FPS instability.

[streblo]

I'm going to preemptively apologize for the wall of text I've bestowed upon you all. I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but upon searching for 'FPS loss' in the proper locations it was clear that no proper thread had been made about it.

When I play CSP (on any variety of servers) I experience frequent and periodic drops in FPS. I am using fps_max 101, but continually, and briefly, the actual reported frames in net_graph will drop to around 70-80. It's hard to describe it as anything other than a 'yo-yo' effect; the frames drop from ~101/100 into the 70's/80's and then back to the desired settings at least three times within ten seconds for the entirety of the round.

There are no specific conditions upon which this triggers - it seems that just by virtue of being in a server this begins to happen. I have a relatively recent machine (3.4ghz amd black cpu, 8 gb ddr3, radeon 4800 hd), and I don't experience any fps loss in any other game - multiplayer or singleplayer. In 1.6 I'm at a constant 100, source at a constant 100, oblivion at 60 frames max settings, audiosurf at 100. Through experimentation with different settings, refresh rates, and monitors, the issue was still present. I have spoken with other members of the community who have been experiencing similar loss. I was just wondering if there was any resolution to speak of, or any remedy potentially present in later patches. I have been playing CSP since beta 1.04 and this is the only edition where this issue manifests.

[incubus]

You mean 1.07 was fine and 1.08 is the only version plagued with low framerate issue?

[ilam]

You mean 1.07 was fine and 1.08 is the only version plagued with low framerate issue?

I've noticed these too, I wouldn't say 1.07 was perfect, but I don't remember noticing these fps drops in 1.07.

In my case i play at fps_max 200, and i notice the stutters every now and then. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it persists... At first i thought it was related to what was posted in the devlog about the main steam window consuming cpu resources, but i continuously check if it's open to make sure.

[wHEElEr]

have either of you tried enabling//disabling -high in launch options? or possible heapsize commands?

[streblo]

You mean 1.07 was fine and 1.08 is the only version plagued with low framerate issue?

Yeah, I had no apparent problems with .07


have either of you tried enabling//disabling -high in launch options? or possible heapsize commands?

Could you expound upon what either of those actually do?

[wHEElEr]

Could you expound upon what either of those actually do?

Heapsize determines how much RAM is allocated strictly for HL2.exe. Typically you want to dedicate half of your system's memory.

Examples:
512MB / 2 * 1024 = -heapsize 262144
1024MB / 2 * 1024 = -heapsize 524288
2048MB / 2 * 1024 = -heapsize 1048576

As for -high:

It simply enables high processor priority.
This may or may not contribute to your freezing/chunking problem though, but a little experimentation can go a long way :D

[yuri]

I remember that messing with the heapsize has been discouraged since EP1.

But give it a try :D

[streblo]

Heapsize determines how much RAM is allocated strictly for HL2.exe. Typically you want to dedicate half of your system's memory

If 8 gb of DDR3 can't run the source engine smoothly, I posit that it's most likely something within the game incurring that chopiness, not the allocation of system resources. I'm tentative about messing with system defaults. Thanks though.

If someone has any insi(whydoesitinsertanemoticonherewtf)ght as to what game features might've catalyzed this issue, it would also be appreciated.

[tiger]

If 8 gb of DDR3 can't run the source engine smoothly

Doesn't matter, the Source Engine depends strongly on your CPU, the RAM isn't really important in comparison.

[streblo]

Doesn't matter, the Source Engine depends strongly on your CPU, the RAM isn't really important in comparison.

My argument for a 3.4ghz AMD Phenom II x4 processor would be the same.

[n3krO]

My argument for a 3.4ghz AMD Phenom II x4 processor would be the same.

1 - I don't like ADM
2 - Multicore is not used in CSPromod since it was instable in Source SDK 2007
3 - Check the programs you have open, if i have everything open as if i'm cheking forums etc etc and i start CSP i have 90~120 fps. If i have everything close i have 170+ fps ;)

[streblo]

1 - I don't like ADM
2 - Multicore is not used in CSPromod since it was instable in Source SDK 2007
3 - Check the programs you have open, if i have everything open as if i'm cheking forums etc etc and i start CSP i have 90~120 fps. If i have everything close i have 170+ fps ;)

1. AMD*
2. That would only be a valid point if you don't take into consideration all the previous iterations of promod that I've played without issue.
3. I have it limited to 101, if I increase my fps_max to 301, the only difference is that it continually drops from 300 to ~270, 280. The actual fps reported is not the issue. The issue is that the constant framerate fluctuation is distracting and choppy.

[ilam]

1. AMD*
2. That would only be a valid point if you don't take into consideration all the previous iterations of promod that I've played without issue.
3. I have it limited to 101, if I increase my fps_max to 301, the only difference is that it continually drops from 300 to ~270, 280. The actual fps reported is not the issue. The issue is that the constant framerate fluctuation is distracting and choppy.

Did you update your graphics drivers recently?

[streblo]

Did you update your graphics drivers recently?

Before 1.07, and there are no new drivers available.

[n3krO]

1. AMD*
2. That would only be a valid point if you don't take into consideration all the previous iterations of promod that I've played without issue.
3. I have it limited to 101, if I increase my fps_max to 301, the only difference is that it continually drops from 300 to ~270, 280. The actual fps reported is not the issue. The issue is that the constant framerate fluctuation is distracting and choppy.

there is no advantage of having 300 fps.. just use 101 if it presents no framerate drop Oo

[streblo]

there is no advantage of having 300 fps.. just use 101 if it presents no framerate drop Oo

You don't read very thoroughly when other people post, do you?

[n3krO]

You don't read very thoroughly when other people post, do you?

If there were a workarround devs would already have posted it, wouldn't them?

I would tell them to full unnistal CSP and then instal again, it may be caused by having some files from csp1.07 maybe

[deefop]

One nice thing about the source engine is that it isn't dependent on having exactly 100fps to function smoothly. As long as your FPS is higher than your monitors refresh rate the game should remain smooth.
Source is also highly dependent on your CPU. Unless you're running the game at 1080p with all graphics settings cranked(which I know you aren't) then your video card is hardly working at all and and the game is CPU bottle necked. Your CPU is plenty, BUT remember that this version of the engine is from 2007 before they had multi threading support built in, so it's really only using one of your cores. Since you have a black edition overclocking your CPU by bumping the multiplier. My phenom II x3 740 runs at 3.0ghz stock, but I have it bumped to 3.6 and in games like source it makes a huge difference.

You should also consider running the game in high or realtime cpu priority. You could either add -high or -realtime to the launch options or just manually change it after the game is up(through the task manager, right click the game and set priority). Sometimes it causes instability so you have to experiment, it works well with 1.6 but i don't know how stable CSP is in comparison.

[tiger]

Try host_thread_mode 2 in the console. This will enable multi-core support but it might cause some stability issues.

[n69ky]

Just don't tab out or change game resolution while having multicorethingy running, or you might crash :3

[streblo]

Try host_thread_mode 2 in the console. This will enable multi-core support but it might cause some stability issues.


I'll try it later tonight, thanks.

I also uninstalled and reinstalled; hoping that a fresh foundation will remove some of the potentially confounding variables.

[tiger]

Question: are you getting FPS drops as soon as you join a server or is it after HS'ing other players? Does it happen on a listen server with bots? (start one up and use bot_create in the console to add bots) If so, same question, does happen before or after you headshot the bots?

[streblo]

Question: are you getting FPS drops as soon as you join a server or is it after HS'ing other players? Does it happen on a listen server with bots? (start one up and use bot_create in the console to add bots) If so, same question, does happen before or after you headshot the bots?

Intriguing thought. I'll try it out and let you know.

As an aside, not really related to my problem, I noticed (conjunctively reported by some of my teammates) that there are some significant fps drops when the scoreboard is open.

[Redstar]

Try host_thread_mode 2 in the console. This will enable multi-core support but it might cause some stability issues.

"mat_queue_mode 2" actually

[streblo]

Just tried hosting a listen server with bots, as well as a multiplayer game. While the headshot scenario didn't seem to affect my fps in any way, the second more than one person was concurrently in a server with me, the fluctuations began to reoccur.

[n3krO]

Intriguing thought. I'll try it out and let you know.

As an aside, not really related to my problem, I noticed (conjunctively reported by some of my teammates) that there are some significant fps drops when the scoreboard is open.

It's normal since the game is using an over layer. fps drop like from 170 to 130 when i open it (i use 100 when playing).

It also happens in cs1.6 but since your pc is most likely to be albe to run the game in 300+ fps if not developer blocked then with fps100 you won't notice it.