Mass Effect 1 Remastered FPS Issue "Fixes"

Mass Effect 1 Remastered... does not like FPS very much

While it may have been the most intensive and sweeping of the trilogy... that does not make it perfect. A seemingly common issue on PC is that the game will drop frames, not an abhorrent 5-10, not even a 10-20, but ALL of them. This is a compiled list of many reported fixes for the issue and several other associated FPS issues with the game.

What is going on here?

While ME1's remaster may have been the most intensive and sweeping of the trilogy... that does not make it perfect. A seemingly common issue on PC is that the game will drop frames, all the way to an abhorrent 5-10, not even a 10-20, but ALL of them. The game will just randomly begin to absolutely chug. Anyone who has seen/had this issue can agree that you will randomly drop from whatever frame rate you have, all the way down to somewhere between 1 and 10 FPS, and your GPU is irrelevant, I have seen reports of it on 1080 TIs, 980s, 1660s (I have a 1660 Super and I got it), 20 series, and 30 series GPUs as well as all of their AMD counterparts, with CPU irrelevant as well as I have seen Threadripper 3950x systems get the same issues as well as Intel's counterpart and all CPUs below.

Okay, I get FPS Drops... but why?

So, what is causing this? Well simply put, I am gonna take a guess and say that they didn't do the best job optimizing and remastering some areas technical side, especially Virmire where this issue seems most common after the Docile Salarian thing, or at least around that time. With Virmire specifically, it seems the worst of it is there, by far that is the hotspot for the issue and general assumption is some issue with how the area is coded. What actually happens is the game will just decide it doesn't need resources, so your GPU and CPU will be under very light load, causing the issue (at least in my case), don't worry, this is NOT an issue with your hardware, this is the game doing this. So... you like your FPS, how do you fix the issue? Well I have compiled a list of potential fixes from across the Internet here.

That sound like it sucks... so how can I fix it?

I have compiled a list of potential fixes from across the Internet here.

Potential Fixes

1. Do NOT open the door with the Docile Salarians in it - This seems to be a very common problem point with this ONE door, and avoiding it can entirely bypass the issue, although I quite like the scene so I would recommend using another solution
   
2. Reload an older save - This seems to fix it for some people but others are not so lucky. This did not personally work for me but I have seen reports of this fixing it but at a progress loss of up to an hour in some cases. This also defeats the whole purpose in my eyes so I would personally recommend using another fix.
   
3. Brute force via Task Manager - When you get the issue, Alt+Tab out of the game a pop open Task Manager and click on More Details, then find the game under Processes, right click it and click on Details, this will take you over to the game in the Details Tab. From there hover over "Set Priority" and click on Realtime. This fixed the issue in MY case but is not perfect as it does not save after closing and reloading the game, and must be reapplied each play session, so when you do this try and complete Virmire in that play session. This simply acts as a sort of Adrenaline shot and forces the game to utilize all resources available making sure you get the FPS you should have. I have not seen this done often so I cannot say it works for everyone, but it worked for me and is simple enough to be an easy quick fix.
   
4. Unplugged anything you are not using from your PC - If you have any excess peripherals plugged in remove them. I guess this one works for some although I cannot attest to it with personal experience. No harm in trying it though, but don't get your hopes up with this one.
   
5. Set your screen to FULLSCREEN or WINDOWED - Borderless is known to cause issues not just on Virmire but throughout the game. It may work fine for a time but is a known FPS killer somehow. I don't understand it but try setting it to Fullscreen or Windowed as this has been reported to fix the issue in some cases.
   
6. Hit the WIndows Key - Yeah, apparently this is sometimes a fix. I have absolutely no clue why, I don't understand, I don't want to understand, but some users say it works so if you have the issue, send it my guy. Never hurts to try.
   
7. Disable EVERY overlay you have - Disable any and every overlay you have. Shadowplay, Steam, Discord, Origin, shut them off. Origin seems to be the worst one, but I shut off all but Steam and my overall FPS was increased by as much as 15%... So go to your Origin settings and shut it off. If that doesn't work, break it by renaming the file "igo64.dll" in the Origin folder to permanently disable it by brute force (THIS DISABLES IT IN ALL GAMES! But the Origin Overlay is known to cause FPS issues in basically every game)
   
8. Disconnect your External GPU (eGPU) and run on Integrated Graphics (iGPU) - Back to peripherals, although primarily for Laptop users, you may have to kinda bite the bullet and run your iGPU. That has been reported to fix the issue for many eGPU users as the game seems to not like peripherals very much.
   
9. Dig into your Control Panel and DISABLE ANY excess items that are being detected as Controllers - We have already established that this game appears to hate Peripherals. "Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers, you can see the ROCCAT Leadr Mouse. Open the properties, select the one that says "HID compliant Game Controller" open it's properties, and disable it." (Taken from an Origin Form Post about a ROCCAT Leadr mouse's wireless charging stand causing issues)
   
10. Just keep playing - There is a firefight not long after and some more traversal sections, if you can somehow play like that and keep moving you will eventually get out of the affected area and the FPS issues should just vanish according to some users, but i'd say this one is an absolute last resort as it's basically "suck it up" and that is not very cash money if you ask me.

This is dumb...

While yes, thank you for noticing the obvious. This is indeed very stupid, and none of it makes sense as this game can run on a pretty low end PC, yet users with $500 and $5000 PCs are getting the same issues here. I hate it, I think everybody does, this should not be an issue like it is, somewhere along the line BioWare either screwed it up pretty bad or got very lazy and now we have this issue. Thanks BioWare. So close, SO CLOSE to being able to give this game a 10 (the remaster collection as a whole) but hey, EAs name is on the tin, so you can't get your hopes up. Despite an amazing remaster trilogy, we got one issue in one place. Thankfully the issue in not repeating and after 99.7 hours and almost 100% in every game, I only ever saw it on Virmire. Just try and play Whack-A-Mole with the fixes and hopefully you'll fix it. Good luck!

[DerL]

i get it fixed when i play with the gamepad

[Cloverisot]

A few months later, I was finally able to solve this terrible problem that was tormenting me.
And as it turned out, the problem was in the gamepad emulator when I tried to install games from xbox, etc.

All because of Vjoy Driver, you need to find the folder with this program and select (Remove Driver) There will be just a special one

I hope this information will help someone at least, because it was the only thing that saved my passage

[🔰ProtivulyaUA🔰]

or an even simpler way without bandikam. it is necessary to turn off Vertsync in the game and select 60 frames manually. and then on bugged planets where fps drops you will have a stable 60 frames.

[🔰ProtivulyaUA🔰]

Thanks for the guidance. What helped me was that I turned off vertsync in the game, but turned on the 60 fps frame limit in the Bandicam. As a result, I got a smooth picture at 60 fps. It is obvious that the built-in Vertsync does not work correctly in the game.

[OnsideAura01]

No problem! Origin Overlay is dogpiss and has given me a number of headaches. Plus there us just something about breaking it on purpose that I find amusing. Glad it helped!

[dennis]

break it by renaming the file "igo64.dll" - this one worked for me - from 20 FPS in the main menu and sometimes around 10 on some planets to smooth 240 FPS, at least for now. thanks man!

[OnsideAura01]

Yeah it is a remaster and all, but the engine these games were built on (especially ME1) were dated even for 2007. Plus ME1s engine was basically frankensteined together much like Bethesda's Creation Engine. I may be technical but this odd behavior just evades me.

[Stahlkappe]

I always get a drop from the locked 60 to about 5-10 around the entrance of the C-Sec Academy in the Presidium.

I'm pretty sure it's some error in the code that we as the user can't really fix because it only happens in that precise location.

[RJX3029]

It didn't drop framerates for me but it did stutter like crazy on LE1 and 2. Only fix was shut off in game vsync and force it on in the graphics card. I don't think they adjusted the game engine to account for needing extra resources for the graphics they added. Game still 8-2022 stutters and hitches while it uses 10% of cpu and gpu with framerate limited to 60. Or 240fps still stutters. It is stupid.

[OnsideAura01]

Mako Exploration area FPS drops seem to just happen, I had some success bringing that number up some via the prioritization fix but could never truly fix it sadly. As for the character facing I saw that a few times and the only fix I found is to reset the character somehow either by entering a new area or loading a save, but it tends to appear and disappear at random.