Nvidia FPS issue with BNS

[RageFrost]

Just wanted to make people aware of this issue if they come across it.  It's intended for Nvidia users specifically.

 

Recently did a video driver update and discovered an issue with BNS and the 2 most recent driver updates with Nvidia.   This issue doesn't appear to effect other games only BNS.   When launching BNS you get to the "Authentication Screen."   If you suddenly notice a HUGE and DRASTIC fps drop it's because of the Nvidia Drivers.  The issue occurs when you shutdown / reboot your PC then launch BNS.  In my case my FPS went from 120 fps down to 20 fps.  And the only fix for it is to reinstall drivers.  However, I rolled back to 368.39 because BNS worked fine with that driver while the 2 most recent drivers displayed the issue.

 

Update:  Can confirm 372.54 drivers will fix this issue as well, 368.39 drivers were crashing for me constantly, so I tried this new driver, and as far as the FPS drop is concerned it's not an issue.  I just have to wait and see if the 372.54 drivers crash like the 368.39 drivers.

 

 

The reproduction steps for this issue are:

CPU:  i7 3820 @ 3.6

Video Card:  MSI 980Ti 6GB (368.39 driver issue resurfaced after BNS update August 23rd 2016)

RAM:  G.Skill 16GB 1600Mhz

Motherboard:  Asus P9X79

SSD:  Mushkin Scorpion Drive

 

Note:  Issue does not effect other games only BNS from what I've tested.

 

1.  Currently you have the issue

2.  Reinstall Nvidia drivers (clean install) (Reboot PC) - Recommend using DDU to do a clean uninstall of Nvidia drivers - Run as Admin)

3.  Test FPS in BNS (you don't need to go past the OTP Authentication screen it will be visible there)

4.  IF FPS is normal -  Shut down your PC - Start your PC - Start BNS - Check FPS again

5.  IF issue is still present (See my update below)

 

Just wanted to give people a heads up, if they come across the same issue.

 

Quote

 

Update:  09/16/2016 - Issue is caused by G-Sync being enabled for windowed mode:  See my most recent post below for more details.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2016 by RageFrost

[Rappel]

Dumb me installed new driver yesterday and had fps drop to 10, but July 14 update was fine for me

[ander01se]

368.81 here, no problems at all. Have been logged in for 24h+ ...or well, since last patch. :p

[RageFrost]

6 hours ago, ander01se said:

368.81 here, no problems at all. Have been logged in for 24h+ ...or well, since last patch. :p

Ya the issue occurs after your shutdown your PC like say going to bed for the night.  it's happened twice now for me, with both the 2 newest drivers.... But it may only effect certain cards... I don't know... But I have the MSI 980Ti.

 

Also some things you can check which indicate driver issue specifically:  Task Manager ->  Performance -> CPU usage might appear unchanged, MSI Afterburner you will see lower GPU usage - Network Performance (symptomatic of a virus) But in my case no virus and less than 2Kb/sec usage.

 

That's when I started testing the video driver versions.   You can reinstall the driver to fix the issue right away, but the issue doesn't occur until you shut down / reboot your PC.  At least that's  how it was for me.

Edited August 18, 2016 by RageFrost

[Samyaza]

Running gtx Titan Black and  have no Issue with the drivers from y-day. Also have Laptop with gtx980m and no issue there either.

[xxxAoi]

I guess this only happens on certain Nvidia cards. Can you tell us the rig you use? Just the card would be fine too.

[RageFrost]

14 hours ago, xxxAoi said:

I guess this only happens on certain Nvidia cards. Can you tell us the rig you use? Just the card would be fine too.

Asus P9X79 motherboard

i7-3820 3.6

16GB Ripjaws

MSI GeForce GTX 980TI 6GD5T OC

Scorpion Drive

 

And, I can confirm my issue is resolved with rollback of drivers to 368.39.  To lazy to test out the .69 drivers.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Edited August 19, 2016 by RageFrost

[studioMagicalFox]

Thought I would report on how my card is doing. I have a GTX 1070 Founders Edition card running driver version 368.81. I am having no problems running BnS at very high frame rates.

[RageFrost]

Update:  The August 23rd 2016 update, caused the FPS drop again for me... 120 fps down to 20 fps.    reinstalling nvidia drivers now, but upgrading to 368.81 to see if it works.

[RageFrost]

The reproduction steps for this issue are:

CPU:  i7 3820 @ 3.6

Video Card:  MSI 980Ti 6GB (368.39 driver issue resurfaced after BNS update August 23rd 2016)

RAM:  G.Skill 16GB 1600Mhz

Motherboard:  Asus P9X79

SSD:  Mushkin Scorpion Drive

 

Note:  Issue does not effect other games only BNS from what I've tested.

 

1.  Currently you have the issue

2.  Reinstall Nvidia drivers (clean install) (Reboot PC)

3.  Test FPS in BNS (you don't need to go past the OTP Authentication screen it will be visible there)

4.  IF FPS is normal -  Shut down your PC - Start your PC - Start BNS - Check FPS again

5.  IF issue is still present  -  (Update:  I can confirm the 372.54 drivers will fix this issue)

 

Edited August 28, 2016 by RageFrost

[RageFrost]

Update:  Noticed a few things about this issue

 

1.  368.69 drivers do not work to fix this issue.

2.  BNS does NOT run in TRUE full screen mode.

3.  BNS runs in Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.

4.  When switching (forcing) BNS to go into True Full Screen Mode the issue does not occur with the 368.69 drivers. (Ask me I can describe how to do this)

5.  When switching BNS back to normal Full Screen Borderless Mode the issue reoccurs.  In addition to the issue reoccurring after shutdown.

6.  By Default BNS runs at Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.  NOT True Full Screen mode like the graphics settings suggest.   You can test this by using the Windows Key.  If the Task bar menu comes up, you are in Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.   If after forcing true full screen and you use the Windows Key the task bar menu will NOT work. 

 

So, The issue is most definitely BNS causing the problem, it explains why the issue doesn't occur in other games because they use True Full Screen Mode, as opposed to Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.

 

Going to revert back to 368.39 drivers again, and see if I can fix this issue with Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.

 

Fresh Install of 368.69 Drivers (Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode)

 

 

After Shutdown (Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode)

 

 

BNS Active Window (Full Screen Borderless Window)

 

 

These Screenshots illustrate the problem at different points in testing.

 

Difference Between True Full Screen Mode & Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.

 

Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode

 

True Full Screen 1

 

True Full Screen 2

Edited August 24, 2016 by RageFrost

[RageFrost]

368.39 drivers fixed my issue again.    When testing after fresh clean install of drivers, reboot your PC first, test BNS, if FPS is good, then shut down your PC and test FPS again.  

 

The short and curly:

 

BNS has an issue with Full Screen Borderless Windowed Mode.   Issue doesn't occur in True Full Screen Mode.   Issue does not occur in other games rather full screen or windowed mode.  Certain drivers for Nvidia cards won't fix the issue.  Issue may not effect all Nvidia cards.

Edited August 24, 2016 by RageFrost

[Sm0kinSick47]

Going to test the latest driver 372.54 and I'll let you know how it goes, for some reason, before the patch the game was running okay, but micro-freezes happened at the worse times you can ever imagine, there was no way to fix it, but the game runs at 110+fps at pvp. After the patch tho, that's another story cause the game was running maximum on 24 fps, so I checked if it was running on nvidia graphics card, in which it was so I started to download the latest version to so see how it goes, I'll keep you guys updated.

[studioMagicalFox]

This might not be an issue but I've found when switching between driver versions that using the tool DDU (display driver uninstall) can make sure you get a clean uninstall.

[MihoKiyohime]

Have you tried uninstalling/not installing geforce experience when you install the nvidia drivers?

Or at least disabling nvidia shadow play. 

 

If you are using Windows 10, try disabling the xbox game bar/overlay as well.

 

I had those disabled because they were causing various issues with my 120/144Hz monitor and I don't get FPS drops using the latest drivers.

[RageFrost]

On 8/25/2016 at 0:04 AM, studioMagicalFox said:

This might not be an issue but I've found when switching between driver versions that using the tool DDU (display driver uninstall) can make sure you get a clean uninstall.

Yes DDU is a great program for a truly clean install.  Note, the only reason I used DDU last night, was because when playing BNS, my monitor was shutting off... and coming back on after a few seconds. This is an indication of driver crash, however win10 didn't give me the notice.  So I used DDU to clean whipe all the drivers even deleting the Nvidia folder on my C drive.   Then reinstalled 368.39, and everything is fine now.

On 8/25/2016 at 5:29 AM, MihoKiyohime said:

Have you tried uninstalling/not installing geforce experience when you install the nvidia drivers?

Or at least disabling nvidia shadow play. 

 

If you are using Windows 10, try disabling the xbox game bar/overlay as well.

 

I had those disabled because they were causing various issues with my 120/144Hz monitor and I don't get FPS drops using the latest drivers.

It has nothing to do with Xbox or geforce experience,  I have xbox disabled/removed in windows 10.  This issue occurs with xbox disabled/removed and isn't dependent rather or not GF EXP is installed or not.  And shadow play isn't the cause of the issue.  The only issue shadowplay has is it cannot record video in BNS when BNS is not in true full screen mode.

 

However, the GF experience thing, is interesting because you mention monitor.  If we don't have the same monitor then it's highly unlikely GF EXP and/or monitor is going to be a cause.   I'm using the 24" Acer Predator Monitor XB241H which is G-Sync and 144hz.

 

Further, if it was GF EXP and/or Monitor, then it would have issues in other games as well, and not just BNS.  Right now this issue is limited to BNS only at least for me.

Edited August 27, 2016 by RageFrost

[MihoKiyohime]

I mentioned Geforce Experience because I had various FPS issues in Fallout 4 and disabling GF Experience/xbox resolved those. I think the issue was third party programs hooking into/overlaying games (for recording screen recording) and causing slowdowns and other issues. I know Discord's overlay has issues with BnS, which is known to them. It was worth a shot in disabling those if you haven't already. 

 

 

Have you tested other games in borderless mode?

From looking up issues related to borderless and low FPS, I see posts related to G-Sync/borderless/20FPS as well:

http://eu.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/17612062242

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/957952/geforce-drivers/gsync-full-and-windowed-borderless-low-fps/1/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/3fbn0i/low_fps_20_fps_in_windowed_high_fps_144_fps_in/

Some people had luck with disabling gsync and/or disabling FastBoot on Windows10. The first link has almost the same issue as you and some workarounds.

 

I don't have gsync so, yes, I can't see/test the same issues that you are experiencing.

Specs:

Windows 10 x64 Pro

GTX 1080 FTW

BenQ XL2411Z @ 120Hz 1920×1080

[RageFrost]

1 hour ago, MihoKiyohime said:

I mentioned Geforce Experience because I had various FPS issues in Fallout 4 and disabling GF Experience/xbox resolved those. I think the issue was third party programs hooking into/overlaying games (for recording screen recording) and causing slowdowns and other issues. I know Discord's overlay has issues with BnS, which is known to them. It was worth a shot in disabling those if you haven't already. 

 

 

Have you tested other games in borderless mode?

From looking up issues related to borderless and low FPS, I see posts related to G-Sync/borderless/20FPS as well:

http://eu.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/17612062242

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/957952/geforce-drivers/gsync-full-and-windowed-borderless-low-fps/1/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/3fbn0i/low_fps_20_fps_in_windowed_high_fps_144_fps_in/

Some people had luck with disabling gsync and/or disabling FastBoot on Windows10. The first link has almost the same issue as you and some workarounds.

 

I don't have gsync so, yes, I can't see/test the same issues that you are experiencing.

Specs:

Windows 10 x64 Pro

GTX 1080 FTW

BenQ XL2411Z @ 120Hz 1920×1080

No worries, whatever works works!

 

Also regarding those links,  Thing is I have overwatch, and overwatch has 0 problems,  Star Citizen has 0 problems,  Aces High 3 Beta has 0 problems,  Mirror's Edge Cataclysm, WOW, Doom all have 0 problems.  It's just BNS that is causing that FPS drop from what I've tested.

 

New problem I have now, is the drivers randomly start crashing and recovering continuously.  The one common factor I see when driver crashing occurs is Blade and Soul, and I happen to be starting a new character and in one of the lowbie zones at a certain point in the story quest is when that crashing starts to occur.   That being said however, once this crashing starts, it doesn't stop, and even carries over to the Desktop after I've shut down the game.

 

 So for the sake of argument I'm going to test the 372.54 drivers see if 1.  Crashing stops and 2. The issue doesn't reoccur with BNS and poor frame rates.

 

Will update again after testing.

Edited August 28, 2016 by RageFrost

[RageFrost]

Update:  Can confirm, 372.54 drivers fix the low FPS issue with BNS,  Now I just have to wait and see if the drivers crash again.

 

Crashing still there for newer drivers... FPS issue is resolved,  So I did what Miho suggested... DDU uninstalled drivers,  manually updated basic win10 driver with 372.54 driver from cache folder, without running the installer for nvidia that includes no geforce experience install as well.   So far everything seems to be working pending further testing.  This crash issue also seems to be related to G-Sync as well.  Since BNS runs in Full Screen Borderless windowed mode, I had windowed G-sync turned on.    Right now it's set to full screen g-sync but windowed g-sync is disabled.  

 

Going to test more tomorrow see if it's specific to windowed g-sync that's causing the driver crashes with BNS.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by RageFrost

[Zuzubell]

I have a similar issue with my FPS but only on Deserted Tomb, after a few minutes into the instance my fps drops to 5-8 FPS when in the other instances runs at 60-80.

I try a Windows clean install and Nvidia 368.81 368.95 and the 372.54 (worst driver).

U guys have this problem all the time or in determinate moments?

[RageFrost]

15 hours ago, Zuzubell said:

I have a similar issue with my FPS but only on Deserted Tomb, after a few minutes into the instance my fps drops to 5-8 FPS when in the other instances runs at 60-80.

I try a Windows clean install and Nvidia 368.81 368.95 and the 372.54 (worst driver).

U guys have this problem all the time or in determinate moments?

I'm not to sure what you are asking, but no I don't get that kind of FPS drops in dungeons.  However, bare in mind, in groups in particular when there are a lot of skills going around, that will drop frame rates.   And I've personally seen this occur in pretty much all NCSoft games, but not necessarily other games.   It's just the nature of the way the game is designed.  Skill spam causes some FPS drops, but it shouldn't be as drastic as you are saying.  It will depend to some degree on your system specs as well.

 

Another thing to note:  Desolate is the new dungeon.  So I expect the servers it's hosted on to be saturated because everyone and their mother wants to run it.  I wouldn't be surprised if your FPS improves over time to that extent.

 

That being said, the issue I talk about here is consistent no matter where in the game you are, or rather or not there are a ton of skills being used at the present time.

 

Did you try using DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller)  it will truly and cleanly uninstall every driver.   Once done, you can try what I did to fix driver crashing.  (So far so good for me).  DDU uninstall every video driver.  But instead of running the Video Driver installer, manually install the driver for your video card through Device Manager.   Then see if the issue still occurs.  By default Nvidia drivers unzip drivers to C:\NVIDIA folder.  That's where you point device manager to find the video driver.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2016 by RageFrost

[RageFrost]

Just to provide an update with driver crashing:  My issue is resolved to that extent, it appears it may be related as Miho suggested to nvidia experience.  So you will want to install the drivers through device manager rather than using Nvidia's installer.  DDU uninstall all drivers, then decompress Nvidia file by running it.  Once decompressed exit out of the installer, and use device manager to locate the video card drivers.

 

I was however able to reproduce the driver crash which again only happens in BNS and no other game.  When switching to "True" full screen mode with the 372.54 drivers it causes the driver to crash and recover continuously.   Only way to fix it is when it recovers for those brief couple of seconds revert BNS back to windowed mode, then switch back to full screen mode (WITHOUT forcing true full screen mode)

 

 

[RageFrost]

Update:  After further testing I figured out what is causing the low FPS, and it's a combination of 2 things.

 

Nvidia Driver Version:  372.54 (current newest)

 

1.  BNS -  is not working with G-Sync

 

2.  Nvidia G-Sync does not work in windowed mode with BNS and causes extremely low FPS while BNS is in "Borderless Full Screen Mode" (default for BNS) 

 

3.  Forcing "True Full Screen Mode" in BNS can cause Nvidia drivers to crash continuously.

 

BNS - Does not run in true full screen mode -  In my case when trying to force this Nvidia drivers continuously crash until the game is set back to windowed mode and then back to "Borderless Full Screen Mode"

 

Note:  By leaving G-Sync in Full Screen Mode:  BNS should operate normally with highest available FPS relative to PC setup.  Forcing True Full Screen Mode can cause Nvidia driver crashing.

 

TL:DR Both Nvidia drivers and BNS are the root cause of the issue.   I think NCSoft needs to get in contact with Nvidia to explain the situation, or if they don't care, then don't.   Either way, both Nvidia drivers and BNS are the problem.

 

 

 

BNS:  Borderless Full Screen Mode (Note: Ghost effect is not caused by either BNS or the drivers:  That's me moving the mouse at the time the picture was taken.) 

 

The screenshot below shows the fact G-Sync doesn't work in full screen mode, while BNS is in Borderless Full Screen Windowed Mode.

 

For those that do not know what G-Sync is or how it's supposed to work:  G-sync is a substitution for V-Sync, which dynamically changes refresh rates based on Frame Rate Performance to a minimum of 60hz.  So if your FPS is below 60, your minimum refresh is 60hz.  Where as the maximum refresh can reach on this monitor as high as 186hz assuming my FPS went that high and the game didn't limit FPS to 120.

 

Both V-Sync and G-Sync aid in the reduction or elimination of screen tearing.

 

 

This is what screen tearing looks like when it comes to fast motion graphics without V-Sync or G-Sync enabled.

 

Edited September 16, 2016 by RageFrost

[Ziel]

I want to personaly, thank you RageFrost ! Saved my life right here. I can now totally enjoy the 120fps with a 1070gtx ! <3 much lovvveee

 

Edited March 30, 2017 by Ziel

[Senza Mita]

On 3/30/2017 at 6:47 PM, Ziel said:

I want to personaly, thank you RageFrost ! Saved my life right here. I can now totally enjoy the 120fps with a 1070gtx ! <3 much lovvveee

 

Can you show me how to fix this :-? cause the post is a little old now for those driver