Yes, TF2 is terribly optimized. I have a 4770k and a 780 Ti and I just barely stay over 150 fps in midfights. Your cpu is likely the problem if you are looking to upgrade

I have an i5 4690k, gtx 960 and I get over 150 in mids

As much as I wish this would happen, I really wish that tf2 had gotten a source 2 port or at least a remake to be better optimized. even on low graphics settings I hate not getting stable fps despite how much I enjoy playing tf2

Presumably optimization updates are coming with mm to try to allow more people to play seeing as they are requiring dx9, but then again we are talking about Valve

What are your settings? Do you use an FPS config?

Probably not worth the upgrade. Benchmarks show gains as small as 10 fps with a Skylake CPU in games like GTA5 which are far more demanding, and all my other games run perfectly fine. TF2 just looks like it's a mess when it comes to optimization. You can tell they stopped caring about performance and balance with this game and turned the main focus to monetizing the players.

TF2 ≠ GTA5. TF2 barely uses your GPU and mostly uses the CPU. You can check various threads on these forums or use Google to check for yourself. I know it's counter-intuitive, but it is true for TF2.

I never said it equals, was just an example showing that CPU upgrade in my shoes isn't worth the price of a new motherboard, cpu, and ddr4 for a minuscule gain. I can run CSGO maxed at 1080p at 300-500 fps. It's just TF2. Even the older CSS I can run stable at 400fps maxed, lol.

A 2600k at 4.4 should still provide good fps, especially at 1024x768!

When you say dips, can you elaborate? Even if you have capped fps it doesn't ALWAYS stay right at 144 even if your computer is from NASA. Rather, I'll rephrase - DO you have fps capped?

What values do you get in a midfight with fps_max 0 enabled?

When I spawn, I have 300-400 fps. As soon as I walk outside it drops to 200'ish. As soon as I engage in fights, it drops even more. And on payload maps where lots are on cart and enemies attacking us, it can drop to as low as 80-90.

Any FPS config? I have a 3770K @ 4Ghz, I'm fine in comp, sometimes in pubs tho I'll dip to 80 FPS or so. FPS hasn't been good since the new skins came out.

No, but I guess I will have to. Kind of pathetic this game can't even hold a decent FPS on modern hardware with all low settings, low res, and on the recommended 24 slot servers. It's kind of a joke when you remember this game is nearly 10 years old.

It is pathetic. I have a GTX 980, and the 3770K @ 4Ghz is still pretty darn strong, maybe only 10% behind other mid grade 5th or 6th gen i7 CPU's at stock clocks. I run an FPS config with most things set to low but my res is at 1080p.

One thing that some people don't realize is that your mouse movement is heavily tied to your FPS. Even though 80 FPS might still look visually quite smooth, if you have fluctuating mouse movement as your FPS changes, that can influence the smoothness of your aim pretty significantly. So if they re-engineered the way the mouse works in conjunction with FPS, then FPS swings wouldn't be a big problem.

Are all PC games dependent on FPS for good mouse movement/input or is it just a problem with the source engine?

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Sorry, but I have to do this:

No, you don't. There is no i5-2600K.
It could be an i7-2600K or an i5-2500K.

You could run the benchmark demo to see if your performance is in the right ballpark.

It's an i7, simple typo. Either way, both CPU are nearly identical minus hyperthreading. Also, what's the reason to run a benchmark when I can monitor my FPS real-time and see there is a problem? I think it's the game, as people with better chips are sharing the same sentiment.

x

Lmao. I read his post as an i7 2600k when he accidentally wrote i5. woops

Really?You can hold that in heavy action? What are your specs? What OS?

my pc is utter shit i get 200 in mids on 1920x1080 with just dx9 no phong

lies

Curious, what operating system are you on?

Just installed an FPS config. Frames are stable 300+ now. On simple maps like 2fort, I can hold 400 fps. Goes to around 600 fps in empty rooms looking at walls. The game doesn't look bad at all with the FPS config either. It doesn't look like the quality has degraded that much. And this is with dx98 launch option! I think something is wrong with how this game handles certain CPUs, or some effect is solely responsible for crippling the CPU. Just doesn't make sense how I can go from dipping to low 80 fps on 2fort, to 400fps stable with an fps config.

Ah yes the true professional approach to diagnosing performance problems:
"Why run a benchmark, I can see the fps are lower than the should be. Well at least lower than I've heard other people say the should be. They said other people with better hardware are getting more fps."

Simply benchmarking and then comparing the result to the results of similar hardware with similar settings would've told you right off the bat that nothing is wrong and you just have to use even lower settings.

x

Or because, you know, a 2600k overclocked to 4.4ghz with a 970 getting drops to 80fps on all low settings @ 1024x768? Doesn't take a benchmark to tell you something is wrong in that scenario. I've already mentioned all my other games run fine, so it's not hardware related. That's like me telling you my car is broken and can only do 20mph on the highway and you telling me go to the race track to try and max it out there. What's the point?

I can get up to 400+ fps in tf2 but my fps drops down to 80-90. Capping my fps doesn't help at all and it doesn't make aiming during frame drops more consistent.
My computer setup is this:
CPU: i7 2600k (not overclocked)
RAM: 8GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 1GB
also my storage is fairly fast at 170mbs read/write.
TF2 is horribly optimized and it doesn't take a genius to tell that. A 9 year old game that gets constant updates should not run this badly, it's fine that tf2 uses the cpu more, but even top level cpus in average rigs can't keep up means something is wrong.
But hey you can buy a really expensive computer so you can run this game smoothly!

I have the same CPU (not overclocked, sitting at 3.5 rn) but with a 970. I get steady 250-300 fps on every map except suijin and sunshine.

On badlands I can get up to 750 fps, usually in valley. Any of the maps used in 6s I can consistently get above 300-350 fps.

fps configs make tf2 great. Less clutter & more fps.