Updated performance guide for 2021 (standalone client)

GGG/Tencent I don't see the connection with Tencent?

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Is there a point to disabling specific audio channels from the config file, instead of just turning down the respective sliders in the in-game audio menu?

Can confirm it makes a difference. I tried this around the time delerium came out because was running into some lagging problem and it seemed to relate to the audio surprisingly enough. I think the streamer Cutedog has a youtube video from around that time explaining it further.

The reason seems to be the game still processes the audio even if you have it set to zero with the in-game slider and can not hear it. To prevent this processing completely sound options in the config file need to be set to false. Some of them are more draining than others, I think background noise and combat sound were some of the main ones causing stuttering. I still play with sound now and its fine, but it was useful in certain leagues while playing HC to have the game more stable. Some audio is still useful and doesn't impact as much, like the boss skill voice lines and item drop sound effects.

Good job to OP and anyone who has helped collate this. Can't verify it all, but it is certainly helpful for people like me who are not proficient with all these setting. I can also confirm on my laptop that the power plan and windows setting also seem to have noticeable impact on the game performance. One other thing I can suggest is if you game is not running well try closing other application. POB for example, you wouldn't think it would drain the performance, but it seems to use a fair bit of resources when in the background. Video capture software as well. I know this is very useful to use, but I think can also drain the system. Other applications may as well.

Something I would like to know more about is the building of shader files. Haven't had any problems with this recently, but about a year ago, it seemed every time there was an update, these files would need to rebuild and there was some period of very laggy gameplay that seemed eventually smooth out. Perhaps they have improved this, but I still encounter it sometimes, especially if encountering new bosses, like black night or king of the mist, or new league content. Often if there is a drop and I check the diagnostic graph, the line for shader seems to be going nuts. Seemed to be something that wasn't a problem in the past but got introduced within the last 1-2 years.