Windows Battlefield 4 now all of a sudden runs like ****!

[Icaras]

So I've been away from BF4 for about a week. I come back to it on Sunday evening to find out that the game now runs between 7-11 FPS both in multiplayer and campaign, when it used to run near 60 FPS on HIGH settings. Even if I change to low settings, the game runs only moderately smooth as compared to before.

I bootcamp on Windows 8.1 on my 2012 iMac 27-inch with GeForce GTX 680MX. I've got the latest Nvidia BETA drivers. I tried rolling back to the normal driver before the beta and no improvement. I then reinstalled the beta driver and no improvement. I went to the control panel and switched my power options to Power performance or something like that. I even went and redownloaded and reinstalled the entire game including all my premium DLC packs. I've restarted multiple times. Still getting low FPS.

The only thing I physically changed on my iMac before I started getting low performance was adding a USB hub. But as I guessed, I unplugged that and that didn't help either.

In terms of Windows, it's all up to date via Windows Update and I haven't installed any new software or hardware peripherals.

I'm at my wit's end here. Are any other iMac users now getting extremely low performance from BF4 like I am? A week ago everything was fine, but now it's completely and unbearably unplayable.

Any help would be great.

 

[pscl]

So I've been away from BF4 for about a week. I come back to it on Sunday evening to find out that the game now runs between 7-11 FPS both in multiplayer and campaign, when it used to run near 60 FPS on HIGH settings. Even if I change to low settings, the game runs only moderately smooth as compared to before.

I bootcamp on Windows 8.1 on my 2012 iMac 27-inch with GeForce GTX 680MX. I've got the latest Nvidia BETA drivers. I tried rolling back to the normal driver before the beta and no improvement. I then reinstalled the beta driver and no improvement. I went to the control panel and switched my power options to Power performance or something like that. I even went and redownloaded and reinstalled the entire game including all my premium DLC packs. I've restarted multiple times. Still getting low FPS.

The only thing I physically changed on my iMac before I started getting low performance was adding a USB hub. But as I guessed, I unplugged that and that didn't help either.

In terms of Windows, it's all up to date via Windows Update and I haven't installed any new software or hardware peripherals.

I'm at my wit's end here. Are any other iMac users now getting extremely low performance from BF4 like I am? A week ago everything was fine, but now it's completely and unbearably unplayable.

Any help would be great.

hey there...

i cant really help you. on my 27" late 2013 with a 780m it runs like charm in native 1440p. no lag at all. the 680m should run it pretty well, there is not much difference between both gpu`s.
i experienced a huge performance boost by using win 8.1 instead of 7 but you already have 8.1.
as for most win-problems i suggest to reinstall win :-/

 

[Icaras]

hey there...

i cant really help you. on my 27" late 2013 with a 780m it runs like charm in native 1440p. no lag at all. the 680m should run it pretty well, there is not much difference between both gpu`s.
i experienced a huge performance boost by using win 8.1 instead of 7 but you already have 8.1.
as for most win-problems i suggest to reinstall win :-/

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was thinking of doing next. Damn Windows lol

 

[Icaras]

Wow, just reformatted and reinstalled Windows. Took 5 hours just to get back to Windows 8.1 and about 100 Windows updates installed and BF4 is still running like crap My system is super clean with the only third party app running is my UPS energy monitor and punk buster of course.

I guess my only bet at this point is to wait for a new GPU driver from nVidia.

 

[pscl]

Wow, just reformatted and reinstalled Windows. Took 5 hours just to get back to Windows 8.1 and about 100 Windows updates installed and BF4 is still running like crap My system is super clean with the only third party app running is my UPS energy monitor and punk buster of course.

I guess my only bet at this point is to wait for a new GPU driver from nVidia.

sorry for that

maybe try an older one? and better use stable drivers...

 

[Bluzzer]

sorry for that

maybe try an older one? and better use stable drivers...

Do you have nvidia experience?

 

[Icaras]

sorry for that

maybe try an older one? and better use stable drivers...

Thanks. Yea just tried rolling back to February drivers. No improvement

Do you have nvidia experience?

Yep. I just used it to install the newest beta drivers after I rolled back (but I checked BF4 performance with the old drivers first). Still running like crap.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Thanks. Yea just tried rolling back to February drivers. No improvement



Yep. I just used it to install the newest beta drivers after I rolled back (but I checked BF4 performance with the old drivers first). Still running like crap.

If I had to stipulate I'd say that the auto graphics switching isn't working. I believe there's an option in the nVidia control panel wherein you can set it to always run on the dGPU -- could you try this please?

 

[Icaras]

If I had to stipulate I'd say that the auto graphics switching isn't working. I believe there's an option in the nVidia control panel wherein you can set it to always run on the dGPU -- could you try this please?

I'm in my NVIDIA control panel and the only place I can find an option to select my dGPU is under "Set Physics Configuration" under 3D Settings. Auto-select is "recommended".

Would you happen to remember more specifically what settings I should look at? I've never had to touch the control panel ever until now.

Anyway, tried this and still horrible framerate.

By the way, I've tried CS:GO and L4D2 and both run fine in native resolution.

 

[carlili4190]

Couple questions/points.

What were your temperatures of gpu/CPU while playing?
Did your computer ever shut off while playing?
Have you optimized with nvidia control panel(don't do this if you haven't. It messed up dayz for me)

This same thing happened to me when bf3 came out. I was playing on my 2011 MacBook Pro with a 6750m and I was playing it perfectly for about a week. After that the frames went to ****(pardon my French) and I was never able to play bf3 on my MacBook Pro again. In fact, my logic board was damaged. (I'm assuming It was the high temps).

How long were your sessions when you played?

I recently built a computer and am running bf4 on all settings maxed at 80fps and my gpu hits 70 degrees Celsius. I consider that hot so I can only imagine how hot your computer must be getting on high settings.

 

[Icaras]

Couple questions/points.

What were your temperatures of gpu/CPU while playing?
Did your computer ever shut off while playing?
Have you optimized with nvidia control panel(don't do this if you haven't. It messed up dayz for me)

This same thing happened to me when bf3 came out. I was playing on my 2011 MacBook Pro with a 6750m and I was playing it perfectly for about a week. After that the frames went to ****(pardon my French) and I was never able to play bf3 on my MacBook Pro again. In fact, my logic board was damaged. (I'm assuming It was the high temps).

How long were your sessions when you played?

I recently built a computer and am running bf4 on all settings maxed at 80fps and my gpu hits 70 degrees Celsius. I consider that hot so I can only imagine how hot your computer must be getting on high settings.

Hi. Wow that really sucks to hear that your BF3 just crapped out on you like that. But it makes sense that it was your Logic board. Did you play any other games and also notice any bad performances? Because that's the difference with my situation. All of my other games run perfectly smooth and fine, both on Windows and OS X. It's only BF4 that seems to exhibit this dramatically decreased performance behavior.

Yea, I haven't actually looked at temps of the GPU while playing. I just noticed the Windows 8 task manager has an Activity Monitor like OS X but I don't think I saw any GPU information on there. But my iMac has never abruptly shut down during usage. Yea, the fans always go off at full strength when I run BF4, but these new iMacs are built so well for cooling, that I've never really had any issues with over-heating.

Anyway, an update: I went into my nvidia control panel, and the first three items on the left, I restored default to all those items, and I think now I'm getting around 20 fps on medium settings. Still not how it used to be but it feels like a slight improvement. I'm still betting on waiting for Nvidia to release an updated driver this month and see how that goes. They're pretty good at releasing timely GPU updates monthly so a new one should be popping up anytime now.

 

[Zellio]

It's battlefield 4, Dice probably screwed something up in a patch. I learned my lesson from Bad Company 2 and BF3. You should learn it now and stop buying BF

 

[Icaras]

It's battlefield 4, Dice probably screwed something up in a patch. I learned my lesson from Bad Company 2 and BF3. You should learn it now and stop buying BF

LOL, I have slowly come to accept this reality. A this point in my situation, this is probably the most sound advice

 

[Freis968]

Are you using your Magic Mouse to play BF4? If so, can you please tell me how to fix the right mouse button to hold the scope locked when using a weapon? I cannot hold that button down and the left button down at the same time to fire as I am sure you know what I mean.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Are you using your Magic Mouse to play BF4? If so, can you please tell me how to fix the right mouse button to hold the scope locked when using a weapon? I cannot hold that button down and the left button down at the same time to fire as I am sure you know what I mean.

That is because it is impossible. You need to get a two button mouse to solve this problem. I like my Logitech Performance Mouse MX which is not a special gaming mouse but it is a high quality mouse that's very good. Other folks may be able to recommend gaming mice they prefer.

 

[lunaoso]

Are you using your Magic Mouse to play BF4? If so, can you please tell me how to fix the right mouse button to hold the scope locked when using a weapon? I cannot hold that button down and the left button down at the same time to fire as I am sure you know what I mean.

I have a Magic Mouse as well, but I use just a Logitech mouse that you could buy for around $20 for my gaming needs. Magic Mouse is great for just about anything else, but I would definitely recommend a more traditional mouse for your gaming needs.

 

[Icaras]

Are you using your Magic Mouse to play BF4? If so, can you please tell me how to fix the right mouse button to hold the scope locked when using a weapon? I cannot hold that button down and the left button down at the same time to fire as I am sure you know what I mean.

Yes indeed I am. I understand the Magic Mouse isn't the ideal gaming mouse but yea that's what I use and there is a way around it.

If the game supports toggle AIM lock, I enable it. If it doesn't, I simply bind the AIM to my CAPS lock key, for example, in Dead Space. But you can enable it to another key if you'd like. But for BF4, you can set the AIM to toggle.

 

[Plutonius]

As others have said, just buy a new mouse for under $20 (i.e. you don't have to use your Magic Mouse).

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Yes indeed I am. I understand the Magic Mouse isn't the ideal gaming mouse but yea that's what I use and there is a way around it.

If the game supports toggle AIM lock, I enable it. If it doesn't, I simply bind the AIM to my CAPS lock key, for example, in Dead Space. But you can enable it to another key if you'd like. But for BF4, you can set the AIM to toggle.

Ah, wise, very wise. Thanks for sharing that. I sometimes worry about what happens if my Logitech fails me sometime. Now I can rest easy knowing I could in fact get away with the Magic Mouse! I still prefer what I am using but that is very good to know. Thanks again!

 

[Icaras]

Ah, wise, very wise. Thanks for sharing that. I sometimes worry about what happens if my Logitech fails me sometime. Now I can rest easy knowing I could in fact get away with the Magic Mouse! I still prefer what I am using but that is very good to know. Thanks again!

No problem! There is one other annoyance I did forget to mention however, and that's the case of the lack of a middle mouse button/scroll wheel. As you know, swiping up and down on the Magic Mouse is equatable to using a middle button scroll wheel on a more traditional mouse, but in-game, where it's used for weapon switching, the slight touch of your finger can be very sensitive, making you switch weapons needlessly and sometimes wildly out of control in certain games with quick weapon switching animation. I typically remedy this by rebinding the previous and next weapon keys to something like "," and "." but rarely there's a game that will have an option to disable mouse wheel weapon switching altogether, which is nice.

But really, it doesn't matter what keys I bind those functions to since I personally find using the number row keys easier for switching weapons anyway. With games that don't allow you to rebind those keys, unfortunately I've had to train myself to really just keep my finger off the mouse lol.

And for middle mouse button, you simply have to rebind it to another key. For example in Far Cry 3, where the middle mouse button is used for grenades. I actually find it simpler to bind it to the "G" key, since that's the default grenade key in Battlefield 4 also.