Optimization of A19 SUCKS -or- how I learned I'm a dumbass

[Boidster]

I finally upgraded my old potato laptop (Core i5 3xxx, GTX960M) to a top-of-the-middle-of-the-line Acer Helios 300 (i7 10xxx, RTX 2060), tossed in a 1TB WD Black, got the shovelware removed, set up Steam and 7D2D to enjoy the amazing visuals and rock-solid full-screen performance of...

 

...25 FPS.

 

That can't be right. Drop it down to "High" settings. 26 FPS.

Drop down to "Medium" (the potato ran at Medium+ at 40FPS, mind, though in a 16x9 window). 27 FPS.

Drop down to "Low". 30FPS.

 

Okay at this point, being a rational person and knowing I did not hallucinate the performance of the potato I assumed I had done something wrong. Force a Windows Update check. Force a GeForce driver check. Everything was fine. So I started to download 3DMark and while waiting for that I noticed that the battery icon looked 3/4 depleted. Laptop is plugged in, WAT DO? Then some toast pops up "Battery Boost is enabled. Click here to adjust battery settings."

 

 

Check the cord, it's plugged into the wall. Check the brick, everything is snug. Check the back of the laptop, it's plugged in but better push on it just in c...  >click<. Suddenly the laptop's fans spring to life like a 737 (the good kind, not the -Max). The battery icon shows its charging animation. And 7D2D? 75FPS on Ultra (with blending at Ultra+). <Borat> It's verry nice...

 

So, yeah, push firmly on the power jack, dumbass.

 

 

[Adam the Waster]

idk about you!

 

but for me i can run the game at pretty good graphics even with my makeshift ass PC. NOW I CAN READ LOGOS! 

 

and it runs a nice 45FPS (im used to 30 FPS)

[Ramethzer0]

Around February i upgraded my potato and it took some fiddling to get everything to ultra.  I used to be the guy that would have to fall behind all the time, getting random (or seemingly so) fps drops and disconnects.    Turns out, it was the dust storms and weather that was my issue all along.  When i found out the command to get rid of the particle effects, it freed up a lot of my processing power.

 

I didn't even realize these effects were in game (because potato) until after I heard about them from others.

[Boidster]

32 minutes ago, Adam the Waster said:

but for me i can run the game at pretty good graphics even with my makeshift ass PC. NOW I CAN READ LOGOS!

My main PC what also runs my dedicated server is pretty pedestrian, but not quite potato. Several months back I upgraded from an UTTER potato video card to a still potato-ish ATI RX560. It runs the client with high-ish settings at 40-50FPS but again in a 1600x900 window. The old laptop was my main client machine just due to logistics of my house at night when I usually play. To minimize eye-rolling I promised the girlfriend that she gets the potato once I finish transferring my stuff off of it. For her use cases, it's not a potato at all; should last several more years (and it's like 6 or 7 years old at this point).

 

I did still get a half-eyeroll and a snort of laughter. I AM NOT ADDICTED TO UPGRADES I CAN QUIT ANY TIME I WANT!!! But not today.

[Adam the Waster]

2 minutes ago, Boidster said:

My main PC what also runs my dedicated server is pretty pedestrian

oh that may be it, Idk

[Laz Man]

2 hours ago, Boidster said:

I finally upgraded my old potato laptop (Core i5 3xxx, GTX960M) to a top-of-the-middle-of-the-line Acer Helios 300 (i7 10xxx, RTX 2060), tossed in a 1TB WD Black, got the shovelware removed, set up Steam and 7D2D to enjoy the amazing visuals and rock-solid full-screen performance of...

 

...25 FPS.

 

That can't be right. Drop it down to "High" settings. 26 FPS.

Drop down to "Medium" (the potato ran at Medium+ at 40FPS, mind, though in a 16x9 window). 27 FPS.

Drop down to "Low". 30FPS.

 

Okay at this point, being a rational person and knowing I did not hallucinate the performance of the potato I assumed I had done something wrong. Force a Windows Update check. Force a GeForce driver check. Everything was fine. So I started to download 3DMark and while waiting for that I noticed that the battery icon looked 3/4 depleted. Laptop is plugged in, WAT DO? Then some toast pops up "Battery Boost is enabled. Click here to adjust battery settings."

 

 

Check the cord, it's plugged into the wall. Check the brick, everything is snug. Check the back of the laptop, it's plugged in but better push on it just in c...  >click<. Suddenly the laptop's fans spring to life like a 737 (the good kind, not the -Max). The battery icon shows its charging animation. And 7D2D? 75FPS on Ultra (with blending at Ultra+). <Borat> It's verry nice...

 

So, yeah, push firmly on the power jack, dumbass.

 

 

My laptop does the same thing when not plugged in otherwise I'm sure the battery would drain too fast.  One compromise im fine with in order to game on a laptop.  😁

[Boidster]

Yeah, I'm fine with the battery saver stuff, though I do need to figure out how to force it to use the RTX GPU instead of the Intel Xe embedded graphics or whatever it's called. I just haven't had a laptop before where the power plug has a positive "click" when it's fully inserted. It looked for all the world like it was plugged in, but that last 1/8" needs a firm push. I think the laptop port has some spring-loaded grabber dealio which will be nice to prevent accidental un-pluggings when moving around.

[AtomicUs5000]

I'm hoping you upgraded your laptop for more reasons other than gaming. Gaming laptops in general are just a bad idea. Heat displacement is never optimal, reducing the lifespan of all components. Everything ends up costing more in the long run and it still won't perform as well as a desktop, especially during long sessions.

[kexes]

Probably this game is not for portable PCs.

 

Having Ryzen 5 2600X, 16G RAM, GTX 1660 OC 6GB (Standard, non-Super - Non Ti). Got some frame issues until i turned down Terrain Quality setting low. Since then mostly i can play with fixed 60 fps, sometimes i still have some dropping issues but its very rare now. Some settings on medium though like shadows, texture is high, relfections low - the game looks more dull when you turn it completely off, and it looks very cool on "low" too. I turned off Occlusion, because i dont like that i can see terrain and things popping up from nothing when i move in and out from buildings. I dont know how that affects the performance anyway, dont really see any difference in fps numbers.

[Boidster]

20 hours ago, AtomicUs5000 said:

I'm hoping you upgraded your laptop for more reasons other than gaming. Gaming laptops in general are just a bad idea. Heat displacement is never optimal, reducing the lifespan of all components. Everything ends up costing more in the long run and it still won't perform as well as a desktop, especially during long sessions.

I do appreciate your concern, but as I mentioned the logistics of my house require the use of a laptop most times when I'm playing (never mind when I travel) and the old potato only gave me 30-40FPS at Medium-ish settings and in a 900p window not even full screen. I am upgrading a "gaming" laptop that is about 7 years old and will continue on as a perfectly serviceable general-purpose laptop for my girlfriend for several more years. I have built my own PCs for the last 26 years and I'm well aware of the better value and customization/optimization available in a desktop. Nevertheless, I needed a a laptop and the Helios 300 provided the right bang for the buck given my budget. I get 60-70FPS at Ultra settings (with one exception - particle effects at 50%) and 1080p full screen. I have no complaints and consider it money well spent.

7 hours ago, kexes said:

Probably this game is not for portable PCs.

From my experience it has been getting much better over the last couple of alphas. The old potato laptop used to really struggle in the 20-30 FPS range even at Low-Medium settings, but lately I had been able to use Medium+ settings (still in a 1600x900 window) and maintain a playable 30-40FPS. My desktop with the ATI RX560 4GB card - somewhat better than the GeForce 960M in the potato laptop, gets about the same but with High-ish settings (and 1600x900 window).

 

The new laptop is what I'd consider perfectly usable at max settings. I wish it had an AMD Ryzen CPU instead of the Intel, but that's mostly just for my own satisfaction. Any real-world differences will probably not be noticed with my typical use cases.

[AtomicUs5000]

3 hours ago, Boidster said:

I do appreciate your concern, but as I mentioned the logistics of my house require the use of a laptop most times when I'm playing (never mind when I travel) and the old potato only gave me 30-40FPS at Medium-ish settings and in a 900p window not even full screen. I am upgrading a "gaming" laptop that is about 7 years old and will continue on as a perfectly serviceable general-purpose laptop for my girlfriend for several more years. I have built my own PCs for the last 26 years and I'm well aware of the better value and customization/optimization available in a desktop. Nevertheless, I needed a a laptop and the Helios 300 provided the right bang for the buck given my budget. I get 60-70FPS at Ultra settings (with one exception - particle effects at 50%) and 1080p full screen. I have no complaints and consider it money well spent.

Understandable.
Are you saying the issue was resolved? It just wasn't plugged in all the way?

[Boidster]

17 hours ago, AtomicUs5000 said:

Understandable.
Are you saying the issue was resolved? It just wasn't plugged in all the way?

Yes. That was the joke. I am a dumbass. 🙂 Getting 70FPS+ on Ultra settings now that I have un-dumbassed myself.

[AtomicUs5000]

21 hours ago, Boidster said:

Yes. That was the joke. I am a dumbass. 🙂 Getting 70FPS+ on Ultra settings now that I have un-dumbassed myself.

Well, you're not the only one! That one flew over my head and lingered there forever like a compass.

[Boidster]

Last night I enabled texture streaming, seeing as the tooltip sez it should be turned on for high texture quality. Now I'm getting 80-90 FPS with occasional jumps over 120. 😲

 

Also last night I fired up the game and was greeted with 17 FPS. Ah HA! Not going to fool me THIS time! I must have jiggled the power connector, so I reach back there and...it's pushed firmly into place. Whaaa?

 

Turns out the cord to the brick had come loose this time. NEED ZIP-TIES, STAT! Just permanently hook all the power thingys together FFS I love my couch and I'm not leaving it!

[ElCabong]

I had a power plug vibrate out of my UPS a few months ago. I've never had that happen to me before. The system crashed immediately, would not boot up until I pushed the plug back in.

 

It's a good idea to put them plugs back in every now and then

[Boidster]

 

There I fixed it.

[AtomicUs5000]

20 hours ago, ElCabong said:

I had a power plug vibrate out of my UPS a few months ago. I've never had that happen to me before. The system crashed immediately, would not boot up until I pushed the plug back in.

 

It's a good idea to put them plugs back in every now and then

That happens right out the back of my rig about once per month. I really need to resolve that before something bad happens. I have dozens of those cords, and it's just a matter of finding one that's a little more snug, but I never seem to get around to it.