One of the issues with extremely high frame rates on the PC version of this game, is that certain focused interactions of particular game elements become unstable, specifically lock picking and terminal usage. Running my GTX 970 GPU I get max rates of up around 250 FPS, which  while impressive, is wholly unnecessary. Frame rates at this speed mean that the lock picking sequence flies very quickly left and right easily breaking bobby pins, it also means that you get stuck at terminals unable to exit. There are reasons why this is suspected to be happening in Fallout4 which you can read about in the link below, namely coding to frame rates. Most importantly, how do you fix this?

 

The easiest method to resolve this is to reduce the maximum frame rate of the game when it’s being played on your PC. For this we turn to RivaTuner Statistics Server, a simple utility that can be control characteristics on an app by app basis. This tool should support any GPU made from by any vendor. If you have an MSI GPU like me, a slightly older version of this utility is bundled in the Afterburner install. To get the latest code, follow the link provided at the bottom.  For this to work, RivaTuner must be running when you play the game, On Screen Display (OSD) is optional but helpful to see what’s happening. If you opt to run the Afterburner utility too, it will display your GPU load characteristics as well as % utilized OSD while in-game if you like.

 

• Install RivaTuner
• Add Fallout4.exe as an application profile, you will find the exe here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4
• Set framerate limit to 105 and hit enter (identified as max stable rate)
• Enable Show own statistics to view FPS OSD in-game
• Enable Start with Widows if desired

 

 

Once the game profile has been set up, make sure to not X out of RivaTuner as this closes the app. Click the down arrow to minimize to the system tray instead. If RivaTuner is not running your frame rate limit will not be applied. Once you’re in game, you will see your new limited frame rate in the upper left hand corner reflecting the change is active. No more stuck terminals and much better control when lock picking with bobby pins! There is no discernable difference otherwise with regard to quality of graphics rendered nor speedy scene changes. 105 FPS is great!

 

 

That’s it. Sucks we have to do this but better than constantly reloading quicksaves after getting stuck at a terminal! Big shout to the Reddit community thread identifying the problem and suggestions to correct.

 

Resources

Reddit PSA

MSI Afterburner

RivaTuner 6.4