious that you have FXAA on at the driver level. The in-game version was fixed and now does both transparency AA on the flora/tree leaves as well as normal FSAA style edge detection.

[Kittra]

Curious that you have FXAA on at the driver level. The in-game version was fixed and now does both transparency AA on the flora/tree leaves as well as normal FSAA style edge detection.

I turned it on just to make sure that the drivers were not overriding the game settings, and other game that I play use it as well so there was really no reason to leave it off.
(I didn't really notice a difference in the game unless I turned FXAA off there, then the driver FXAA took over and it looked about the same.)

[gl0ry]

It happens to me as well with GTX 780. I have two of them, with or without SLI enabled the same behavior occurs. I could be getting a flat 90 fps, the minute I even touch the camera even if it is a slight budge, the fps could drop down to 50, but when I leave it alone it jumps back up to 90.

People can say they don't experience it, but I think it's the fact their frames aren't high enough to notice the drops. Honestly I think it's an optimization issue.

[Ranebow]

I turned it on just to make sure that the drivers were not overriding the game settings, and other game that I play use it as well so there was really no reason to leave it off.
(I didn't really notice a difference in the game unless I turned FXAA off there, then the driver FXAA took over and it looked about the same.)

Yea, in one of the beta phases it had to be turned on. I am unsure if the driver level FXAA gives the same level of transparency coverage that the in-game version does.

It happens to me as well with GTX 780. I have two of them, with or without SLI enabled the same behavior occurs. I could be getting a flat 90 fps, the minute I even touch the camera even if it is a slight budge, the fps could drop down to 50, but when I leave it alone it jumps back up to 90.

People can say they don't experience it, but I think it's the fact their frames aren't high enough to notice the drops. Honestly I think it's an optimization issue.

Unfortunate to hear you have this. Please fill out the template on the front page if you'd like to help.
I do agree it's most likely an engine issue that needs adjusted and optimized.

[Noxaru]

any fixes yet? I have a bad fps drop ONLY when I pan the camera around :/...other than that I get a solid 60 fps everywhere.

Here are my specs, any help to fix this would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

CPU: Intel i5 3570K @ 3.8ghz
Motherboard: GiGabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H
Memory: G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3-1600 x 4 @16gig
Hard Drive: Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD 120gb
Video Card: MSI GTX 660 TI Power Edition x2 (SLI)
Power Supply: Thermal Take SmartM 850W Gold Certified

Everything is stock and not overclocked.

Driver Information
nVidia drivers 327.23 WHQL

MAX SETTINGS ON EVERYTHING

FXAA - ON
Antialiasing - Gamma correction - ON
Antialiasing - Mode - Application-controlled
Maximum pre-rendered frames: Use the 3D application settings
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance
Triple buffering - ON
Vertical sync - Use the 3D application settings

[Kittra]

I just tested this with SLI in Costa del Sol, panning near the Aetheryte with a lot of fates going on in the distance (there were a lot of players participating).

My test system was:

CPU: Intel i7 2600k @ 4.6ghz
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
Memory: Kingston Hyper X Blu 16GB @1600mhz
Hard Drive: Western Digital Blue 620mb @ 7200 RPM
Video Card #1: EVGA GTX 570 1.25GB (Overclocked to 800mhz)
Video Card #2: MSI GTX 570 1.25GB (Overclocked to 800mhz)
Power Supply: Cooler Master GX750watt Bronze Certified

Driver Information
nVidia drivers 327.23 WHQL installed as a clean installation via nVidia's driver install program.
I was running the 314.22 WHQL drivers previously before with decent results (a few crashes here and there).
I've tested the 327.23 WHQL drivers for about a week now without any problems in FFXIV:ARR (this includes my previously listed system as well as the SLI system).

Any Additional Information you feel might be relevant to the way your drivers are configured
Pretty much the same as my last listed system:
FXAA - ON
Antialiasing - Gamma correction - ON
Antialiasing- Mode - Application-controlled
Maximum pre-rendered frames: 1
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance
Triple buffering - ON
Vertical sync - Use the 3D application settings

For pure FPS speed to monitor drops I'm using a BENQ 120hz monitor, and the game is set to "unlocked" for the FPS limiter (this is unaffected by driver Vertical sync).


Facing the Aetheryte in Costa del Sol, I started out at a solid 120fps without moving the camera. Upon panning the camera slowly to the left I experienced a slight FPS fluctuation between 115 and 109 (not a large drop at all), I then sped up panning to the left and the FPS counter stayed constant at 115-109fps. Panning almost in a complete circle the FPS suddenly dropped from 115-109 to 55-50fps.

I was a little shocked when it did this but I had a pretty good idea of what caused it. Upon opening the map I discovered my field of view indicator was set squarely on the Fate "It's not Lupus" (A high reward fate that yields between 10,000 and 30,000 EXP).
Panning away from that Fate, my FPS indicator shot back up to 115-109.

In systems I quickly locked my FPS to 60 to see if there was a difference in panning. The results were about the same as unlocked. I stayed at 60fps throughout the entire pan, the second I hit "It's not Lupus" my FPS dropped to 55-50fps. In this case it's clearly the Fate causing my FPS drops.


I then tried strafing to see if there was a difference (I re-unlocked the FPS). Strafing around the Aetheryte my FPS was a constant 120fps (about 119-120 but it was almost always a solid 120), facing "It's not Lupus" the results were about the same with panning (50-55fps), at the same time the Fate ended and after a few seconds my FPS went back up to 120.

TL;DR I see a drop while panning as opposed to strafing while using SLI but it is minimal at best, not nearly as bad as some people are reporting, and I'm still dumbfounded as to how your FPS can go from a solid 120 or 60 to barely anything (just by panning the camera) without facing a giant group of people off in the distance.

[Ranebow]

Hi Noxaru, we haven't had any progress nor an update from our various support tickets.

Other systems tested included an old Core 2 E6600 with a 4870X2 card on an old EVGA board using drivers Kittra listed below (And some others).
Unfortunately the problem persisted.

I am going to work on an AMD system next.


Kittra, I would say losing five to ten frames from a simple camera adjustment IS a large drop. Considering especially that all the content is already rendered, the scene is finished drawing and there's no obvious or extenuating circumstances - that's very poor.
Performance loss from camera movement - in most cases - I would put down to a lack of memory on the GPUs. E.g. Skyrim with so many mods going that you've used up 2GB of video memory and now are suffering jerkiness as the system tries to flush and purge. Yet FFXI at 1600p (for example) uses no more than 1300 memory - clearly well below the limits.

What you mention about strafing is also key as that is one of the odd aspects. Movement in general can induce frame loss, however that means ANY movement. Being able to strafe which in itself is a type of 'camera' motion, does not cause performance loss, yet the actual act of 'panning' the camera does!
This inconsistency makes the situation unique as per my original thread comments and has exclusivity in difference from simple bad performance when facing a FATE at a distance.