Team Fortress 2 FPS problem

[Akalion]

Hello everyone.

So recently I started playing TF2 again and I'm having some weird FPS problems. Basically it often drops down to about 45fps when there's a lot of action on the screen. The thing is that my PC should be more than enough to run it at 60fps+ at all times. I also noticed that my CPU and GPU usage never go above 70% and the graphics card runs at around 80% clock speed while I'm getting low fps. Please help!

 

PC Specs:

CPU - AMD Phenom II 955 3.5GHz

GPU - Radeon r7 260x 1225Mhz Core, 1675MHz Memory

RAM - 4Gb 1333Mhz

[leelaa14]

Try reinstalling gpu driver I suppose. Also, are you using msaa? if so turn it down or off.
Maybe try the second option first.

[Akalion]

14 hours ago, leelaa14 said:

Try reinstalling gpu driver I suppose. Also, are you using msaa? if so turn it down or off.
Maybe try the second option first.

Nope not using msaa and I recently updated the drivers. What bothers me is that the gpu is running at like 70% clock speed while I'm getting low fps.

[PlayStation 2]

Welcome to Team Fortress 2. Your best bet is to run using DirectX 8.0/1 and disabling mat_phong.

The former's done by launching the game with the -dxlevel 80/81 command in launch options on Steam; the latter can be done in-game using mat_phong 0.

 

mat_phong 0 has a pretty significant effect on performance from my experience (as in Suijin actually maintained ~60+ FPS at 1080p no AA on my PC, similarly spec'd to yours, rather than dropping to the low 30s in many areas). -dxlevel 80/81 don't have as much of an impact but it can help. Be aware that you can't play Competitive mode with -dxlevel 80/81.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Dan Castellaneta
Adding more detail as to how they affect performance or w/e

[ivan134]

12 hours ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Welcome to Team Fortress 2. Your best bet is to run using DirectX 8.0/1 and disabling mat_phong.

The former's done by launching the game with the -dxlevel 80/81 command in launch options on Steam; the latter can be done in-game using mat_phong 0.

 

mat_phong 0 has a pretty significant effect on performance from my experience (as in Suijin actually maintained ~60+ FPS at 1080p no AA on my PC, similarly spec'd to yours, rather than dropping to the low 30s in many areas). -dxlevel 80/81 don't have as much of an impact but it can help. Be aware that you can't play Competitive mode with -dxlevel 80/81.

I played on high settings like you told me, and I still couldn't hold 144 fps. Barely even 110 outside. Should I do what you said here?

[PlayStation 2]

4 minutes ago, ivan134 said:

I played on high settings like you told me, and I still couldn't hold 144 fps. Barely even 110 outside. Should I do what you said here?

You might as well try. 

What maps have you been testing on?

[Akalion]

12 hours ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Welcome to Team Fortress 2. Your best bet is to run using DirectX 8.0/1 and disabling mat_phong.

The former's done by launching the game with the -dxlevel 80/81 command in launch options on Steam; the latter can be done in-game using mat_phong 0.

 

mat_phong 0 has a pretty significant effect on performance from my experience (as in Suijin actually maintained ~60+ FPS at 1080p no AA on my PC, similarly spec'd to yours, rather than dropping to the low 30s in many areas). -dxlevel 80/81 don't have as much of an impact but it can help. Be aware that you can't play Competitive mode with -dxlevel 80/81.

Well the thing is that I already play with mat_phong 0.

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, Akalion said:

Well the thing is that I already play with mat_phong 0.

aw god dammit

Sounds fucking stupid, but if you have Task Manager open while playing TF2, set TF2's executable to have high priority. It's helped out for me, bizarrely enough.

[Akalion]

1 minute ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

aw god dammit

Sounds fucking stupid, but if you have Task Manager open while playing TF2, set TF2's executable to have high priority. It's helped out for me, bizarrely enough.

I've tried pretty much everything. The most annoying thing is that when I lower my settings, the FPS goes DOWN. I think it has something to do with the GPU's clock speed. I'll try making it constant I guess.

[ivan134]

8 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

You might as well try. 

What maps have you been testing on?

I only play 2 maps, lol. I tested on 2fort. Could barely hold 144 on turbine too.

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, Akalion said:

I've tried pretty much everything. The most annoying thing is that when I lower my settings, the FPS goes DOWN. I think it has something to do with the GPU's clock speed. I'll try making it constant I guess.

That's not an issue with your GPU but with how the Source engine "handles" lower settings. It's fucking confusing, but TF2 despises running at lower settings unless you restart the game.

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, ivan134 said:

I only play 2 maps, lol. I tested on 2fort. Could barely hold 144 on turbine too.

In Casual mode or like a community server?

I know complete stock community servers that run the official maps actually run really well on my PC.

[ivan134]

1 minute ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

In Casual mode or like a community server?

I know complete stock community servers that run the official maps actually run really well on my PC.

Wait, what's casual mode?

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, ivan134 said:

Wait, what's casual mode?

Casual mode is what Valve introduced in the Meet Your Match update to replace quickplay.

It's bizarrely heavy on system resources from my experience.

[ivan134]

1 minute ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Casual mode is what Valve introduced in the Meet Your Match update to replace quickplay.

It's bizarrely heavy on system resources from my experience.

Oh on.i haven't played that in years

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, ivan134 said:

Oh on.i haven't played that in years

I take it that you're playing on servers with a fair amount of plugins?

[ivan134]

13 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

I take it that you're playing on servers with a fair amount of plugins?

How would I be able to tell? Even then TF2 looks like a ps2 game. I shouldn't be struggling to get good framerate. Overwatch and gears of war 4 look and run better.