Choppy gameplay in NFS ProStreet [ Edited ]

[KaapsViooltje]

Hello,

NFS ProStreet plays very choppy for me and is pretty much killing the fun out of an otherwise good game. :^(

I have tried lowering videosettings but no matter how low I set things it remains choppy and my system should blow this game out of the water performance wise.

Specs:

Windows 7 x64

16GB RAM

i7 4770K

Geforce GTX 770 2GB VRAM

One thing I find suspicious is that when I have the game running, one cpu is at 100% occupancy all the time (see attachement) even when I'm only in the menu's.

Also RTSS reports a constant 60fps even when I'm experiencing stutters so it might not be video related.

I'm open to suggestions if anyone has them because I've tried everything.

[KaapsViooltje · Accepted solution]

A bit late but the solution to this problem, for me at least, was to turn off v-sync.

There is a fair bit of screentearing but it beats playing with the stutters.

I had a similar problem with F.E.A.R. which also doesn't seem to like v-sync.

[piggysnakes]

Hello there.

Your system is good enough for that game just set everything to Max. Why don't you get nfs undercover and see if it becomes choppy in that game. Then post back on here, alright peace.

[KaapsViooltje]

I played Undercover for a bit and it is choppy as well, lowered resolution and details but it stayed choppy.

The only difference is that here my fps counter was going up and down between 30fps and 60fps, but it seemed more consistent and less annoying than the stutters in ProStreet which is fluid 95% of the time.

Also I had one 100% loaded cpu and one 80% loaded cpu while playing.

[rigwastaken]

Does one of the hardware components (e.g. GPU or CPU) overheat/go to a temperature beyond the preferred point?

I also experienced some "lags" while playing, as it was my laptop's fan cooling down the GPU and making the processing of everything a little slower.

Indeed the specs of your PC are more than overqualificated for NFS ProStreet, thus this should not be the problem at all.

Besides, I'd be interested in if, and how NFS ProStreet uses multiple cores of a CPU. For that we might ask Google or EA in the hope to find an answer.

[piggysnakes]

What about rivals though?

Try that maxed out it should also run smoothly for you.

They all have different game engines so that could be the issue here.

[KaapsViooltje]

HWMonitor says my temps stay normal, when playing the cpu/gpu heat up a bit (70ºC) but that is to be expected.

I don't have NFS Rivals, I do have NFS Shift and Hot Pursuit (2010), these play very smooth, 60fps with everything maxed.

It could be the game-engine though, I have some older NFS games on my system, Underground 2, Most Wanted (2005) and Carbon.

NFS Underground 2 with the widescreenpatch plays smooth as silk while in Most Wanted I notice some stutter here and there and in Carbon even more, mostly during police chases.

I could be wrong but I think from NFS Underground until Undercover they all used some variation of the Renderware engine.

[rigwastaken]

70°C is quite much - comparing it with my GPU (GTX 750TI) and playing NFS Shift with everything maxed out. I'm around 50°C, if even.

Now, comparing this to my laptop, 70°C is the point it begins to drastically cool down, and get the exact same framedrops.

But on the other hand it really could be the older game engines, though I really question this... I mean, the game has lower specs than e.g. NFS Shift, and thus should run even smoother...

[KaapsViooltje]

---

@CreativeRiggert wrote:

70°C is quite much - comparing it with my GPU (GTX 750TI) and playing NFS Shift with everything maxed out. I'm around 50°C, if even.

Now, comparing this to my laptop, 70°C is the point it begins to drastically cool down, and get the exact same framedrops.

But on the other hand it really could be the older game engines, though I really question this... I mean, the game has lower specs than e.g. NFS Shift, and thus should run even smoother...

---

Really depends on the hardware, I remember I had a Geforce 9600 GT that operated at 90°C without ever crashing, this was before I knew the value of v-sync though.

The temps never seem to exceed 70°C so I guess that is where the fans kick in to keep things cool, I'm using the largest aftermarket cooler for my cpu that fits in my case, if I want to have it cooler I probably going to need watercooling.

NFS Shift uses multiple cores and also hands over the physics to a dedicated processor so it might explain why it runs better.

In ProStreet when in practice mode the stutters are almost bearable but with opponents it becomes a lot worse, the biggest problem is that it seems to interfere with controlinputs, I'm starting to overshoot braking- and steer in points and results taking corners too wide, crashing into opponents or flying of the track altogether.

[KaapsViooltje · Accepted solution]

A bit late but the solution to this problem, for me at least, was to turn off v-sync.

There is a fair bit of screentearing but it beats playing with the stutters.

I had a similar problem with F.E.A.R. which also doesn't seem to like v-sync.