we added a new profiling option (I’m not sure if it has shipped yet…) called vprof_vtrace. It lets us get more details about slow frames. If you are still having problems then you might want to try it and submit a trace. To use it go:
vprof_on
vprof_vtrace
vprof_dump_spikes 40
vprof_dump_oninterval 5
The parameter to vprof_dump_spikes is the frame rate threshold – extra data is recorded on frames that drop below that time. You want that parameter as low as possible so that it only triggers when there is a problem. When a slow frame is detected a message will be printed to the console and extra data will be inserted into the VTrace stream. The vprof_dump_oninterval just gives us a baseline so we can see what things look like normally.
Bruce just emailed me this. You can download the Vtrace software from Steam which is used to help them determine what may/may not be the problem with FPS issues. I can't really play TF2 anymore, so if someone still having these problems wants to try this, go ahead and continue the conversation with Bruce for me.
bruced@valvesoftware.com
[quote]we added a new profiling option (I’m not sure if it has shipped yet…) called vprof_vtrace. It lets us get more details about slow frames. If you are still having problems then you might want to try it and submit a trace. To use it go:
vprof_on
vprof_vtrace
vprof_dump_spikes 40
vprof_dump_oninterval 5
The parameter to vprof_dump_spikes is the frame rate threshold – extra data is recorded on frames that drop below that time. You want that parameter as low as possible so that it only triggers when there is a problem. When a slow frame is detected a message will be printed to the console and extra data will be inserted into the VTrace stream. The vprof_dump_oninterval just gives us a baseline so we can see what things look like normally.[/quote]
Bruce just emailed me this. You can download the Vtrace software from Steam which is used to help them determine what may/may not be the problem with FPS issues. I can't really play TF2 anymore, so if someone still having these problems wants to try this, go ahead and continue the conversation with Bruce for me.
bruced@valvesoftware.com
Hey Kirby, I read this whole thread and I know that this is a really deep issue that probably won't be fixed by anything short and simple, but I just wanted to say a couple of things that have helped me recently.
Besides cleaning out my computer and putting new thermal paste on my cpu and gpu, I've also started using an fps cap via MSI afterburner.
It may sound silly but capping my fps at 132 makes my cpu more consistent and keeps my frames right where they need to be. The tf2 fps cap sucks and that's why I started using the MSI one.
This is a long shot I know, but I also know how desperate you are at this point. Maybe you'll give it a shot. Good luck anyhow.
Hey Kirby, I read this whole thread and I know that this is a really deep issue that probably won't be fixed by anything short and simple, but I just wanted to say a couple of things that have helped me recently.
Besides cleaning out my computer and putting new thermal paste on my cpu and gpu, I've also started using an fps cap via MSI afterburner.
It may sound silly but capping my fps at 132 makes my cpu more consistent and keeps my frames right where they need to be. The tf2 fps cap sucks and that's why I started using the MSI one.
This is a long shot I know, but I also know how desperate you are at this point. Maybe you'll give it a shot. Good luck anyhow.
Bumping this because I've come to the conclusion that this FPS drop isn't only in TF2, it's in every game.
I've ruled out it being a virus of some sort and as you read, I've ruled out it being a TF2 problem. I'm guessing the problem lies somewhere in either the GPU or CPU in some way. There's nothing giving me any hints as to what it could be with either of those two, though.
I'm not overheating, so that's not it. I may need to do some deep cleaning and get some canned air asap. Thermal paste too, possibly. The part about this entire problem that bothers me the most is not being able to figure out what the problem is exactly.
Bumping this because I've come to the conclusion that this FPS drop isn't only in TF2, it's in every game.
I've ruled out it being a virus of some sort and as you read, I've ruled out it being a TF2 problem. I'm guessing the problem lies somewhere in either the GPU or CPU in some way. There's nothing giving me any hints as to what it could be with either of those two, though.
I'm not overheating, so that's not it. I may need to do some deep cleaning and get some canned air asap. Thermal paste too, possibly. The part about this entire problem that bothers me the most is not being able to figure out what the problem is exactly.