Problem ~20fps on minimum settings, perhaps game uses Intel graphics?

Hello everyone,

I recently bought the game and was eager to try it out. Unfortunately though, I am only getting around 20 fps on the bare minimum settings. My specs are as follows:

EDIT: PROBLEM SOLVED. SEE THIS RESPONSE TO FIND OUT HOW.

- i7 4710MQ (2.5GHz)
- GeForce 870m 6GB
- 16GB DDR3
- 1080p resolution

I previously posted about this on /r/rrre, where I have gotten some support. It seems like most people, including me, think the game is using the integrated graphics. Here's what I tried so far:

- Running the game windowed instead
This didn't do anything.

- Using the -cefNoGPU parameter in Steam, to force the dedicated GPU
This didn't do anything.

- Disabling the integrated graphics from the BIOS
I couldn't do this, as I don't have an option for it.

If anyone has any idea what's wrong and how this can be fixed, please shoot me a response. I'd like to try out the game now I still have free time! Thanks

 

Can you screenshot or post the advanced video settings you are using in-game? (Where you can set shadows and stuff like that manually)

 

You are using a laptop? The 870m is a notebook\laptop gpu, you will only have one option for graphics and that will be provided by your 870m this is your dedicated option, you wont find options to force gpu.
Sorry i cant help with your fps problems.

Edit - Out of interest what tracks where you trying? Spa seems to be really intensive, what OS?
Edit 2 - Be sure to have your power settings to performance so there shouldnt be any cpu\gpu throttling. It may also be the case that that is all you are going to get, altho i doubt it. And another, disable unneeded services, make sure there is nothing running in the background, AV, sync software or anything else, anything that may be eating up cpu\gpu cycles.
And another, drivers makes sure your using the latest\fastest turn off all af aa and any other graphical enhancments provided by the driver software.

 

Have you tried disabling the Steam overlay? The option should be in Steam/settings. Many people use it to monitor FPS but it has been known to slow FPS drastically for those whose framerates are already low. I got a boost of about 15-20 FPS after disabling it, which has made all the difference to my Raceroom, Stock Car Extreme and (still cheap and excellent) Race 07 experience. Good luck.

 

Thanks for this information. I didn't know that the Steam overlay uses so much ressources. I use it and I'm already struggling to get good FPS...

 

I'm running the Low preset, with Car Texture Quality and Rear View Mirror Quality set to Lowest.

1. Correct, both CPU and GPU are laptop parts. it's a CLEVO-based laptop. The other GPU available is the Intel HD 4600 graphics embedded into the CPU.
2. So far I've only tried the Salzburgring.
3. I'm using high performance settings with no hungry programs running in the background and am on the latest graphics drivers. Earlier drivers yielded the same issue.

Sounds like something to try. I've been meaning to disable it anyway, as I refuse to use the Steam overlay. The 20fps was a guess btw, as Nvidia Shadowplay and its FPS counter don't seem to work in RRRE.

Come to think of it, would that be an indicator that it's not using the Nvidia GPU?

 

make sure Shadows are off - they easily can reduce FPS by 30-50% dependng on GPU - or at least it did when I was using my GTX-660.

 

Disabling the Steam overlay gave me more FPS. I would say I get about 20-40fps now.

Shadows are disabled.

 

All of them? Car shadows need the most power and shadow split also increases the load. Contact shadows (the ones underneath the cars) you should be able to use, they aren't that hungry.

 

Is there a switch in the nvidia control panel to force usage of Nv for 3d apps? Do you have intel drivers installed for the igpu that also may have a swtch, you could try fraps to get an fps readout on screen, what about other games\software, normal performance? Slow or as expected?
Maybe setup a game profile in both of the control panels for the relevant chip.
Sorry cant be of more assistance.

Edit - quick look on google gave this for autodesk - it may help you https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...fault-Integrated-Graphics-for-InfraWorks.html

1 more http://gaming.stackexchange.com/que...idia-gpu-instead-of-the-integrated-intel-card

 

It's definitely worth a try. Of course, one can't monitor the FPS with a disabled Steam overlay, but I discovered I could use higher in-game settings and with a visibly smoother framerate.

 

I'm glad it worked for you. Other things to try:

• Track Level of Detail: Low (otherwise the program is constantly drawing objects).
• Car LOD Distance Setting: Low (A twisty circuit won't let you see cars far away anyway.)
• Particle Detail: Low
• Tiremarks: On
• Specular: On (These two don't seem to affect FPS too badly, so we might as well have them.)
• Car Reflection Quality: Low (No need for High - and I think Low looks better!)
• Track Animations: Off
• Shadows: Lowest. (Shadows kill FPS but you must have some or the game looks ugly.)
• Car Shadows: On. (Naughty but nice.)
• Contact Shadows: 3-4 (No need for more unless you're constantly surrounded by cars.)
• Shadow Split: Off.
• Multi-Sampling: 4 x AA. (2 x AA is possible but might look jagged. Invidia Inspector AA is a better option, but R3E doesn't always listen to it.)
• FXAA: On. (Naughty but nice. You might prefer how the game looks without it.)
• Motion Blur/Quality: Off.
• Lightshafts: Off (But I leave them on. I can't help it...)
• Lens Effect: Off. (But I have them on. Gimme my eye candy.)
• Track and Car Texture Quality: Medium. (The game still looks good - but, obviously, High is better.)
• Rear View Mirror Quality: Low (if you can stand it - or turn the mirror off. Medium is a good compromise.)
• Shader Quality: Low/Medium... but try High - some GPUs actually work better when given a lot to do. Yes, weird.
• Corner Markers: Off. (Anything to reduce the number of objects to draw.)
• Visible Cars: 10. (Do you really need more except at the start of a race?)
• Opponents Cockpits: Off.

Another FPS tip...

Driving view: Bonnet (If you're desperate for FPS, this will help.) And it can get the adrenalin going.

Outside the game:

• Disable Aero in Windows Desktop. It's a resource hog.
• Select "Adjust Visual Settings" in Performance Information & Tools (Windows Control Panel). Select "adjust for best performance". Your laptop will now look like it was made in Bill Gates's garage, but you can always switch it off when not playing R3E.
• In Nvidia Inspector's RaceRoom profile, go to Multi Display/Mixed GPU and select "Single Monitor Display". Then go to Power Management Mode and select "High Performance". Also set Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames to "1". Tell Inspector to save the changes.
• Lower the screen resolution. Ouch. I went from 1920 down to 1280. Not ideal but it got the job done. And choosing higher in-game settings as a consequence is some compensation.

There are other settings to adjust but I'm writing this away from my PC and can't remember them. I hope you find something that works.

Practise on the free Portimao course. It's well optimised and fun to drive.

 

Right click on your desktop then select "set the commutable graphics". You should be able to select for each applications what mode to use.
Performance mode must be linked to the Radeon.

 

If you are using Win10 maybe you'll find some info's in that Thread: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/860554/geforce-mobile-gpus/windows-10-and-optimus

 

Yup, all of them. As I said, I'm running the game lower than the Low preset.

Yes, this switch exists. I forgot to mention it, but telling the Nvidia Control Panel to run the game with the Nvidia GPU makes the game crash on startup.

EDIT: I just forced the Nvidia GPU again to show you the error it gives, but the game actually ran now! The Shadowplay FPS counter works now, incdicating that it indeed runs off the dedicated GPU and during a test race with maxed out AI (still at minimum settings) the FPS counter stayed at 120 fps even during crashes. Looks like this topic is solved!

Just for future people stumbling onto this post, I'll answer the remainder of the questions.

Other games run just fine. The Crew runs at a static 60fps completely maxed out, GTA V runs at ~40 fps on medium settings, Assetto Corsa runs at 60fps on high settings. Only Project Cars runs on low fps, but that game is terribly optimized.

I'd like to individually thank you for your huge list of tips. In the end though, I knew my computer should be capable of much higher settings than low to minimum settings, and I'm glad I got it to work

Thank you everyone for your help! Looks like the issue I had was a temporary issue that may have been as easy to fix as simply restarting my PC.

 

All's well that ends well.

I will have to follow my own best FPS tip: buy a better graphics card! My ancient 1GB GPU card is really earning its living.

 

yeah, 1GB doesn't cut it anymore these days. better get a 3 or 4GB model if you can 2 years ago my 560 Ti was mainly limited by its 1GB of vram ^^

.. hey is it possible to set up a championship in the game with a reverse grid order for every 2nd race? (trying to set up a WTCC championship with AI)

EDIT: and how do you continue to the next session? there is no button to go to the next session and I already waited until all the AIs went back into the pits... nothing has happened for minutes.

Am I missing something? Screens:

 

You have to hit the "return to garage" button first, you can't progress when still sitting in your car (technically, as soon as you click the drive button you're on a lap, even if you're still standing in the pit lane. That's why you first have to go back to the pits ). This will bring you back to the menu but this time it will have another button to skip to the next session.

As for reversed orders: That's not possible atm, but there's a lot to-do work in that department and series/chapionship formats are one of those things being worked on I think.

 

ah alright, thank you I did click go to garage but I must have not noticed the new button and clicked drive again afterwards.

 

Thank god i read your post for the steam overlay, now still in low sett, but with medium track detail, high car textures, med shadows and 20 cars i am getting a pretty much decent resolution and with a non gaming rig (signature) getting 60fps Vsync.
Thank you again.. ^^