FPS drops from 120+ to 40 when quickloading after a save Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

My pc has a 9900k @5GHz AORUS XTREME 2080ti and 16GB of RAM clocked at 3700MHz so you would think the game would run really well? However it doesn't and I think it's because my CPU usage is max 15% and GPU sits under 50% usage. Is there any way to make the game use more because I know I can get way more fps. Also I generally have 120+ fps but when I quickload my saves it drops to 40 and stays there, but when I do an animation like healing the screen goes black and I have 120+ fps again. How do I fix this?

The engine is from 2009, it doesn't know how to fully utilize advanced hardware. Are you looking at thread useage, or only overall CPU useage? This engine will max out thread zero and use the others much less. I will assume cooling is not a problem, but if thread zero is maxed out, you might want to verify there is no throttling going on.

Where are you quick saved at? When you reload, NPC and mutant squads may become aware of you position and switch from passive to active/alerted status. Also, I do not recommend any system be configured with higher than 400m alife.ltx switch_distance. Stick with the default 300 until you know everything is working 100% to your satisfaction and add no more than another 100m or the game its self will behave with unintended results. Note: the orginal game was set at 150m.

All that being said, for your FPS to lock at 40 FPS is abnormal. Some rare users report gradually decreasing FPS over time or in certain locations, but this is a rare memory issue, normally rectified by exiting the game and restarting it. In dozens of systems I have build, I have never personally experienced it in 7000+ hours of play.

I would check out my tips page: Moddb.com and make sure you have optimized your specific hardware configuration and are using the best settings for you. Call of Pripyat does not fully utilize the features of DX11, so you may find your GPU actually works better on another renderer. Also, AN4.03 (Absolute Nature) with its millions of blades of grass and leaves on bushes/trees presents a horrific burden on the CPU when shadows are maxed out. CPU?, Yes, Xray uses the CPU to calculate shadows vs. the GPU. There is a COP benchmark you can run on each renderer and see where your CPU/GPU combo work their best. I was shocked to find that while I could place in the all-time top ten in most categories, I was way down at #18 on the High DX10 benchmark. Note this benchmark reviews your performance on COP, not MISERY, which is much more demanding. It will however reveal which renderers work best.

If you have, as I observe most high-end computer users attempt, everything maxed out (shadows, grass height and draw distance, sun rays, etc.) you will not achieve the best performance. Also, the only benefit from running at max FPS is a warmer room. Rock solid 60 FPS or your displays native frequency is much preferred for longevity and smoothness of play than letting your system struggle to produce ever frame possible.

Regarding alife, I have it set on the high end rig option, how would I revert it back? And also the thing is my PC isn't struggling at all, so that's why I find it weird that I get such low FPS, and I just checked and CPU 0 is indeed maxed while the others are barely getting used.

Maxed is ok if no throttling is happening. I used to use project lasso to reserve thread zero for system and background and my other 15 threads work more evenly. Based upon my with and without Lasso results on the benchmark tests, I am no longer convinced it helps. It definitely does even the load, but no better performance.

Edit gamedata/configs/alife.ltx and change the first value after the = sign to 300 and see if it helps. The default AN4 grass distance is too high IMHO for MISERY, I suggest everyone download and install AN4 with the lowest height and draw distances possible. Less grass equals less shadows. Turn down the shadow quality some too, you won't notice any quality difference and it will unburden your CPU some. You have the added benefit by installing AN4 over to choose one of the other eight themes for each map. Just be sure to use the same FOV you used when installing MISERY. BTW, 90 FOV is bad for performance. I recommend 55 as it is HALF the workload and the FOV the original game is designed for. The FOV's must match for weapon zooms to be correct.

I just reinstalled the game with the settings you gave me, how would I download and install AN4? What is it exactly?

I quickloaded a game again after I saved and my FPS went from 100+ to -40 again even with these settings, but grass detail is still maxed.

Absolute Nature 4 : Moddb.com

Maxing out grass detail and using more than the lowest height and draw distance (the AN4 included with MISERY is NOT at the lowest settings) will KILL your FPS.

Even with an SLI setup, your frame rates will be killed with too much grass. It is simply too many shadows and too many lines for a system to try and un-zag with AA.

I installed that mod you gave me and the fps is better now but still not as good as I would've liked. But I guess it's an old engine so not much room for improvement.

Nothing beyond 60 FPS is of any use unless you have a 120Hz monitor. Either way, you should limit at 60 or 120 if you have a 120Hz monitor. You should never run full out. It is bad for your monitor, wasted energy and lifespan of your components. You did not mention if you are running on an SSD. With your other hardware, I would guess so. Turning off AA might do the trick for you. The textures used on the grass are very small, so almost no improvement can be made on them. Are you playing in UHD or just 1080P? Also, due to the increase in CAS at higher than 3200MHz for your RAM, there is no mathematical improvement. Your best performance should be at 3200 FYI.