Dark Souls Frame Rate issues

This topic is locked from further discussion.

Avatar image for 10knuckles01
10knuckles01

165

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#1 10knuckles01
Member since 2007 • 165 Posts

G;day guys

okay if this game wasnt soooo awesome i would of given up ages ago with this!!

but after i installed DSfix and some texture packs the FPS drops down to 15 and my gpu usage is 0%,, i ve been searching google and nothing, i tried deleting the dsfix files and now DS woint even launch? i unistalled DS then reinstalled but the dsfix files where back in there,, how do i go back to just playing the vanilla version of DS, and has anyone had the FPS issues as well????

PLease help :) 

Avatar image for Masculus
Masculus

2878

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#2 Masculus
Member since 2009 • 2878 Posts

If I recall correctly, the game can often run while the GPU clocks are still in idle settings. Even if the clock works correctly its optimization sucks. Try to see it if that's the case (just play it and see if the your GPU clock is in the correct setting).

Avatar image for deactivated-5a9b3f32ef4e9
deactivated-5a9b3f32ef4e9

7779

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#3 deactivated-5a9b3f32ef4e9
Member since 2009 • 7779 Posts

I use DXFix and set the resolution at 3840 pixels × 2160. No FPS drops at all.

Avatar image for Will47
Will47

6824

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

#4 Will47
Member since 2007 • 6824 Posts
Was this happening before the texture packs? I've just used DSfix and had no trouble. As for going back to vanilla, I'm guessing you're on steam so I would get rid of everything DSFix related from your Dark Souls file, then right click Dark Souls in your steam library, go to properties, then game files and select "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" this should replace any missing files you and hopefully refresh your installation.
Avatar image for 10knuckles01
10knuckles01

165

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#5 10knuckles01
Member since 2007 • 165 Posts

alright did a fresh install with no mods,, and its sitting at 30 fps but im still getting the option of 1920 *1080 resolution,, i thought that only came with dsfix?

Avatar image for deactivated-5a9b3f32ef4e9
deactivated-5a9b3f32ef4e9

7779

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#6 deactivated-5a9b3f32ef4e9
Member since 2009 • 7779 Posts

alright did a fresh install with no mods,, and its sitting at 30 fps but im still getting the option of 1920 *1080 resolution,, i thought that only came with dsfix?

10knuckles01
It just scales up to that resolution. You need DSFix to run at 1920x1080 internal res.
Avatar image for II-Siamak-II
II-Siamak-II

480

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#7 II-Siamak-II
Member since 2012 • 480 Posts

[QUOTE="10knuckles01"]

alright did a fresh install with no mods,, and its sitting at 30 fps but im still getting the option of 1920 *1080 resolution,, i thought that only came with dsfix?

Postmortem123

It just scales up to that resolution. You need DSFix to run at 1920x1080 internal res.

This, played Dark Souls for over 100 hours and not a single FPS drop, sure the game is locked at 30fps but for some reason the game was as smooth as a 60fps game to me which is strange cuz I personally can't play console games cuz of the 30fps lock, but Dark Souls was smooth as butter for me.

Avatar image for infofrog
infofrog

231

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#8 infofrog
Member since 2012 • 231 Posts

No problem here with dsfix .

Avatar image for the_bi99man
the_bi99man

11465

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 0

#9 the_bi99man
Member since 2004 • 11465 Posts

Well for one, I still find it puzzling that uninstalling DSfix is giving you issues. There must be something being done wrong there, because DSfix doesn't change anything. It's just a wrapper. Installing it consists of dropping the files in place, and uninstalling it consists of removing them. The actual game files aren't affected at all, and don't even know anything is different.

Anyway, yeah, the game has resolution options in the menu, but they don't actually do anything. The game renders at something like 720p(ish), and that can't be changed without DSfix. 

As for the framerate issues, the game also has vsync that can't be turned off. I've read that there are various ways to get rid of it, through DSfix, or by forcing it with AMD/Nvidia control panel options, but I've personally tried every single alleged fix, and none have worked for me. Dark Souls has vsync, and that's just the way it is. What this means is that, unless your computer is powerful enough to maintain a steady 30 fps without breaking a sweat (which takes a more powerful system than it should, thanks to terrible coding), every time your framerate drops below 30, it will be forced all the way down to 15, even if it would have steadied itself at 25-28 or something like that.

You pretty much just gotta deal with it. That's what I do. I see 15 fps pretty often but, thankfully, I get 30 fps  most  of the time.

Avatar image for the_bi99man
the_bi99man

11465

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 0

#10 the_bi99man
Member since 2004 • 11465 Posts

[QUOTE="Postmortem123"][QUOTE="10knuckles01"]

alright did a fresh install with no mods,, and its sitting at 30 fps but im still getting the option of 1920 *1080 resolution,, i thought that only came with dsfix?

II-Siamak-II

It just scales up to that resolution. You need DSFix to run at 1920x1080 internal res.

This, played Dark Souls for over 100 hours and not a single FPS drop, sure the game is locked at 30fps but for some reason the game was as smooth as a 60fps game to me which is strange cuz I personally can't play console games cuz of the 30fps lock, but Dark Souls was smooth as butter for me.

Dark Souls was just designed for 30 fps. It does feel smoother than you'd think it should, at 30. That's why I don't mind the performance too much. When it's running 30, it feels as smooth as some other games when they're running 40-50, and when it drops to 15, it's choppy, but it works, while some other games become absolutely broken and unplayable at anything less than 25.

Avatar image for 10knuckles01
10knuckles01

165

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#11 10knuckles01
Member since 2007 • 165 Posts

alright did a fresh install and reinstalled DSfix and DSmfix and had the game running smooth as at 60fps,, BUT as soon as i installed sweetfx it dropped back down to 15fps,, deleted all sweetfx files and it went back to 60fps,, bizarre 

Avatar image for the_bi99man
the_bi99man

11465

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 0

#12 the_bi99man
Member since 2004 • 11465 Posts

alright did a fresh install and reinstalled DSfix and DSmfix and had the game running smooth as at 60fps,, BUT as soon as i installed sweetfx it dropped back down to 15fps,, deleted all sweetfx files and it went back to 60fps,, bizarre 

10knuckles01

Not really bizarre. Depending on your settings, Sweetfx can be adding layers of anti-aliasing, sharpening, color correction and other effects. That can hurt your framerate, especially on a poorly ported game like Dark Souls. And, thanks to the built in vsync, you only have to drop below 30 to hit 15. 

Just use the AA and SSAO in DSfix for a crisp, vibrant image quality, and don't bother with Sweetfx if it's giving you problems.

Avatar image for 10knuckles01
10knuckles01

165

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#13 10knuckles01
Member since 2007 • 165 Posts

i agree, ill stick with dsfix for now and it looks 100 times better than the console version as vwell :)Â