Oblivion is jerky on Vista

[VRG Admin]

Here we go guys,

Make your swap file larger and if possible move to another HDD. (2GB Ram
make it 3.1GB non system managed)
Even better another HDD on another controller if possible.
Seems to have solved this problem on a very high % of systems.
Hope it solves the problem for you all.

VRG Admin

www.VistaReadyGames.com

 

[Andy]

As far as the little war going on here regarding this VRG site, this
pretty much pissed me off as well. Gave you some basic "is your
computer plugged in" type suggestions then suggested going to their
site for the "answer". I went there of course because im desperate,
and found a thread that had 2 freaking posts and basically says "works
great for me, by the way, Bethesda doesnt support vista". Hey great,
im glad it works fine for you. I hate those completley useless types
of answers. I have found mutliple sources seeking to provide vista
compatibility information stating that there is obvious stutter. This
is a very real issue for a lot of people! I DONT CARE IF IT WORKS FOR
YOU THIS SUCKS!

Yeah, well it's not really a war per say. I can be a little harsh at times,
and I suppose I could apologize for that. VRG Admin is at least acting
professional here, and that says a lot. It's so easy on "forums" to just let
loose, it takes a stronger person to keep your tongue in cheek espically
when people get all huffy. I'm sure it's simply business, and he's trying so
lets leave it be for now.

As for the "Object Loading" as the possible problem, that makes sense. I'm
sure you've noticed that Vista for some unknown reason will at times take
forever to copy files or move them to the recycle bin. I'm guessing the
Vista filesystem just isn't as efficent at loading/caching as Windows XP
was, or it handles files differently in such a way that if Oblivion had been
written with the newer cacheing methods in place they could of spent more
time fine tuning the game for Vista.

As it is, it's not a killer for me and it doesn't happen enough to be a deal
breaker. I'd guess with 4 gigs of ram it happens less than with my 2, but
who knows. I could be way off.

Asus A8N32 Deluxe
AMD X2 4200
4GB OCZ Platinum
8800GTX Video Card
RAID 0

WTF? I am going to install XP tonight to see if this may do anything.
I am assuming that this will most likely eliminate this issue.

it'll work better, game was designed with XP, you should be golden in that
situation.

Party,
A.

 

[phypps]

You are right in assuming that the "stuttering" is an issue of loading
content.
Good framerates are an indication that your graphics subsystem is well
capable of handling that side of things.
But Oblivion is a very complex and demanding game and behind the scenes is
carrying out a multitude of tasks that go into producing all the beautiful
things you see and do.
Displaying the results is not your problem.
Your processor, hard disk, and memory are at full tilt and every so often
they just can't keep up and simply stall.
No doubt you have tried all the obvious tweaks, but I would recommend the
Oblivion Tweak Guide on TweakGuides.com as being extremely detailed and
containing lots of (to me at least, previously unseen) ini settings that are
aimed precisely at preventing this type of stuttering.
Hope this is of some help. Let us know how you get on, as many people share
your problem.


Phypps

 

[Guest]

Craig,

I have observed pretty much the same thing and I want to say I sympathize.
A given system which ran Oblivion fine under XP is under Vista suffering
from the stuttering your describe. NOT low frame-rate per sé, but stutter.

After much experimenting with all the "tweaks" people suggest (none of which
BTW address this Oblivion-under-Vista specific issue), and many nights
combing the web for an answer, the only thing I've found that makes any real
difference is to lower the amount of GPU RAM demanded. I have observed, with
my hardware at least, that lowering resolution and AA (touching nothing else)
makes a difference. Even though under XP 1280x1024 with 2x AA was fine,
under Vista it stutters BUT dropping to 1024x768 with no AA ~almost~ gets rid
of the stuttering (though not entirely). Most people would quickly (and
wrongly) say that the video card is just not powerful enough but that ignores
the fact that A) the same card can handle it under XP and B) that its NOT a
low frame rate issue as we’ve said.

I’ve boiled it down to whenever (I believe) there is substantial transfer
between the system and the video card (as objects and textures come into
view, even the dropping in of grass). I ~think~ it has to do with the (new)
way Vista drivers deal with video RAM resources etc, or maybe even the PCIe
BUS itself. It seems to be "less efficient" for lack of a better phrase and
Obvion's engine is such that it manifests itself as the stutters. That’s my
guess anyway.

Since the problem seems fairly unique to Oblivion it would stand to reason
that the "fault" lies there but a fix would probably constitute a complete
rewrite of the code so lets not hold our breath there.

I'm just hoping that when Nvidia finally gets rid of the "these drivers are
still under development" disclaimer (on even their WHQL Vista drivers!) that
this issue might go away. I don’t know.....

 

[phypps]

Have you looked on the TweakGuides site at his Oblivion tweaks.
There are several ini file tweaks that are aimed squarely at stuttering
(even though frame rates are high !)
There must be something in the way Vista preloads stuff and swaps it in and
out that Oblivion (being so demanding) is very sensitive to.
I am sure you will find something of help there.

Phypps

 

[Craig Grell]

My current settings are 950/600 or exactly half of the native resolution of
my LCD and HDR on and all setting on high

I find this way the game is playable and still get a good image. The
framerates are now very high but I can still notice it being jerky.

So far I do think it has something to do with the 8800 (well the driver
interaction with Vista) and with your theory maybe even just the GTX with
the greater RAM

Since the game is playable I have stopped trying to solve this and am just
playing it

Great game, I hope the next one gets rid of the seperate areas. Meaning when
you get to a city the gates open and you walk through. No loading screen to
go to a seperate area. It would also mean that you could climb over the wall
and get in/out of the city.

Quite the amazing view standing on a hill and being able to see so far away.

 

[Andy [YaYa]]

Hi Craig Grell,

I'm really glad that you posted about this problem.

....but when did he post about this? You didn't include the original message,
and I have about 2 months of threads from this newsgroup, but this thread
seems dead. Next time start a new message.

My computer is set up similar to yours and I'm experiencing the same
choppy performance as you have with Oblivion.

Like you, I'm averaging high (~50 fps) even outdoors with all the
sliders and shadow effects turned up to their maximum levels, but the
movement is still jumpy.

It's not as if the game is freezing, it's actually jumping ahead.
Maybe our computers are too fast :smile:. Or maybe there're some
synchronization issues Oblivion is experiencing with our multi core
processors.

Even when I crank all the effects and the resolution way down, Oblivion
is still not as smooth as it should be.

I haven't been able to narrow down the cause. Seems like it's due to -
1) Oblivion - Vista/Direct 10 issue

Oblivion doesn't use DirectX 10, so that's not an issue (if the game doesn't
use it, then it's not used). Oblivion came out before Vista so yeah, that's
probably the problem. Not sure if you noticed, but if you watch Divx movies
(or any video type) in Vista you'll occasionally get a similar result (video
slows, audio continues then video speeds up to catch up to audio).

2) Oblivion - multi core processor issue
3) Oblivion - GeForce 8 issue
4) or one of the other dozen or so things I've seen reported on the
net.

I've tried about a dozen of the remedies that people have suggested,
but none of them have helped.
....like?

I recently downloaded the demo/beta version of Unreal Tournament 3 and
it freaking screams on my computer. Sure, UT3's environments aren't as
extensive or lavish as Oblivion, but it's still a pretty CPU and
graphics hungry game.

UT3 has been tested on Vista, Oblivion wasn't, though I imagine the latest
updates have been at least tweaked a little. engine patches after the game
has been released is really risky, you risk breaking more stuff than you
fix.

Fortunately for me, I've already explored the majority of Cyrodiil and
the Shivering Isles on my Xbox. But I really feel for people who were
looking forward to experiencing it on their PCs. It's a shame neither
Microsoft or Bethesda is likely to release a patch for this truly epic
game.

Doubt it, they are too busy with Fallout 3, and FYI, Microsoft didn't
publish this game, it was take 2, and I doubt they have the ability to do a
patch. Take 2 can ask Bethesda to do a patch, but like Bethesda, Take 2 has
probably moved into Fallout 3 mode.

Didn't they just release a "Fighters Guild" download? I heard it was the
last support to be released for the game, so if you install that and the
game still stutters it's probably just something you'll have to live with or
tweak til you get it where you want it.

I suggest installing Windows XP to play Oblivion (Dual Boot), sounds like
you have a nice system (Geforce 8), if you want the best experience you
might as well go the extra 9 yards to have the best play field for games,
and thats still Windows XP.

(--clip advertisemenet--)

Drop all your settings, does the problem go away?
Try running with Desktop Composition disabled.

Respond with your system configuration and what troubleshooting you've
attempted. In the future include the original post or at least the parts
that are relivant for people who may not have every message in this
newsgroup.

-A.

 

[Pikey Joe]

Strange.

I've found Oblivion runs fine, and I've experienced none of the jerkiness
you describe.

I'm running:
Vista Home Premium
Athlon Dual 6000+
GeForce 8800 GTX
2 gigglebytes of RAM
A couple of SATA hard drives
on an Asus Crosshair board

 

[Andy [YaYa]]

I'm one that doesn't feel that a game has to run at 60fps to be good, or
have to have flawless play to be enjoyable.

I played Bioshock through at 12-20fps at 1024x768, so... thrilled for you
and your "1337" rig, I knew you'd figure it out, game has a large enough
following that most problems usually get fixed by someone within days of the
discovery.

Once you're done with Oblivion don't forget to pick up Portal.

-A.

Hey Andy,

I apologize for not quoting the message I was posting a response to. I
can see how my post may have seemed confusing and out of left field.
I've quoted your response to my message below.

Rather than rehash all the unsuccessful remedies I tried in an attempt
to get Oblivion to run smoothly on Vista, I'm happy to say that I
finally found a remedy that's worked beautifully for me.

I followed most the recommend steps posted by heavensgate on the bottom
of this page -
'NVIDIA Forums -> Oblivion really jerky on 8800 GTS 320Mb'
(http://tinyurl.com/2glb2t)

I say I only followed most of the recommended steps, because while I
edited the Oblivion ini file, I did not decrease any of Oblivion's
resolution or graphical effects. I'm running Oblivion (1920x1200) with
all the sliders and effects maxed and it's running extremely smooth and
fast.

heavensgate's solution is targeted at people who are running
8800GTS/GTX. Luckily, I have a GTX.

heavensgate also has some optimizations for people running multi-core
processors.

PLEASE NOTE: For anyone who'd like to try making the changes
recommended by heavensgate, make all the changes to the Oblivion ini
file located in "My Games", not the ini file located in the Oblivion
install directory. For Vista users, the correct ini file can be located
going to Start -> Search for -> "My Games" which will popup a window
with the ini to edit.

Oblivion works like a freaking charm on Vista now!

Hi Craig Grell,

I'm really glad that you posted about this problem.

....but when did he post about this? You didn't include the original
message,
and I have about 2 months of threads from this newsgroup, but this
thread
seems dead. Next time start a new message.

My computer is set up similar to yours and I'm experiencing the same
choppy performance as you have with Oblivion.

Like you, I'm averaging high (~50 fps) even outdoors with all the
sliders and shadow effects turned up to their maximum levels, but the
movement is still jumpy.

It's not as if the game is freezing, it's actually jumping ahead.
Maybe our computers are too fast :smile:. Or maybe there're some
synchronization issues Oblivion is experiencing with our multi core
processors.

Even when I crank all the effects and the resolution way down, Oblivion
is still not as smooth as it should be.

I haven't been able to narrow down the cause. Seems like it's due to -
1) Oblivion - Vista/Direct 10 issue

Oblivion doesn't use DirectX 10, so that's not an issue (if the game
doesn't
use it, then it's not used). Oblivion came out before Vista so yeah,
that's
probably the problem. Not sure if you noticed, but if you watch Divx
movies
(or any video type) in Vista you'll occasionally get a similar result
(video
slows, audio continues then video speeds up to catch up to audio).

2) Oblivion - multi core processor issue
3) Oblivion - GeForce 8 issue
4) or one of the other dozen or so things I've seen reported on the
net.

I've tried about a dozen of the remedies that people have suggested,
but none of them have helped.
....like?

I recently downloaded the demo/beta version of Unreal Tournament 3 and
it freaking screams on my computer. Sure, UT3's environments aren't as
extensive or lavish as Oblivion, but it's still a pretty CPU and
graphics hungry game.

UT3 has been tested on Vista, Oblivion wasn't, though I imagine the
latest
updates have been at least tweaked a little. engine patches after the
game
has been released is really risky, you risk breaking more stuff than
you
fix.

Fortunately for me, I've already explored the majority of Cyrodiil and
the Shivering Isles on my Xbox. But I really feel for people who were
looking forward to experiencing it on their PCs. It's a shame neither
Microsoft or Bethesda is likely to release a patch for this truly epic
game.

Doubt it, they are too busy with Fallout 3, and FYI, Microsoft didn't
publish this game, it was take 2, and I doubt they have the ability to
do a
patch. Take 2 can ask Bethesda to do a patch, but like Bethesda, Take 2
has
probably moved into Fallout 3 mode.

Didn't they just release a "Fighters Guild" download? I heard it was
the
last support to be released for the game, so if you install that and
the
game still stutters it's probably just something you'll have to live
with or
tweak til you get it where you want it.

I suggest installing Windows XP to play Oblivion (Dual Boot), sounds
like
you have a nice system (Geforce 8), if you want the best experience you
might as well go the extra 9 yards to have the best play field for
games,
and thats still Windows XP.

(--clip advertisemenet--)

Drop all your settings, does the problem go away?
Try running with Desktop Composition disabled.

Respond with your system configuration and what troubleshooting you've
attempted. In the future include the original post or at least the
parts
that are relivant for people who may not have every message in this
newsgroup.

-A.

 

[Any]

snip

Oblivion doesn't use DirectX 10, so that's not an issue (if the game
doesn't use it, then it's not used). Oblivion came out before Vista so
yeah, that's probably the problem. Not sure if you noticed, but if you
watch Divx movies (or any video type) in Vista you'll occasionally get a
similar result (video slows, audio continues then video speeds up to catch
up to audio).

Really? If that's so then why have I never experienced this issue nor have
the multitudes of builds I've done.

Bottom line, if your game is having display issues then it's a driver issue
and near as I can tell 8800 cards still have far too many issues with
various games that should have long been sorted out in their drivers.

 

[Andy [YaYa]]

snip

Really? If that's so then why have I never experienced this issue nor have
the multitudes of builds I've done.

Because you're lucky. I'd say it was my hardware, but XP and Ubuntu don't
exhibit the same problems on this system. I should of said "in Vista I will
occasionally get a similar result" so I apologize, I don't meant to imply
your system had a failure of some sort even though you seem to be new to
this conversation. /shrug.

Bottom line, if your game is having display issues then it's a driver
issue and near as I can tell 8800 cards still have far too many issues
with various games that should have long been sorted out in their drivers.

Or your hardware is failing, or your hardware combination has some fault
that causes problems, or you have viruses, or you have some applications
mucking up the gunk.

You can't possibly label this problem into a 1 size fits all category here.
We are talking about PCs, last time I checked the possible combination and
filure rate of PC hardware was "slightly" high.

-A.

 

[Dustin Harper]

Oblivion has many issues with Vista, jerkiness is a common problem. I
myself have not experienced any issues with two totally different
systems. I may be very lucky in that regard. But, it is a known problem,
even admitted to by Bethesda. But, Oblivion was released before Vista,
so problems aren't really surprising.

 

[Mr Lee]

2.4 quad core
4 gig 800 mhz ddr2 ram 5-5-5-12
geforce 8800gt
vista


well i for one have the same thing happing to me ...

only thing i can do to keep it from being jurky is turn grass all the
way off...

the game run 100% fine in XP, when it starts jurking in vista the HDD
light is not coming on at all...

i think its something up with drivers or vista... i have all new
drivers and trust me im no noob on my PC... its not about FPS, FPS is
fine its about this stupid jurky crap if it's doing this crap to me
then its doing it to alot of people.

oh and what was said from the vistagamefourm I THINK IS BS...

first of all you say you tested the game on vista.. what drivers? what
cpu? ram? video card?.. how much did you test? did you turn every
thing up as high as it can go? because i tell you!!! iv seen videos of
it on youtube played by people with vista and it does the same thing,
with high setings.. and in SLI mode with 2 8800gt cards it goes slower
then one...

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2.13GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
2 GIGS RAM
Vista Home Premium

Oblivion runs great on my computer. I turned everything to the max except
music. I don't like the music in any of these games but the other sound
effects were fine. I didn't notice any jerkiness. I added Knights of the
Nine and Shivering Isles also with no problems.

 

[alansd]

|
| 2.4 quad core
| 4 gig 800 mhz ddr2 ram 5-5-5-12
| geforce 8800gt
| vista
|
|
| well i for one have the same thing happing to me ...
|
| only thing i can do to keep it from being jurky is turn grass all the
| way off...
|
| the game run 100% fine in XP, when it starts jurking in vista the HDD
| light is not coming on at all...
|
| i think its something up with drivers or vista... i have all new
| drivers and trust me im no noob on my PC... its not about FPS, FPS is
| fine its about this stupid jurky crap if it's doing this crap to me
| then its doing it to alot of people.
|
| oh and what was said from the vistagamefourm I THINK IS BS...
|
| first of all you say you tested the game on vista.. what drivers? what
| cpu? ram? video card?.. how much did you test? did you turn every
| thing up as high as it can go? because i tell you!!! iv seen videos of
| it on youtube played by people with vista and it does the same thing,
| with high setings.. and in SLI mode with 2 8800gt cards it goes slower
| then one...
|
|
| --
| abushido


I recall posts from a few weeks ago dealing with this subject - it
would seem that changing the values of some of the parameters
within the 'oblivion.ini' file will cure the problem. I'm sorry but
have no exact info. Try searching forums specific to Oblivion.
Alansd