[FPS] For AMD users R200+ series - Performance Increase Guide (some nVidia)

[Tweedilderp]

Here is a guide for AMD users wanting to get more out of their GPU and ARK experience.

Disclaimer:

For arguments sake and the fact I did not realize there may be dimwits out there (HA!), I do NOT endorse overclocking...you put your own hardware in god's hands by doing so. Hardware is however designed to run at stock clocks which all of the GPU tweaks are used for. If you overclock it's on your head!.

For the purpose of this guide I reference MSI Afterburner as it is one of the popular overclocking programs out there.

GPU Tweak:

AMD cards without tweaks are designed to throttle clocks based on their current load and usage. Even under 100% in ARK my cards without a tweak will hit 700mhz...which is 300mhz or nearly a 1/3 of performance being wasted.

Do note that this afterburner tweak needs to be performed each time you start your PC due to Catalyst Control Center being a jerk.

For GPU's that are ALREADY overclocked:

MSI Afterburner>Settings>Unofficial Overclocking Method>Without Powerplay>ok

Allow Afterburner to restart...

MSI Afterburner>Settings>Unofficial Overclocking Method>Disabled

Your overclocked card will now keep it's power limit (it doesn't using the "without powerplay" option) and it's constant clock speed.

For GPU's that are NOT overclocked:

Simply go into Afterburner settings, switch unofficial overclock method to "without powerplay" and allow Afterburner to restart. Your clocks will now stay constant and not fluctuate allowing you to keep as high a FPS as possible on stock clocks.

NOTE: this will increase heat as the clocks will not go down on idle and will increase power usage...but hey we're here for the nommy FPS amirite?.

IMPORTANT:

Do NOT run crossfire, it may show usage from both gpu's but is likely to cause stutter and won't increase performance at all...in fact it will hinder it most of the time.

Next, go and download ARKenhancer:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/0/594820656447916131/

Kudos to Tanaalethan for keeping it updated and sharing it with the community. This handy gadget can sit on your desktop unpacked from the zip file. After each big patch it will still have the same settings in it as well as allowing you to just open it and apply them after each big patch.

It also allows you to apply .INI changes without actually messing with the game files yourself. And yes I have tested this by also unchecking the settings and it restored them back to their original values.

I am at work and cannot see my settings in this app so I cannot post them until I get home (sorry!).

Various Tweaks:

Next is the obvious -USEALLAVAILABLECORES and -sm4 in the launch options.

(i do not use -sm4 but others may find it useful now that lighting is better with it.)

Also make sure to go and un-park your CPU cores, there are PLENTY of guides out there on the interwebz so I will not include that here.

If you are sick of the massive amount of bloom....hit TAB to open console and type "r.bloomquality 0" without quotations and press enter...enjoy your eyesight again.

Lastly are the game settings, resolution scaling and sky effects are obviously the big killers here. I play on a 4k monitor with scaling set to 1080p....looks nasty but it works.

Honorable mention:

SSD's, while not providing direct FPS increases, will decrease load times by a tonne. Which is also handy if your game crashes during raids/combat/taming.

Even if you do not have an SSD....but have 16gb or more RAM, consider looking into RAM Disk. This will speed up your load times and is a stop-gap if you're still on a hard drive. But I do urge you to read into it as if you have unstable RAM, you will get blue screens.

My PC Specs:

i7 3820 @ 4.5ghz
16gb DDR3 Ripjaws @ 2000mhz
1tb Samsung EVO SSD
290x Crossfire @ 1070mhz (crossfire disabled)

These changes have allowed me to get 40-60fps on mostly high with a few options on epic.

Forgive my grammar and terrible formatting, I am at work and have been working 9 hours ><'.

Edited - Added a few things such as the bloom change and RAM caching and added Disclaimer and simplified the afterburner portion of the guide.

[Tweedilderp]

first and last bump for my red-blooded brethren.

[Tweedilderp]

Seems there is a bug with the enhancer tool, unchecking is now not working. The game options will still work just the same but the .INI tweak checkboxes are not returning to their original values.

So if you do decide to use it for these changes, until the app is updated I suggest learning how to undo the tweak you're making.

Otherwise for the other normal game options it's a wonderful tool as you don't have to play the guessing game with the "sweet spot" you found before a patch.

[JustShivvy]

Excited to try this at home

[Strider]

Adding Disclaimer for the OP :

In no underestimation of this I would never advice anyone without prior in depth knowldege to overclock.. There is more to it than just upping the frequencies.

R9 series cards are prone to VRM and BGA failures and OC'ing could kill your card.. IMO from a professional standing you shouldn't ever OC your R9 cards.

IF you kill your card kiss your warranty Bye Bye and expect a £50GBP+ charge to get it repaired by someone with BGA IR equipment and HA stations.

[Tweedilderp]

Originally posted by Strider:

Adding Disclaimer for the OP :

In no underestimation of this I would never advice anyone without prior in depth knowldege to overclock.. There is more to it than just upping the frequencies.

R9 series cards are prone to VRM and BGA failures and OC'ing could kill your card.. IMO from a professional standing you shouldn't ever OC your R9 cards.

IF you kill your card kiss your warranty Bye Bye and expect a £50GBP+ charge to get it repaired by someone with BGA IR equipment and HA stations.

I didn't recommend overclocking but added a disclaimer anyways. I did however mention running at 100% stock clocks which is what my afterburner advice will do. So if they burn out their GPU by running at it's rated stock frequency and it doesn't get covered under warranty...I'll slap $1000 into your lap.

I however like risk and don't mind overclocking under my dual water loops :D.

I have modified the afterburner portion based on your feedback, thank you.

[Tweedilderp]

God....sorry for all the edits guys....hard to touch it up while getting smashed with spreadsheets....

[Strider]

Originally posted by Tweedilderp:

Originally posted by Strider:

Adding Disclaimer for the OP :

In no underestimation of this I would never advice anyone without prior in depth knowldege to overclock.. There is more to it than just upping the frequencies.

R9 series cards are prone to VRM and BGA failures and OC'ing could kill your card.. IMO from a professional standing you shouldn't ever OC your R9 cards.

IF you kill your card kiss your warranty Bye Bye and expect a £50GBP+ charge to get it repaired by someone with BGA IR equipment and HA stations.

I didn't recommend overclocking but added a disclaimer anyways. I did however mention running at 100% stock clocks which is what my afterburner advice will do. So if they burn out their GPU by running at it's rated stock frequency and it doesn't get covered under warranty...I'll slap $1000 into your lap.

I however like risk and don't mind overclocking under my dual water loops :D.

I have modified the afterburner portion based on your feedback, thank you.

Sorry could of sworn you had put something about OC'ing the GPU... but yeah be wary about OC'ing your own... I could provide a photo of just how many of the R9 series I get coming in with BGA faults and you would be shocked

[Tweedilderp]

nah i am very careful with overclocks, if it's not under water with good contact on the sinks I manufacture my own sinks especially for the VRM's :).

[Tweedilderp]

But you were right to point it out, there are too many keen teens out there willing to blow their parents pc's in order to have more fun lol.