FarCry 3 Recommended Tweaks for my setup

[jonathan1107]

Hey guys, wondering if anyone out there is using gtx 6xx series in SLI like me with FarCry 3. Would like to know if you have recommendations for the game settings so I can enjoy a solid 60fps with high quality visuals.

At the moment, I'm runnin the d3d11.exe shortcut for the game in SLI with 1920x1080 res everything maxed out and I often drop from 60 fps to around 50fps.

Do you guys know Which settings TAX the game most?
And do you know which would be some very good "tweaks" to run?

(for instance, have you guys tried the game's V-sync vs D3D overrider's forced V-Sync?)
(have you tried the in-game AA vs Forced AA?)
(Have you tried Sli vs Sli off?)
(What SSAO you usin? the SSAO, HBAO or others ?)

lemme know, could potentially save me hours of lookin around on google

EDIT: Here are a few tweaks I found on the Web, again please let me know if you guys have tried it and your results:


TWEAK #1: How to Disable Depth of Field

Follow these steps to disable the filter:

Run Far Cry 3 and set the video settings to “custom.” Exit the game.
Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3
Right click on GamerProfile.xml and select Open With -> Notepad.
CTRL+F and search for PostFxQuality. Set PostFxQuality=”false” and save the file.


TWEAK #2: How to Get Proper SLI Scaling
If you’re using a SLI setup then it’s possible that one of your GPU is performing at a lower rate.

Use Nvidia Inspector
Find Far Cry 3 profile
Click Add application to current profile
Add farcry3_d3d11.exe from Far Cry 3/Bin.

TWEAK #3: How to Fix Decals Frame-Rate Issue In SLI
Some might get horrific drops in FPS upon getting decals in your screen, while using a SLI setup. Here’s a quick fix which will amend that problem.

Use Inspector to open Far Cry 3
Change SLI bits for DX11 from 0x000902F5 to 0x0C1902F5

TWEAK #4: How to Disable Ambient Occlusion

When playing Far Cry 3 on DirectX 11, you can’t disable Ambient Occlusion via in-game settings — you can only switch between different types of rendering techniques. In order to disable it completely, which would improve performance at the cost of enhanced shading visuals, follow these steps:

Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3
Right click on GamerProfile.xml and select Open With -> Notepad.
CTRL+F and search for SSAOLevel. Set SSAOLevel=”0″ and save the file.

SOURCE for those Tweaks I copied in this thread: http://www.gamefront.com/far-cry-3-pc-tweak-guide/

[erocker]

From what I've read most performance issues with the game are the game itself. It's broken. Perhaps Ubisoft will update the game to fix it some day.

That being said I played through the game with a single card on maximum settings (lower AA) without an issue. Things seem to be different for different people. Try out the tweaks yourself and see if they work for you.

[jonathan1107]

Yes indeed I've heard much about FarCry 3 and the need for game dev fixes... but honestly, the game performs Quite well for me... most of the time, the FPS is where I want it, but it often drops to 50...

And I'm quite certain that there are a few tweaks to resolve this issue. Kind of like The Witcher 2. If I remember correctly the DOF in the witcher 2 was a MAJOR ressource Hog and FPS killer, so when turned off, the game gained like 10 fps for lots of people...

I created this thread in the hopes of finding "someone" out there, that might already have pinned down the settings and changes that generally tend to increase stability for everyone out there

For Instance, you use a lower AA with 1 single card. as of right now, I'm using the latest nvidia beta drivers... maybe the in-game AA is crap...

Obviously, I'm gonna run my own tweaks and tests, and report back here. But in the meantime, if anyone here has the time to try some of the tweaks I listed, I'd be curious to know what people's results would be.

In my Experience, often times switching to D3D overrider's forced V-sync instead of the game's V-sync helps (metro 2033 is a good example for this...)

Same goes for turning off DOF or turning off ALL AA and using stuff like FXAA or SMAA instead...

[AsRock]

it's dropping down to 50fps as a minimum ?, if so there should not be any issue well i guess there is one issue and your more involved in the fps than actually playing the game.

[jonathan1107]

Originally Posted by AsRock

it's dropping down to 50fps as a minimum ?, if so there should not be any issue well i guess there is one issue and your more involved in the fps than actually playing the game.

Of course I intend to enjoy the game as I do with every other game... The thing is I'm a perfectionist. I understand not everyone has the same level of expectation with their video games. But in my case, I did not build a 3k $$$ computer to accept anything less...

I'm willing to work to find how to get my solid 60 fps in video games... and that is why after tryin everything if I still don't get 60fps, I just don't play the game.

But that dear sir, is MY preference. Obviously, video games are playable around 45fps, but that's not what I'm lookin for, and that's certainly not what I paid for...

Everyone has their "vanity". Maybe you'll spend unnecessary cash on a car, on dates or other things which you could be contempt with less, but we all have a "vanity" side... something we like to spend "extra" or work "extra" to get what we want, and for me, that is gaming.

I worked hard to get a solid 60fps in The Witcher 2, and after I did, I enjoyed the whole game, the way I like...

[Anusha]

Have you checked what settings Geforce Experience chooses for your setup?
I'm not sure if they are really the most optimized settings though. But it should give you a baseline to work on.

[Vendor]

any tips on improving performance on hd 6xxx series gpus? Bcoz i own a hd 6850 and got unplayable framerates at high settings.

[RCoon]

Originally Posted by jonathan1107

Of course I intend to enjoy the game as I do with every other game... The thing is I'm a perfectionist. I understand not everyone has the same level of expectation with their video games. But in my case, I did not build a 3k $$$ computer to accept anything less...

I'm willing to work to find how to get my solid 60 fps in video games... and that is why after tryin everything if I still don't get 60fps, I just don't play the game.

Hate to say, but games like FC3, AC3, and need for speed most wanted criterion will run like crap no matter how much you spend on your PC. Bad console ports are bad, not a great deal you can do about it.
Developers dont make games for 3k PC's, they make games for console hardware / low to midrange computers, so they maximize profits. If you want epic FPS, reprogram the game yourself, there really is little else you can do.
All i can say is, First World Problems...

[jonathan1107]

Originally Posted by RCoon

Hate to say, but games like FC3, AC3, and need for speed most wanted criterion will run like crap no matter how much you spend on your PC. Bad console ports are bad, not a great deal you can do about it.
Developers dont make games for 3k PC's, they make games for console hardware / low to midrange computers, so they maximize profits. If you want epic FPS, reprogram the game yourself, there really is little else you can do.
All i can say is, First World Problems...

What you're sayin is true of course. and I'm well aware of it. But you'd be surprised to see how many times I got games that were performing poorly to become fluid using a few tweaks...

For instance, Far Cry 3 is indeed a Console port, Poorly optimized as are so many other console games lately... But I finally managed to get my solid 60fps...

Here's how I did it:

I play in Windowed mode... Dunno why Fullscreen and borderless don't work well, but it looks like windowed works very well. It seems to reduce the input lag and the stutter by A LOT...

2nd: I turned off SSAO and PostFXquality in the gameprofile.xml file as well as the in-game aa (msaa). I turned down shadows to medium and same for water. Everything else is maxed. I run Single Card atm... looks like SLI won't scale at all... no matter the tweaks I try (and believe me, I tried everything)...

So yes, by fiddling a bit you CAN get Ports to work better (not perfect most of the time, but close)...
And the NEXT GeN consoles are comin soon, so Hopefully, High End PCs will be able to make good use of their Hardware this time...

[douglatins]

Man i played in that resolution with max settings only with a 580, just reduce shadow quality

[Anusha]

Something is definitely wrong if you couldn't get 60fps with SLI. I get 40-50fps with a single card with 1080p MSAA 4x HDAO and ultra spec.

Here's a video I just recorded to show one of my friends.
FarCry3 2600k @4.5GHz, GTX670 @1176MHz, 4X MSAA, H...

With the so called "tweaks" you applied, I would have easily gotten 60fps. Perhaps you spent too much money on your rig :/

[jonathan1107]

Originally Posted by Anusha

Something is definitely wrong if you couldn't get 60fps with SLI. I get 40-50fps with a single card with 1080p MSAA 4x HDAO and ultra spec.

Here's a video I just recorded to show one of my friends.
FarCry3 2600k @4.5GHz, GTX670 @1176MHz, 4X MSAA, H...

With the so called "tweaks" you applied, I would have easily gotten 60fps. Perhaps you spent too much money on your rig :/

Nope I did not... Have you even tried 670 sli? Cause if you did, you would know that it actually makes the FPS worst for this game... because there is no scaling at all... SLI introduces Input LAG and instabillity in-game... Look it up in google, its all over the forums... sli simply doesn't work well for this game

[Anusha]

Originally Posted by jonathan1107

Nope I did not... Have you even tried 670 sli? Cause if you did, you would know that it actually makes the FPS worst for this game... because there is no scaling at all... SLI introduces Input LAG and instabillity in-game... Look it up in google, its all over the forums... sli simply doesn't work well for this game

isn't that the case with most games? i had a multi GPU setup before this GTX670 (6950CFX). fed up with it. sold them and bought this card. lower scores in benchmarks. much smoother game play. perhaps you should sell your cards and get the Geforce Titan when it comes out.

[jonathan1107]

I've had a good experience with SLI most of the time. Some games are just not optimized at all (console ports mostly)

[Anusha]

Originally Posted by jonathan1107

I've had a good experience with SLI most of the time. Some games are just not optimized at all (console ports mostly)

You perhaps need 60fps or more because of micro stuttering? I other words, you won't need that that high of an FPS to get the same smoothness from a single card? Perhaps that's your problem.