Performance on low end PC Help please

Greetings fellow Exiles! :)

So I'd like to ask you for an advice about optimizing Path of Exile 2 performance on my low end machine.

So, here's my setup:

Motherboard: MSI B250M PRO-VD
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
16 GB RAM

The game is playable and runs kind of surprisingly well considering what I have inside, but loading screens and for example opening world\quest map take some time. AND that is acceptable.

Unfortunately, some skills' effects and boss fights drop my fps from 60 to 30-40 and maybe sometimes even lower.

As far as I know my CPU is significantly below minimum requirements, but the GPU is somehow close to recommended.

I consider buying Intel® Core™ i7-7700k since it's the best CPU "supported" (xd) by my motherboard.

What do you think?
Maybe some thoughts on how to improve my performance for now using in-game settings?

Does Vulkan should perform better on my poor CPU than Direct12?
I don't think that lowering graphics quality affects my performance, but using upscaling down seems to make some difference.

I plan to buy brand new PC in a year but still...

Please share some thoughts on improving my performance and optimizing PoE2 in general.

Cheers!

Even if you upgrade that CPU it will most likely still run like crap drop-wise. That CPU is ancient.

Hey there Ozrzon!

Any update on your build? I'm currently having the same issues and almost same build with you as well! It's playable for a while, but as I go back to town with other players, that's where the stuttering starts. The GPU I use is GTX 1050 Ti. FPS is around 90-99 (using optimize feature from GeForce Experience) but the quality of graphics I can't tolerate. If I adjust it a little to what visuals I prefer, it will go down 60 fps. But then again, after 20 mins (I think it's getting hot), it starts to stutter, no fps drops, just stutter.

I'm considering to just upgrade as well instead of buying whole new PC. Indeed, the only acceptable upgrade we can have is the i7-7700 which is just sweet as it is the minimum requirement. I'm opting out of the 7700K as it doesn't have a cpu cooler—limited budget lmao! However, the hertz is what I need in work so idk! hahah!

I'm currently researching about compatibilities of prospect component upgrades (and efficiency in 3D modeling as this is my new career), so my best move would probably be:

(1) upgrade to i7-7700
(2) &, upgrade to GTX 3060 12GB — but I'm currently checking the connection & wattage with my current PSU. I'm torn between it's Ti version since it's only 8GB; I need 12GB VRAM for 3D modeling.

Please let me know what you did!

Ozrzon and Chiliflavor,

I'm basically at the same level as you guys, but on an MSI laptop with GTX 1050 Ti and 32 GB RAM. That increased RAM alone doesn't help much. Realistically, the only thing we can do is upgrade the CPU -AND- GPU of our systems. So I am putting together an entire desktop tower for my upgrade.

If you have a desktop already and you don't have a pocket IT guy like myself, try researching what the highest performance CPU and GPU your motherboard can handle, and work your way down based on a price you're wiling to invest.
If you're on a laptop, you're going to have to endure using the lowest available graphics settings or get a new gaming laptop.

Unfortunately, there aren't as many graphical settings in POE2 compared to other ARPGs that have you play exclusively online like Diablo 3. As the thing that hits our systems the hardest is the 'pretty' spells and skills. So our potatoes can only do so much even with an internet connection at or above 1 Gbps, as the game is processed locally and that information is being checked by their servers at about the same time.

My personal suggestion is that if you really want to keep playing the game right now, is endure the lowest possible graphical settings and drop your audio channel count to something that doesn't cause audio clipping, until you can upgrade to something better. If starting an entirely new build, I would start by picking a CPU, then a MOBO that can support that CPU, then a GPU, afterwards picking out the rest of the components. Otherwise, just upgrade the CPU and GPU to the max of what you can afford and your MOBO can support. However, if you have to make a choice in which would be higher performing, be willing to spend more for a better GPU and aim for a minimum of 12 GB on that card.

If you're unsure of how to do a build, check LinusTechTips. I admit I've never watched those videos because I have a pocketIT guy that has been teaching me over the years, but I know the channel can be a reliable reference.

"

Ozrzon1992#4177 wrote:

I consider buying Intel® Core™ i7-7700k since it's the best CPU "supported" (xd) by my motherboard.

That depends - if you can find it dirt cheap, it's an option, tho personally i'd check CPU load before making decisions to be sure the GPU isn't the actual bottleneck.

If your mobo wasn't MSI B250, there's China-made "mutants" around like say QTJ2 and QNCT - engineering samples of 6c/12t laptop processors adapted for desktop socket, but they need the right mobo and modified bios to work correctly, along with some skill putting them in the socket.

As for running POE2 on old hardware - I tried it on work with ye olde Xeon 2666 (10 cores*3.5 ghz, HT off) and ye olde 3gb 1060, it runs decent enough on medium settings with water/shadows on low except delirium where it drops to 30-40 fps. Vulkan is faster, but that ancient GPU doesn't seem to support it properly - getting random crashes in both POE1 ans 2.

The problem is that the game itself is lacking in optimization, even using highend hardware your frame rate will often drop under 45fps in PoE2 (and go over 200 when almost nothing happens). Since your system is pretty old at this point, I think a whole new motherboard/cpu/ram/gpu is required.

As for in-game settings, other than lowering every graphical settings, I found that DX12 runs better than Vulkan and that changing shader cache size in Nvidia control panel to 100GB or unlimited helps a little as well.