Bioshock infinite slowdown issues

[Nvidiaguy07]

Anyone else having this problem? Usually after a load, or when i go into a new area, my frame rate drops pretty bad. Ive even noticed when playing civ 5, when i get notifications after the computers turn, it skips quite a bit. Also in some other parts as well.

Im using a 3570k with a gtx670. My monitor is 2560x1440.

Settings for bioshock are on preset "high" with vsync on. Civ 5 turned all the way up on everything.

I tried using the benchmark utility for bioshock, and even on "ultra" @ 1440p, I get an average of 70fps. On high the results are even better. The problem is much more apparent when playing on ultra - but its still there on high.

anyone else having this problem?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Yes, it's one of two things.

1) The game engine itself is notorious for hitching and skipping. UE3 has been noted to do this in the past. Although from my experience with UT3 and other games using the engine such as batman, I only notice this phenomenon in Bioshock Infinite.

2) It eats vram up like crazy. This could be due to some bad code somewhere though. The game caches a large number of textures so the game world appears seamless. While doing so it uses up a lot of memory. At 1080p and everything on Ultra including deffered depth of field, the game is using 2GB almost all the time for me. At 1440p is is using up all of my memory but I notice it stutters or hitches more. Both precisionx and process explorer report the same thing. I think this is either due to bad code as noted above or the cards having no memory available has to flush textures and load new ones which appears on screen as a pause or stutter.

 

[KentState]

It had noticeable slowdown on my system. Maybe I need something faster.

 

[mistercrabby]

Yes, it's one of two things.

1) The game engine itself is notorious for hitching and skipping. UE3 has been noted to do this in the past. Although from my experience with UT3 and other games using the engine such as batman, I only notice this phenomenon in Bioshock Infinite.

2) It eats vram up like crazy. This could be due to some bad code somewhere though. The game caches a large number of textures so the game world appears seamless. While doing so it uses up a lot of memory. At 1080p and everything on Ultra including deffered depth of field, the game is using 2GB almost all the time for me. At 1440p is is using up all of my memory but I notice it stutters or hitches more. Both precisionx and process explorer report the same thing. I think this is either due to bad code as noted above or the cards having no memory available has to flush textures and load new ones which appears on screen as a pause or stutter.

Dude, it's crazy you know that stuff. Kudos.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Same issues here on a 4.4Ghz 2500k with a 7870 running at 1080p. The stuttering is there even when running at low resolutions like 720p, 800x600, etc.

 

[futurefields]

I think these hitchy stuttering inherant in a lot of console-pc multiplatform games is because the engine is designed to be streaming the game off of an optical disc on 512mb consoles. there is a lot of resource management built into the engines to cope with the shitty ps3/360 hardware, and its probably so ingrained into the game that they cant easily strip it out. so even if you have a PC with 8-16 gig of system ram and 2-4gb video ram the engine just never makes good use of it.

 

[mmntech]

I've got the same issues. I figured the game just didn't like Crossfire setups. If it's a known issue, it will probably get patched up. At least the game isn't unplayable but it's still annoying.

 

[blackened23]

The engine is just clunky, period. It's using an incredibly dated version of UE3 - the same engine stutters in other games as well.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The engine is just clunky, period. It's using an incredibly dated version of UE3 - the same engine stutters in other games as well.

I have heard this before but I only notice it this badly in BioShock. The game is quality though so I could forgive a little stutter here or there. Enjoyed the story quite a bit.

 

[tygeezy]

I've got the same issues. I figured the game just didn't like Crossfire setups. If it's a known issue, it will probably get patched up. At least the game isn't unplayable but it's still annoying.

I wouldnt get your hopes up. The first bioshock recieved one 30mb or so Mickey Mouse patch. Also, this very same thing happens in Arkham City. As you are flying about the city and the game needs to load more data, the game will stutter. That game has been out for close to two years now and that issue hasn't been fixed. I tried moving the game over to an ssd and the problem persisted.

 

[Aikouka]

I have heard this before but I only notice it this badly in BioShock. The game is quality though so I could forgive a little stutter here or there. Enjoyed the story quite a bit.

It might make sense that Bioshock Infinite is worse in this regard because of all the design that went into the world. It looks like they really pushed to make things look a bit more unique, and that most likely means more textures. More textures (and possibly at a higher resolution than some other UE3-based games) means more video RAM usage. Imagine how crazy this game would be if it had features like SSAA.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Man, UE3 needs to go. I had a level where all the textures were stuck midway between streaming so everything was muddy as all hell.

 

[blackened23]

I have heard this before but I only notice it this badly in BioShock. The game is quality though so I could forgive a little stutter here or there. Enjoyed the story quite a bit.

It happens in Batman: AC as well with DX11 and physx enabled. When you pan the camera around quickly you'll get stuttering sometimes. Additionally, the graphical assets in Bioshock Infinite - while they look pretty good, they're definitely not amazing. Getting pretty sick of UE3 myself, it's showing age.

If you don't get stuttering in Batman: AC with DX11 and physx you're the exception and not the rule. I'm willing to bet you'll find tons of posters here who will say the same and you can easily google the same.

UE3 is a clunky and old engine, period. Too old, not very good. However, like you said - it is forgivable because the game itself is excellent.

 

[futurefields]

i havent tried this yet, but anybody having stuttering issues in this game

TRY AN FPS LIMITER

id suggest 40fps to start

it has completely fixed my far cry 3 stuttering

 

[blackened23]

40 fps limit? Why would anyone do that?

 

[futurefields]

To fix the stuttering. If your fps are bouncing around a lot like 70-40-60-40-30-70 then locking the fps down to a number closer to the minimum, you get an overall smoother experience.

 

[SlitheryDee]

To fix the stuttering. If your fps are bouncing around a lot like 70-40-60-40-30-70 then locking the fps down to a number closer to the minimum, you get an overall smoother experience.

From some reports I've seen, the stuttering is somehow independent of FPS. People would record steady framerates even while seeing the stuttering occur.

 

[BD231]

2 hours in, no slowdowns I can perceive so far @ 120hz vsync disabled.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I had hitching until I put it on SSD. Never had issues after that. The stuttering actually seemed to be sound related, not FPS related.

2500k@4.2 and gtx480 1.5gb running on ultra

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

To fix the stuttering. If your fps are bouncing around a lot like 70-40-60-40-30-70 then locking the fps down to a number closer to the minimum, you get an overall smoother experience.

My minimum was about 70, and i have ysync enabled, so i should have been good.

I had hitching until I put it on SSD. Never had issues after that. The stuttering actually seemed to be sound related, not FPS related.

2500k@4.2 and gtx480 1.5gb running on ultra

Im gonna try moving it over and seeing if it helps at all. I usually just install everything to my HDD, but since i just upgraded to a 250gb ssd, I have the room to do it now.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I always have my games on an SSD, that didn't do a thing. It's a problem with the game itself, maybe coupled with Nvidia's drivers too.

 

[frowertr]

Played just over an hours worth and nothing really pops out to me as prolonged stuttering. There is the occasional hitch here or there but nothing that detracts from the gameplay.

My rig is in my sig.

 

[tacosrcool]

I get a horrible like frame rate drop for a couple of seconds or so. Reminds me of micro shuttering. I play at 1080p with an i7-2700K @ 4.5 Ghz and a GTX 670. I should have no problems playing but I really think its the game engine. I read elsewhere that this is a known problem.

 

[futurefields]

just installed the game and played long enough to get into the city and run around a bit.

it seems to hitch whenever it loads a new area, especially if some scripted stuff is happenening (which in the opening scenes is everywhere all around you).

i'm able to maintain 60fps vsync but then theres that stutter when it loads a big scene. like i said previously I think its a tradeoff they have to make for an engine that can scale over to the xbox 360/ps3, where it is being read off of optical media and run on weird hardware. so those loading pauses are like built into the game, in a sort of way.

 

[draknon]

I haven't really noticed any problems while playing the game. I'm running mostly max settings on a 2500k and a gtx460 1gb @1920x1080.

I cranked the settings when I first installed the game expecting that I would have to turn a bunch of them down but everything has been smooth so far. I'm suprised my 460 that I paid $130 for 2 years ago is still holding up.