where should I go ask...?

[kitty23]

Hi all,
I have a new notebook and a pretty fancy one (acer aspire VN7-791G, intel core i7 @ 2.6 GHz, 8GB ram, geforce gtx 960m), however my fps in FTB is really bad (around 5 fps right now oO) - unless I turn all the graphics settings down to pretty much minimum, don't use texture packs, ...

Since I'm kind of new to all this I don't really know if I can't really expect anything better from my notebook, or (hopefully) I can improve it somehow. And I don't really know where to turn for help, is it these forums, if so, is it a support ticket? Also, what info do I need to provide? Do I copy / paste the output from the launcher console (starting up FTB takes _ages_, also I noticed a number of red lines in the console...)? What info on my system would be needed?

Oh and I tried the direwolf20 pack and the infinity one - are these just to much for my notebook maybe? I hope not...

 

[rhn]

Well.. The deal with notebooks is that they usually don't put in the top most powerful components as they simply use too much power and produce way too much heat to be in such a small case. In this case I would bet the problem lies here:

intel core i7 @ 2.6 GHz

It is a modern I7 Quadcore, but because of the above mentioned reasons it is only a 2.6GHz while a contemporary desktop CPU is 4+ GHz. It is possible to get notebooks with these kind of hardware, but IMO then they are no longer notebooks and merely moveable PCs. You really need to decide for your self which kind of PC you want: mobile work/study/surfing/media notebook, "moveable" gaming notebook(that is still inferior) or a proper gaming desktop.

Now it most games this wouldn't matter one bit, since 4 cores of 2.6GHz is plenty. But Minecraft cannot make use of multithreading so it can in essence only use one core, and it therefore becomes a big deal that that core is as fast as possible.

What can you do? I would suggest not trying to tackle the largest most bloated packs that are available. Or if you do, then at least cut down on the mods. You can also consider going back a MC version and run some of the fine packs available. Those should run considerably better.
Other than that, no with that PC I think it would be normal to have to run at minimum settings(or close).

 

[lenscas]

You are at the right place to ask for help.
A few things that I always check for when people have fps problems
What gpu does minecraft use(most intel cpu's have an integrated gpu which is bad to look what it uses go to snooper settings(or whatever it is called) and check for th openGL vendor)
make sure you use 64 bit java (I saw posts claming that java 8 is faster but I have yet to experience any difference myself)
make sure that for 1.7.10 packs you have 4 GB of ram allocated

 

[Padfoote]

Building upon what the others have said, your CPU may be a little weak for a heavily modded MC instance. I have a i7-3720QM @ 2.6GHz in my laptop, but I've often seen it at 3.6-4.0GHz. So while the advertised clock speed is important, I'm more interested in seeing what the actual speed is while in use. The second thing you want to do is make sure Java is using your Nvidia GPU rather than the onboard Intel one. The amount of RAM you need dedicated varies based on number of mods and texture packs, but a solid baseline is 3.5GB for a pack like Infinity with no texture pack active.

To give you a general idea of the framerates you should (hopefully) be seeing, I get an average of about 70 FPS in a decently developed base, with an i7-3720QM rated for 2.6GHz (almost always clocked at 3.6GHz though), a Nvidia 660m, and 3.5GB of RAM dedicated to MC running on Win10.

Edit: I just double checked my GPU settings, and I have both the JDK and JRE variant of javaw.exe set to use my 660m. Hopefully that'll help you get started.

 

[kitty23]

Indeed 'openGL vendor' says 'intel' - I googled but couldn't really find out how to make java / minecraft use the geforce graphics...

Java - again I googled but couldn't really find out how to tell if I use 64 bit java. How do i find out? 'java info' says its java 8 update 60, but I guess that's not it, no?

ram allocation is done in the launcher, right? I set the slider to 7.5 gb, is that it?

Thanks a ton for your help and sorry if i'm being tech stupid...

 

[rhn]

Java - again I googled but couldn't really find out how to tell if I use 64 bit java. How do i find out? 'java info' says its java 8 update 60, but I guess that's not it, no?

https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
You can also see in the Launcher Console as you open the launcher which JAVAs are installed and which it chooses to use.

ram allocation is done in the launcher, right? I set the slider to 7.5 gb, is that it?

Don't.. just don't... set it to 3.5GB. 4GB MAX!!!! RAM is not a gas pedal. More it not better. Actually in the case of JAVA the less you can make due with is best...

Sigh this explanation again... @Padfoote hows that guide coming along?

 

[Padfoote]

https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
You can also see in the Launcher Console as you open the launcher which JAVAs are installed and which it chooses to use.


Don't.. just don't... set it to 3.5GB. 4GB MAX!!!! RAM is not a gas pedal. More it not better. Actually in the case of JAVA the less you can make due with is best...

Sigh this explanation again... @Padfoote hows that guide coming along?

Waiting on a few things internally before I put it up.

 

[kitty23]

It seems I have 32 and 64 bit java, but the launcher uses the right one, no?

The FTB Launcher has found the following Java versions installed:
Java Version: 1.8.0_60 sorted as: 1.8.0_60 32 Bit Java at : C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\java.exe
Java Version: 1.8.0_60 sorted as: 1.8.0_60 64 Bit Java at : C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\java.exe
Java Version: 1.8.0_60 sorted as: 1.8.0_60 64 Bit Java at : C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\java.exe
Preferred: Java Version: 1.8.0_60 sorted as: 1.8.0_60 64 Bit Java at : C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\java.exe

It also gives this warning right at the start, would that be a problem?
From Console: Oct 11, 2015 5:21:46 PM java.util.prefs.WindowsPreferences <init>
WARNUNG: Could not open/create prefs root node Software\JavaSoft\Prefs at root 0x80000002. Windows RegCreateKeyEx(...) returned error code 5.

I'll try limiting RAM...

But what about the openGL vendor being set to 'intel'? Isn't that a likely reason for bad performance?

 

[epidemia78]

I am pretty much illiterate when it comes to computer specs and always have to remind myself what my laptop is using when these topics arise. Mine is equipped with dual 2.13ghz processors, apparently. I have been playing modded minecraft on it for quite some time, and get 120+ fps on newly created worlds. Whether or not it would perform as good on FTB packs as it does on my own custom made ones, I really dont know. One thing I am absolutely certain of is that Biomes O plenty causes more performance issues for me than any other mod and that is a trait that goes back to even earlier versions of minecraft that didnt struggle with worldgen as much as 1.7.10 does.

You might want to check if other programs are hogging your CPU before you launch minecraft.

 

[Padfoote]

But what about the openGL vendor being set to 'intel'? Isn't that a likely reason for bad performance?

Yes. Go under the Nvidia Control Panel and set javaw.exe under "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\" to use the High Performance Card. If that doesn't work, set java.exe under the same location to use the high performance card. I had to set javaw.exe in order to get it to work for whatever reason, no idea if that'll be different for you.

 

[Cptqrk]

Yes. Go under the Nvidia Control Panel and set javaw.exe under "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\" to use the High Performance Card. If that doesn't work, set java.exe under the same location to use the high performance card. I had to set javaw.exe in order to get it to work for whatever reason, no idea if that'll be different for you.

Could you just set it to work for both java.exe and javaw.exe?

 

[Padfoote]

Could you just set it to work for both java.exe and javaw.exe?

I did, but java.exe didn't do anything. Only javaw.exe made MC use the correct card.

 

[kitty23]

Yes - that was totally it! Thanks a bunch! Now my framerate is at a reasonable 43 fps (where it was at 5 before), I'll now go play with graphics options. The sky is the limit!
For your guide (assuming it's a kind of technical guide?) you could mention that Nvidia control panel is not part of 'Nvidia geforce experience', also there's no link to it somewhere on the desktop but (at least in my system) needed to be dug out from c:\programs\nvidia corporation\control panel client\nvcplui.exe
Again, thank you!

 

[kitty23]

Oh, and it seems like also startup is _much_ faster now. It used to take ~30 mins mostly spent on 'reloading texture manager', now its more like 5 mins. I'm really happy right now.

 

[kitty23]

OK so right now I set everything to max pretty much, using a texture pack (soartex) - everything looks great and fps is around 60.

Really nice, I'm glad I didn't give up when this was said:

What can you do? I would suggest not trying to tackle the largest most bloated packs that are available. Or if you do, then at least cut down on the mods. You can also consider going back a MC version and run some of the fine packs available. Those should run considerably better.
Other than that, no with that PC I think it would be normal to have to run at minimum settings(or close).

Also, when I change graphics option now this takes a few seconds; before the game froze for up to 15 minutes when I changed certain settings. Yay!

 

[Padfoote]

Yes - that was totally it! Thanks a bunch! Now my framerate is at a reasonable 43 fps (where it was at 5 before), I'll now go play with graphics options. The sky is the limit!
For your guide (assuming it's a kind of technical guide?) you could mention that Nvidia control panel is not part of 'Nvidia geforce experience', also there's no link to it somewhere on the desktop but (at least in my system) needed to be dug out from c:\programs\nvidia corporation\control panel client\nvcplui.exe
Again, thank you!

Right click the taskbar icon that gets created for the Geforce Experience, that'll give you the option to boot either the control panel or the experience.

 

[rhn]

I still don't fathom why so many notebook builders use the CPUs with inbuilt GPUs(which are designed for really light weight PCs that don't need a dedicated GFX) despite installing proper graphic cards as well... It is such a mismatch.
Or have they just started putting it in all the mobile series?

 

[Padfoote]

I still don't fathom why so many notebook builders use the CPUs with inbuilt GPUs(which are designed for really light weight PCs that don't need a dedicated GFX) despite installing proper graphic cards as well... It is such a mismatch.
Or have they just started putting it in all the mobile series?

It's a battery saver. Why use the massive GPU to render the empty desktop when you can use the CPU for that and save some power?