SSD drive, btw... (It took about 3 times longer on my old HDD drive)

First, before, it took less the 10 seconds (about 7s) to load the game (Sanctuary) and now, it takes about ONE MINUTE!!! ONE MINUTE per load??? So I tried and tested and wasted much time but I found a temporary, unfully tested fix... It's a pain but at least it works for me!

First, there are 3 files that, if they have iPresentInterval=1, you must change it to iPresentInterval=0... It's the Vsync, I know, but it's the only way I got it to be fast loading (about 10s, that's still 5 to 6 times faster!). Files are

- Fallout4.ini

- Fallout4Custom.ini

- Fallout4Prefs.ini

(Not the ones in your FO4 folder (if there) but the ones in your Documents folder)

If it's not in the file, don't change it!

After that, you need to set the VSync in your Video card configuration to on... I only have a Nvidia card so I don't know how to do it on an AMD/ATI card... Not setting VSync on your video card will probably screw the game over... It did the same with TES games and the other Fallouts... But, just settings it to on, you don't waste one minute for every save EVEN ON A SSD drive!!! Unbearable!!!

I made those changes to iPresentInterval and decided I'd give it a go without enabling Vsync via Nvidia Control Panel.

As a result my loading times were reduced from around 20-30 seconds (outdoor areas) to 2 seconds. The game was running at around 100 FPS but sometimes spiking to 170 FPS and it was insanity, everything was sped up, it was obviously unplayable.

But it was interesting to see that the loading times were so greatly reduced.

Then I toggled Vsync on in Nvidia Control Panel and my loading times are now back to 20-30 seconds for outdoors.

I just don't understand... why? Are the loading times tied to the refresh rate?

My PC:

Windows 7 x64

CPU: i7-5820K @ 3.30GHz

GPU: Asus GTX 980 Strix OC

RAM: 16 GB

Drive: Kingston HyperX Predator M2 480 GB (OS and Programs installed here)

Tested it, it works. I'm on AMD so I had an extra Pref (since I once used the Gaming Evolved on this game) so I changed from 1 to 0 in those files and also set the Vsync to on (in Crimson it is called "Wait for Vertical").

I don't know if it will have any long term negative effects, but with this, it is playable again. I'm sick for the moment so I don't feel up to testing this thoroughly. But will when I feel better.

I dunno... Maybe they screwed some code up or something... One thing I noticed (and that's why I tried this) is that my SDD (light) flashed for few seconds (2 or 3) then, flash every 10 seconds or so... So, it's like, the game is waiting for the frames to tell it to load data or something...

This patch a mostly a scam in my eyes...

Another small observation:

I have a 144 Hz Monitor but I capped it to 120 Hz in Windows.

When I wrote my first post I capped the FPS in Nvidia Control Panel at 50% Monitor Refresh Rate so it got from uncapped (after the iPresentInterval changes) down to 60 FPS again.

And as a result the loading times did not improve.

Now I just tried capping it at 100% Monitor Refresh Rate (120 FPS) and the game has never run this smooth. It runs steady between 80 and 120 FPS. It's beautiful. Loading times are also about cut in half. BUT, not only does my GPU actually turn on its fans now (at 60 FPS Fallout 4 it never had to), they're going super fast and loud... not sure it will survive this. So this might not be a good option either.

I'm out of ideas. Might it be possible to uncap loading screen FPS and cap game FPS at the same time somehow? I don't understand how these things work.

This issue is everything in game is tied to the FPS with the engine. Physics, time, lod manager, even down to lockpicking and terminals.... Going over the 60 FPS the games mechanics begin to break, those with gysnc/freesync and or high refresh displays need to set iPresentInterval to 2. If that does not work you have to use 0, but then you have to set your gpu's software to force a frame limit. Unfortunately on nvidia gpus there is no tool like RadeonPro that forces the gpu at max clocks with an overdrive setting at least not that I know of. I have tried messing with the steam overlay turning on the FPS counter and high contrast color seems to with performance nvidia side. Using both AMD and Nvidia.

I'm having the exact same problem since patch 1.3

System specs

Maximus VII Hero motherboard

16GB memory

I7-4790K intel CPU

Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 TI

Logical disk drive made up of 4 x 250GB Samsung SSDs set up in a striped raid (raid 0)

I'm running the game in windowed borderless mode (it refuses to start up in full screen and just hangs on a black screen).

Before 1.3 my loading times were typically at most 5-10 secs. Or at least low enough that i wasn't bothered by it at all.

After 1.3 it's atrocious a lot of the time to the point where i've kind of given up playing. I've read that Bethesda supposedly fixed a bug causing this in one of the 1.3 beta patches, but for me this definately isn't fixed.

The problem is very much repeatable.

I've tried messing with the iPresentInterval as posted in this thread and it does seem to help the problem, however as pointed out by others for some silly reason the engine cannot run without developing big problems at high FPS.

Side effects of setting iPresentInterval to 0 i've confirmed so far is:

• Crazy fast scroll speed on menus using the keyboard (i.e. press down once and scroll down 20 entries)


• Lock picking going on steroids and moving the pins as well as spinning the lock insanely fast to the point where pins just break instantly.


• Physics problems (very brief experiences, but it seems to back up what others are saying)


• Stuck when exiting terminals.

The loading time problem is very much repeatable, and seems to happen mostly for me on the "black" loading screens with no 3d model and only the vault tech logo pulsing in the corner.

One test i can reproduce consistently is this:

1. Load quicksave in Sanctuary (a little longer than normal load time in 1.3)


2. Fast travel to Cambridge Police Station (normal to slightly longer load time in 1.3)


3. Enter cambridge police station (a little longer than normal load time in 1.3)


4. Walk through the building and take the door exiting to the roof (black loading screen with the vault tech icon taking ages to load).

With the default value of iPresentInterval=1 i've run the above test several times with the steam overlay counter showing FPS while doing it.

Results are on average along these lines:

1. Takes around 8-12 secs to load


2. Takes around 7-10 secs to load


3. Takes around 10-12 secs to load


4. Varies wildly in loading time, but it's anywhere from 40+ seconds to 3+ minutes.

The FPS is capped by iPresentInterval and typically stays at 50 or within a few numbers of it.

Setting iPresentInterval=0 i've rerun the test a bunch of times.

The results are:

1. Takes 6-7 secs (running at around 500 fps while loading)


2. Takes around 7 secs (running at around 500 fps while loading)


3. Takes around 2 secs (running at around 750 fps, it's hard to get an accurate reading since the load is so fast)


4. Takes around 7 secs (running at around 750 fps vault tech logo visible in the corner and is pulsing much faster than normal due to the high frame rate).

The results i'm getting by setting iPresentInterval=0 means that my game runs at a much smoother framerate in general (because it's not capped by the game any more), i experience less mouse smoothing or input lag in general, and the load times are improved by a lot. The load times with iPresentInterval=0 seem to be even better than before patch 1.3, however the side effects of using iPresentInterval=0 are somewhat game breaking.

There is no doubt in my mind that the loading times seem to be tied to the framerate at which the game runs while on loading screens. Why in the world Bethesda would tie these two things together i cannot fathom, it seems like a giant bug or a complete misdesign in the engine. The iPresentInterval=0 tests clearly shows that my computer is able to load the areas much faster than i achieved even before patch 1.3. When forcing us into a loading screen the games only goal should be to get us through that loading screen in record time, not tie our loading times to the framerate which you've already put an ariticial cap on.

Something was clearly broken in patch 1.3 to make the loading times worse for a lot of players (i've seen this complaint in several places by now). The common denominator for the people having the problems seems to be SSDs, but i'm not sure why that should be a factor.

Bethesda, please put some attention on this problem. I love your games, despite the many flaws they are often born with I've put many hundreds of hours into skyrim and i'm already at a few hundred in Fallout 4. Unfortunately at the moment Fallout 4 is in an unplayable state for me, we need a new patch or at least some way to revert to before patch 1.3.

Thanks

A long time fan.

Ok here are your options

iPresentInterval set it to 0 but they you have to lock your fps to 60 in the nvidia control panel You can try 60-70 But keep in mind anything over 60 you already know.

iPresentInterval set it to 2 this is for high refresh rate displays try setting your fps in the nvidia control panel again same as above the 2 is for high refresh rate displays

Power Options in the nvidia control panel set it to Performance under global

Steam overlay turn on the FPS counter and set it to high contrast color that is not an option its a must.

You can also try reverting the game back a version http://www.speedrun.com/Fallout_4/thread/fvo80

Get the hotfix for your gpus that just came out the other day, I did a driver search on nvidia's site and it is not even listed here is the URL

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/download-nvidia-geforce-hot-fix-driver-361-82.html

I haven't installed that patch yet, but the game plays the same.

As i can see it fixes only this bug: "The bug made your installed GPUs appear as a removable device in your system tray."

Thanks for mentioning though.

The driver fix affects more than just that, and an assortment of gpus, if you do not have the issue stop clogging up the op's post. They are the one looking for help.

assortment of gpus?

Yeah, okay!

I have read all the posts on that topic. I really don't know how that patch should have anything in common with the OPs problem.

Of course the patch is free. So they can try it anyway. I wish the OP good luck!

---------

That's what the patch is for: https://www.techpowerup.com/219723/nvidia-outs-hotfix-driver-to-address-graphics-card-eject-bug.html

So your point is irrelevant!

Go read the nvidia forums, the last set of drivers caused more than just that issue, and it is causing a ton of peoples games to do lots of crazy things. When there is an issue with a GPU driver, while troubleshooting any game, it is best to have the latest driver fixes, or the last good driver that was solid. Like you for example no issues. people from an assortment of 900 series cards with last driver update before the hotfix the issue is affecting them differently, the hotfix for the drivers is to rule that out. So my point is very relevant. That is not the only thing I said to do as well, and you stated you have no issues, so help these guys find a solution or move on.

well this won't help either, but I just did some more goofing around with the FPS and loading saves.

Created a new game and saved once arrived in post-apocalyptic Sanctuary and tested loading times with different FPS caps.

(All loads from Main Menu)

Uncapped: 2-3 seconds (loading screen sometimes shows up to 500 FPS...?!)

Capped at 120 FPS: ~10 seconds

Capped at 60 FPS (game default): ~20-30 seconds, varies a lot

Anyway, the game is super funky at Uncapped (everything runs too fast all of a sudden, terminals/lockpicking/animations.)

Capped at 120 FPS it's better but still sped up slightly.

Since both Uncapped and 120 FPS capped make my GPU scream for mercy they're not really an option but at least it's now very obvious to me that there's the culprit - on my system that is. Seems to vary from user to user.

That being said, default was better BEFORE the patch for me too, maybe 15-20 seconds instead of the now 20-30.

Think I'm going to try and revert back to the previous version.

I didn't say anything about not installing that update! lol

It's just difficult to believe, this will fix the huge loading times.

I just mentioned that this huge (in my opinion) patch or update or whatever, fixes one thing only according to Nvidia.

Don't be angry...with me.

Well, here's my experience... I tend to run the game streaming from my gaming laptop to my Mac. Why? Because the Mac has a bigger, better screen, and my home network is fast enough to handle it with no difficulty. Before the patch, all was well. Post patch - I got excessively long load times on the 'black' loading screens. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, moved the game to various different hard drives. Still with the problem. Then today, I decided to play the game directly on the laptop. Guess what ... all the lengthy screens disappeared, and it was back to the 2 - 3 seconds it normally takes to go from one area to another. I played it for a LONG time to be sure I was seeing things right. Then I streamed the game again - and the long wait times were back.

So, it does appear that something in the new patch has screwed up regarding something to do with frame-sync, game physics, or whatever it does to 'prepare' areas when you enter them. I've caught the game dropping things from the sky to let the physics engine place them... I imagine that kind of thing happens when it loads up a new area - it 'drops' things to the ground so that everything is resting naturally according to the game's physics engine and collision rules. On a black screen, this can happen very quickly because it's not really running 'frames' -- the physics acts 'unbound'. Except when the system is locked to a fixed frame rate - like when you are streaming the game, or when you are dikeing around with vsync settings. Whatever this behavior is, it is DIFFERENT in the new patch than it was prior to the patch. And all of these people are now experiencing this issue.

Anyway, I have a new gaming rig on the way, and a new monitor for it, so I won't be streaming my stuff much longer and I won't have to look at a dinky laptop screen to run this fantastic game.

This game is stingy with performance and that this fix kinda works is worth thousand lols.

For me the load times are the same, but I've found FPS sink place http://i.imgur.com/XmFtfwW.jpgfor whatever reason here framerate dropped to 35-37 frames, even looking on ground makes it 48-52. It's near ArcJet Systems when you get out of elevator with paladin.

However after changing to 0 the ini files and waiting few seconds after loading staring into nothingness (because immidate after load fps is still low), all of the sudden I get 100 frames there. With ROG Swift monitor changing to 60 frames is easy and it is stable there. Still there are places that it drops (bushes near entrence and trees of Arcjest systems for example), but it's better than going through motions of 30-60 frames.

SSAO, shadow distance medium, lightning high, everything else ultra, 1440p.

What is also weird are recommended specs for this game being 3GB card - I have gtx 980, i7-4790, 16bg ram, so my guess would be I should easly play it in 1440p without fps sinking this hard, but this game has proven me wrong.

They are tied to the frame rate. It is a "feature" of Beth's engine that has been around since Morrowind.

Bethesda any comments on this please? Some sort of acknowledgement would be very nice like: "We're investigating the problem" or "We've reproduced this internally and are working on a fix" ?

Because everything is tied into the FPS/refresh rate. like everything.