Drastic Frame Rate Drops

[ChrisPharmD]

My rig:
i7 3770k @ 4.4GHz
SLI GTX 680 4GB FTW+ (Not Overclocked)
16GB DDR3 Memory

I used NVIDIA's optimal settings when I first started playing this game and it ran fine - 60FPS no problem.

All of a sudden, now I'm having sudden frame rate drops. And it happens frequently. I tried turning MSAA off but it doesn't help. Is this a driver issue? I noticed that there have been a lot of driver updates lately.

I'm not sure if it's because of SLI. Possible. But the game played fine when I first started it.

What should I do? I heard that Bit Defender caused some problems with a guy on another forum but I don't have Bit Defender. I have the basic version of Norton. I highly doubt it's the cause.

[ChrisPharmD]

Ah, I did a custom reinstallation. I ran a "clean" reinstall and the game runs fine now.

[Blasted Tortoise]

Hey, this sounds really similar to what I'm experiencing atm. Played a couple of hours of it, nearly completely maxed out on a GTX 660, runs like a beauty. Go to play again after 3 or 4 chapters, and it looks like the framerate is locked on 22-26fps, no matter what settings I'm on.

Just wanted to know what you mean by clean reinstall. Do you delete the local content using steam, or do it manually through the program files?
Also, did that correct the error for good, or did it occure again?

And thanks for posting the solution to your issue, a lot of these discussions just end without giving any info whatsoever on how it was resolved.

[ChrisPharmD]

Actually, my problem came back and I quit playing the game. Not sure if it was ever fixed or not. I've just avoided the game entirely.

[Blasted Tortoise]

Just in case you might be thinking of playing it again, I think I've found a quick fix for it, even if temporary. I went to the properties of the game through steam and verified the game cache. Took about 5 minutes, but once done it played pretty much as good as new, most of the settings on very high, and a frame rate of 70-90 fps.

Don't know when/if the fps will drop again, but I'm hoping this technique works repeatedly, saves redownloading the whole 30Gb again.

[Drooftster]

yeah i dont understand this, the game runs flawlessly, i even put everything on low settings already even the resolution, but the game still drops frames, mentionably during cutscenes and the transition between cutscene to gameplay. It happens on gameplay after a gun fight often. I really like the game, but this seems like a sloppy port or something. It even crashes sometimes on start up, wtf Rockstar =(.

[nobody]

I don't know if you'll see this comment as the thread is quite old, but I added you because I was hoping you'd tell me about the framerate drops in more detail. I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing the exact same issue right now and I'd like to know what exactly you mean by 'clean' re-install. Thanks in advance! :)

[Blasted Tortoise]

A clean reinstall means a full uninstallation of the game, and redownloading the whole thing as new.

Something I found out after experimenting with the game was that the fps drops had something to do with my old controller. I was using using a third party controller, and having it plugged in (even when I wasn't using it) was linked to the frame rate somehow. I tested this a lot, and no matter what settings, if that controller was connected the fps would drop, if not, the game would run like a beauty. Thought I'd mention this, dunno if it'll help.

[nobody]

Thanks, I wouldn't have asked but ChrisPharmD said he did a 'custom reinstalation' and THEN said 'clean re-install' so I wanted to be sure what he meant. As for the controller thing, in the past I used an original Dualshock 3 along with a program that made it emulate a 360 controller, but I never had it plugged in (or the program running) while I was playing the game. A couple of months ago my Dualshock finally died and I don't have other controllers so that's not it. Thank you for trying to help though!

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by Letov:

Thanks, I wouldn't have asked but ChrisPharmD said he did a 'custom reinstalation' and THEN said 'clean re-install' so I wanted to be sure what he meant. As for the controller thing, in the past I used an original Dualshock 3 along with a program that made it emulate a 360 controller, but I never had it plugged in (or the program running) while I was playing the game. A couple of months ago my Dualshock finally died and I don't have other controllers so that's not it. Thank you for trying to help though!

Oh... this was a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, it was a GPU installation. When NVIDIA asks if you want to install the new driver, it asks if you want to do a custom installation and then you can choose "Clean Installation."

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not really sure what I meant at the time. :/

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by Da_miTh:

A clean reinstall means a full uninstallation of the game, and redownloading the whole thing as new.

Something I found out after experimenting with the game was that the fps drops had something to do with my old controller. I was using using a third party controller, and having it plugged in (even when I wasn't using it) was linked to the frame rate somehow. I tested this a lot, and no matter what settings, if that controller was connected the fps would drop, if not, the game would run like a beauty. Thought I'd mention this, dunno if it'll help.

Or oh yeah, maybe. I honestly don't remember. I'm sorry.

[nobody]

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not really sure what I meant at the time. :/

Don't worry about it :) I'm gonna spend a bit more time looking for a fix, but I honestly doubt I'll find one. I should probably just give up on the game like you did; hell, I'm not even enjoying it all that much anyway. The only reason I've played it for as long as I have is because I was desperately TRYING to enjoy it... and mostly failing.
Thanks for replying!