Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Engine: Dunia 2
Genre: First-person shooter, action-adventure
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Minimum System Requirements
Operating system: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64bit versions only)
Processor: Intel Core i5-750 @ 2.6 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2 GHz
Memory: 4GB
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD5850 (1GB VRAM)
Direct X: Version 11
Hard Drive: 30 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with latest drivers
Recommended System Requirements
Operating system: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64bit versions only)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400S @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz or better
Memory: 8GB
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 290X or better (2GB VRAM)
Direct X: Version 11
Hard Drive: 30 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with latest drivers
The guide addresses issues which persist in the game and will help you either to solve those issues or minimize them as much as possible. This guide is aimed to provide you the best in-game performance and contribute to your overall experience.
Stuttering
Stuttering is one of the main major issues in Far Cry 4. Unfortunately it cant be fixed permanently on all PC configurations but it can be decreased. One way to decrease stuttering is to find the GamerProfile.xml file which is in your documents and edit the line saying GPUMaxBufferedFrames="0", replace the 0 with a 1. Eventually the line should look like this GPUMaxBufferedFrames="1". When enabling this option by editing the xml file you will enable GPU Max Buffered Frames which is an option which tells your GPU to render frames in advance (pre render).
Another way to decrease stuttering is by editing another line which is also located in the xml file. By enabling this line you will decrease the amount and the frequency of stuttering but simultaneously you will also reduce the textures quality and their rendering distance. Locate the line DisableLoadingMip0="0" and replace the 0 with a 1. The line should now look like this DisableLoadingMip0="1".
The most effective way to reduce the stuttering is by enabling vertical synchronisation with RadeonPRO. Be advised that this is only possible if you are using an AMD (Ati Radeon) GPU. As the v-sync option in the game is a complete mess it is significantly better to enable v-sync through RadeonPRO. This program can be downloaded for free on the official site and as already mentioned it supports only AMD GPUs. Before proceeding make sure that v-sync in the game is off and then open up RadeonPRO. Add a new profile and select Far Cry 4's executable. Then go to Tweaks and set VSync control to Always on. Also enable Triple-Buffering and set the refresh rate according to the one of your monitor. With vertical sync all the rendered frames are synchronised according to the refresh rate of the monitor, therefore there is no screen tearing. It also decrease stuttering and makes the game more smooth. The only downside is that it is demanding and it may (not necessarily) create input lag.
Sluggish and Accelerated Mouse Controls
This is another major issue persisting in Far Cry 4 and once again it cant be eliminated but it can be tweaked to provide a significantly better experience. First and foremost it is advised to close the drivers configurations which are over-ridden or are running in the background. For example if you have a Razer mouse, close the application running in the background. This way the manufacturers configured drivers will not interfere with the game.
To disable the most mouse smoothing and acceleration you will have to edit the GamerProfile.xml file found in your documents. Find the following lines and disable them all by setting them to 0. MouseAcceleration="1" MouseAccelerationOn="1" UseMouseSmooth="1" Smoothness="1" Smoothness_Ironsight="1" HelpCrosshair="1"
In the end those lines should look like this MouseAcceleration="0" MouseAccelerationOn="0" UseMouseSmooth="0" Smoothness="0" Smoothness_Ironsight="0" HelpCrosshair="0"
After saving the file the most smoothing and acceleration will be gone and will provide a more raw mouse input.
Multi Threading
It has been noticed that the #3 core in most CPUs would have the most activity while the rest of cores would sit almost idle therefore creating bottlenecking issues. In order to fix that disable all persisting in-game overlays would that be a Steam or Ubisoft overlay.
Another way to fix the bottlenecking of the #3 core is to go to the Task Manager, find Far Cry 4 in the tasks list, right click on it and go to details. While in the detailed list press once again the right mouse button on Far Cry 4 and select set affinity, then uncheck CPU 2 (Core #3) and apply. This way the load distribution will be scattered throughout all the other remaining cores equally. This may help with stuttering and performance issues however it is not guaranteed to have benefits.
This guide is a work in progress.
Stuttering
Stuttering is one of the main major issues in Far Cry 4. Unfortunately it cant be fixed permanently on all PC configurations but it can be decreased. One way to decrease stuttering is to find the GamerProfile.xml file which is in your documents and edit the line saying GPUMaxBufferedFrames="0", replace the 0 with a 1. Eventually the line should look like this GPUMaxBufferedFrames="1". When enabling this option by editing the xml file you will enable GPU Max Buffered Frames which is an option which tells your GPU to render frames in advance (pre render).
Another way to decrease stuttering is by editing another line which is also located in the xml file. By enabling this line you will decrease the amount and the frequency of stuttering but simultaneously you will also reduce the textures quality and their rendering distance. Locate the line DisableLoadingMip0="0" and replace the 0 with a 1. The line should now look like this DisableLoadingMip0="1".
The most effective way to reduce the stuttering is by enabling vertical synchronisation with RadeonPRO. Be advised that this is only possible if you are using an AMD (Ati Radeon) GPU. As the v-sync option in the game is a complete mess it is significantly better to enable v-sync through RadeonPRO. This program can be downloaded for free on the official site and as already mentioned it supports only AMD GPUs. Before proceeding make sure that v-sync in the game is off and then open up RadeonPRO. Add a new profile and select Far Cry 4's executable. Then go to Tweaks and set VSync control to Always on. Also enable Triple-Buffering and set the refresh rate according to the one of your monitor. With vertical sync all the rendered frames are synchronised according to the refresh rate of the monitor, therefore there is no screen tearing. It also decrease stuttering and makes the game more smooth. The only downside is that it is demanding and it may (not necessarily) create input lag.
Sluggish and Accelerated Mouse Controls
This is another major issue persisting in Far Cry 4 and once again it cant be eliminated but it can be tweaked to provide a significantly better experience. First and foremost it is advised to close the drivers configurations which are over-ridden or are running in the background. For example if you have a Razer mouse, close the application running in the background. This way the manufacturers configured drivers will not interfere with the game.
To disable the most mouse smoothing and acceleration you will have to edit the GamerProfile.xml file found in your documents. Find the following lines and disable them all by setting them to 0. MouseAcceleration="1" MouseAccelerationOn="1" UseMouseSmooth="1" Smoothness="1" Smoothness_Ironsight="1" HelpCrosshair="1"
In the end those lines should look like this MouseAcceleration="0" MouseAccelerationOn="0" UseMouseSmooth="0" Smoothness="0" Smoothness_Ironsight="0" HelpCrosshair="0"
After saving the file the most smoothing and acceleration will be gone and will provide a more raw mouse input.
Multi Threading
It has been noticed that the #3 core in most CPUs would have the most activity while the rest of cores would sit almost idle therefore creating bottlenecking issues. In order to fix that disable all persisting in-game overlays would that be a Steam or Ubisoft overlay.
Another way to fix the bottlenecking of the #3 core is to go to the Task Manager, find Far Cry 4 in the tasks list, right click on it and go to details. While in the detailed list press once again the right mouse button on Far Cry 4 and select set affinity, then uncheck CPU 2 (Core #3) and apply. This way the load distribution will be scattered throughout all the other remaining cores equally. This may help with stuttering and performance issues however it is not guaranteed to have benefits.
This guide is a work in progress.
Additional Notes: Achievements List (Scalable/Recommended)