PSOCache.bin is missing

[Magmakojote]

I'm having pretty bad fps-drops and in general bad performance since I redownloaded the game a couple of days ago (last played this a year ago, it worked fine then).
I read somewhere that it can help to recompile the shaders, so I looked into my LocalCacheDX12 file, but there is no PSOCache.bin file there (apparently I would need to delete it for the game to recompile the shaders).

The only files in the directory are:

fullgame.dll
Hash.DB.bin
ShaderLocationDB.bin
UserHashDB.bin


I'm getting like 10 fps right now in Meridian and maybe 20 in places with any machine bigger than a watcher. Basically unplayable, considering I'm playing on Ultra Hard. I already turned every setting down to it's minimum, but it doesn't really do anything.

So I hope someone can help me out with the missing file/recompiling shaders. Or just some general advice for bad performance (nvidia driver is updated and, like I said, even with all settings turned down it's still bad and a lot worse than a year ago).

[Eye of Newt]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=825696525

Let's start there!

[Magmakojote]

Originally posted by Eye of Newt:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=825696525

Let's start there!

I meet the minimum requirements (slightly better than the minimum). I don't expect to play the game on ultra settings and 60 fps, but it should atleast be playable, right?

Right now I have all the settings on low (even turned shadows completely off) and I still get massive fps drops. Even in the main menu (the stuttering waterfall made that obvious). I did a benchmark (which took like 6 minutes to load in) and the fps graph looked like a heart rate monitor graph. At one point I had 0 fps for like 10 seconds, meaning the game froze completely there.
The thing is, I was able to play the game a year ago just fine. And a couple days ago when I reinstalled the game I didn't notice any major issues. But the more I play, the worse it gets right now. I actually figured out, that the problem is not about shader cache. I noticed that it's the worst in Meridian, which I kinda understand. I would be fine with severe lags in that town, considering there is no fighting there. But even once I leave, the fps drops remain a big problem and make any kind of fight impossible. Can't even shoot a simple boar.

I decided to stop playing the game, it just is not enjoyable and I have no idea how to fix the issues. Funny thing is, that when I let GeForce Experience automatically set my settings (focused completely on performance) it actually recommends low-medium settings. Normally the program is quite good at figuring out the perfect settings so I can play a game, but not this time I guess.

[Seamus]

Deleting that file isn't a thing anymore since they changed when shader compiling is done.

And just answer the question. "I'm above minimum" doesn't help.

[Magmakojote]

Originally posted by Seamus:

Deleting that file isn't a thing anymore since they changed when shader compiling is done.

And just answer the question. "I'm above minimum" doesn't help.

Yeah, sorry I should have written a bit more: I figured out that the shader cache thing is not my issue, because someone on reddit already told me about the changes with this system and thats why there isn't a file. I then did a little test with unlimited cache size (or whatever it is called) in the nvidia control panel and noticed no changes.
And sorry about not going more into my hardware. I just didn't think they were the main problem considering I was able to play this game for about 30 hours without any problems until now.

But like I said, I decided to stop playing the game. I'll continue maybe next year or so, once I got better hardware. Because my pc is getting pretty old right now I realize. It's just a first time for me that I basically witness a degrade in performance by the minutes I play the game.

[Seamus]

Well... if it's when you just started into the game, that's because the game is compiling shaders in the background instead of what it used to do with compiling them before getting to the main menu.

[Kaldaien]

There used to be a progress indicator informing that it was doing this. For whatever reason that was removed in the latest patch. It still builds the PSO cache, it just doesn't inform you it's going on. You're supposed to figure it out yourself I guess when the game stops stuttering? :)

[Seamus]

Originally posted by Kaldaieℵ₀:

There used to be a progress indicator informing that it was doing this. For whatever reason that was removed in the latest patch. It still builds the PSO cache, it just doesn't inform you it's going on. You're supposed to figure it out yourself I guess when the game stops stuttering? :)

Frankly they should just go back to the first boot compile.

Fewer stutters.

[Eye of Newt]

Your system specs are relevant to deciphering why your frame rates blow massive chunks.

[Philosopher]

What GPU and CPU do you have? We are trying to help you but you are giving us no information on your specs.

[🉑 rezno[R].technology]

It's hard to help with a performance issue, when someone is reluctant to share specs.

[Magmakojote]

My specs are these:

i5-3570K CPU @ 3.4GHz
GTX 970
8 GB RAM
I also got Windows 10 64-bits and have DirectX 12 installed.

Like I said, I meet the minimum requirements as far as I understand. I know they are just slightly better than the minimum and I shouldn't expect much, but it should be playable atleast, right? I mean it was playable for 30 hours until recently, so I honestly don't get it.

[Philosopher]

Originally posted by Magmakojote:

My specs are these:

i5-3570K CPU @ 3.4GHz
GTX 970
8 GB RAM
I also got Windows 10 64-bits and have DirectX 12 installed.

Like I said, I meet the minimum requirements as far as I understand. I know they are just slightly better than the minimum and I shouldn't expect much, but it should be playable atleast, right? I mean it was playable for 30 hours until recently, so I honestly don't get it.

Have you tried going back to the Nvidia driver you had when you were getting better performance?

I can tell you now that 8 GB of memory will cause major stuttering in most games today. I recommend you upgrade your memory to 16 GB dual channel.

Are you sure your GPU & CPU aren't overheating?

Your CPU is also very old with only 4 cores and 4 threads.

[Magmakojote]

Originally posted by Philosopher:

Originally posted by Magmakojote:

My specs are these:

i5-3570K CPU @ 3.4GHz
GTX 970
8 GB RAM
I also got Windows 10 64-bits and have DirectX 12 installed.

Like I said, I meet the minimum requirements as far as I understand. I know they are just slightly better than the minimum and I shouldn't expect much, but it should be playable atleast, right? I mean it was playable for 30 hours until recently, so I honestly don't get it.

Have you tried going back to the Nvidia driver you had when you were getting better performance?

I can tell you now that 8 GB of memory will cause major stuttering in most games today. I recommend you upgrade your memory to 16 GB dual channel.

Are you sure your GPU & CPU aren't overheating?

Your CPU is also very old with only 4 cores and 4 threads.

So what you are saying is that my equipment already just met the minimum requirements and they somehow got worse during the last days? That is definitely a possiblity, although I haven't noticed any degrading performance in other games, just in Zero Dawn.

In any way, you are obviously right, my hardware is pretty old and I basically can't play any newly released game since 2021. I planned on buying something new, but I discovered GeForce Now for me and that kinda made my equipment irrelevant :D sadly Horizon Zero Dawn is not supported, so I guess I should finally upgrade.

[Zuffy]

I play the game on older, slower hardware with 40 FPS average once the background shader compilation has completed. The only difference in my favour is 16GB system RAM. Are you sure you've waited long enough for the shaders to compile? On my system that takes around 30 mins.

[Philosopher]

Originally posted by Magmakojote:

Originally posted by Philosopher:

Have you tried going back to the Nvidia driver you had when you were getting better performance?

I can tell you now that 8 GB of memory will cause major stuttering in most games today. I recommend you upgrade your memory to 16 GB dual channel.

Are you sure your GPU & CPU aren't overheating?

Your CPU is also very old with only 4 cores and 4 threads.

So what you are saying is that my equipment already just met the minimum requirements and they somehow got worse during the last days? That is definitely a possiblity, although I haven't noticed any degrading performance in other games, just in Zero Dawn.

In any way, you are obviously right, my hardware is pretty old and I basically can't play any newly released game since 2021. I planned on buying something new, but I discovered GeForce Now for me and that kinda made my equipment irrelevant :D sadly Horizon Zero Dawn is not supported, so I guess I should finally upgrade.

I'm saying that it's possible that Nvidia newest driver is giving you worse performance in this game than your previous driver.

With that being said your specs are very old and slower than your pet Tortoise. I would recommend you buying at least a new GTX 1060 6 GB and a new CPU.