Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

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  • gimpycow

    #1

    Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

    Hello everyone...

    Here is the setting...

    I just recently upgrade from a 9800Pro to a 6800GS AGP card (256 MB memory. My system specs are Athlon XP 2700+, 1GB of PC2700 XMS Corsair memory in dual channel, Audigy 2, Nforce 2 mobo.

    With my 9800Pro, I used to have all of my settings on MEDIUM except for TERRAIN and the first option which were both on HIGH and BF2 was playable...more so on the ground then when in the air.

    With my 6800GS, at the same settings as my 9800Pro, BF2 ran much smoother than ever before (fps between 30 - 60 now) and even looked better at Medium than on my 9800Pro which took me by surprise. The game was so smooth that I found flying the AC was so much easier than it ever was before. I was able to pull off moves in the air and recover from that I could have never done w/the old card.

    HOWEVER...when I crank all of my BF2 graphic settings to HIGH with no AA, my framerate stays between 25 - 50 but my hard drive goes CRAZY. Almost every 5 seconds it starts to spin which freezes my game for about 2 seconds. The sound stutters, I can't move, etc. I increased my agp apeture size from 64 to 256 in bios but the same problem continued with all of the settings on HIGH. I am fairly certain my problem is virtual paging since the hard drive is going nuts. So while I think my video card can handle the HIGH settings, I think I may need more system memory so my pc doesn't page. Of course I don't want to buy more memory because I recently bought 1GB of expensive Corsair memory which of course they don't make anymore so I would need to get 2GB of new memory for a system that at most will last another 2 years.

    SO...MY QUESTIONS -
    1) Does anybody else have a 6800GS or better card but only 1GB of system memory who can give me the graphic detail settings that is the sweet spot for them? I want a framerate average of over 30 with the most detail possible. I also want to eliminate the hard drive accessing issue.

    2) Does anybody have any tweaks that may help me?
    I do use the pb_sleep 500 command and while it makes the hard drive go crazy for about 20 seconds after setting it, after that, things are smoother with that setting at 500 until a new map loads.

    Anyhow, I plan to change one BF2 video setting at a time to HIGH and game for awhile in the near future to find my sweet spot. I was just wondering if I could get something to compare it to from somebody who might have similar hardware as me.

    Thanks in advance for your input!
  • gimpycow

    #2
    Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

    I just wanted to add that I did benchmark my system with 3dMark 2005 at 1024x768 with no AA.

    With my 9800Pro the score was slightly above 2700.

    With my 6800GS the score was slight above 4400.

    I calculated the exact performance increase to be 61% with the 6800GS.

    I just wanted to state that upfront as this is likely not an issue with the driver or card itself.

    I also tried unlocking the extra 4 pipes on the 6800GS but I had to close them again because I saw tons of graphic anomalies.

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    • MonkMachine

      #3
      Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

      You need 2GB of ram to run all on high, BF2 use about 1.2GB of memory when set to high, your computer is having to use the pagefile to run BF2. Get another 1GB of ram and that will sort the problem.

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      • The Fury

        #4
        Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

        I am sorry to tell you this but if you want it to go on fairly high graphics you are going to need more ram and yes when u hear your hard drive churning away it is most likely to do with too little ram.

        All i can say is you need 2gbs.

        Fury

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        • CaptJordus

          #5
          Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

          Funny, I can run on all high with 1024MB of RAM with only a couple stutters when the game starts.

          This is without any AA/AF though.

          Comment

          • redearedslider

            #6
            Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

            Originally posted by CaptJordus
            Funny, I can run on all high with 1024MB of RAM with only a couple stutters when the game starts.

            This is without any AA/AF though.
            yupz same here... all high, dynamic shadows and lighting on medium 4 x aa

            and trust me i hate low fps... it's when not in action around 93 fps... action maybe 70... key is an empty harddrive and a good one i guess...

            Comment

            • gimpycow

              #7
              Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

              Very Interesting. I will let you know what I find when I turn one setting up to HIGH at a time.

              Please keep posting though if anyone else wants to state their findings or has other suggestions.

              I am fairly confident buying another 2GB of memory would solve me problem but...I don't want to do it unless I have to for my old system... :)

              Comment

              • firezip

                #8
                Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

                well if you have 2 HD's you can set up your page file on your second HD, like i have. What this does is, instead of saving the cache memory to you main HD(which causes the data to fragment) you save it to your second HD which elimantes fragmenting. It also takes a load off :)

                Comment

                • Sir. MatDef
                  Member
                  • Sep 2005
                  • 2899

                  #9
                  Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

                  If you have textures on high, it will stutter a lot with 1gb of ram. Get 2gb or turn down textures to medium to get rid of the problem (hopefully).

                  Comment

                  • redearedslider

                    #10
                    Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

                    Originally posted by Sir. MatDef
                    If you have textures on high, it will stutter a lot with 1gb of ram. Get 2gb or turn down textures to medium to get rid of the problem (hopefully).

                    not very nice from the ppl at dice.... should've optimized this engine waaaaaaaaaaaay better...

                    Comment

                    • -]S[-olCoot

                      #11
                      Re: Performance Questions - 6800GS AGP and 1GB system memory

                      The choke point is probably older NF2 Board. Is your card reading as apg8x under advanced display settings??? If it shows pcix0 or something like that, definitely the old board. Had DFI NF2 board xp 3000+ and 6600gt with 2GB of ram. Could never run above medium with no lite, shadows, anti liasing, etc. Now with NF3 board, show agp 8x and am able to run 2 settings on High with shadows. Bought new 6800GS agp but would not run with the BEta drivers. In process of an RMA. Cant Wait!!!

                      Comment

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