Big performance improvements for little money

[Stouf]

Hello,

Yesterday i wondered if BF2 would run better with a PCI sound card instead of an integrated one. So i put an old SB 128 PCI and disabled AC'97 one. The difference is really big : half loading time, no more lags or freezes in game !!!

I use :
MSI 875p neo FIS2R FSB 860
P4 2.6 Ghz @ 2.8
512 Mo noname @ 430 mhz
Radeon 9600 pro @ 440 core /430 mem, last omega drivers
Thrustmaster TopGun Fox 2 Pro ( no ForceFeedback in BF2)

BF2 runs all medium, 2xAF, medium hardware sound, ~40 fps)

[Jungles]

Re: Big performance improvements for little money

For the smallest amount of money: Buy another 512MB of RAM.

Your 2xAF probably chews up the most amount of processing power from your Radeon 9600PRO. I suggest switching it off, unless you really like it enabled. But then that's not really an upgrade, although it would bring performance improvements with $0 spent.

If you're focusing on upgrades to raise you FPS, try this:

Run BF2 with lowest video settings (from within BF2, not the video card driver), and measure the frame rate. Record it.
Then gradually increase the video settings - screen resolution first, followed by texture and lighting effects, then AA and AF. Record for each increase in video setting.

If you find that your FPS at the lowest video settings are crap (eg. less than 50-60fps), then you need a faster processor. If you find there is significant (eg. more than 20%) difference in FPS between the lowest video setting to a medium setting, then you need a better video card.

For overall performance gain, RAM remains as the cheapest option.

The CPU generally handles geometry, whilst the video card generally handles textures, lighting, AA/AF, and the actual displaying of the pixels. The above test can help you find where the biggest bottleneck is occurring, and therefore helps to find what is the most effective upgrade for you: CPU or video card.

[Stouf]

Re: Big performance improvements for little money

Thanks for your advices...
The first most effective upgrade for me is ram i think... And i didn't know that processor handles geometry, i notice a big performance drop on high geometry, so i assume my 2.6 is not enough...

[NoSoup4You]

Re: Big performance improvements for little money

Geometry is going to your Video card and RAM more then processor.

[mrbucket]

Re: Big performance improvements for little money

Thanks for your advices...
The first most effective upgrade for me is ram i think... And i didn't know that processor handles geometry, i notice a big performance drop on high geometry, so i assume my 2.6 is not enough...

Your cpu is adequate, but the ram is huge!