Game runs poorly on Windows 8.1 \ Windows 10 64-bit mode (DirectX 11.1)

[Ludl0w]

Greetings all,

I've only clocked 9 hours in this game so far, but it's already shaping up to be my favorite city sim I've ever played. However, I've run across a peculiar bug or optimization issue (or it may even be my system, it's hard to tell). I was hoping someone might be able to help me solve this problem if possible, and I wanted the devs to know that this issue exists.

The Problem

I have been playing on Win 8.1 / Win 10 64-bit mode and maximum graphics settings ever since I first played the game. The game was running flawlessly until yesterday. I ended up closing the game after a long play session, and started the game again to start a new city (i'm still learning the game, so I've been restarting a lot). I selected the blank Europe map as I usually do. But this time, after it was done loading, the game was incredibly choppy. Somewhere in the 20 frames region. Before this, I've never seen the game go below 144 frames on my system. Turning down graphics settings doesn't change anything, still runs very poorly even on the lowest settings. I restarted my system, started the game again, started a new city on the Europe map, and I still get horrible performance.

Troubleshooting and Discoveries

I completely uninstalled and re-installed the game. After it installed and I restarted my system, I made absolutely certain that the game is running off of my dedicated GPU (RTX 2080) and I started the game again, but this time, in windowed mode with my GPU temps voltage clocks and power information shown so I can see the utilization. I started a new city, and the GPU barely even jumped the clock (both core and memory clock) and the power and utilization remained at roughly 17% (which is just a tad higher than what it is running idle on desktop). So from this, it seems as though the game is barely utilizing my GPU.

Here's the weird part. I decided i'd try running the game in Windows 7 64-bit mode to see if it ran any better. I started a new city same way as I did all previous times, and after it loaded, the game was running flawlessly again. So, the game runs great on Win 7 64-bit mode, and runs horribly on Win 8.1 / Win10 64-bit mode. This is odd, because Win 7 64-bit mode uses an older DirectX version (DirectX 11), while Win 8.1 / Win 10 64-bit mode uses DirectX 11.1. It's even weirder that the game used to run well on the Win 8.1 / Win 10 64-bit mode, and now it doesn't. I hadn't made any updates or system changes before it stopped running well, either.

My running theory is that for some reason, in DirectX 11.1 mode (Win 7 64-bit mode), the game is not utilizing my GPU almost at all, leading to the poor performance. Hard to tell if this is due to a utilization issue on the game-end, or maybe a software issue on my system. Any other potential theories, fixes, and troubleshooting are greatly appreciated.

Relevant System Information

Windows Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363 (latest 1909 feature update)
CPU - Intel i9-9900K
GPU - RTX 2080
PSU - 850W 80+ Platinum
RAM - 16GB DDR4 3000MHz

[3division]

Hey.. thank you.. I saved your DXDIAG to my archive..

We still investigating the issue.. a quite a long.. not sure what it causing.. theory is any driver/windows update.. or who know.. probably maybe in game there is something somewhere badly.. and some users get this experience.. sometime users report the problem.. it apparently appear.. then disappear.. it is very strange..

On one of my PCs.. it making it sometime.. like sometime when I first start up the game.. it start doing.. but second time.. it runs OK..

What is strange in your DX diag.. it saying:
Current Mode: 2560 x 1440 (32 bit) (144Hz)
Native Mode: 2560 x 1440(p) (59.951Hz)
Just for curious I would maybe try to jump in the native mode if it not get resolved..

Also what if you turn off the vsynch? what in that case.. did you get same FPS in both Win 7 & Win 10 launch option?

(as a workaround you can safely play the Win 7 launch option) Also are you on test branch? you can try there was an attempt to fix this.. but as I remember..one user reported it get better FPS.. but like two users reported not
https://steamcommunity.com/app/784150/discussions/6/1849197902650925235/

[Ludl0w]

Автор сообщения: 3division

Hey.. thank you.. I saved your DXDIAG to my archive..

We still investigating the issue.. a quite a long.. not sure what it causing.. theory is any driver/windows update.. or who know.. probably maybe in game there is something somewhere badly.. and some users get this experience.. sometime users report the problem.. it apparently appear.. then disappear.. it is very strange..

On one of my PCs.. it making it sometime.. like sometime when I first start up the game.. it start doing.. but second time.. it runs OK..

What is strange in your DX diag.. it saying:
Current Mode: 2560 x 1440 (32 bit) (144Hz)
Native Mode: 2560 x 1440(p) (59.951Hz)
Just for curious I would maybe try to jump in the native mode if it not get resolved..

Also what if you turn off the vsynch? what in that case.. did you get same FPS in both Win 7 & Win 10 launch option?

(as a workaround you can safely play the Win 7 launch option) Also are you on test branch? you can try there was an attempt to fix this.. but as I remember..one user reported it get better FPS.. but like two users reported not
https://steamcommunity.com/app/784150/discussions/6/1849197902650925235/

Thank you for your quick reply!

It makes sense that in the DxDiag my native mode is listed at roughly 60Hz. My monitor is a 144Hz capable monitor, but default is 60Hz. I always run it at 144Hz, so that is the reason for the discrepancy in the DxDiag. Changing my monitor to 60Hz and starting the game didn't fix the issue.

In regards to VSynch, I actually have always had it off. My monitor is also a GSynch monitor, so I always have VSynch off, as I have the hardware vertical synchronization in my monitor that doesn't use resources. I did try turning off the GSynch on my monitor temporarily and ran the game again, and it also did not fix the issue.

I'm not on the test branch, but i'll try the test branch and see if it fixes the issue.

Thanks again! Keep up the hard work!