Stuttering (FPS drops), what's the effective cure?

  • Thread starter LS Chiou
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LS Chiou

LS Chiou

368
Taiwan
Taiwan
There're already some threads on the FPS problems, but I'd like to know more about how to cure it.

Let's focus on what have been (or can be) done and their effects on FPS in real life experiences, instead of debating on the detail operations of coding or machine, shall we?

A slim 120G (CECH-2107A) here, bought with GT5, obvious stuttering at some occasions like the twisty downhill of Bathrust, around start of Le Mans and Spa ... etc. There's no such symptom when playing GT5.

Trees or shadows or other textures disappear first then show up in delay time are happening frequently in replays. These happened in GT5 but seemed not as bad as GT6.

I set it down to 720p, but there's little or no help. All picture enhancements on console setting is off (default). In the OE HDD, there're GT5 and GT6 game data, and 2 or 3 other trial version games which are already there since GT5 era. I don't put any ripped media into it and download things only a few times. Linked by wired ADSL. HDMI connection to Panasonic Plasma TV, which performs very well in all DVD and BD I've seen.

Any comments?
 
There's no "cure" for sloppy coding or poor optimization. You can drop the PS3's resolution to 720p which will give you slightly better performance in GT6 but there's no way to eliminate the framerate drops completely.
 
I know there's always limitation. However, there seem to be a handful of lucky guys pretty satisfied by what they see. I want to be one of them. Subjective experiences aside, I've also seen different performances on YouTube. Some are obviously smoother than others. Differences are there.

So, there might be something we can do. I'd like to know it.
 
Go to the main menu, then to display settings, and set the image quality to Sharpen. That should help with the framerate a little bit but it will cause screentearing. If you change the setting to Flicker Reduction, it will reduce screentear but the framerate will be worse.

Other than that, you can't really do anything else, besides wait for more of PD's patches that will hopefully optimize the game more.

Just yesterday I deleted all of the patches to compare the physics to v1.00, but I also noticed v1.00 had noticeably more screen tear compared to v1.03 on Bathurst, so there's a good chance PD is still optimizing the game.
 
LS Chiou
There're already some threads on the FPS problems, but I'd like to know more about how to cure it.

Let's focus on what have been (or can be) done and their effects on FPS in real life experiences, instead of debating on the detail operations of coding or machine, shall we?

A slim 120G (CECH-2107A) here, bought with GT5, obvious stuttering at some occasions like the twisty downhill of Bathrust, around start of Le Mans and Spa ... etc. There's no such symptom when playing GT5.

Trees or shadows or other textures disappear first then show up in delay time are happening frequently in replays. These happened in GT5 but seemed not as bad as GT6.

I set it down to 720p, but there's little or no help. All picture enhancements on console setting is off (default). In the OE HDD, there're GT5 and GT6 game data, and 2 or 3 other trial version games which are already there since GT5 era. I don't put any ripped media into it and download things only a few times. Linked by wired ADSL. HDMI connection to Panasonic Plasma TV, which performs very well in all DVD and BD I've seen.

Any comments?
Click to expand...

I got slim 120 gb PS3 + GT6 disk v. and (after playing that other 60fps game for 5-6 years:D) I really need to be picky to see any framerate problems during races (from obvious reason cockpit view gets a few frames less smoother than bumper or 3rd person view), in replay there is antoher thing and there are instances when game just try to render too much (and framerate might get choppy- such as turn 2 on bathurst going uphill) , but again it is not gamebreaking to me.

Since game heavily streams from hd and br ,you might try to turn off music for racing > go into gallery, playlists and clear/delete race music playlists. That will disable music streaming from bR while you're racing and get a bR player a break from nonstop streaming multiple things at once. Note ,that putting music volume on 0 in menus does not disable music streaming just turns off music volume> you need to clear playlist* to turn it off.:D

That may help or not ,try it . At least puts a less load on bluray drive. Also , how far did your autoinstall come > from PS3 menu my GT6 shows 13gb big.

Other than that , standard 720p mode or seting up "sharper" option in menus should help you get few frames here and there as noticed in DigitalFoundry analysis of GT6.

*If you want to restore playlist just go into library,select one random song and put it onto race playlist then choose restore default playlist and you'll get all music back.
 
I'm going to try a SSD hard drive w/ downloaded game, mostly for loading times, but frame rate drop may improve, I will post up with results tomorrow.
 
This thread is relevant to the OP's question: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/gt6-framerate-depends-on-which-console-you-have.295306/

As far as 'sharpen image' is concerned, I thought it reduced anti-aliasing (making aliasing worse) and improved framerate. I've tried it myself - I can't say that I noticed much difference.

I've found the framerate to be very bad for quite a few tracks (Bathurst, Ascari). I reduced settings in the XMB and even turned off trophy notifications. I also reduced the screen size in the GT6 display menu.

Again, I can't say with confidence that those changes I made have really made much improvement.

Framerate seems to be much better when the track is fixed time, no weather, fewer AI.

EDIT: and using 720p makes it really ugly
 
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On my superslim PS3 I very rarely have any framerate drops except at Bathurst. It occasionally gets very juddery and gets worse if it's at night. It sometimes gives an effect similar to GT2's 'shapeshifting'.It's still playable, but in a longer race it gives me a headache and makes it harder to put together a good lap.
 
Vspectra
Go to the main menu, then to display settings, and set the image quality to Sharpen. That should help with the framerate a little bit but it will cause screentearing. If you change the setting to Flicker Reduction, it will reduce screentear but the framerate will be worse.
Click to expand...

I can confirm that this is most certainly the case. I have mine set to Sharpen & there are definitely less frame rate issues as a result. I also have my PS3 set to 720P which runs smoother, but you will get more jaggies/flickering/shimmering etc at that resolution.


LS Chiou
Thanks guys. It's beyond my understanding that sharpen is helpful.
Click to expand...

Me too! I thought it worked the same way as the Sharpen option would on a TV, not so. Also, try setting HDMI Full Range to Limited, & Deep Colour to Off in your PS3's Display Settings. I've heard that helps too. I have all music turned off as well, I don't want that eating into processing power that could go to better use in GT6. I set PS Smoothing to Off under Game Settings in the XMB, as it makes no difference to image quality, & probably takes up processing power to run. Basically, turn off everything that isn't absolutely necessary.

I hope you manage to get it running a little better. 👍
 
Slim 150GB DL version. I use cockpit view only.
The framerate fluctuation is getting in the way of my enjoyment of the game.
In combination with the aliasing and the dancing shadows I'm not able to play the game for any significant amount of time and have put the game on the shelf for now.

I hear a lot of people saying GT6 looks amazing, PD are wizards, pushes PS3 beyond it's limits etc.
I'd argue that they pushed it too far and it looks like a mess as a result.

I'm positive that this will be rectified to some extent in future patches.
Until then I'm going outside :lol:
 
@Vegard - I only use in car view & feel the same as you. All I'm doing in GT6 at the moment is going for the occassional drive on tracks that don't flicker that bad. The Ring 24 Hour, Brands Hatch...err...yeah...that's about it! :lol: I find that when I'm driving in Free Run, if I set the track to 25% weather, then the anti aliasing works slightly better.
 
VBR
I can confirm that this is most certainly the case. I have mine set to Sharpen & there are definitely less frame rate issues as a result. I also have my PS3 set to 720P which runs smoother, but you will get more jaggies/flickering/shimmering etc at that resolution.




Me too! I thought it worked the same way as the Sharpen option would on a TV, not so. Also, try setting HDMI Full Range to Limited, & Deep Colour to Off in your PS3's Display Settings. I've heard that helps too. I have all music turned off as well, I don't want that eating into processing power that could go to better use in GT6. I set PS Smoothing to Off under Game Settings in the XMB, as it makes no difference to image quality, & probably takes up processing power to run. Basically, turn off everything that isn't absolutely necessary.

I hope you manage to get it running a little better. 👍
Click to expand...
Do you know if "sharpen image" makes the jaggies worse? Or is the only downside the screentear?
 
SillyBillyP
Do you know if "sharpen image" makes the jaggies worse? Or is the only downside the screentear?
Click to expand...

I didn't notice any more jaggies after turning on Sharpen image, it just made the frame rate smoother.
 
Squint so everything goes blurry then you wont notice it so much.
Failing that, try polishing the game disc. Make sure there are no fingerprints or smudges.
 
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LS Chiou
There're already some threads on the FPS problems, but I'd like to know more about how to cure it.

Let's focus on what have been (or can be) done and their effects on FPS in real life experiences, instead of debating on the detail operations of coding or machine, shall we?

A slim 120G (CECH-2107A) here, bought with GT5, obvious stuttering at some occasions like the twisty downhill of Bathrust, around start of Le Mans and Spa ... etc. There's no such symptom when playing GT5.

Trees or shadows or other textures disappear first then show up in delay time are happening frequently in replays. These happened in GT5 but seemed not as bad as GT6.

I set it down to 720p, but there's little or no help. All picture enhancements on console setting is off (default). In the OE HDD, there're GT5 and GT6 game data, and 2 or 3 other trial version games which are already there since GT5 era. I don't put any ripped media into it and download things only a few times. Linked by wired ADSL. HDMI connection to Panasonic Plasma TV, which performs very well in all DVD and BD I've seen.

Any comments?
Click to expand...

GT7/PS4...assuming they don't screw it up.
 
@Vspectra & GregOr1971,

Thanks a lot for the tips and the info of Digital Foundry. Will look into it.:bowdown:

Last night I checked all those settings, and I was surprised that it's ticked at Flicker Reduction. Who did that? :banghead:

I set it to normal. And I deleted all racing BGM in the playlist. These two are very helpful. I checked Bathrust and Spa/Sarthe in RainMaster, they're indeed significantly improved. Still some stuttering there but overall much smoother. At this stage, it's very acceptable already.👍

I was so happy that I switched it back to 1080p. Ah~ the graphic is so much nicer. I almost forget it can be that good. And, to my surprise again, to my (exhausted) eyesight, it seemed the smoothness remained pretty much the same as 720p. Then I tried Sharpen, well, TBH I didn't detect the difference, either. :sly:

Oh well, maybe I was too tired at that moment. Fought against R8 LMS previously and it was very late. Will check again.

(Oh, er, in the replay of Rain Master / Sarthe, in those passages with lots of cars in the bends, stuttering is very very bad. It's so severe that it looks like the TV and I are rocking side to side and out of phase in an earthquake... )


@hognhominy

Looking forward to see your result.

I've read here somewhere that HDD/SSD is nothing to do with FR, but there're also a few people said SSD would make it smoother. How it really works (in streaming, cache... etc) is far beyond me. I just hope it would help.

Oh, wait, download version? That's another variable. I got a disc.
 
LS Chiou
@hognhominy

Looking forward to see your result.

I've read here somewhere that HDD/SSD is nothing to do with FR, but there're also a few people said SSD would make it smoother. How it really works (in streaming, cache... etc) is far beyond me. I just hope it would help.

Oh, wait, download version? That's another variable. I got a disc.
Click to expand...
I also currently have a disc, and will test with that first, but I will purchase a D/L copy and pass the disc on to my brother.
Drive to be delivered tomorrow, we'll see if/what effect it will have.
 
NFSCARBON1
On my superslim PS3 I very rarely have any framerate drops except at Bathurst. It occasionally gets very juddery and gets worse if it's at night. It sometimes gives an effect similar to GT2's 'shapeshifting'.It's still playable, but in a longer race it gives me a headache and makes it harder to put together a good lap.
Click to expand...
We all have the same tearing and framerate its just some notice it more than others.
 
SillyBillyP
This thread here suggests that performance depends on the console you have:
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/gt6-framerate-depends-on-which-console-you-have.295306/
although I agree with your point: some see it more than others

Yep, that occured to me. GT5 performs a whole lot better and looks a lot better too.
Click to expand...
Yeah i don't believe there is any difference between models of PS3.
It is most likely a number of factors.

I'm pretty sure all PS3s would give same results in same circumstances.

Would love Digital Foundry to investigate though.
 
I set image quality to sharpen ( cockpit view 1080p ) and fiddled about with tv settings a bit (sharpen on that also). Running Superslim 128GB Plextor SSD + PSN version. I'm well happy with the performance and don't get any screen tear. Just a bit of judder at high speed turns, which i tell myself it's car vibrations lol
 
Since I'm using headphones mostly now, I switched the audio settings from 5.1 to Stereo, probably made as much difference as sharpen and flicker settings... i.e. maybe a bit better.
 
720p, bumper cam, avoid tracks with day/night or weather. The less cars on track with you the better.

Yes, it sucks that you have to avoid some of the games best features (cockpits, weather and time) in order to get it to run smoothly. But it is what it is.
 

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