FPS/CPU usage problem

[Sign]

I posted this in the Random Question thread but after I posted I remembered this forum and I figured I should probably put it here instead.

Went back a few pages, didn't see any mention of this. Is anyone else having major CPU/FPS problems since the update? Before the update (even when I was playing this morning) I would get anywhere from 20-60 fps depending on where I was, dipping to 15 at most in the Mizzenmast Inn in LL. Also my CPU would never get over 50-53% usage (Quad-Core). After this maintenance/update however my FPS constantly dips to 7-8 fps for 5-10 seconds and then shoots right back up to 30-40. My CPU usage is now jumping up to 70-80%, and when I craft or sell I get that damn semi-lockup problem that was plaguing the end of the Open Beta (myself and few others mentioned that specific issue during beta). I was out mining around Camp Bloodshore; there is no one else up there, there is no reason for an FPS drop, in fact when it was working right I was getting about 55FPS but still randomly it would drop to 7-8FPS.

This game was perfectly playable for me up until maintenance. Now, I can barely play due to the FPS dropping randomly and making me rage. I have spent all my time since the servers came back up trying to find some other cause, something on my PC but there is nothing. Nothing has changed. I can watch the CPU usage in Task Manager for this game jump up to 80 randomly.

*Edit* Right now I am just sitting in a hallway in LL S of the Aetheryte, there is a handful of people in range and I am facing a wall (not much to draw) and the FPS just dropped to 8FPS and sat there for about 1 min.

[Sign]

Guess I am the only one... that is troubling because I am at a loss as to what the cause could be and why it is so sudden.

[Cooleko]

Sign, you do know what your problem is right? .... ..... ..... 9/30 (that is it)

[Sign]

I thought about that, but I did not have the problem in the morning (when people were starting to come online), but the moment I got into game after patch (only 600 people online) I had the problem immediately. After all my tests I am convinced that it is a problem on their end but seeing as how I seem to be the only one with the problem is giving me pause. It could still be an issue communicating with the server and I certainly hope that is the case, I just want to rule out all other options; hence the post.

[Sign]

Just wanted to post some further information I have gathered in case other people are having the same issue. I began to suspect it was my card causing the problem, using the Catalyst Control Panel I monitored GPU Temp, Usage, Fan Speed while watching my FPS in the game with FRAPS. To ensure that the issue wasn't being caused by excessive characters being displayed I headed out past Camp Bloodshore in La Noscea. I found a location with no PCs and very few NPCs, my client was running at a full 60FPS on slightly under max settings.

I made my character /sit facing a cliff wall and moved the camera above my character so it was looking at the ground giving it the bare-minimum to display. Within moments my FPS dropped from 60 to 10 and at the same time my GPU usage dropped from 50% to 0%, after about 20s it shot back up to 50% usage and 60 FPS. This was a little disconcerting and again made me think it might be my card dying. I pulled the card, cleaned it up, cleaned the connectors and reseated it, repeated the test, same results; after a few minutes the FPS would randomly drop to single digits and GPU usage would drop 50%.

To further isolate issues I decided to try it in another game to see if I could get a similar issue. I loaded up Starcraft II and put it on Max settings and began to play some of the campaign. My FPS dipped at times when expected (a lot of action on screen) but nothing like witnessed on FF14 (massive FPS drop to single digits and no GPU usage drop at all).

So it was looking less like a card issue but I wasn't ready to call it yet, I also considered it to be a heat issue because FFXIV is pretty punishing on cards so I loaded up GPUtool and ran the stability test. The card ran for 30mins solid at 165FPS, 98%usage, and held firm at 80C. There were only a few FPS dips and even then it was only about 5FPS and 2% usage which is expected. So the card is still solid.

As the final confirmation I decided to drop all my settings to the absolute lowest they could run in FFXIV, included the background res (forget what they call it now). Opened the game up, still sitting facing a wall and camera at the ground, and once again, FPS dipping to <10 and GPU usage dropping to 0%. Something is horrible wrong with their coding and it started after the maintenance on the 30th. I have been asking around and friends with amazing computers (5870s, 6 core processors etc) aren't noticing the problem but they may be getting FPS/GPU drops but because their starting points are higher it is less noticeable. I also began to suspect that other people don't realize what is happend and/or aren't running a program like FRAPS to monitor their FPS.

I rephrased the question asking if anyone was getting lag at odd times or weird slow downs and sure enough I am finding more and more people with the issue. I don't know what SE did but they have essentially made this game unplayable for me. I can't battle because almost every fight my FPS drops to <10 for a few seconds before returning to normal so I can't target and the delay in using abilities means my healer starts getting smacked around. I am glad it is still the free period because I will not be paying if this issue persists past the free trial.

*Side Note* I am sure no one cares about this post anymore but I needed a place to vent my frustrations, I think my LS is starting to tire of my raging every time my FPS drops.

[Purrrfect]

Wired or wireless network connection? I also think they have some shitacular network coding.

[Sign]

Wired. I thought it might be a network thing (not getting any info from server to render which is why it drops) so I pulled up a network monitor and watched the traffic from the ffxivgame.exe process. It held steady around 2000B/s the entire time and when I watched my FPS in game drop rate never budged.

Also, the issue has still been happening but last night it was a lot less frequent. I was able to actually complete some leves without nearly breaking my controller in frustration.

[Sign]

After the 10/7 update the issue seems to be worse than ever. I am really at a loss at this point with things to test on my own system but I can't imagine wth SE would be doing on their end to cause this issue. I can barely craft or do anything related to pulling info from the server because my FPS drops to around 7-8. If anyone has any ideas that I haven't already tried I am open to them. I just want to be able to play the damn game without wanting to kick a lalafell.

*update* did some testing tonight after work. FPS drop happened every 1:50-2:20 and lasted 0:22-0:30 like clockwork the entire time I crafted (about 2 hours). Dropping to <10FPS every 2 mins is highly frustrating.

[Caestus]

something is running on your computer causing this..... It pretty much has to be. Update Direct X, just run the DirectX Updater. turn off anti virus sofftware. use different game ports. Something is causing this on your computer. by the way.. 80C is VERY hot for many graphics cards. I have a GTX470 x2 and the GPU threshhold is 105C, sure that's 25C difference.... but this card is made to run hotter, and I would be very wary to run this card at 80C even... I pretty much Idle at 35C, and in game, under 60-80% load on each card around 65C with max settings...

Something is wrong with your system.

[Sign]

Direct X fully updated, drivers updated, tried with AV and other programs off. Right now sitting in LL, card is at 55C and 33% usage. Watching my FPS rise and fall at random. Checked everything on my system even tested in other games without so much as a hiccup. As for the 80C that was while I was running a stability test and the card was at 99% usage and hitting 165FPS. This issue only appeared after the 9/30 maintenance (which I know could be coincidence) and has gotten worse since the latest maintenance. I am still convinced that it is the game at this point. Today when my FPS was dropping to <10 I was able to alt-tab out easily and do other things so it is localized to the game and is not my system stuttering.

Browsing the Tech forum on Core I found a few others with the same issue, with the FPS dropping, so at this point all I can do is wait for SE to optimize their engine or fix whatever they did.

[millionsknives]

I've had a similar problem incurred from a small update in the OB. My FPS is really unreliable now compared to before, even in areas with no people it can get stuck at 10 FPS. At first I thought it may have been to do with them upping the graphics (or something) ready for release, but just like you, running the game in minimum graphics gives the same issue.

My jamming at 10ish FPS doesn't seem as frequent as yours though - my overall FPS is more widely random now no matter how many people are around, and getting stuck at 10FPS seems to happen randomly about once/twice a day. I have to relog to get back to normal.

I haven't managed to fix it, even after updating and checking everything I can think of. I just assume its something within FFXIV, since it seems to resent ATI cards :/

[Purrrfect]

Is a reformat an option? It tends to solve a lot of problems.

[Sign]

Is a reformat an option? It tends to solve a lot of problems.

Unfortunately a reformat isn't an option at the moment but the system is fresh as of mid-July. I may eventually do a reformat but that will have to wait, I have however done a complete game uninstall and then re-install fresh from disk and it made no difference. I am not totally ruling out a system problem it just feels unlikely as I am unable to replicate this behaviour in any way, shape, or form outside of the game itself. I am sure it is some combination of their code and my hardware but as I have said it only started after the 9/30 maintenance (I had a similar issue new near the end of OB but it was fine come retail); hell, there wasn't even a patch that day. If they created the problem with their sloppy code, hopefully they can fix it up, if not I will move on to a new game because I am not spending money I don't have to work around there issues.

I've had a similar problem incurred from a small update in the OB. My FPS is really unreliable now compared to before, even in areas with no people it can get stuck at 10 FPS. At first I thought it may have been to do with them upping the graphics (or something) ready for release, but just like you, running the game in minimum graphics gives the same issue.

My jamming at 10ish FPS doesn't seem as frequent as yours though - my overall FPS is more widely random now no matter how many people are around, and getting stuck at 10FPS seems to happen randomly about once/twice a day. I have to relog to get back to normal.

I haven't managed to fix it, even after updating and checking everything I can think of. I just assume its something within FFXIV, since it seems to resent ATI cards :/

In OB were you getting framerate drops and even momentary game lockups (like 1-3seconds) while crafting? That was the problem I had in the last week of OB but at retail the issue was gone. Since the 9/30 update though I am getting these wild FPS ranges, I wish I could FRAPS it so I could show everyone what I am talking about but with my system dropping to <10FPS already adding FRAPS recording isn't going to be reliable.

My only option left to test is to do a BestBuy rental of a video card and see what effect it has, though I am still doubtful due to getting the same issue when I put all settings to their lowest. Knowing NVIDIA's history I wouldn't be surprised if there is some funny business with ATI cards in this game (ok that is wild speculation but... meh)

*edit* I just wanted to say thanks to people offering suggestions. If my posts are coming off as dismissive I am not intending them to sound so; I am just getting frustrated because I actually want to play the game without this constant frustration. A friend of mine has a similar system so I am going to try the game on his rig and then try a card swap and see if what happens. If I can convince him to lug his tower over to my place.

[Tehaqui]

I'm experiencing similar problem actually. All was fine until about two weeks ago when the random FPS/CPU usage up and downs began. FPS would drop from 40 to 20 for a second then back go 40 again. It'd happen either pretty randomly or constantly depending on area. At first I thought it was caused by hardware, but then the game runs fine in town without all the fluctuations. Wonder what is causing this. Right now it's just an annoyance, hope it doesn't escalate into a serious problem. (using 8800GT x2)

[Sign]

Try checking your Windows Updates for a recent update to Realtek NIC drivers (if you are using on-board video and it is Realtek). I was trying to solve a problem with my Media Server and I traced it to that, when I finally went back to FFXIV the FPS drop was solved (whether it is from the driver update or a fix by SE I can't say because I stopped playing for over a month).

[Tehaqui]

I updated the nvidia driver to 260.99 last night and the FPS drop seemed to go away for now. The driver actually improved my FPS by a lot, but now I'm stuck between 30~45 average FPS which results in more stuttering...:s