Determining FPS loss cause?

[Gator]

I have a bunch of mods, and I was wondering if anyone has had any luck on a process to find what action the game is taking to cause a huge FPS hit? I think it has something to do with NPC generation(Or possibly music from NPC gen), which is something I have modified quite a bit, but I am not quite sure. I want to troubleshoot this myself without having to ask in a huge thread about individual mods and bothers, but I'm new to Fallout 4 modding.

Any tips?

[Nite69]

its the shadow distance, default is 20,000 and I have mine set to 7000

fDirShadowDistance=
fShadowDistance=

you can edit it in the fallout4prefs.ini located here

C:\Users\ windows account name \Documents\My Games\Fallout4

No loss of visual with this change either cause you can't see that far in the distance anyway, this alone is a huge help to the framerate around central boston

[bLaCkShAd0w]

It really depends on your system and setup.

Some really big hitters to fps:
High screen resolution like 1440P or higher.
Certain types of ENB presets, generally the more tweaks the bigger the hit.
Tons of high resolution texture mods.
Disabled precombines/previs but this generally only affects certain areas.

Nite makes a good point with the shadow settings but I assume OP's game was fine before the mods?

[Gator]

Sorry, GTX 970 4g, 16gigs RAM and I5-6600k. I do have a minimalist ENB and many performance friendly textures installed.

[hawkeye]

Install this mod. Read the description.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35853
If it detects any script delay then you have entered the twilight zone regarding performance.

Fps is generated by the cpu. The 6600k is slow and worse, it's turbo speed is relatively low.
The gpu can only match the cpu's fps or reduce (bottleneck) it.

Install msi afterburner or hwinfo64 and check what the gpu load is.
If it's 100% or near then the gpu is reducing the fps.
Otherwise, if it's less then it's probably the cpu.
It's hard to tell exactly what the cause is, but if the cpu is running at 4GHz or close then the cpu is struggling.

So, in summary, you have a slow system. It will struggle with mods, especially big ones like Sim Settlements. Ditch any mod that you don't need.

[Nite69]

Originally posted by Gator:

Sorry, GTX 970 4g, 16gigs RAM and I5-6600k. I do have a minimalist ENB and many performance friendly textures installed.

the GTX 970 has the 4GB to 3.5Gb VRAM issue, if you go over 3.5vram usage the peformance gets worse on that card, its a known defect with it

[bLaCkShAd0w]

Not to mention a vanilla game on ultra can use over 3000MB Vram. Doesn't leave much room for texture mods.

[Bored Peon]

Nobody has asked the OP how many FPS they are trying to run the game at.

You should be sticking to the recommended limit of 60 fps.

[Gator]

Yes I do not care for anything above 60fps, I'd be happy with a stable 30 really. I get a good 50-60 no matter what it's just during very specific times I get fps losses and I'm not sure what's doing it. Going through my mod list now. I run 1920x1080

To reiterate I actually install more performance friendly textures than base game and many unnecessary clutter removers. It tends to run great for the most part.

I'm looking for a way to bottleneck my VRAM at 3.4 as well.

[Gator]

Originally posted by hawkeye:

Install this mod. Read the description.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35853
If it detects any script delay then you have entered the twilight zone regarding performance.

Fps is generated by the cpu. The 6600k is slow and worse, it's turbo speed is relatively low.
The gpu can only match the cpu's fps or reduce (bottleneck) it.

Install msi afterburner or hwinfo64 and check what the gpu load is.
If it's 100% or near then the gpu is reducing the fps.
Otherwise, if it's less then it's probably the cpu.
It's hard to tell exactly what the cause is, but if the cpu is running at 4GHz or close then the cpu is struggling.

So, in summary, you have a slow system. It will struggle with mods, especially big ones like Sim Settlements. Ditch any mod that you don't need.

This is exactly what I needed in terms of the mod. Though I have found out it was my dark music mod happening in relation to the spawning of raiders, dunno why but disabling has fixed my fps drop.

[dexter]

Could try using the Shadow Boost mod. It will adjust your shadow and I think godrays in realtime in order to hit your set fps limit.
For me: Buffout 4, Shadow Boost and High FPS Physics Fix completely fixed my performance issues in the game and I have a fairly high end PC.

[Gator]

Well, I was wrong. I cannot tell exactly what's causing it still but I do know it's located to big cities like concord, and surrounding areas. No problem in settlements and away from fights.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Gator:

Well, I was wrong. I cannot tell exactly what's causing it still but I do know it's located to big cities like concord, and surrounding areas. No problem in settlements and away from fights.

Settlements will become an issue the bigger and more populated they get.

So basically if you go near towns your FPS has a big drop?

Need a mod list at this point because that can answer more questions faster than us having to ask them individually.

[Gator]

I do have sim Settlements but haven't even activated it yet. My biggest settlement has 10 people, though do I like to build them up I've not bypassed regular build limits. The thing it, it's not settlements. It's an FPS drop that is happening in places like Concord where have no settlement anything loading most of all. I think it's raider or NPC generation or something related, based on what I'm getting. I have 160 mods and a plethora of conflicts sorted by the vortex mod manager and I am slowly going through each and every one to try and figure out my problem.

I'm afraid I'm new for Vortex and not quite sure how to provide y'all with a mod list but will as soon as I figure out a nice easy way to copy it over.

[Gator]

This is my plugins.txt from vortex

# Automatically generated by Vortex
*Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.esp
*ArmorKeywords.esm
*HUDFramework.esm
*WorkshopFramework.esm
*NoraSpouse.esm
*SimSettlements.esm
*ConcealedArmor.esm
*StandaloneWorkbenches.esl
*SettlementKeywords.esm
*Homemaker.esm
*TrueStormsFO4.esm
*HiPolyFacesCompanionPlugin.esl
*SKKScriptLatencyTest.esp
*M2Agency.esp
*Glock19x.esp
*M8rDisablePipboyEffects.esp
*MMP4APA-blue.esp
*MMP4APA.esp
*AllSetsExtended.esp
*SKKSettlementAttackSystem.esp
*SnuSnu.esp
*NoraSpouseFarHarbor.esp
*DD_Khassar_De_Templari_Increased_build.esp
*BetterSettlersNoLollygagging.esp
*Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul.esp
*More Where That Came From Diamond City.esp
*FAR.esp
*Vivid Fallout - All in One - Best Choice.esp
*InstituteRifleDebulked.esp
*Vault Meat Paintings.esp
*Fusion Core.esp
*MoreUniques.esp
*Creative Perks (everything).esp
*Perks Unleashed.esp
*More Power Armour Mods.esp
*4xFusionCore.esp
*Rusty Face Fix.esp
*Motoko Hair.esp
*THBrows.esp
*Armorsmith Extended.esp
*More detailed perk description dlc version.esp
*Unique NPCs.esp
*Eli_Armour_Compendium.esp
*ImmersiveScrapping_TidyUp.esp
*W.A.T.Minutemen.esp
*AttackSpawnsOutsideSettlement.esp
*BetterSettlers.esp
*BetterSettlersCleanFacePack.esp
*Unique NPCs FarHarbor.esp
*BetterSettlersMostlyFemale.esp
*Unique NPCs_SpecialSettlers_All.esp
*WeightlessMods.esp
*WeightlessJunk.esp
*ImmersiveScrapping.esp
*MoBettaScrap.esp
*Better Weapon Scrap - Ultimate Edition.esp
*Fallout 4 AI Overhaul.esp
*Consistent Power Armor Overhaul.esp
*EveryonesBestFriend.esp
*BetterCompanions.esp
*VisibleCompanionAffinity.esp
*Vivid Weathers - FO4.esp
*True Nights v03.esp
*Vivid Weathers - Nuka World.esp
*Unique NPCs Essential Pack.esp
*AmazingFollowerTweaks.esp
*EFF.esp
*WeightlessAid.esp
*Crafting Mastery.esp
*CheatTerminal.esp
*Vivid Waters.esp
*UniqueUniques.esp
*Red Rocket SubLevel.esp
*TWH_TheWayHome.esp
*MjolnirMKVB.esp
*Companion Infinite Ammo.esp
*KSHairdos.esp
*The Eyes Of Beauty.esp
*CompRedo.esp
*Dogmeat A True Companion Normal.esp
*AFT_Allow_Piper_Face_Presets.esp
*LovingCurie-ShadowSynthesis.esp
*SKKMobileWorkshop.esp
*RU556.esp
*Crossbow.esp
*More Durable Power Armor - 90%.esp
*PA-Quick Animations.esp
*Buildable_PAFrames.esp
*No Aggro Impact Landing.esp
*WIPAG_Power Armor Overhaul.esp
*WIPAG_Contraptions_DLC_Addon.esp
*WIPAG_FarHarbor_DLC_Addon.esp
*WIPAG_NukaWorld_DLC_Addon.esp
*WIPAG_Vanilla_AWKCR_PA_Addon.esp
*ConcealedArmor.esp
*WestTekTacticalOptics.esp
*MoreAmmo.esp
*Dynamic Music Overhaul.esp
*PrefabHouses.esp
*EasyLockpicking.esp
*VeryRichMerchants.esp
*LoweredJetpakAPDrain.esp
*Craftable Armor Size - Fix Material Requirements.esp
*Craftable Armor Size.esp
*LegendaryModification.esp
*ScrappableLegendaries.esp
*LegendaryModification2LM.esp
*LegendaryModificationCSA.esp
*LegendaryModificationGroknak.esp
*LegendaryModificationMisc.esp
*Faster Stations.esp
*Crafting Mastery - Armor Keywords Patch.esp
*Crafting Mastery - AE Patch.esp
*OCDecorator - No Experience.esp
*OCDecorator.esp
*OCDecoratorDLC.esp
*OCDispenser.esp
*Workshop_Planters.esp
*BetterJunkFences.esp
*CraftableAmmo.esp
*CraftableAmmo_plus.esp
*BetterGenerators.esp
*ScrapDeadThings.esp
*BrighterSettlementLights_LongAndSoft.esp
*D.E.C.A.Y.esp
*Glowing Animals Emit Light.esp
*Crows&Creatures_V1.esp
*Depth of Field Removal.esp
*Dialogue Camera Sensitivity.esp
*LongerPowerLines3x.esp
*EasyHacking.esp
*NegativeAffinityIsPositiveAffinity.esp
*NoAffinityCooldown.esp
*Faster Terminal Displays (20x).esp
*WeightlessSpecialAmmo.esp
*EvilViking13_PatchworkSanctuaryBridge.esp
*Insignificant Object Remover.esp
*Creative Perks (Companion Perks).esp
*Fusion Core Recycling.esp
*Scopes.esp
*3dscopes.esp
*Extended weapon mods.esp
*HiPolyFaces.esp
*CBBE.esp
*2pacSkimpy.esp
*LovingPiper-DarkPrecursor.esp
*dD-Enhanced Blood Basic.esp
*dD - Small Splatter Size.esp
*EBSO.esp
*zzzzzenhancedbloodetso.esp
*Homemaker - Streetlights Use Passive Power.esp
*Homemaker - Unlocked Institute Objects.esp
*LooksMenu Customization Compendium.esp
*LooksMenu.esp
*AzarPonytailHairstyles.esp
*BetterSettlersCCAPack2.0.esp
*LovingCait.esp
*The Eyes of Beauty Looking Stranger.esp
*TrueStormsFO4-EarlierSunsets.esp
*TrueStormsFO4-FarHarbor.esp
*Vivid Weathers - FO4 - Far Harbor.esp
*TrueStormsFO4-EarlierSunsetsFH.esp
*UndergroundHideout.esp
*SKKFastStartNewGame.esp
*EnhancedLightsandFX.esp
*ELFX-PreVis.esp
*Pip-Boy Flashlight.esp
*Eli_Faction Housing Overhaul - AiO.esp
*Scrap Everything - Ultimate Edition.esp

[Gator]

A huge list I know, apologies, I wanted to try and figure it out myself before asking someone to sort through my mess.