FPS drops on mimimal settings with GTX 1060 with NVIDIA Optimus

[Speeskees]

NieR:Automata has been performing poorly on my new laptop. Though it is a laptop, the GPU is not throttling. I've done multiple benchmarks and stress tests to confirm. It remains at a stable 1800 MHz clock speed and 85 degrees centigrade temperature.

I'm running on the most recent version of Windows 10 and I'm running the most recent NVIDIA drivers, cleanly installed. NVIDIA Shadowplay and Battery Boost are turned off. The NVIDIA Control Panel settings are at their defaults, except for the power settings, which I've set to adaptive.

My processor is an Intel i7 7700HQ.

The game mostly runs at 60 FPS, but tends to drop in specific areas. For example, I only get 55 FPS when standing under the broken bridge on my way to the resistance camp. Though 55 FPS is still quite decent, the screen stutters intensely.

The game runs at 1080p on minimal settings with V-Sync enabled. I've tried disabling V-sync, but it doesn't fix the FPS drops. Also, if I set my settings to max, with 2x AA, the game more or less performs the same. It still runs 60 FPS in most area's, but the FPS during the FPS drops goes down to a mimimum of 40.

My only guess it that this is somehow caused by the NVIDIA Optimus configuration, as my GTX 1060 performs slightly better that the average 1060, according to my Valley and Passmark scores.

Does anyone know how I can at least get my FPS stable?

For reference, my PC with an RX 470, which scores more than 1200 points less on Passmark, can run the game at a stable 60 FPS on max settings with 2x AA. It has an AMD FX 6350 CPU.

[Speeskees]

I've tried contacting Square Enix too, but they recommended my some things I already tried before and said they couldn't help me any further. When I asked if they were still working on a patch, no response.

[Robbl]

Obligatory, are you using the FAR mod?

[Speeskees]

Messaggio originale di Robbl:

Obligatory, are you using the FAR mod?

I'm currently not, but I have tried it before. It didn't solve the drops either, though I hadn't changed the settings.

[Aemony]

I'd try out the basics:

* Disable Anti-Aliasing (MSAA, demanding)
* Install FAR and lower Global Illumination to High
* Install the game on a SSD to minimize the framerate stuttering that occurs when the game streams data into the game world.

[Speeskees]

Messaggio originale di Aemony:

I'd try out the basics:

* Disable Anti-Aliasing (MSAA, demanding)
* Install FAR and lower Global Illumination to High
* Install the game on a SSD to minimize the framerate stuttering that occurs when the game streams data into the game world.

Minimal settings means AA is off and if my 3 GBps SSD doesn't have enough speed, I don't know what is. I'll give FAR another try, but it's still strange that my GTX 1060 can't even get close to my RX 470. Also, on my RX 470 PC, the game's installed on an HDD. Perhaps it's too fast?

[Lushie~]

Messaggio originale di Jaïr:

Messaggio originale di Robbl:

Obligatory, are you using the FAR mod?

I'm currently not, but I have tried it before. It didn't solve the drops either, though I hadn't changed the settings.

if you didn't change anything, then obviously you won't see any changes. Install FAR again and then lower global illumination, I have it turned off and I have a 1050ti and it works without issues, though it will mess up lightning on some places when turned off, if you care about that sort of thing.

Try going from the default setting (I think it's ultra, which is what the game uses) to 1 option lower until you see it runs fine.

The main reason the game lags is because global illumination is really demanding, but without the mod there is no way to lower the quality or turn it off.

[Piepe]

Have you tried going to Nividia control panel -> Manage 3D settings -> Program settings. Selecting Nier Automata and reselcting that game runs using Nvidia card. I had similar issue with Killing Floor 2. Even though it showed that it should be runing on graphics card, the GPU was doing nothing. Reselecting GPU in these settings helped and fixed the issue.

[Speeskees]

Messaggio originale di maitenieks:

Have you tried going to Nividia control panel -> Manage 3D settings -> Program settings. Selecting Nier Automata and reselcting that game runs using Nvidia card. I had similar issue with Killing Floor 2. Even though it showed that it should be runing on graphics card, the GPU was doing nothing. Reselecting GPU in these settings helped and fixed the issue.

I've made sure NieR:Automata uses the dedicated GPU.

[Speeskees]

Messaggio originale di Lusus Naturae:

Messaggio originale di Jaïr:

I'm currently not, but I have tried it before. It didn't solve the drops either, though I hadn't changed the settings.

if you didn't change anything, then obviously you won't see any changes. Install FAR again and then lower global illumination, I have it turned off and I have a 1050ti and it works without issues, though it will mess up lightning on some places when turned off, if you care about that sort of thing.

Try going from the default setting (I think it's ultra, which is what the game uses) to 1 option lower until you see it runs fine.

The main reason the game lags is because global illumination is really demanding, but without the mod there is no way to lower the quality or turn it off.

I'll give that a try, but it's still strange that my RX 470 works so much better without FAR at all. Perhaps because AMD cards have more shaders and less render cores?