FPS and anti-virus software

[Limey72]

So I was having some problems with my frame rate in the single player combat missions. (premium beta backer). I have been using recon wing as a benchmark and was getting a steady 75 FPS using fraps on high settings. After an unfortunate download I got some unwanted programs I could not remove and my FPS dropped to around 40. I did a clean install of windows 8 and then installed the frontier folder and fraps only and checked recon wing to see if my FPS had returned to what I had been getting. My fps was 130, hmmmm odd what was on my system slowing it down. I made a restore point and installed my anti virus software (total defense) my Fps dropped to 90 in recon wing, I did some research and found several threads indicating that the constant scanning of files that are in use can slow certain games. I made an exception in total defece for the frontier folder but the Fps is still holding at 90 and I cant get the 130 I had after the clean install.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Limey72]

Sorry to bump my own post but does anyone know how to effectively stop total defense dropping frame rate?

 

[Yaffle]

Sorry to bump my own post but does anyone know how to effectively stop total defense dropping frame rate?

My only suggestion is weak as I'm not familiar with TD. Can you suspend the process while playing?

 

[Aleksej]

Could you give additional information about your PC?
Do you have the game installed on SSD or HDD? Which CPU do you have, how much RAM is installed?

 

[Limey72]

Ok so 3t hard drive not ssd, gtx 660 32gig of ram and i7 4770. It was running at 130fps on max settings before I installed total defense and dropped to around 90

 

[ATARI.]

Is that an average figure, or the top FPS reported that you saw?

To be honest, if the gameplay is smooth and you're hitting > 60fps why are you even bothered?

 

[Limey72]

Those numbers are consistent not peaks, and you are correct at 90fps it's very smooth and playable and I am happy with it but I am curious to know why my system is slowing down even after I made an exception for frontier in my anti-virus software.

 

[Pyros]

Those numbers are consistent not peaks, and you are correct at 90fps it's very smooth and playable and I am happy with it but I am curious to know why my system is slowing down even after I made an exception for frontier in my anti-virus software.

IF the game accesses files during gameplay and the AV also, it can affect game performance due HDD "lockouts". It can also have a large memory footprint. Or keeping the CPU busy.

In theory any other SW running can diminish your game performance. But that depends on its characteristics.

 

[ATARI.]

There are too many variables (even more so with an alpha) to give an accurate answer - you could have just been pointing in a 'good' direction with less detail being processed.

If you're talking average frame-rates for the session (which I've no idea how you'd calculate) then I've no idea what's going on.

I'd recommend a benchmarking program (Heaven for example) rather than a game in alpha and then test with/without anti-virus installed.

 

[Limey72]

Thank you for the replies guys and yes I think I will give some benchmark software a shot but at the end of the day as long as it runs smoothly with a rift I will be happy

 

[Aleksej]

Ok so 3t hard drive not ssd, gtx 660 32gig of ram and i7 4770. It was running at 130fps on max settings before I installed total defense and dropped to around 90

It seems to me that the game installed on 3TB hdd is the problem. Also some AV start scanning all disks for viruses, which might be a problem with 3TB as it takes very long time to scan large disks. As you have a descent CPU and RAM you may actually consider upgrading your rig with SSD.

 

[kilvenny]

I did a quick search on amazon for the product there were 24 1 star ratings and only 2 people thought it was a 4 or 5 star product. That tells me a story.

I use a product called Avast.

 

[Faerie]

By their nature, every AV program will 'pre-load' system resources to some extent, which in turn may affect performance.
Some are quite 'greedy' & will noticeably slow a system down, while others are quite light in their demands & are fairly transparent in their operation. Neither condition may reflect on a program's effectiveness in protecting you, so the trick is to find an AV suite that you like *and* which affords you a decent level of protection.

Whether you use a paid or free AV is entirely your own decision, but I would always advise looking for online reviews before making a choice. Personally, I use the free versions of both Avast! & AVG on different machines around the house, & I find them both perfectly adequate when used in conjunction with a decent firewall & a modicum of common sense. (I'm a Yorkshireman of Scottish descent - getting me to part with money isn't easy. )

 

[atomic7431]

AVG is in my professional experience complete rubbish and avast is slightly better but not by a lot. The amount of homes i have visited that have McAfee/AVG/Norton internet security installed and still contracted viruses that the software have not detected is just ridiculous, so many times i have to run a virus removal tool to remove said viruses i cant keep count.
Ive also see a lot of instances of norton especially causing internet loss, as soon as its removed from the machine the internet is available again, and yes i tried disabling the firewall elements etc first.
My advice and you can take it or leave it depending on what your own thoughts are is to not run a real time antivirus and have something like Malwarebytes installed to run every so often to make sure you are clean or if you have an obvious problem.
The best advice is to stay away from obvious sources of viruses, a lot are contained in downloaded counterfeit software/music/games etc and on web sites that are not strictly mainstream.
If you have a good router with its firewall working then you should be pretty safe, most viruses are installed from stuff that is clicked on when people panic as a message on a web site says you have x amount of viruses click here to remove them, when in actual fact thats a virus in itself wanting you to click it to allow it to install itself and cause you countless problems.

Virus products suck as Norton and McAfee are bloated and slow the machine substantially.

 

[Faerie]

AVG is in my professional experience complete rubbish and avast is slightly better but not by a lot.

All I can say about that is that in tests (where a machine has been intentionally infected by a large number of viruses) AVG has shown a better detection rate than any other AV program (whether paid for or free) except Kaspersky. Avast! doesn't fare quite as well but it does seem more proactive, giving strong warnings of known attack sites. It also has an easy to use boot-time scan option, where AVG's boot-time scan is through a bootable CD which the user has to burn themselves.

The amount of homes i have visited that have McAfee/AVG/Norton internet security installed and still contracted viruses that the software have not detected is just ridiculous

These AV suites often come pre-installed & (in my experience) the subscription has almost always lapsed after the 30 day trial period, but the owner(s) of the computers I am often called upon to resurrect almost invariably believe that they have working AV ! As I said in my first post, a modicum of common sense is required, because NO AV program can protect you from your own stupidity.

My advice and you can take it or leave it depending on what your own thoughts are is to not run a real time antivirus and have something like Malwarebytes installed to run every so often to make sure you are clean or if you have an obvious problem.

I absolutely disagree ! Malwarebytes does a fine job, but what it does is to clean up *after* a mess has been created, rather than prevent it being made in the first place. Stable door ? Horse ?

The best advice is to stay away from obvious sources of viruses, a lot are contained in downloaded counterfeit software/music/games etc and on web sites that are not strictly mainstream.

Very true, but I find that those most prone to getting viruses are the very same people who can't spot a dodgy website or pick up the little signals that might alert them that something isn't right. The upshot is they download things from whichever site shouts loudest, assuming in their naivety that all websites are benevolent. Again, common sense is the best AV, but it appears to be in short supply.

 

[Cody]

Again, common sense is the best AV, but it appears to be in short supply.

<grins> Ain't that the truth!

 

[Mack]

All I can say about that is that in tests (where a machine has been intentionally infected by a large number of viruses) AVG has shown a better detection rate than any other AV program (whether paid for or free) except Kaspersky. Avast! doesn't fare quite as well but it does seem more proactive, giving strong warnings of known attack sites. It also has an easy to use boot-time scan option, where AVG's boot-time scan is through a bootable CD which the user has to burn themselves.

I would say the test results vary check
http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php
and that shows 4 products (Avira/bitdefender/Emsisoft/Kaspersky) as being 99.8%, but AVG at 93.4% and Avast at 97.4%

Don't believe everything you read though!!!

 

[ZZR600]

Limey72, one thing I have to say which a lot of people don't realise is that if you are on Windows 8 then you already have anti-virus installed within the OS which in my personal opinion is just as good as any other. If you have installed another anti-virus program over this which hasn't disabled Windows Defender you can find that you have two programs in conflict where one scans a file, the other detects that there has been access and scans the same file, this first program detects this change and scans again. A nice endless loop ensues that bogs your system down and creates unnecessary heat and HDD wear.

If you are on Windows Vista or 7, then you can download the same program which is Microsoft Security Essentials. I've had this installed on family and work colleagues machines and now none of them will ever use any other AV since it has little performance impact and has actually caught viruses before they have caused irrecoverable damage to the OS. Avast and AVG for example have just been resource hogs and been too late in quarantining the dirty file.

The Microsoft AV has the bonus of being updated daily with Windows Update and I've never had a false positive result like with other AV software. And looking at the chart in the post before me, they don't like including it in these reports since it's putting other AV software probably out of business.

 

[KickahasTier]

Here is a simple answer for you.

Add the game folder (or any folder) to the exceptions in whatever anti-virus or security software you have.

Boom, no more anti-virus software resource hogging.

Also look for a utility like Asus "Gamefast"

Or if you want to really get into tuning your OS look at this guys page, lots of advice from decades of experience http://www.blackviper.com/

 

[Dr Wookie]

Thank you for the replies guys and yes I think I will give some benchmark software a shot but at the end of the day as long as it runs smoothly with a rift I will be happy

I have a similar set up to you, but with less RAM (660, 8GB RAM, i7-4770). I have borrowed a rift from work for a couple of weeks, and it works well for me ! The only exception so far is in the space station, but that could well be optimized in the future.

I preordered a DK2 on the strength of my DK1 experience, which is FANTASTIC, just like being in the ship