What kind of fps should I be getting?

[Random54]

Something always bottlenecks your performance in these areas. Stand in one and check your cpu load (per core) and gpu load. If one or more of the cpu cores is above 90% the bottleneck then change the settings that effect the cpu. If gpu is the bottle neck then change the settings that effect the gpu. Changing gpu settings will have no effect on fps if cpu is the bottleneck.

I could be wrong but I believe that these are the only settings that really drag down the CPU:

[Engine.Engine]
bUsePixelShaderComplexity=False
bUseAdditiveComplexity=False

[SystemSettings]
DetailMode=0

[ArcticZero]

Tried those to no avail. However, setting Catalyst A.I. to disabled gave me about +6 min fps. My max fps dropped from 200+ to 150fps, but that's fine. That essentially means it's running on just one 4870 1GB. This leads me to believe it's using a ton of CPU power. I really don't get why though... A Q6600 @ 3.4ghz should be enough to get at least 60fps minimum with nothing going on, right? Or heck, 45fps min with 5 bots? That's unacceptable.

Also yes, this only happened in Vista. XP gave me a minimum of 80fps with 15 bots.

[Tomeis]

Well for starters I would change MaxAnisotropy=16 to 4 and see the effect. Setting it above 4 gives a fairly minor improvement for a substantial dip in performance.
Also try changing ShadowTexelsPerPixel=2.000000 to 1. Apparently quality does not improve by setting it higher.

My settings are a combination of high visibility settings for competitive play and performance tweaks. Here they are:

StaticDecals=False
DynamicDecals=False
DynamicLights=True
DynamicShadows=True
LightEnvironmentShadows=True
CompositeDynamicLights=True
DirectionalLightmaps=True
MotionBlur=False
DepthOfField=False
Bloom=False
QualityBloom=False
Distortion=False
DropParticleDistortion=True
SpeedTreeLeaves=False
SpeedTreeFronds=False
OnlyStreamInTextures=True
LensFlares=False
FogVolumes=True
FloatingPointRenderTargets=True
Trilinear=False
OneFrameThreadLag=True
UseVsync=True
UpscaleScreenPercentage=True
Fullscreen=True
AllowD3D10=False
EnableHighPolyChars=False
SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
ParticleLODBias=64000
DetailMode=0
ShadowFilterQualityBias=1
MaxAnisotropy=4
MaxMultisamples=0
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=512
ResX=1920
ResY=1200
ScreenPercentage=100.000000
SceneCaptureStreamingMultiplier=1.500000
FoliageDrawRadiusMultiplier=0.500000
ShadowTexelsPerPixel=1.000000

The reason some of the settings are lower is because the last thing you want when playing a competitive game is to be distracted by parts of the map moving. Also the Necris skin is much more difficult to see with DepthofField on.

I find that changing the anisotropic filtering doesn't affect performance whatsoever. Even textures themselves don't affect performance. Even when I had an 8600GT and a 4000+ 2.1ghz dual-core, textures and AF filtering didn't touch my FPS. This wasn't in just UT3 but in ALL games such as CoD4, BF2, World in Conflict, Crysis (yes, even Crysis), etc. Crysis really put strain on that little 8600GT, but textures was one of the settings I could put on "Very high" which gave me huge increase in visuals, but no impact on performance.

Graphics cards nowadays are too powerful for AF filtering to make a performance hit. Maybe if you're using an nvidia 6 series GPU or something like that...

[Random54]

Well for starters I would change MaxAnisotropy=16 to 4 and see the effect. Setting it above 4 gives a fairly minor improvement for a substantial dip in performance.
Also try changing ShadowTexelsPerPixel=2.000000 to 1. Apparently quality does not improve by setting it higher.

My settings are a combination of high visibility settings for competitive play and performance tweaks. Here they are:

StaticDecals=False
DynamicDecals=False
DynamicLights=True
DynamicShadows=True
LightEnvironmentShadows=True
CompositeDynamicLights=True
DirectionalLightmaps=True
MotionBlur=False
DepthOfField=False
Bloom=False
QualityBloom=False
Distortion=False
DropParticleDistortion=True
SpeedTreeLeaves=False
SpeedTreeFronds=False
OnlyStreamInTextures=True
LensFlares=False
FogVolumes=True
FloatingPointRenderTargets=True
Trilinear=False
OneFrameThreadLag=True
UseVsync=True
UpscaleScreenPercentage=True
Fullscreen=True
AllowD3D10=False
EnableHighPolyChars=False
SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
ParticleLODBias=64000
DetailMode=0
ShadowFilterQualityBias=1
MaxAnisotropy=4
MaxMultisamples=0
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=512
ResX=1920
ResY=1200
ScreenPercentage=100.000000
SceneCaptureStreamingMultiplier=1.500000
FoliageDrawRadiusMultiplier=0.500000
ShadowTexelsPerPixel=1.000000

The reason some of the settings are lower is because the last thing you want when playing a competitive game is to be distracted by parts of the map moving. Also the Necris skin is much more difficult to see with DepthofField on.

[ArcticZero]

Here you go:

[SystemSettings]
StaticDecals=True
DynamicDecals=True
DynamicLights=True
DynamicShadows=True
LightEnvironmentShadows=True
CompositeDynamicLights=False
DirectionalLightmaps=True
MotionBlur=True
DepthOfField=True
Bloom=True
QualityBloom=True
Distortion=True
DropParticleDistortion=False
SpeedTreeLeaves=True
SpeedTreeFronds=True
OnlyStreamInTextures=True
LensFlares=True
FogVolumes=True
FloatingPointRenderTargets=True
Trilinear=True
OneFrameThreadLag=False
UseVsync=False
UpscaleScreenPercentage=True
Fullscreen=True
AllowD3D10=True
EnableHighPolyChars=True
SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
ParticleLODBias=0
DetailMode=2
ShadowFilterQualityBias=1
MaxAnisotropy=16
MaxMultisamples=1
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=512
ResX=1680
ResY=1050
ScreenPercentage=100.000000
SceneCaptureStreamingMultiplier=1.000000
FoliageDrawRadiusMultiplier=1.000000
ShadowTexelsPerPixel=2.000000
TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=1024 ,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLOD Size=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODS ize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize= 1024,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=512,Ma xLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterSpecular=(MinLODSize=512,Max LODSize=1024,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=102 4,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxL ODSize=1024,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponSpecular=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLOD Size=1024,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2 048,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,Max LODSize=2048,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleSpecular=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxL ODSize=2048,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=10 24,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=204 8,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,L ODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=512,Max LODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize =4096,LODBias=0)

Thanks for trying to help! Greatly appreciated.

[Random54]

Could you post the part of your UTEngine.ini labeled [SystemSettings] ?

Keep in mind this must be the UTEngine.ini from the Documents\My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Config folder.

[ArcticZero]

I actually already tried the aforementioned changes to UTengine.ini. I don't notice any difference whatsoever in FPS. The -onethread parameter does nothing for me either.

[Tomeis]

This isn't a magic fix, but it will help if your CPU is the bottleneck. Give these settings a try if changing your resolution does not effect your minimum framerate.



If your GPU is the bottleneck I'd recommend turning scaling back on AF and AA settings for a start although a 4870x2 shouldn't be having problems.

Also try changing AllowD3D10=True to AllowD3D10=False

[Random54]

This isn't a magic fix, but it will help if your CPU is the bottleneck. Give these settings a try if changing your resolution does not effect your minimum framerate.

[Engine.Engine]
bUsePixelShaderComplexity=False
bUseAdditiveComplexity=False

[SystemSettings]
DetailMode=0

If your GPU is the bottleneck I'd recommend turning scaling back on AF and AA settings for a start although a 4870x2 shouldn't be having problems.

[Tomeis]

This is what I find odd. I only play at 1680x1050. I have a Q6600 at 3.4ghz, and a 4870x2 using 8.12 drivers in Vista x64. And in, say, Shangri La, I get dips to about 55 or so in certain areas by myself with no other players in the map. Add in bots, and the same view gets about 46fps or so.

Is there some magic fix I don't know about?

I think Shangri La is just poorly optimized... at least, in the middle where you're looking at in that screenshot. My FPS goes down to about 30 in the same spot you're in with no bots.

[ArcticZero]

This is what I find odd. I only play at 1680x1050. I have a Q6600 at 3.4ghz, and a 4870x2 using 8.12 drivers in Vista x64. And in, say, Shangri La, I get dips to about 55 or so in certain areas by myself with no other players in the map. Add in bots, and the same view gets about 46fps or so.

Is there some magic fix I don't know about?

[gargorias]

Toms Hardware UT3 performance chart shows a distinct advantage for quad cores but I doubt if thats campbullards problem as I have no issues here even at 2560x1600 but then again my e8400 is OC'd to 3.6ghz and I have a 9800gx2 and that is most like the cause here. His video card on some of the warfare maps will perform poorly with all sliders on max but he should be able to beef his screen resolution up to 1920x1200 or 1680x1050 and get relatively the same performance.

[vldn]

or watch this one:

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/pr...kern-test.html

well the question was not, if ut3 runs better with a quad core. it does - but i think that the difference is too small for upgrading (considering the price and power consumption/ heat production) and speaking of full advantage.

i still do not think that his cpu is not the bottleneck in combination with his 9800gtx. maybe if he had a 280gtx, 285gtx or a dual gpu. so i wont say, that his cpu causes the low fps.

[oldkawman1]

oldkawman:

So quad cores don't make a diffrence yet a 2.4 ghz quad core out performs the 3.12 ghz dual core on UT3? Looks to me like ut3 takes advantage of all 4 cpus. Also, that benchmark only shows average FPS and not minimum (which is all that really matters). Its fair to say that the quad cores will handle a greater load and result in a higher lower minimum framerate than the dual cores.

Quickest way to find out if your cpu is the bottleneck. Change your resolution to 800x600. If your fps go way up then its not your cpu. If your fps stay relatively similar, then it is your cpu. If thats the case then change the settings I mentioned, put your resolution back up and see if that fixes anything.

UT3 likes quad cores. It even likes the new Phenom II quads. Here is a set of benchmarks that show median lows.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16147/5

This shows the C2D E8600 beating the Q6600 quad all around.

[Random54]

oldkawman:

So quad cores don't make a diffrence yet a 2.4 ghz quad core out performs the 3.12 ghz dual core on UT3? Looks to me like ut3 takes advantage of all 4 cpus. Also, that benchmark only shows average FPS and not minimum (which is all that really matters). Its fair to say that the quad cores will handle a greater load and result in a higher lower minimum framerate than the dual cores.

Sebastien-Nova:
One of the least constructive posts I've ever seen. You don't mention what operating system you are running. If its XP then your going to get higher FPS in UT3 than some one running Vista. Telling some one something is definitely not the problem when it very well could be is counter productive. UT3 has been giving different people with similar hardware configurations, different results, so his CPU might be bottle necking his system whereas yours is not. If I hurt your feelings by some how by saying that an E8500 might be the bottleneck then I'm sorry, but when troubleshooting you try to eliminate possibilities by testing, not by saying it couldn't be that so I won't even try it.

Quickest way to find out if your cpu is the bottleneck. Change your resolution to 800x600. If your fps go way up then its not your cpu. If your fps stay relatively similar, then it is your cpu. If thats the case then change the settings I mentioned, put your resolution back up and see if that fixes anything.