Performance mystery

[Valorum]

I'm having some weird issues with low frame rates in BF2, and can't really put my finger on what's causing it. Maybe one of you can help me out.

PC: 2.53GHz P4, 1GB RAM (PC2700), ATI X800 XT PE (256MB)

In BF2 i get low FPS in the 20s most of the time.

The interesting things:

This seems to occur only when i'm on a server with a bunch of people or when running a local game with bots. When i log on to an empty server, i can run around and get relatively high FPS (50-70) without problems (running at 1280x1024 at medium-high settings.) When i'm in a busy area, the FPS will drop into the 20s and below sometimes. If i'm in a quiet area, i get pretty good FPS.

I get the low FPS of in the 20s no matter if i choose 800x600 @ "Low" or 1280x10124 at Medium-High. I even tried 1600x1200 at pretty high settings, and did not notice a big difference in performance.

I can run Doom 3 cranked up all the way @ 1280x1024 and get smooth gameplay (50-60FPS) most of the time, only dropping low occasionally for a second at a time when there's a LOT going on.

I can run UT2K4 cranked up all the way to the max without any hitches. I can do this both locally and online playing bombing runs for example.

I can run KotOR2 at 1280x1024 with everything maxed out without any problems as well.

So this seems kinda weird. What is causing it to slow down so much in BF2 when it's busy? Is that normal? If not, what could be causing it? Is my CPU not powerful enough? Is my motherboard (Intel 845EBT) not good enough? (Somebody suggested the problem may lie in the fact that it doesn't support dual channel.) Is my memory too slow? Or is it just BF2 being stupid?

[CS-Evolution]

Re: Performance mystery

Your processor is the problem.

[Valorum]

Re: Performance mystery

Your processor is the problem.

Can you elaborate a bit on how you came to that conclusion? 2.53GHz is not anywhere near the bare minimum according to their minimum specs, and according to some reports 2.4GHz is about how much you need to be able to start cranking stuff up more seriously. Add to that that i can run all those other games without any problems (notably UT2K4 bombing runs online with a bunch of people)...

[imported_TheDragon]

Re: Performance mystery

there are 2 possible explanations
(with a multitude of solutions)
1. cpu not strong enough?
doubtful - my 3rd system is only 2.0Ghz and has an older graphics card (ATI 9800 PRO) - and I get better FPS
so, if it is the CPU issue, this means you have other tasks running in the background - turn them all off -
if you do not know how, just ask here or PM me
are you sure of your actaual framerate?
hit the console key ("~" or "end")
and enter "renderer.drawfps 1" no quotes
you will get 2 numbers
first is frame rate, second is % of cpu usage for the game - I guess the second should be less than 50% in worse case(s) - I get about 20 on my 3.2Ghz machine

the second issues is your connectivity
(eg LAN, DSL, Cable)
you might just have a bandwidth limitation

also - what are your other settings?
resolution is not the only "killer"
so is are shadows, dynamic lighting, etc

and also make sure your graphics card's drivers are updated

[C11.Nemisis]

Re: Performance mystery

does your processor have Hper Threading? and does it have 800mhz fsb? if it doesnt then yes your processor is to blame

[imported_TheDragon]

Re: Performance mystery

Your processor is the problem.

not true
one of my computers is only 2.0
it runs fine

[C11.Nemisis]

Re: Performance mystery

also what setting are you trying to run on

[Valorum]

Re: Performance mystery

Cool, lots of feedback. Thanks :)

I don't have much running the background. I shut down anything that doesn't need to be running. Doesn't make a difference as far as i can tell. (I'm already pretty picky about what i let run in the background normally. I'm a programmer, i care about these things.)

I have checked FPS with the renderer.drawfps 1 (i thought the 2nd number was time between frames, not CPU load?) as well as with the omega drivers' OSD. Both report the same.

I've tried ATI's latest drivers as well as the latest Omega drivers. I've tried different settings in both of them, from everything set to "Performance" to "Quality", and none of that seemed to solve the problem.

My internet connection -could- be a problem i suppose... I have cable, and usually get very good transfer rates with downloads etc. That's the reason i tested playing UT2K4 online with a bombing run with a bunch of people to see if that was suffering. It wasn't, which in my mind somewhat decreases the odds of it being my internet connection.

BUT, now that i think about it, the pings to the servers, as displayed in the BF2 server browser, always seem to be pretty high, starting above 100 most of the time (140 being the lowest is not uncommon). Hmmm... maybe there's something there... I'll have to dig into that some more, see if i can figure that out. What kind of pings do you guys typically see in the server browser?

As for in-game settings... I've tried just about any combination, and even picked the "Low" preset config with Dynamic stuff turned off, Light set to low (looks like crap that way btw!) etc, and i still get the low FPS. It seems to be resolution independent.

[Valorum]

Re: Performance mystery

also what setting are you trying to run on

As i wrote in my original post, i've tried running every setting from picking the "Low" preset, wihch sets everything to Low or Off @ 800x600 to running stuff at 1600x1200 @ medium to high settings for everything. In both cases the problem would occur, and the frame rate difference was nowhere near as big as i would expect between the two.

[Valorum]

Re: Performance mystery

does your processor have Hper Threading? and does it have 800mhz fsb? if it doesnt then yes your processor is to blame

The CPU does not have HT. The FBS is 533. I personally do not think that would make such a huge difference really though. Based on their minimum and recommended system specs and on the fact that other games play smoothly without problems suggest to me that HT is not as big an issue. I could be wrong of course, but i'm not just going to go out and get a HT CPU just to try it without anything backing that up :)

[vidh]

Re: Performance mystery

I seem to have kind of the same problem. My system: 3.6 ghz, 1 gig RAM, X850XT (5.8 catalyst drivers). I only get approximately 30-40 fps (sometimes as low as 15-20) when playing on 1600*1200@70 hz, all settings on high except lighting, and 4x antialiasing.

I have tested to lower the settings but the changes in fps aren´t that much, and I know that I should be able to get higher fps too and still be able to play on high settings :hmm: I´m not sure though, which programs that are running in the background that I can close and which not. I have DSL connection if that could be part of the problem, but I dont think so since I´ve played SP and then I also have the same problem with low fps...

[Valorum]

Re: Performance mystery

I seem to have kind of the same problem. My system: 3.6 ghz, 1 gig RAM, X850XT (5.8 catalyst drivers). I only get approximately 30-40 fps (sometimes as low as 15-20) when playing on 1600*1200@70 hz, all settings on high except lighting, and 4x antialiasing.

Do you get high FPS when you log on to an empty server? The fact that it is consistent in your situation seems to suggest you're just asking too much from your setup. My problem is that it performs great when on an empty server, but slow and choppy when playing with a bunch of people.

[vidh]

Re: Performance mystery

Well I havent found any empty server so I dont know what fps I would get then.

I lowered my graphics to 1280*960 and also put dynamic light and dynamic shadows to medium, I also have lighting put to med. Everything else is on high and 4* AA. On some maps I now have 50-60 fps (sometimes even 70), but still I get like 20-40 fps on large open maps like kubra dam.

I think I should be able to play on highest settings with this system but I dunno whats wrong.

[Valorum]

Re: Performance mystery

I think you're expecting too much. The FPS you're getting sounds to me like you're getting normal performance. Check out the various reviews out there; to me it sounds like they confirm it. Now, if you can dig up a review or post from somebody who gets better FPS than you, i'd love to see it and also see their system specs.

[Shamus]

Re: Performance mystery

I would imagine its all about how well your system is tuned and tweaked. I average around 80 FPS as measured by repeated runs using FRAPS during heaving action.

My BF2 settings are 1152x864@85MHz - Dynamic Light and Shadows Low; Geometry High; All else on Medium; AA/AF Off

FRAPS LOG
2005-06-30 20:08:36 -
Frames: 4234 - Time: 51866ms - Avg: 81.633 - Min: 61 - Max: 97

2005-07-01 21:43:57 -
Frames: 4341 - Time: 54341ms - Avg: 79.884 - Min: 63 - Max: 92

This is running on an AGP based system:
ATI 9700 Pro (OC @411/333)
AMD 3500+ (OC @2.5Ghz)
ASUS A8V Deluxe Rev. 2
1024MB of Corsair PC3200XL (2-2-2-5)
Audigy 2 ZS