Infuriating lag period..

[x3phyr]

Everytime I start up bf2, the first round of the first map I join, along with all map changes, I get constant lag. I've played many games with large areas, like RPG's and whatnot, and it has to load new areas that I come across while I'm playing; causing me to lag a bit, but it's fine when I pass the same area again. I'm not sure that this is what's happening, but it certainly seems that way. This happens regardless of the video card settings. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[NoSoup4You]

So you tried settings on the video, like resolution, etc? Sounds like some sort of rendering thing. It maybe the cache as well. Try clearing out

X:\Documents and Settings\[YOUR USER]\My Documents\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\cache


Where "X" is the drive leter you have Windows installed on (usually C:).

[x3phyr]

Well, that worked beautifully for the first section I spawned in. But as I went through the map I began to lag again.

[NoSoup4You]

Can you post full system specs, along with in-game sound and video settings?

[x3phyr]

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to specs Could you specify what exactly you need? I'll go ahead and post some stuff, but tell me if you need something else.

Running XP Pro SP2
Pentium 4 CPU 2.40 GHz, 512 MB RAM
Radeon 9800 (Not sure if it's pro or not.. couple things have told me I do, but some say I have regular)

In Game Settings:
1024x768@60Hz
Terrain: Low
Effects: Medium
Geometery: Medium
Texture: Medium
Lighting: Low
Dynamic Shadows: Low
Dynamic Light: Low
Anti-Aliasing: Off
Texture Filtering: Low
View Distance Scale: 100%
Sound Quality: High

[NoSoup4You]

Okay, do this

Start > Run > type "dxdiag".

I need the stuff on the first page, the adapter info from the Audio and Video pages. (I don't need any of the driver info, just the stuff at the very top).

[x3phyr]

Hmm... I don't see what your asking for. Could you be more specific? Sorry for the trouble.

[alkajazz]

atleast for me it always seems to lag choppy like that if i have my screen resolution set to 1024x768

[NoSoup4You]

Do this:

Start > Run


Type "dxdiag" in the box that pops up (click yes if a dialog box pops up):


You should now get something like this (the stuff in red is what I need, you should be able to highlight it and copy/paste it into the text box on the forums):


Now I also need from the Display tab:


And from the Audio tab:

[x3phyr]

LOL doesn't get more clear than that..

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 4600
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 510MB RAM
Page File: 798MB used, 451MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Card name: RADEON 9800 SERIES
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 9800 PRO AGP (0x4E48)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E48&SUBSYS_30021002&REV_00
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6542 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/12/2005 21:15:28, 228864 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a

Description: Creative SB Live! Series
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0006&SUBSYS_10031102&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: P16X.sys
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0203 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 9/22/2003 12:43:06, 1330048 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Creative Technology Ltd.
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xF5F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 96000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 64, 61
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 64, 61
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run

[imported_mole]

Its yor RAM
Look at the HDD LED when the game lags
Its your HDD using the swap file

[Nitemare]

Yeah it's your ram, only 512. I have the same problem w/ the laptop I'm playin on.

[NoSoup4You]

Okay it looks like both your video and sound drivers are out dated. So do the following.

Download the latest video drivers from ATI. I recommend Catalyst v5.7 with ATI Control Panel (not ATI Catalyst Control Center!):

http://www.ati.com/support/

*Important* DO NOT INSTALL THEM RIGHT NOW!

Download the latest sound drivers from Creative:
http://www.creative.com/support/
(use the software update and it will auto-update everything that is needed, you can do this right now, it may require a restart).

Okay, now that we have those things, we want to grab a program called Driver Cleaner 3.

http://www.drivercleaner.net

Install it, but do not run it yet (note: you do NOT need the nvidia fix).

Now follow these steps.

Goto:

Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs

Uninstall the following items:
ATI Display Driver
ATI Control Panel
ATI Software Uninstall Utility (if you don't have this, don't panic, older versions did not include this)

Now, reboot windows into Safe Mode (hit F8 when you see the Windows load screen, you do not need networking, or anything like that). If it comes up with a "device detected" dialog, just cancel out of it.

Now run Driver Cleaner3. When it pops up it will give you a drop down menu with a list of drivers and companies. Select "ATI" from the list, and hit "clean". After that is done restart the computer (it should boot into normal Windows).

Once again cancel the device install wizard. Now install the new display drivers we downloaded from ATI. It will require a restart, and the screen may flicker upon the restart, it is just the drivers configuring the card to best run with windows.

[ttopi]

Its yor RAM
Look at the HDD LED when the game lags
Its your HDD using the swap file

Yep, definitely it's a lack of memory causing this. BF2 needs about 1,6 Gb of memory. I have 1 gig and setting page file to 2560 helped for me a lot.