F4 pegs my CPU

[James Paul von Helton]

Fallout 4 pegs my CPU. I'm at my wit's end here.......Can't figure out how to stop it.

 

Skyrim, fully modded & with everything turned on that you can think of, DOES NOT peg my CPU, but Fallout 4, set to bare minimums DOES??!!

 

.......Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

 

[Cock Sucker]

Fallout 4 is a pc sucker compared to skyrim, list your pc specs and someone might have an answer

 

FYI my old hd7870xt skyrim no bother, fallout 4 I barly run in on med.

[James Paul von Helton]

Win 10 64bit

MSI 970 mobo

Twin MSI 950's

AMD FX CPU (4 core) 4300 Vishra

32 Gig Gskill Ripjaws

3 Hitachi 1T hard drives

 

 

 

[Beef Cheeks]

Are you running liquid cooling? That processor requires it to prevent hitting the throttle temperature (61 degrees celcius). If it hits that temperature while gaming the processor will start throttling performance. The Piledriver (your CPU) and the Bulldozer architecture run VERY hot. I used to have one. I ended up having to move to Intel because I couldn't keep the heat down even with liquid cooling.

 

I would personally not recommend overclocking that processor either, unless you have a custom liquid cooling system (custom-piped with a liquid pump as a separate piece). Cheaper close-looped systems won't do you good in my experience.

 

Also, I may note that your processor isn't built to handle modern games in general. Only the 8000 series could probably do it, but they run even hotter. The 4300 is equivalent to probably a 4 year old Intel i3 in performance, except the i3 wouldn't overheat.

[allsunday]

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!

For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.

Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.

If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.

Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.

That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.

For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

 

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

[James Paul von Helton]

Are you running liquid cooling? That processor requires it to prevent hitting the throttle temperature (61 degrees celcius). If it hits that temperature while gaming the processor will start throttling performance. The Piledriver (your CPU) and the Bulldozer architecture run VERY hot. I used to have one. I ended up having to move to Intel because I couldn't keep the heat down even with liquid cooling.

 

I would personally not recommend overclocking that processor either, unless you have a custom liquid cooling system (custom-piped with a liquid pump as a separate piece). Cheaper close-looped systems won't do you good in my experience.

 

Also, I may note that your processor isn't built to handle modern games in general. Only the 8000 series could probably do it, but they run even hotter. The 4300 is equivalent to probably a 4 year old Intel i3 in performance, except the i3 wouldn't overheat.

 

No, I'm not running liquid cooling.......Nor do I overclock, for fear of shortening my hardware's lifespan.......

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!

For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.

Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.

If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.

Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.

That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.

For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

 

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

 

I will try your suggestions immediately & see how it goes.

 

[Beef Cheeks]

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!

For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.

Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.

If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.

Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.

That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.

For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

 

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

umm the 6300 gets much better bench results than his 4300.. IMO he's going to be hard-pressed to run Fallout 4 with that processor.

[allsunday]

 

 

 

 

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!
For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.
Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.
If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.
Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.
That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.
For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

umm the 6300 gets much better bench results than his 4300.. IMO he's going to be hard-pressed to run Fallout 4 with that processor.

 

 

You're almost right but most games (Fallout 4 included) still don't use too many cores or hyper-threading very well.  An FX-4300 is basically an FX-6300 missing two logical cores and if we add two more logical cores (a total of 8) then we get the FX-8350.  So even with the additional cores the CPU is basically the same, therefore considering the fact that most games today don't use a lot of cores that means performance difference is extremely minimal as long as each CPU is clocked to the same frequency.  I have both the FX 6300 and an FX 8350 in different gaming PCs and when you overclock both of these CPUs to the same frequency (4.5Ghz) the performance is almost the same, the FX-8350 is only a tiny bit better but not by much... again, that's only in gaming.   
Obviously, performance would be different for other applications but we're talking about Fallout 4 and Fallout 4 is a game.  This is why most PC fanboys tell you to go buy Intel because Intel has far superior single core performance which is better for games.  

Finally, here's proof showing an FX-4300 clocked to 4.7Ghz running Fallout 4 just fine with a weaker GPU than a GTX 950.  To be honest, 4.5Ghz would be just fine, 4.7Ghz is pushing the CPU too far with very diminished performance gains.  

[/spoilers]

[allsunday]

 

 

 

Are you running liquid cooling? That processor requires it to prevent hitting the throttle temperature (61 degrees celcius). If it hits that temperature while gaming the processor will start throttling performance. The Piledriver (your CPU) and the Bulldozer architecture run VERY hot. I used to have one. I ended up having to move to Intel because I couldn't keep the heat down even with liquid cooling.

 

I would personally not recommend overclocking that processor either, unless you have a custom liquid cooling system (custom-piped with a liquid pump as a separate piece). Cheaper close-looped systems won't do you good in my experience.

 

Also, I may note that your processor isn't built to handle modern games in general. Only the 8000 series could probably do it, but they run even hotter. The 4300 is equivalent to probably a 4 year old Intel i3 in performance, except the i3 wouldn't overheat.

 

No, I'm not running liquid cooling.......Nor do I overclock, for fear of shortening my hardware's lifespan.......

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!
For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.
Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.
If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.
Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.
That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.
For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

 

I will try your suggestions immediately & see how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't worry about overclocking your CPUs.  It does shorten the lifespan a little but by the time the CPU dies in 4 or 5 years (assuming it even dies at all) then I guarantee you've probably made one or two PC upgrades by then without even thinking about it.  
Besides, a brand new FX-4300 only costs about $60.  Consider also the fact that if you overclock your current FX-4300 and you happen to break it (still very unlikely to ever happen), it'll be a good idea to upgrade to an FX-6300 for only about $80-$90.  

[allsunday]

 

 

 

Are you running liquid cooling? That processor requires it to prevent hitting the throttle temperature (61 degrees celcius). If it hits that temperature while gaming the processor will start throttling performance. The Piledriver (your CPU) and the Bulldozer architecture run VERY hot. I used to have one. I ended up having to move to Intel because I couldn't keep the heat down even with liquid cooling.

 

I would personally not recommend overclocking that processor either, unless you have a custom liquid cooling system (custom-piped with a liquid pump as a separate piece). Cheaper close-looped systems won't do you good in my experience.

 

Also, I may note that your processor isn't built to handle modern games in general. Only the 8000 series could probably do it, but they run even hotter. The 4300 is equivalent to probably a 4 year old Intel i3 in performance, except the i3 wouldn't overheat.

 

No, I'm not running liquid cooling.......Nor do I overclock, for fear of shortening my hardware's lifespan.......

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!
For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.
Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.
If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.
Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.
That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.
For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

 

I will try your suggestions immediately & see how it goes.

 

 

 

 

Correction on the enblocal.ini step.  There's no iPresentInterval to set to 0 and disable Vsync, instead the correct method is to set ForceVSync to false.  

[Love Space]

I have R9 270x ASUS, 6GB of ram, i5 2320 and fallout 4 doesn't lag on me, just render problems sometimes.

It could be the game isn't optimized to work on all PC is my guess. Have you tested the game without mods?

[D_ManXX2]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!
For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.
Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.
If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.
Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.
That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.
For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

umm the 6300 gets much better bench results than his 4300.. IMO he's going to be hard-pressed to run Fallout 4 with that processor.

 

 

You're almost right but most games (Fallout 4 included) still don't use too many cores or hyper-threading very well.  An FX-4300 is basically an FX-6300 missing two logical cores and if we add two more logical cores (a total of 8) then we get the FX-8350.  So even with the additional cores the CPU is basically the same, therefore considering the fact that most games today don't use a lot of cores that means performance difference is extremely minimal as long as each CPU is clocked to the same frequency.  I have both the FX 6300 and an FX 8350 in different gaming PCs and when you overclock both of these CPUs to the same frequency (4.5Ghz) the performance is almost the same, the FX-8350 is only a tiny bit better but not by much... again, that's only in gaming.   
Obviously, performance would be different for other applications but we're talking about Fallout 4 and Fallout 4 is a game.  This is why most PC fanboys tell you to go buy Intel because Intel has far superior single core performance which is better for games.  

Finally, here's proof showing an FX-4300 clocked to 4.7Ghz running Fallout 4 just fine with a weaker GPU than a GTX 950.  To be honest, 4.5Ghz would be just fine, 4.7Ghz is pushing the CPU too far with very diminished performance gains.  

[/spoilers]

 

 

 

I wished my game would run that well. even on vanilla fallout 4 my fps would start at 60 then drops to 30 for some odd reason when stuff around starts to render closely. you will see minor frame skipping allot but i blame that on my current hard drive not keeping up with my cpu and GPU.

[Beef Cheeks]

 

 

 

 

 

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!
For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.
Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.
If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.
Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.
That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.
For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

umm the 6300 gets much better bench results than his 4300.. IMO he's going to be hard-pressed to run Fallout 4 with that processor.

 

You're almost right but most games (Fallout 4 included) still don't use too many cores or hyper-threading very well.  An FX-4300 is basically an FX-6300 missing two logical cores and if we add two more logical cores (a total of 8) then we get the FX-8350.  So even with the additional cores the CPU is basically the same, therefore considering the fact that most games today don't use a lot of cores that means performance difference is extremely minimal as long as each CPU is clocked to the same frequency.  I have both the FX 6300 and an FX 8350 in different gaming PCs and when you overclock both of these CPUs to the same frequency (4.5Ghz) the performance is almost the same, the FX-8350 is only a tiny bit better but not by much... again, that's only in gaming.   
Obviously, performance would be different for other applications but we're talking about Fallout 4 and Fallout 4 is a game.  This is why most PC fanboys tell you to go buy Intel because Intel has far superior single core performance which is better for games.  

Finally, here's proof showing an FX-4300 clocked to 4.7Ghz running Fallout 4 just fine with a weaker GPU than a GTX 950.  To be honest, 4.5Ghz would be just fine, 4.7Ghz is pushing the CPU too far with very diminished performance gains.  

 

 

I see your points, but all I can say is that these chips overheat very easily. My old FX-8350 ended up becoming damaged when using the Hyper-212 EVO with it to the point that even a well-rated Corsair close-looped liquid cooler couldn't keep it below 65 degrees celcius when running games. While a fresh new FX-4300 may be fine, if he is getting horrible lag he may have used the stock cooler and the damage may have already been done to the cores. We all know how horrible the stock coolers are.. I mean, before I got this FX-8350 I had one before it that I was forced to use the stock cooler for a month because of finances... The cooling compound was gooey at room temperature and ended up melting away while the computer was running. Thank god for Micro Center's warranties.

[allsunday]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your system can run Fallout 4 fine, although I must stress that you at least give a mild overclock to your CPU by purchasing a $25 Hyper 212 Evo or equivalent ASAP. Get it to 4.3Ghz at least... 4.5Ghz would be most ideal. All AM3+ CPUs are significantly more easier to overclock than your typical Intel chip. You'd be surprised. They can run hot with very unstable temp readings but it's Winter right now. Use your PC as an additional heater!!
For now, go to you Fallout4Prefs.INI and set iPresentInterval to 0. Also set bMaximizeWindow to 1, set bFull Screen to 0, and set bBorderless to 1. This forces Fallout 4 to run in borderless window mode which improves stability of the game for some odd reason.
Since you're using SLI, get NvidiaInspector (free) and set the Fallout 4 SLI compatibility bits to 0x080000F5 (Killing Floor 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon Age 2, etc.). Make sure you hit save before closing. Mileage may vary so try other SLI bits also if you must.
If you use ENB then go to enblocal.INI in your game installation folder and also set ipresentinterval to 0. If not, get enblocal installed in your game anyway because of enboost which helps your game's performance significantly.
Finally, right click anywhere on your desktop and go to Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3d Settings and then click the Program Settings tab. Select or Add Fallout 4 and make sure SLI Rendering Mode is on Nvidia Recommended. Here, I also set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance. Lastly, towards the bottom you'll find Vertical Sync. Turn Vertical Sync ON right here so that it's one of your GTX 950's that are handling Vsync instead of stealing resources directly from your game. Which is why we had it turned off when we set iPresenInterval to 0.
That's it. Game should run significantly smoother.
For easy tweaks to get even more performance, launch the game with the regular Fallout4Launcher.exe and set shadow resolution and godrays to medium or lower. And, of course, turn off Ambient Occlusion and Weapon Debris. At this point you may also change your resolution to 1600x900 if need be, only do this as a last resort.

I once had an FX 6300 with dual GTX 760s in SLI. Very similar performance specs.

umm the 6300 gets much better bench results than his 4300.. IMO he's going to be hard-pressed to run Fallout 4 with that processor.

 

You're almost right but most games (Fallout 4 included) still don't use too many cores or hyper-threading very well.  An FX-4300 is basically an FX-6300 missing two logical cores and if we add two more logical cores (a total of 8) then we get the FX-8350.  So even with the additional cores the CPU is basically the same, therefore considering the fact that most games today don't use a lot of cores that means performance difference is extremely minimal as long as each CPU is clocked to the same frequency.  I have both the FX 6300 and an FX 8350 in different gaming PCs and when you overclock both of these CPUs to the same frequency (4.5Ghz) the performance is almost the same, the FX-8350 is only a tiny bit better but not by much... again, that's only in gaming.   
Obviously, performance would be different for other applications but we're talking about Fallout 4 and Fallout 4 is a game.  This is why most PC fanboys tell you to go buy Intel because Intel has far superior single core performance which is better for games.  

Finally, here's proof showing an FX-4300 clocked to 4.7Ghz running Fallout 4 just fine with a weaker GPU than a GTX 950.  To be honest, 4.5Ghz would be just fine, 4.7Ghz is pushing the CPU too far with very diminished performance gains.  

 

 

I see your points, but all I can say is that these chips overheat very easily. My old FX-8350 ended up becoming damaged when using the Hyper-212 EVO with it to the point that even a well-rated Corsair close-looped liquid cooler couldn't keep it below 65 degrees celcius when running games. While a fresh new FX-4300 may be fine, if he is getting horrible lag he may have used the stock cooler and the damage may have already been done to the cores. We all know how horrible the stock coolers are.. I mean, before I got this FX-8350 I had one before it that I was forced to use the stock cooler for a month because of finances... The cooling compound was gooey at room temperature and ended up melting away while the computer was running. Thank god for Micro Center's warranties.

 

 

 

Sounds like you just had bad luck with the FX processors.  I've built 4 computers for friends and family over two years ago and each of those have FX-6300 cpus in them and all of them are working fine even today and all of them are running on a cheap $15 air cooler I got off ebay.  My FX-8350 is running under a single Corsair H60 (It's not better than a Hyper 212 Evo) and I can overclock it to 4.7Ghz just fine.  Sorry for your loss.

[allsunday]

Well, I guess my recommendations probably failed and OP got so mad he smashed his computer up against the wall and shattered it to a hundred pieces... that's why he can't get back to us with an update.

[gallahorn]

The problem with FX cpus arnt the cpus overheating its a component on cheaper motherboards that overheat. Dont remember the name of it but with FX cpus you want a good motherboard that can handle the heat from power consumption of the FX cpus. I had a 8350 before and it use around 125 watt on max usage which makes parts of the motherboard heat up a lot. So cant stress enough that you need a good motherboard for FX cpu's

[James Paul von Helton]

Get a CPU meter for your desktop & put it on a second monitor & watch.........The CPU will climb to 100% & stay there until you do a fate out or fade in, or check your Pipboy, but as soon as that's done, it goes right back up to 100% again.

 

I can only speak for me, but when my CPU pegs out at 100%, I lag horribly.......Am I the only one?

 

 

 

[peculiaris]

Are you running liquid cooling? That processor requires it to prevent hitting the throttle temperature (61 degrees celcius). If it hits that temperature while gaming the processor will start throttling performance. The Piledriver (your CPU) and the Bulldozer architecture run VERY hot. I used to have one. I ended up having to move to Intel because I couldn't keep the heat down even with liquid cooling.

 

I would personally not recommend overclocking that processor either, unless you have a custom liquid cooling system (custom-piped with a liquid pump as a separate piece). Cheaper close-looped systems won't do you good in my experience.

 

Also, I may note that your processor isn't built to handle modern games in general. Only the 8000 series could probably do it, but they run even hotter. The 4300 is equivalent to probably a 4 year old Intel i3 in performance, except the i3 wouldn't overheat.

I was drinking coffee and then I read this...

 

Now my coffee is on the ground.

 

This could not contain more bullshit.

 

As a well educated PC builder I feel like I should break this post down and point out the flaws.

 

1. No you don't need "Liquid cooling" for a bloody FX-4300, It runs fine at standard frequency with the pre"Wrath" stock cooler.

 

2. The max temprature is not 61c its actually recommended as 70c but it doesn't throttle until the high 70's.

 

3. And no one would pair a custom loop with a FX-4300, that would be bloody stupid!

 

4. The FX-4300 would be a great low-budget CPU for someone who doesn't want to spend more then 400 dollar, even if it would go against any actually knowledgeable PC builders nature.  

[Beef Cheeks]

I was drinking coffee and then I read this...

 

 

Now my coffee is on the ground.

 

This could not contain more bullshit.

 

As a well educated PC builder I feel like I should break this post down and point out the flaws.

 

1. No you don't need "Liquid cooling" for a bloody FX-4300, It runs fine at standard frequency with the pre"Wrath" stock cooler.

 

2. The max temprature is not 61c its actually recommended as 70c but it doesn't throttle until the high 70's.

 

3. And no one would pair a custom loop with a FX-4300, that would be bloody stupid!

 

4. The FX-4300 would be a great low-budget CPU for someone who doesn't want to spend more then 400 dollar, even if it would go against any actually knowledgeable PC builders nature.  

 

Sorry I may have gotten ahead of myself.

In reply:

1. I thought the 4300 was Bulldozer architecture when I wrote that post.. did research afterwards and it was the improved Piledriver architecture.. The Bulldozer architecture was riddled with heat problems to my understanding.

 

2. I was going by this page and personal experience with throttling from my old 8350 AMD chip that lost serious performance around that temperature. I later came to the assumption that the chip was damaged, possibly from a faulty motherboard and/or improper thermal paste application (I lost 6 sticks of ram due to corruption. My initial 4 had over 300000 errors in memtest86, and it corrupted two new sticks I placed in by themselves within a week. I can't explain it. But Windows did do some very hilarious shit during that time.) I do not know the real validity of that website. EDIT: You are right. AMD's website says 70.5 C.

 

3. Yeah I realize now it's a bit retarded.. I may have let failures of installing coolers in my learning days influence my post.

 

4. I agree. But Fallout 4 in my opinion is not made for a $400 build, unless you really know how to penny-pinch... something the average PC builder takes years to learn.

 

Sorry about the coffee, mate. Maybe getting a liquid cooler will prevent it from burning.

[Lendova]

What exactly happens? Your game periodically slows down a lot then goes back to normal?

[allsunday]

Get a CPU meter for your desktop & put it on a second monitor & watch.........The CPU will climb to 100% & stay there until you do a fate out or fade in, or check your Pipboy, but as soon as that's done, it goes right back up to 100% again.

 

I can only speak for me, but when my CPU pegs out at 100%, I lag horribly.......Am I the only one?

 

My CPU peaks at about 25-40% in Fallout 4.  I have an i7-4790k running on a Kraken X61 cooler.

 

Okay, I'm very willing to help out but I can only be as helpful as you're descriptive.  Telling me that your CPU is pegging Fallout 4 and that you get horrible lag makes about as much sense as asking the doctor to prescribe the correct medicine but you only told him you don't feel so good.  I'm not saying I'm a doctor, but I'm willing to work as best I can with you.

 

How are your graphics cards running?  Is SLI indicating it's functioning properly?  What mods, if any, are installed in your Fallout 4?  Are you running an ENB?  Do you have the latest drivers from Nvidia?  

 

I'm assuming you've tried ALL my recommendations and they didn't work.  Therefore, what are your temperatures for your CPU? Download HWmonitor to measure that. I'm suspecting thermal throttling, but my answer is only as vague as the issue's description.

 

If it were thermal throttling then a new CPU cooler or a new application of thermal paste for the proper transfer of heat is next in order, as indicated by the word thermal.

 

The worst case scenario -- and also the most unlikely scenario of all -- is that your CPU is a lemon.

 

If running Fallout 4 on the most optimized settings I've described previously doesn't work and if fixing the temperature of the CPU doesn't work, then the last two possible solutions are either A. you have outdated/incompatible software on your PC (which would require you to be 1,000,000x more descriptive than you already are to solve the issue), or B. your CPU is damaged (still the most unlikeliest scenario of all).  

[LukeDuke]

Turn down shadows distance to medium and good rays to low. This is typical for Beth's games

[allsunday]

Turn down shadows distance to medium and good rays to low. This is typical for Beth's games

OP's original post already indicate he's turned Fallout 4 down to the bare minimum.

[James Paul von Helton]

What exactly happens? Your game periodically slows down a lot then goes back to normal?

 

Certainly.......The audio gets messed up, the game lags & is unplayable for a period of a few seconds. All the while, the game is pegging my CPU into 100-% on all cores.

 

[James Paul von Helton]

 

Get a CPU meter for your desktop & put it on a second monitor & watch.........The CPU will climb to 100% & stay there until you do a fate out or fade in, or check your Pipboy, but as soon as that's done, it goes right back up to 100% again.

 

I can only speak for me, but when my CPU pegs out at 100%, I lag horribly.......Am I the only one?

 

My CPU peaks at about 25-40% in Fallout 4.  I have an i7-4790k running on a Kraken X61 cooler.

 

Okay, I'm very willing to help out but I can only be as helpful as you're descriptive.  Telling me that your CPU is pegging Fallout 4 and that you get horrible lag makes about as much sense as asking the doctor to prescribe the correct medicine but you only told him you don't feel so good.  I'm not saying I'm a doctor, but I'm willing to work as best I can with you.

 

How are your graphics cards running?  Is SLI indicating it's functioning properly?  What mods, if any, are installed in your Fallout 4?  Are you running an ENB?  Do you have the latest drivers from Nvidia?  

 

I'm assuming you've tried ALL my recommendations and they didn't work.  Therefore, what are your temperatures for your CPU? Download HWmonitor to measure that. I'm suspecting thermal throttling, but my answer is only as vague as the issue's description.

 

If it were thermal throttling then a new CPU cooler or a new application of thermal paste for the proper transfer of heat is next in order, as indicated by the word thermal.

 

The worst case scenario -- and also the most unlikely scenario of all -- is that your CPU is a lemon.

 

If running Fallout 4 on the most optimized settings I've described previously doesn't work and if fixing the temperature of the CPU doesn't work, then the last two possible solutions are either A. you have outdated/incompatible software on your PC (which would require you to be 1,000,000x more descriptive than you already are to solve the issue), or B. your CPU is damaged (still the most unlikeliest scenario of all).  

 

 

It's ONLY Fallout 4......

 

Skyrim, with everything turned on INCLUDING FAA, is *not* pegging my CPU.

 

Fallout 3 & Fallout NV are not........

 

Batman Archam Assylum is not.

 

Mad Max is not.

 

IT'S ONLY FALLOUT FOUR.

 

I have an AMD CPU.......Could the game not be properly coded for AMD CPU's??