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Mass Effect 3 - severe FRpS (frame rate per second) wobble on PC: can one fix it?

TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
My video card is GTX 980M.

I think it is of later issue than Mass Effect 3.

Yet the gameplay of ME3 is so jerky it infects combat, beyond the cut scenes of course.

I dropped the standards to the min but it did not help.

Anyone has a tip how ME3 might not suffer jerky graphics on later PCs?

Comments

  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    You wouldn't be using Windows 10 by any chance?
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @Fardragon - yes, now. But this was also an issue with Win 8.1 earlier... Are you suggesting that this is a systematic issue with post Win7 version of Microsoft OS??

    Frankly, this is the first time I've ever suffered this kind of dramatic FRpS drops, and fully understand now why it drives gamers up the wall!
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    I don't know, I'm not that technical. I just know everything that uses the GPU has had periodic slowdowns since I upgraded from Windows 7 to 10.
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @Fardragon - thanks for sharing your observations, it is very plausibly the Windows version then, and pretty annoying coming from a major developer.

    I'd guess the only hope is that eventual ME 4 will renew interest in the prequels, and hopefully enough fans will complain if this would be a wide-spread problem. I did leave feedback to this effect when asked via Origin.
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    EA are terrible at support, preferring you buy their latest and greatest new game, than fixing the old to work on newer systems. The ME series were firmly Windows 7 era when support was withdrawn, so we are on our own (or dependent on Microsoft) for compatibility patches with later Windows.

    The ME series is the main reason I have not taken the free upgrade to Windows 10, as that is about the only think I use my PC for these days (having migrated to Mac). It might work, but it might not, and I am past the time when I was happy to run my own tech support to chase down and fix glitches, especially for out-of-support games.
    TStael
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    Are you playing it through Origin? If so, try playing the game with the client set to offline. I had a problem like that when I tried out Mass Effect 1, it was stuttering quite a bit, but that stopped as soon as I was no longer connected to their servers.
    TStael
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @GreenWarlock - it is bit of a love-hate with BW, but please do not omit the love. They have written classics, and maybe will continue to rate in the future for PC gamers. (An Inki un-fancier, see!) ME3 on PC is a disgrace, though!

    As to a positive impact: Dragon Age 2 that I rate at par with Planescape just got the cool "mosaic" visual impact upon Win 10, on best graphics settings. I actually like it.

    @Belanos - thx very much for posting! I tried, even going further into input files to pump down graphics, but it did not help me. Maybe some other gamer, though. The developer and/or publisher should ensure portability, as first responsibles for the product they released, I find.
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    TStael said:


    thx very much for posting! I tried, even going further into input files to pump down graphics, but it did not help me. Maybe some other gamer, though. The developer and/or publisher should ensure portability, as first responsibles for the product they released, I find.

    Have you tried right clicking on the game in the Origin client, selecting properties from the menu, and then selecting "Disable Origin in game for this game?" I had a problem similar to what you describe for several Origin games (well, Dragon Age and Mass Effect specifically) and that fixed the problem.
    TStael
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @BelleSorciere Appreciate the tip, tried that too, but the game still has really marring FpS variations in my case.

    Hope this helps someone else, though. And maybe in fulness of time Win10 updates will deal with this for me. Sigh.
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    @TStael Have you tried setting compatibility settings? Run as administrator, Windows 7 sp 2, for example?
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @BelleSorciere - that one, no I don't think so. Would you have a link for dummies, meaning how I can direct that action on Mass Effect in particular?

    (Sorry, very low tech by nature, unless forced to gimmics by gaming...)
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    edited September 2016
    @TStael Okay so here's instructions on how to set compatibility settings.

    All that's left is to locate where your Mass Effect 3 directory is. Since you're using Origin, open your file explorer and go here:

    This PC > C: drive > Program Files (x86) > Origin Games > Mass Effect 3 > Binaries > Win32.

    Look for MassEffect3.exe, right click on it, and select properties, then select the Compatibility tab.

    I would suggest trying to run as administrator and to run in compatibility mode for Windows 7. If that doesn't work, try Windows Vista Service Pack 2
    TStael
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @BelleSorciere - thanks a lot for trying to help so persistently! :smile:

    I wanted to test this straight away, so I located the application file, selected administrator, and then I chose "troubleshoot compatibility." (Right?) In my desperation I even tried XP and Windows 8 but no joy - it's still jerky when I tested the waters with a little run-around in the Citadel.

    Maybe if I have a moment of mad community service spirit, I will take it upon myself to open a chat with EA service personnel - not because I think they can help me any better, just because EA deserves to be "trolled" on this issue as it is just quite annoying.

    Here's hoping that Microsoft really does not push out another Windows version soon!
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    @TSTael Okay, there is one more thing - I know you've said you've tried turning down all the graphics settings but did you run MassEffect3Config.exe? It's in the binaries directory on the path I posted previously.

    Run it, select video from the sidebar, and set dynamic shadows to off.

    This is really the last thing I can think of that might help.
    TStael
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    Edit: NVM I thought that the dynamic shadows setting couldn't be set inside the game. I must have been thinking of a different installment.
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @bellesorciere - making the graphical settings worse in game files, particularly the dynamic shadows elimination, did in fact help me the most. It significantly reduced the wobble, but the game visuals still freeze or jerk from time to time.

    I think that with the kind advice received it is the best it can be - I must just hope there will be an eventual update for Win10 that eliminates the compatibility issue totally. But appreciate very much all advice offered!! :smiley:
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    If adjusting some of the graphics settings helped, then the problem may be your video driver, not Windows 10. When was the last time you updated it?
    TStael
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Well, I suspect it's a bit of both, in that Windows 10 does not seem to like some video cards.
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @belanos - you raise an excellent point, thx!

    I actually upgraded to Win10 recently, but indeed had to revert back to factory settings before that because I could not restore my corrupted boot disk - so worse comes to worst, my drives date ...one and a half years. I'll downlaod pronto, and hopefully this was the issue rather than portability with Win10. Fingers crossed...
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    Fardragon said:

    Well, I suspect it's a bit of both, in that Windows 10 does not seem to like some video cards.

    Well, well - mine must be in that category, because while I am sure the driver refresh was well and due, ME3 still bloody freezes periodically - this being also the only game I have thus far had ever this degree of FRpS issues!

    @Belanos - no joy, but thank you kindly in any case! :smile: Finally managed to get NVIDIA Geforce tool to install, with functionality of checking for updates automatically, which will be helpful indeed as I am quite haphazarded about it, in truth.

    Feel frankly quite sour towards EA / BW about this because this still must be a flaw in game design somewhere, as the other games still work just fine.

  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    "Finally managed to get NVIDIA Geforce tool to install, with functionality of checking for updates automatically,"

    That's not necessarily a good idea, at least if it will also install the drivers automatically. NVidia doesn't always release good drivers, sometimes they can be rather buggy. I've gotten into the habit of downloading them manually, while hanging on to the previous one that worked right just in case. If the new driver has some issues, then I'll still have the old workable one to roll back to. If the software just informs you about a new driver and leaves it up to you to download and install it, then it will be OK. You just don't want it to do everything for you.
    TStael
  • TStaelTStael Member Posts: 861
    @Belanos - duly noted, and thx! Checked the setting, and it'll download automatically but will let me choose when I install... But also nice to find one mainstream-tech company at least that does not try to force-feed their updates!
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    "...and it'll download automatically but will let me choose when I install..."

    I wasn't aware they had that option, I might have to look into the software myself. I already had a few bad experiences with their drivers when the utility first came out, so I've always avoided it like the plague.
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