Apex Legends PC stuck at 30fps

[PelukoYo]

Hello. I´ve been playing Apex on PS4 and now I'm giving it a shot on PC. I have a Lenovo Yoga with an i7-8550U and a GTX1050 4Gb. It seems that I can't get more than 30-34 fps whatever configuration I try, lowering the settings to the minimum does not change anything.

And while playing at this fps the CPU is around 38% load and the GPU around 50%, so I think that I could get much better. I have the latest nVidia game drivers installed.

Any ideas?

Regards.

[EA_Kent]

Hi @PelukoYo. 

When you have a chance can you check something for me? Open the NVIDIA Control Panel on your PC and click on Manage 3D settings over on the left side. On the Global Settings tab look to see if you have an option there for Preferred graphics processor. If so, be sure that your NVIDIA GPU is selected in that drop down menu. 

See if you notice any improved performance in Apex Legends after that. Let me know how it goes when you can. Thanks!

/Kent

[PelukoYo]

Hello @EA_Kent

Yes, the NVIDIA is the preferred GPU and I've ensured that it is the GPU Apex is using.

But finally I found what was the problem. I had the second monitor active. If I deactivate the second screen then it runs at full speed.

Now I have another problem I'm investigating. I have a good +- 60fps, but I got some stuttering. I think that it manifest mainly when I'm firing, but I've not tested it fully. It's very uncomfortable because it breaks my aim.

Thanks.

[EA_Kent]

@PelukoYo 

Thanks for following up!

Are you noticing any of the red performance icons coming up in-game when the stuttering happens? 

/Kent

[PelukoYo]

No @EA_Kent , I haven't noticed any red icon. What annoys me is that Windows 10 task manager reports that the GPU (GTX 1050) is around 45% - 55 % maximum use, and the CPU (i7-8550U) arount 35%, while playing. So I think that the computer has much more to offer than what I'm getting.

Regards.

[Zeelmaekers]

Hey @PelukoYo 

Can you see the temps of your hardware under this load, are they in the 70°c range?
Also make sure your power settings are set to performance mode not balanced or power-saving mode.

[PelukoYo]

Hello @Zeelmaekers 

The temps were around 70C. But I've discovered that it's related to power throttling. When I run Apex Legends, the CPU starts at around 3.5Ghz and after a while it gets stuck at around 1Ghz (Windows shows this as 40-50% usage). I've uninstalled the 'Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework' related devices on Windows 10' Device Manager and voilá! The cpu runs at full 3+Ghz and I get a near constant 60fps on Apex Legends which lets me get a taste of the game on PC. But definitively it's not a gaming machine, with this configuration the CPU temp goes up to 95C easily, so I fear that it may damage the laptop.

Regards.

[Zeelmaekers]

yha 90% is a bit high indeed, what I sometimes recommend is underclocking/undervolting the CPU.
This trades a little bit of performance but makes it run a lot cooler. 5/10 degrees difference somtimes