Accessing In-Game Menus Causes Performance Degradation

[Mookster]

Heya folks,

I thought I would post this on steam to get a feel if other players are experiencing this bug.

I have broken up the problem and have provided all the necessary details below:

PC Specs:

GFX: RTX 4060 (Drivers Version: 561.09)
RAM: 32 GB
Processor: Core i7-12700F
Storage: Kingston SSD 1TB
OS: Windows 11 v22631.4169

Note: Playing Satisfactory on pure vanilla, no mods or anything. Only recently got into it.

Problem Description:

While playing the game, I noticed significant frame rate drops whenever I open any in-game menus. These frame drops worsen over time as I continue playing Satisfactory. Initially, the frame rate drops by 2-5 FPS when opening menus, but it can drop around 40+ FPS every time I open a menu after extended play (4ish Hours).

This stuttering and frame drop issue is consistent regardless of whether I am near factories or in open areas. The problem gradually worsens the longer I play, especially after about an hour of continuous gameplay and map exploration.

Reloading from a save temporarily resolves the issue, as the stuttering either disappears or becomes barely noticeable. However, after around 30 minutes of gameplay, the FPS drops return when accessing menus, and the problem gradually reoccurs.

Video showing frame stutter on build menu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-hn2GwM-c8

Note: The video shows frame drops that are still somewhat playable however it gets worse than this.

I usually cap my FPS at 80, initially suspecting that this might be the cause. However, even with uncapped FPS, the stuttering still returns, though it takes slightly longer to appear. Switching to DX11 seems to slow down the menu stutter and overall performance degradation, but it still returns after an hour or so of gameplay.

Upon further investigation, I have found that each time I access the menu, it very slowly degrades the game's performance. When loading a new save, accessing the menu causes about 2-5 FPS drop. But as you access the menu regularly during typically gameplay, FPS drop will increase to 5-8 FPS then 10-12 FPS and so on.

Steps to reproduce:

1. In a new game take note of the frame drop when opening a menu +/- around 3-5 FPS.
   
2. Mash Q for a good minute.
   
3. Hit Q again and you will notice FPS drop increases when accessing a menu.
   
4. Repeat the steps 2 & 3

Testing shows that accessing the menu several times adds to FPS drop each time the menu is accessed regularly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u-3WK-aS7M
I know you probably thinking who mashes the build menu like that. This is not how one would typically play, but I did this to simulate opening and closing the menu numerous times in a single game session. It seems only a fraction of FPS is lost each time you enter the build menu and as time progresses it eventually becomes a very unpleasant frame stutter.

Steps taken to remediate the issue:

1. Tried DX12 & 11 FPS drop on menu load is still there.
   
2. Reinstalled Nvidia Drivers (Used DDU to remove all driver remnants)
   
3. Relaunched Satisfactory with the lowest possible graphical settings
   
4. Reinstalled Satisfactory
   
5. Moved game installation to my high performance NVME drive

The only way you are able to remove the stutter from a session is to reload a save, however this is a temporary fix as within the first hour of gameplay the stuttering returns and gets gradually worse as you play.

So far I was able to confirm that this bug affects the following in-game menus:

• Storage Container Inventories
  
• Player Build Menu
  
• MAM
  
• Item Shop

Ultimately, accessing the in-game menu contributes to the FPS drops each time a menu is accessed.

I have logged this bug on the official Satisfactory QA website: Ticket Link[questions.satisfactorygame.com]

If you have this issue please thumbs up this post I created on the website, I really want to play Satisfactory again without having to reload my save every 30 min lol.

[deltahazer]

I've seen a thread or two with similar issues that cleared up when Nvidia users turned off the GeForce overlay. Might be a way to go.

[Paragon]

Originally posted by deltahazer:

I've seen a thread or two with similar issues that cleared up when Nvidia users turned off the GeForce overlay. Might be a way to go.

Yea...install your drivers without GeForce Experience (Driver only)...I bet your issue disappears.

[Mookster]

Thanks guys gonna give this a go.

[Mookster]

Originally posted by deltahazer:

I've seen a thread or two with similar issues that cleared up when Nvidia users turned off the GeForce overlay. Might be a way to go.

So I checked, Geforce Overlay was already disabled.

[deltahazer]

Originally posted by Mookster:

Originally posted by deltahazer:

I've seen a thread or two with similar issues that cleared up when Nvidia users turned off the GeForce overlay. Might be a way to go.

So I checked, Geforce Overlay was already disabled.

Damn. Worth a try.

[Mookster]

Originally posted by Paragon:

Originally posted by deltahazer:

I've seen a thread or two with similar issues that cleared up when Nvidia users turned off the GeForce overlay. Might be a way to go.

Yea...install your drivers without GeForce Experience (Driver only)...I bet your issue disappears.

Tried this as well, installed the drivers without GeForce Experience. Still the same problem persists.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

[Mookster]

Originally posted by deltahazer:

Originally posted by Mookster:

So I checked, Geforce Overlay was already disabled.

Damn. Worth a try.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway. I am reinstalled the drivers without Geforce Experience to remove it completely from my system as I never really use it,

[Paragon]

Originally posted by Mookster:

Originally posted by Paragon:

Yea...install your drivers without GeForce Experience (Driver only)...I bet your issue disappears.

Tried this as well, installed the drivers without GeForce Experience. Still the same problem persists.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Two other things you could try....

1) Open Nvidia Control Panel --->Manage 3D settings ---> Global settings ----> disable Shader Cache Size ---> Save then Restart PC ----> Go here: %localappdata%\NVIDIA ---> delete DX (if you have it) and the GLCache folder ---> back to Nvidia Contol Panel and turn Shader Cache Size back to default --->Open Disk Cleanup (C: Drive) and make sure the DirectX Shader Cache is checked (uncheck everything else if you don't know what your doing) click OK ---> Restart PC

2) Run the DirectX runtime installer.

Maybe one of these will help you.

[Mookster]

Originally posted by Paragon:

Originally posted by Mookster:

Tried this as well, installed the drivers without GeForce Experience. Still the same problem persists.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Two other things you could try....

1) Open Nvidia Control Panel --->Manage 3D settings ---> Global settings ----> disable Shader Cache Size ---> Save then Restart PC ----> Go here: %localappdata%\NVIDIA ---> delete DX (if you have it) and the GLCache folder ---> back to Nvidia Contol Panel and turn Shader Cache Size back to default --->Open Disk Cleanup (C: Drive) and make sure the DirectX Shader Cache is checked (uncheck everything else if you don't know what your doing) click OK ---> Restart PC

2) Run the DirectX runtime installer.

Maybe one of these will help you.

Thanks mate, will give it a bash and let you know.

I have a funny feeling it maybe related to DirectX as I noticed in my testing DX11, the degradation in slowed considerably.

[Wargar]

Got the same issue and it appears to be CPU related. https://i.imgur.com/DNsQKU7.jpeg
This is with a 7800X3D, so I reckon if you're affected by this issue, your hardware doesn't matter. CPU busy starts out around 10 ms i.e. 100 fps. Also happens with Dx11, Dx12 and Vulkan.

[Mookster]

Originally posted by Wargar:

Got the same issue and it appears to be CPU related. https://i.imgur.com/DNsQKU7.jpeg
This is with a 7800X3D, so I reckon if you're affected by this issue, your hardware doesn't matter. CPU busy starts out around 10 ms i.e. 100 fps. Also happens with Dx11, Dx12 and Vulkan.

Interesting and we are using different hardware.

I have also tried other troubleshooting methods such as:

• Updated to the game version to 368883
  
• Re-installed Windows 11 (I completely wiped my drive so ensure no remnants remain)
  
• Tried the newest version of drivers released by Nvidia 569.90 (Released Oct 01 2024)
  
• Removed Nvidia GeForce Experience to remove any chance of Nvidia's features causing issues.
  
• Updated all hardware Drivers/Firmware (Motherboard, BIOS and Intel Chipset)
  
• Installed and ran Satisfactory right after a clean OS re-install. (No other games or software installed)

This leaves me to believe that there maybe some sort of memory leak, or Satisfactory seems to be caching or not de-referencing menus after they have been accessed which is caused huge frame-rate drops when accessed again.

I have updated my post on the QA website, the only thing I can suggest for now is up vote the post that I have shared in the original post.

At least I know now it can't be my hardware. But I have been pretty confident of this from the beginning as I have zero issues with any other title.

[Mookster]

Originally posted by Paragon:

Originally posted by Mookster:

Tried this as well, installed the drivers without GeForce Experience. Still the same problem persists.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Two other things you could try....

1) Open Nvidia Control Panel --->Manage 3D settings ---> Global settings ----> disable Shader Cache Size ---> Save then Restart PC ----> Go here: %localappdata%\NVIDIA ---> delete DX (if you have it) and the GLCache folder ---> back to Nvidia Contol Panel and turn Shader Cache Size back to default --->Open Disk Cleanup (C: Drive) and make sure the DirectX Shader Cache is checked (uncheck everything else if you don't know what your doing) click OK ---> Restart PC

2) Run the DirectX runtime installer.

Maybe one of these will help you.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have tried this but the problem still persists.