Heyyo,

As much as I enjoy Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2? The frame rate issues drive me nuts as I'm sure it does for all of you which is probably why you are reading this guide.

The main issue with the game? Not properly optimized for PC and the game engine has serious frame rate issues with anything related to the Heads Up Display (HUD). The only way I've ever been able to achieve 60fps in combat was to disable the HUD via GeDoSaTo.

I'm serious. Check this to see what I mean lol... http://imgur.com/a/fCXq3

Anyways? The main solution to mitigate frame rate stuttering is to set the frame rate cap back to the original 30fps that the game was built for since there's no mention from Square Enix about fixing the HUD's negative effect on frame rate.

The two tools I recommend for this fix are NVIDIA Inspector (NVIDIA only though) and Rivia Tuner Statistics Server (RTSS) which works on AMD, NVIDIA and Intel GPUs. I hear that DxTory also works good for all three brands too but I haven't tried it.

Another reason the 30fps trick works for mitigating frame rate stutter? The game isn't optimized for multi-threaded processors. It tends to run one thread with high load at demanding times and about three other threads with low load (maybe for sound system and physics). By forcing it to lower the max framerate? The CPU has to only process half the frame rates the game engine wants to push.

It's quite sad when you think about it... They seemed to have ported an older version of the Crystal Tools Engine instead of using the one that powers FF XIV Online which is multi-threaded and multi-GPU optimized and has a boatload of graphical options you can tinker with... sigh. Oh well, deal with what Square Enix gives us I guess. :P

Proof RTSS works?
http://steamproxy.net/app/292140/discussions/0/613948093891385301/

See? I'm not full of poop lol, it actually helps and it makes the game more enjoyable. :)

So, I'll of course open with RTSS since the fix works on all three brands of GPUs that people will most likely use to fix the game.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/rtss-rivatuner-statistics-server-download.html

or get the latest version of RTSS with handy on-screen display of your PC's performance statistics via MSI Afterburner (I use this one).
http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

1. Just install it and add "ffxiii2mg.exe" to it (Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII-2\alba_data\prog\win\bin)





2. Set the "Framerate Limit" to 30.


3. Set the GPU settings depending on what brand you have (check bottom of guide)

4. If it works? Just remember to start RTSS before playing the game (you can also set it to start with Windows to make life easier.

For AMD GPUs? I'm sorry but I don't have one handy to show the steps but if someone could submit to me pictures of application profiles in Catalyst Control Center (CCC) that would be appreciated... anyways? Open up CCC, and add/modify the Final Fantasy XIII or XIII-2 profile and set VSYNC to OFF. This will force your GPU to render as fast as possible up to the 30fps cap.

For NVIDIA GPUs? Use NVIDIA Control Panel and set VSYNC to OFF and "Power management mode" to "Prefer maximum performance".

For Intel GPUs? Sadly there's not much you can do since you're playing on a GPU below the minimum hardware specifications (you can try and submit a support ticket for a refund)... You can open the "Intel HD Control Panel" and under 3D Enable the "Application Optimal Mode" and for "General Settings" change it to "Performance" since frame rates will be a major issue with all recent games.

There's other guides out there that showcase the same idea or using Adaptive VSYNC to force it to half frame rate but I always found using Adaptive VSYNC with FF XIII or XIII-2 causes screen tearing and other visual artifacts when the game engine gets confused and partial frames get pushed to the monitor causing screen tearing so of course I recommend using NVIDIA Inspector and setting the 30fps cap directly from the driver.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/nvidia-inspector-download.html

1. Download and install NVIDIA Inspector

2. Launch NVIDIA Inspector and click on the little wrench/screwdriver icon


3. Select the Final Fantasy XIII or XIII-2 profile (As long as you have driver v344.48 or higher)


4. Set the "Frame Rate Limiter" to 30fps, "Vertical Sync" to "Force off" and "Power Management Mode" to "Prefer Maximum Performance"


5. Click on "Apply Settings" and then try the game out! enjoy! :)

Along with the fps cap? Another thing you can test out is the FPS unlocker. It does help the game reach 60fps more often but it's not perfect since it doesn't fix the HUD frame rate issue in combat...

http://steamproxy.net/app/292140/discussions/0/613948093891385301

Link is in the original post. Just click the "Open" button and select the "ffxiii2img.exe" which by default is in...

C:\Program files\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII-2\alba_data\prog\win\bin

Then, click "Make Backup" and "Unlock Framerate" then click Apply and try it out.

Now what matters more in this game is the Frame Time Variance, NOT the frame rate. Frame Time Variance is the measure of time in between frames... the more stable it is? The more fluid the game looks. My PC does have a lot of processing abilities but it's still not good enough for this game since it's single threaded.

My PC? http://pcpartpicker.com/b/sNPscf
Operating System
Windows 10 Technical Preview 64bit build 9926

CPU
Intel Core i7 3770K @ 4.20GHz Ivy Bridge 22nm Technology
CORSAIR Hydro Series H80 (CWCH80) High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 2133MHz (11-12-11-30 & XMP Enabled)

Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z68X-UD7-B3 (Socket 1155) Bios version F10

Graphics
ASUS VE278 (1920x1080@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (EVGA)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (EVGA)
SLI Enabled

Audio
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional PCIe

Network Card
Visiontek's Bigfoot Network Killernic 2100 PCIe

Hard Drives
112GB KINGSTON KINGSTON SVP200S SCSI Disk Device (SSD) (Windows 7 Install)
60GB CRUCIAL_ CRUCIAL_CT64M225 SCSI Disk Device (SSD) (World of Tanks)
1863GB Seagate ST2000DL ST2000DL003-9VT1 SCSI Disk Device (SATA) (Data)
466GB Seagate ST350041 ST3500418AS SCSI Disk Device (SATA) (Linux)

Speakers & Headphones
Antec Lansing 2.1 Speakers
Sennheiser PC350 Headphones

Keyboard
Logitech G15 Keyboard

Mouse
Logitech G400s Optical Gaming Mouse

Mouse Surface
Razer Destructor

Computer Case
NZXT Phantom 530 Full Size ATX


.... and here's my launcher settings:


and it gives me good shadows, 1080P and MSAA x2 is a good mix of graphics quality with minimal framerate stuttering. Using that FPS Unlock does make it 60fps when wandering around... but combat HUD still messed up my game causing the frame rate to jump between 30fps and 45fps with major frame rate stuttering in combat which made it unplayable. The solid 30fps cap made the game a lot smoother especially in combat.

Without the fps cap using the FPS Unlocker (thanks to ale_kun for this thread and the easy unlocker exe and Devek for discovering it)











As you can see? the Frame Time Variance jumps from 24.7ms up to 46.8ms... actual tends to jump above and below that too...

Now, FPS unlocker and 30fps cap?













33.3ms frame time variance almost all the time minus spikes during combat around 41.6ms. The constantly similar FTV definitely helps make the game run smoother. :)

Well, I hope this guide helps you all as the Final Fantasy XIII series is pretty fun and looks fantastic and I do hope you all enjoy it to the fullest. I found running the 30fps cap with VSYNC off was definitely a major improvement but the game could still use a HUD framerate degration fix especially in combat...

If anyone has anything they would like to see added to the guide that might further improve framerate? Let me know.