I have found a POSSIBLE fix for 2gb cards

[D.]

DISCLAIMER: this fix is not guaranteed to work. It worked 100% on my rig, but may not work on yours. Since it is possible to restore everything to default if it doesn't work, I'd suggest to try it anyway, if you're experiencing huge and unexpected frame drops (from let's say a smooth 50-60 to 25-35 fps) on 2gb graphics cards (Nvidia OpenGL, mostly).

----

You know, there have been lots of issues with those cards and I think I've found a fix.
It's about modifying the config file of Doom in read-only mode, so be sure to tweak your advanced graphics settings (keep virtual paging at low) before trying it. The fix seems to work only in OpenGL mode (on Nvidia, things could be different on AMD).

- Open the local config file of Doom, it's located here: %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\id Software\DOOM\base\

(Should be DOOMConfig.local and you can open it with the Notepad)

- Here, modify "vt_pageImageSizeUnique" and "vt_pageImageSizeVmtr" from 4096 (or whatever value) to 2048

(Try adding the lines, if they're not there)

- Save and put the file in read-only mode

This solved every episode of "fps-tanking" that I was experiencing. I don't know exactly what it does, but it's probably related to texture loading, texture streaming and texture pop-in. If it doesn't bother you and you're having issues on a 2gb card that's on par or exceeds the minimum requirements, you should try this method. The issue seems to be a vram-related thing, without the fix the game didn't use all of my vram (only 1600-1700 mb) and used at 99% my gpu, causing frame drops in the 30s and 40s (that were fixable only after a couple of restarts of the game). With the fix, it uses all of my vram (1950-2000 mb constantly) and gpu usage is ok. Now I have 45-60fps at 1080p, 50-60fps at 900p and 60fps locked at 720p, on high settings (GTX 760 OC).

To put everything back to default, just remove the read-only mode and launch the game (or restore everything manually).
Hope it helped (and sorry if my english is not outstanding) :)

[Super Bambaspis]

That does very much sound like it could be the solution. It really shouldn't be set on 4096 for a 2GB GPU in the first place.

I would like to test it, but my 770 2GB is out of my PC now.

I wonder if it's the case that the game eroniously changes it from 2048 to 4096 when it bugs the performance. Would be interesting to check if its 2048 with read only mode off when the performance isn't bugged.

The fact that these config files are regenerated in a lot of the fixes I was using to restore my performance does indicate that it switches from a correct setting to 4096, causing VRAM over-run.

Good find! I hope it works for everyone.

(Also, FYI, while the GPU performance wasn't "tanked" the GPU load and memory usage would match what you are getting with your fixed performance. It was only when the performance was "tanked" that the VRAM usage dropped to ~1700 and it started going mad with virtual VRAM (which caused the bus load to go mad))

[D.]

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

(Also, FYI, while the GPU performance wasn't "tanked" the GPU load and memory usage would match what you are getting with your fixed performance. It was only when the performance was "tanked" that the VRAM usage dropped to ~1700 and it started going mad with virtual VRAM)

This was exactly where I started from to find a fix. When the game "tries" to use more than 2gb of vram, it probably uses paging file and system ram, and it runs really bad, so I tried to find a way to force it to use "only" 2gb and this seems to work.

[Super Bambaspis]

Originally posted by Desmight:

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

(Also, FYI, while the GPU performance wasn't "tanked" the GPU load and memory usage would match what you are getting with your fixed performance. It was only when the performance was "tanked" that the VRAM usage dropped to ~1700 and it started going mad with virtual VRAM)

This was exactly where I started from to find a fix. When the game "tries" to use more than 2gb of vram, it probably uses paging file and system ram, and it runs really bad, so I tried to find a way to force it to use "only" 2gb and this seems to work.

Yep, that was exactly what it was doing. You can tell if your GPU is doing that when the bus interface load goes mad - It uses the bus interface heavily for the virtual VRAM. It's pretty GPU core intensive to do that a lot, so you see your GPU load reaching 100% as it wastes resources on the massive virtual page file it's constantly reading and writing to.

[Super Bambaspis]

I just checked my settings on my PC.

On my system it's set to 16GB ("16384"), and I have 8GB of VRAM.

Looks like it sets to double on purpose.

either that or some bug with my configuration causes it to double, as I did have the performance bug on my 770 GTX ( which not everyone with 2GB gpu's had ).

[D.]

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

I just checked my settings on my PC.

On my system it's set to 16GB ("16384"), and I have 8GB of VRAM.

Looks like it sets to double on purpose.

either that or some bug with my configuration causes it to double, as I did have the performance bug on my 770 GTX ( which not everyone with 2GB gpu's had ).

That's weird, you should try to force it to use 8GB and see if it improves performance. If it does, it's clear that on 2GB cards it shouldn't be set to 4096, if if doesn't, it's probably a bug in the engine with lower-vram GPUs.

[Super Bambaspis]

Yeah, changed it on my system. No effect.

I very much doubt it would dip in to the additional 8GB of page allocated VRAM as it never uses all of my physical VRAM. I dont think I can test if it could be an issue with this GPU.

I would say it's more likely an engine bug with this set to double on 2GB GPU's, if anything.

[D.]

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

Yeah, changed it on my system. No effect.

I very much doubt it would dip in to the additional 8GB of page allocated VRAM as it never uses all of my physical VRAM. I dont think I can test if it could be an issue with this GPU.

I would say it's more likely an engine bug with this set to double on 2GB GPU's, if anything.

Well, all I hope is that it can be helpful for other people with 2gb cards, let's wait for other feedbacks (including your 770 2gb one day, maybe) :D

[Super Bambaspis]

Originally posted by Desmight:

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

Yeah, changed it on my system. No effect.

I very much doubt it would dip in to the additional 8GB of page allocated VRAM as it never uses all of my physical VRAM. I dont think I can test if it could be an issue with this GPU.

I would say it's more likely an engine bug with this set to double on 2GB GPU's, if anything.

Well, all I hope is that it could be helpful for other people with 2gb cards, let's wait for other feedbacks (including your 770 2gb, maybe) :D

I would plug it in if my back wasn't killing me, and to be honest I likely wont be motivated enough to go the trouble by the time it's feeling better as others would have aready tested it.

That being said, perhaps I could chuck it back in my system as a cuda processor for physx games... hmmmm... I hope my PSU is up to the task. if I do that, I'll test it out.

[DawdlingDan]

Are you sure this doesn't work on Vulkan? I get a much better framerate on my 2GB 270x with Vulkan but I also have the problem where the game drops to 10fps. I will test this anyway and report back.

[D.]

Originally posted by DawdlingDan:

Are you sure this doesn't work on Vulkan? I get a much better framerate on my 2GB 270x with Vulkan but I also have the problem where the game drops to 10fps. I will test this anyway and report back.

Let's say it runs better with the fix than without it, but at least on my rig (that's Nvidia, so for AMD Vulkan could be better) running it in OpenGL with this method eliminates the issue, which is more rare but it remains if I switch to Vulkan (using the same fix)

[Super Bambaspis]

Vulkan isnt supported on 2GB Nvidia GPU's for whatever reason. Id has said for people in the 2GB VRAM Nvidia camp to stick with OpenGL. Nice Surprise.

[D.]

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

Vulkan isnt supported on 2GB Nvidia GPU's for whatever reason. Id has said for people in the 2GB VRAM Nvidia camp to stick with OpenGL. Nice Surprise.

I suspected that, well at least it explains why the fix works properly only in OpenGL

[Memph]

Originally posted by Walrusaurus:

Vulkan isnt supported on 2GB Nvidia GPU's for whatever reason. Id has said for people in the 2GB VRAM Nvidia camp to stick with OpenGL. Nice Surprise.

2gb cards apparently work with Vulkan on Windows 10, but not on Win 7.

[sequence_9]

Hi

My file is something like this. There is no 'vt_pageImageSizeVmtr'. What should I do?

// This file is for local settings only and will not be cloud synchronized
configVersion 7
r_shadowsDistanceFadeMultiplier "0.8"
r_shadowMaxStaleFrames "0,1,1,2,2"
r_renderAPI "0"
r_mode "18"
r_physicalPagesAspectRatio "1"
r_vmtrPhysicalPagesAspectRatio "1"
r_shadowAtlasTileSize "1024"
r_shadowAtlasHeight "4096"
r_shadowAtlasWidth "4096"

[Memph]

Gonna try this on my 2gb 770. It played smooth on low settings, bar some crashes.

If I can play on high and hold 60fps, I'll be happy.