CPU: Intel i7-12700KF
RAM: 32 GB, XMP at 3600 Mhz
GPU: ASUS GTX 3080 Ti
Mobo: ROG STRIX Z690-A
Operating System: Windows 11
DXDiag and VulkanInfo
DXDiag - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KfK6Nr ... share_link
VulkanInfo - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vPL7xw ... share_link
The issue described has actually been present since I put this computer together around February/March of last year and has persisted despite multiple attempts to resolve it. Some suggestions I've run across have helped with overall performance but I still experience consistent, random performance drops that effectively halves my FPS and will persist until I take corrective action.
This is a completely vanilla game other than using a custom logo.
The chosen game start and state of the universe appears to have absolutely no effect. The problem can occur with only a handful of sectors explored.
I have all DLC (Including Kingdom End) purchased and enabled.
Issue:
I consistently experience severe performance degradation that appears to be due to some issue with the HUD UI (context provided in replies).
When the issue occurs, I'll see my FPS go from
144 to 70-80 (open space)
90-120 to under 60 and sometimes even in the 40s (around stations)
Situations in which this occurs:
- Engaging in combat (extremely common and most often occurs when combat first starts)
Flying around stations (common)
Flying through empty space (rare)
When the problem happens, I see an overall DECREASE in my CPU/GPU utilization.
As a test, I engaged 2 Split Mambas and 1 Cobra and during good performance, my CPU utilization was around 23%. When the problem happened, this decreased to around 16%. If I took corrective action, the CPU utilization would jump back up.
Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrTYGbd3dm8) was recorded AFTER the issue occurred while flying through relatively empty space in Turquoise Sea. I did not engage in combat, nor approach a station. I was flying looking for a target to engage in combat when I noticed that my FPS dropped drastically. As you can see, I should be getting around 130+ but was stuck around 75. The instant, I get out of the pilot chair, the performance is restored.
In this longer video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_dxNYEBIqc) (The issue occurs around 3:00) I demonstrate that my performance is generally rock solid, staying consistently above 140 while flying around but as soon as combat starts, it nosedives to ~75 despite this being me just shooting at a distress drone in virtually empty space.
Corrective Action:
It seems like virtually ANY change of UI context almost instantly brings the performance back. Activities I've seen restore the performance include:
-Pausing the game with Escape key
-Opening the map and then closing it
-Getting out of the pilot seat
-Alt-tabbing out and back in
-Opening and closing the debug console
If one of these actions is NOT taken, the poor performance will persist, it never resolves itself. I sat "engaged" in combat with a mining vessel (combat music was playing but I was 10km from target) while the issue was happening and waited 5 minutes without the issue resolving.
As soon as I stood up from the pilot seat the issue cleared and I went from ~75 to 144 FPS.
Troubleshooting attempted:
-Clean reinstall of Windows
-Clean reinstall and verification of X4 files
-Reinstall various drivers (sound, video, motherboard)
-BIOS update
-Enable/Disable Hyperthreading
-Apply/Remove a CPU overclock
-Set core affinity to disallow X4 from using the E-Cores
-Graphical settings appear to have absolutely no effect as I've tried all sorts of combinations and while overall performance is affected as you would expect, I still see massive degradation when the issue happens.
