X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Ask here if you experience technical problems with X4: Foundations.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 31. Jul 20, 20:00

Thats what I thought about focus assist too when first reading about it, but I found a link on reddit which led to a post on a Microsoft site where an MVP described it doing more than just limiting notifications .. Wish I could find it again. Oh well, will get back if I ever find it again. Going back in my box :)
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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Xkuka » Tue, 4. Aug 20, 16:06

Interesting topic. But its weird that a CPU heavy game is not actually using my CPU. I have an old I5 3570k @stock and CPU usage is about 50-60% on all cores, while the frames are about 20-60 fps depending on the system or activity. On my old System is the CPU clearly the bottleneck in many cases, since i once upgraded the GPU (GTX 760 to 980). And for some games, it helps to improve performance in maxing out graphic settings to get the least workload on CPU side (GTA5 as example, best results with ultra settings, anything lower and FPS decrease. In this case CPU load is always 100% no matter what^^). But this is not working with X4. I would love to find a way to actually use the power of my CPU, and it can take some load, i got a big cooler and with prime95 running it stays at 60° consistently.
My system specs:
I5 3570k stock
16GB DDR3 2400mhz
GTX980
Systemdrive 250GB Samsung Evo basic SSD
Gamesdrive 1TB Crucial mx500 SSD
Resolution FHD

So in general the game isn't running too bad but not quite well either. CPU is never fully used, and the average RAM used while playing X4 is 6GB (got mostly 6GB free). I tried different graphic settings but it seems to me those have no effect on performance (last config ultra, no difference to previous used medium to high setting). And most sad thing is, as soon as i start using some mods like Rise of the Ossian Raider, which does not actually rise the usage of my hardware, but significantly drop the game performance and make it unenjoyable even in early game.
Does have anyone similar experience and found a way to make full use of CPU performance?
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Specs: I9 9900k, 32GB DDR4, ASUS RTX2060 12GB, Sys drive: 1TB Nvme SSD, Games drive: 1TB Nvme SSD, Win10 pro 21H2

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by CBJ » Tue, 4. Aug 20, 16:51

We've been looking into these reports recently, just to check our suspicions, and can state with some confidence that the CPU utilisation numbers you're seeing are misleading. The game fully utilises one at least core during any given frame, and usually uses at least one more pretty heavily. Other cores are used less heavily. The reason you see lower utilisation numbers with most external tools is that the busiest thread is assigned to different cores during different frame cycles, so over the sampling period those tools use, any given core is sometimes running that busiest thread and sometimes not.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Xkuka » Tue, 4. Aug 20, 22:01

Thats an interesting statement there. I actually use only task manager and on my recent configuration and have no additional tools installed for monitoring performance. After 8 years using this mashine i have no need for all that toys to play with. There is no overclocking, unfortunately the CPU has a fault that makes it impossible without fixed power loads. But otherwise it runs very reliably and on stock values it does as supposed.
But for curiosity, is there a monitoring tool you could suggest that displays the utilisation of the CPU any better than task manager?
When i'm at home again on the weekend i will try to assign the game to just one or two cores and rise the refresh rate of task manager and see what happens. If the threads are just switching cores to quickly to be displayed, this should actually make it possible to catch the thief. :mrgreen:

/edit: note to myself: don't forget to disable the onboard sound device. :idea:
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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Berni » Sun, 9. Aug 20, 15:19

alpha_one_x86 wrote:
Tue, 7. Jul 20, 00:27
Changing savegame forma from XML to binary, it's 30x faster, I presume it have lot of bad code like this.
The poor performance on HDD is due to bad data locality far I can see, then resources format improvement will help this.

PS: I have buy GoG version, thanks to publish it on GoG
care to explain how you can change your savegames from xml to binary?

or is this just a suggestion to the Egosoft devs?

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by CBJ » Sun, 9. Aug 20, 15:46

It was a "suggestion", but we've explained on any number of occasions why it's neither practical nor particularly relevant. The time taken to load and save has very little to do with the file format.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by -=SiR KiLLaLoT=- » Fri, 21. Aug 20, 19:50

I changed CPU a few days ago... I went from an i7-6700k to an i9-9900k.

The previous CPU worked at 4.2 ghz, while the new one normally runs at 4.8 and then reaches 5.0 on the single processor.
I have always used the main menu of the game as a sort of "benchmark" and, keeping the exact same settings, I went from 76 to 81 fps thanks only to the higher frequency of the CPU.
In a 600 hour playtrough I have seen much improved performance, especially when controlling many ships from the map.

I also deactivated 4 physical cores from the bios to see the difference in performance, making the new CPU much more similar to the old one (both 4 core 8 threads), and the loss was only 1 fps.

So from my experience I can confirm that the higher CPU frequency gives quite a tangible advantage.
HW Spec:
CPU: Core i9 9900k @ 5.0Ghz - MOBO: MSI Z390-A PRO - RAM: 2x8GB Crucial Ballistix MAX DDR4 4400Mhz CL19 - GPU: nVidia RTX 3070 FE - M.2: Samsung 980 512GB - SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB - Samsung 850 EVO 250GB - Sandisk Plus 240GB – HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB – WD Caviar Blue 1TB – WD Caviar Black 2TB - PSU: Enermax Liberty 82+ PRO 620w - CASE: iTek Iron Soldier - MONITOR: 27” Acer ED270UP - Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit - KEYBOARD: Logitech G11 – MOUSE: Red Dragon Perdition
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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Imperial Good » Fri, 21. Aug 20, 20:18

-=SiR KiLLaLoT=- wrote:
Fri, 21. Aug 20, 19:50
So from my experience I can confirm that the higher CPU frequency gives quite a tangible advantage.
Was the 9900k using the same memory as the i7-6700k? If not then there are two variables. It has already been proven that memory speed is a lot more important than clock speed when it comes to X4 on modern CPU architectures.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by -=SiR KiLLaLoT=- » Sat, 22. Aug 20, 02:47

Imperial Good wrote:
Fri, 21. Aug 20, 20:18
-=SiR KiLLaLoT=- wrote:
Fri, 21. Aug 20, 19:50
So from my experience I can confirm that the higher CPU frequency gives quite a tangible advantage.
Was the 9900k using the same memory as the i7-6700k? If not then there are two variables. It has already been proven that memory speed is a lot more important than clock speed when it comes to X4 on modern CPU architectures.
I actually forgot to mention the memory change. The manufacturer, model and quantity are the same, but the frequency has changed from 2400 to 3200mhz (XPM mode active)
Could this be the real reason for the change?
HW Spec:
CPU: Core i9 9900k @ 5.0Ghz - MOBO: MSI Z390-A PRO - RAM: 2x8GB Crucial Ballistix MAX DDR4 4400Mhz CL19 - GPU: nVidia RTX 3070 FE - M.2: Samsung 980 512GB - SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB - Samsung 850 EVO 250GB - Sandisk Plus 240GB – HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB – WD Caviar Blue 1TB – WD Caviar Black 2TB - PSU: Enermax Liberty 82+ PRO 620w - CASE: iTek Iron Soldier - MONITOR: 27” Acer ED270UP - Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit - KEYBOARD: Logitech G11 – MOUSE: Red Dragon Perdition
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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Imperial Good » Sat, 22. Aug 20, 07:25

-=SiR KiLLaLoT=- wrote:
Sat, 22. Aug 20, 02:47
Could this be the real reason for the change?
Yes, most of the performance gains could be from that alone.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Gavrushka » Tue, 8. Sep 20, 09:12

Just a silly question which, after reading this thread, I'm still not sure whether impacts the performance of my game. - I use a mechanical hard drive, and accept that leads to slow load and save times, but does it also impact the performance in-game? I guess gubbins must be loaded from the disc at some point, but if there is an impact, how big is it?

And as I'm due to replace my PC (8th generation I7 8700) with a 10th generation I9, what is the likely bottleneck I need to watch out for in speccing such a system? (I intend to buy from Palicomp.)

I'm not sure whether this is the right place to post, but I'm reckoning it's a technical question, and I could sure do with a little support.
“Man, my poor head is battered,” Ed said.

“That explains its unusual shape,” Styanar said, grinning openly now. “Although it does little to illuminate just why your jowls are so flaccid or why you have quite so many chins.”

“I…” Had she just called him fat? “I am just a different species, that’s all.”

“Well nature sure does have a sense of humour then,” Styanar said. “Shall we go inside? It’d not be a good idea for me to be spotted by others.”

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by CBJ » Tue, 8. Sep 20, 10:15

Gavrushka wrote:
Tue, 8. Sep 20, 09:12
Just a silly question which, after reading this thread, I'm still not sure whether impacts the performance of my game. - I use a mechanical hard drive, and accept that leads to slow load and save times, but does it also impact the performance in-game? I guess gubbins must be loaded from the disc at some point, but if there is an impact, how big is it?
It shouldn't affect performance in general, but it may mean the occasional stutter and/or assets "popping" in occasionally, especially when you enter a new area. Note that we're working on improvements that should reduce the latter.
Gavrushka wrote:
Tue, 8. Sep 20, 09:12
And as I'm due to replace my PC (8th generation I7 8700) with a 10th generation I9, what is the likely bottleneck I need to watch out for in speccing such a system? (I intend to buy from Palicomp.)

I'm not sure whether this is the right place to post, but I'm reckoning it's a technical question, and I could sure do with a little support.
It's not; hardware recommendations belong in the off-topic forum. But as a simple answer, raw CPU core speed is more important than number of cores, and it should be paired with fast memory if possible.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by BloodHunter2004 » Sat, 10. Oct 20, 17:46

Imperial Good wrote:
Fri, 21. Aug 20, 20:18
It has already been proven that memory speed is a lot more important than clock speed when it comes to X4 on modern CPU architectures.
I am wondering if there are any hard facts / benchmarks for this statement? Currently I have a Ryzen 3600xt with 64gb DDR4-3200 CL16 and wondering how much more performance i could get out of faster ram with better timings? The map is quite laggy when a lot is going on.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Imperial Good » Sun, 11. Oct 20, 00:24

Gavrushka wrote:
Tue, 8. Sep 20, 09:12
Just a silly question which, after reading this thread, I'm still not sure whether impacts the performance of my game. - I use a mechanical hard drive, and accept that leads to slow load and save times, but does it also impact the performance in-game? I guess gubbins must be loaded from the disc at some point, but if there is an impact, how big is it?
SSD does not make much of a difference with save/load times. Most of the difference is with frame rate consistency and pop-in due to shorter asset stalls. Most noticeable when entering sectors at a high speed (when game cannot pre-load) and when teleporting.

This aspect might see improvement in future versions. However some of these benefits may be more significant on SSD based systems.
BloodHunter2004 wrote:
Sat, 10. Oct 20, 17:46
ondering if there are any hard facts / benchmarks for this statement? Currently I have a Ryzen 3600xt with 64gb DDR4-3200 CL16 and wondering how much more performance i could get out of faster ram with better timings? The map is quite laggy when a lot is going on.
People have posted their frame rates of the same scene at various memory settings. Most of the tests were done on Intel which showed timings and memory speed mattered a lot more than overclocking core clocks. I recall some were also done with Zen2 CPUs (Ryzen 3000 series desktop) showing similar gains from tightened memory timings after using Ryzen DRAM calculator. In any case the performance between a Ryzen 5 3600 and Ryzen 9 3950X will be small and dominated by memory performance.

If you already have memory it is not worth getting new memory as you will be paying full price for a smallish differential gain. This is more something for people making new build systems to consider since a little more or a correct choice at the same price could yield a few more percent performance.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Gavrushka » Sun, 11. Oct 20, 08:17

Imperial Good wrote:
Sun, 11. Oct 20, 00:24
Gavrushka wrote:
Tue, 8. Sep 20, 09:12
Just a silly question which, after reading this thread, I'm still not sure whether impacts the performance of my game. - I use a mechanical hard drive, and accept that leads to slow load and save times, but does it also impact the performance in-game? I guess gubbins must be loaded from the disc at some point, but if there is an impact, how big is it?
SSD does not make much of a difference with save/load times. Most of the difference is with frame rate consistency and pop-in due to shorter asset stalls. Most noticeable when entering sectors at a high speed (when game cannot pre-load) and when teleporting.

This aspect might see improvement in future versions. However some of these benefits may be more significant on SSD based systems.
Teleporting does cause me a 3-5 second grumble, but that's something I've always expected. - Is there also an 'asset stall' when approaching stations, as that is a far more pervasive and irritating stutter? Even though I'd reported the issue many times back in the early days, I don't recall it ever being answered definitively? (I remember there were performance issues around using GPU sound facilities, and made the suggested changes, but the problem has always been there when approaching to dock.)
“Man, my poor head is battered,” Ed said.

“That explains its unusual shape,” Styanar said, grinning openly now. “Although it does little to illuminate just why your jowls are so flaccid or why you have quite so many chins.”

“I…” Had she just called him fat? “I am just a different species, that’s all.”

“Well nature sure does have a sense of humour then,” Styanar said. “Shall we go inside? It’d not be a good idea for me to be spotted by others.”

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Imperial Good » Sun, 11. Oct 20, 12:14

Gavrushka wrote:
Sun, 11. Oct 20, 08:17
Is there also an 'asset stall' when approaching stations, as that is a far more pervasive and irritating stutter? Even though I'd reported the issue many times back in the early days, I don't recall it ever being answered definitively?
From my own personal experience playing with a HDD there were asset stalls and pop-in pretty much all the time when flying around. Especially at faster speeds since there is less times for assets to be loaded. Moving to a SATA SSD removed a lot of these stalls. Moving from SATA to PCIe SSD did not yield a perceptual benefit.

For conformation it is possible to measure when assets get loaded. By monitoring/logging HDD I/O activity it is possible to see when X4 is issuing a lot of reads to the underlying drive. If the drive is the boot drive of the system there will likely be other reads and writes from other applications and the operating system. Whenever X4 is loading assets, it will show improved performance if loading from a SSD instead of HDD. This improved performance could manifest as either quicker pop-in of assets, or as more consistent frame rates.

X4's data archives are not subject to OS file caching. I am unsure of the exact reasoning behind forcing this behaviour however it does mean that it is not possible to improve HDD I/O performance by using more main memory to file cache parts of the data archive files.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Skeeter » Mon, 12. Oct 20, 08:34

Or possible use a ram drive and put the whole game in ram or if you have a new 3090 nvidia card you might be able to fit x4 in its vram like someone said they did with erm crysis 3 i think which i didnt know you could put a game in a gpu vram till i read the article about it on https://www.dsogaming.com/news/someone- ... e-rtx3090/

Be interesting to see the results.
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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Imperial Good » Sat, 17. Oct 20, 00:53

Skeeter wrote:
Mon, 12. Oct 20, 08:34
or if you have a new 3090 nvidia card you might be able to fit x4 in its vram like someone said they did with erm crysis 3 i think which i didnt know you could put a game in a gpu vram till i read the article about it on
Possibly slower than a normal RAM drive since normally RAM memory has higher bandwidth than PCIe 4.0.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by SirNukes » Sat, 17. Oct 20, 04:18

Imperial Good wrote:
Sun, 11. Oct 20, 12:14
X4's data archives are not subject to OS file caching. I am unsure of the exact reasoning behind forcing this behaviour however it does mean that it is not possible to improve HDD I/O performance by using more main memory to file cache parts of the data archive files.
When I tested out enabling os file caching in X4 (by editing the file load args in the exe), the result was basically no change in load times outside margin of error, compared to loading off a sata ssd. I figure X4 is like many other games, and mostly limited by cpu time to decompress the files, compile shaders, etc.

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Re: X4 Performance Troubleshooting Suggestions

Post by Imperial Good » Sat, 17. Oct 20, 18:52

SirNukes wrote:
Sat, 17. Oct 20, 04:18
When I tested out enabling os file caching in X4 (by editing the file load args in the exe), the result was basically no change in load times outside margin of error, compared to loading off a sata ssd. I figure X4 is like many other games, and mostly limited by cpu time to decompress the files, compile shaders, etc.
The benefit would be for HDD users with a lot of/excessive memory as some of the I/O calls may return cached results rather than needing to perform physical I/O with the drive. Especially if the user restarts X4 forcing it to reload everything or for small files which might share a sector in the data archive with other small files (not sure, depends on archive structure).

However if you have a SSD the difference in I/O performance is minimal as SSDs are fast enough that data processing or I/O overhead starts to dominate the load times.

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