Tom's Hardware > Forum > Games General > PC Gaming > Far Cry 2 - why am i forced to lower res
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50bmg   11-11-2008 at 03:18:35 PM

My system isn't great but is runs everything else at 1680 on high easily. Crysis, slightly lower settings.

I have to run Far Cry 2 at 1280 with either 2x or 0x AA.

My Specs:
gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4|Intel C2D e7200 at 3.8GHz| 2X Visiontek ATI 3870 800-2340 512M CCC 8.10|4G Patriot PC6400 DDR2 800MHz 5-5-5-12|500G Seagate SATA II 7200.11 HD|Seagate 250G SATA HD|BFG Tech 800w| Win X SP3 DX9c 32 bit

A friend has a Q6600 non-OC'd + 8800GT 512m, Vista 64 bit with DX10 and plays FC2 at 1900.

What is the difference? Quad core? Does FC2 use 4 core? With 2 core at 3.8Ghz i should have cpu issue.

Is the the infamous ATI 38xx AA shortcomings? Should i dump the 2-3870s and get a single 4870? or 2 4850s?

Is this the difference between DX9c and DX10? Would vista 64bit with DX10 help?

What are you running FC2 at?

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AdioKIP   11-11-2008 at 06:31:15 PM
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If you can run Crysis, FarCry is much easier for a system to handle. If I had to pick something I would say the issue is your video cards. ATI released a hotfix just before FarCry, not sure if the 3800's were included in the hotfix or just the 4800 series. Check the ATI website, if the 3800's werent included in the hotfix I would assume its a driver issue and wait for the 8.11 drivers which may help with some of your problems.

Other then that your system specs are fine although with your current setup you are not utilizing all of your ram. Running a 32 bit version of windows limits the ram the operating system can utilize to just over 3.3 gigs, then I beleive your video card ram would pull from this same limit as well (ie, with your current config its like you're running 2.3 gigs of ram rather then the full 4 if you had a 64 bit OS (3.3 gig limit minus the addressing space for the 1024 megs of video card ram). (Addressing issue of 32 bit vs 64 bit. 32 bit cant address memory over 3.3 gbs, 64 bit can go much higher thus with Vista microsoft is pushing the 64 bit version more then previously).

I play FarCry at 1680x1050, all settings maxed with 2xaa and I dont even need to activate crossfire, one of my 4850's is powerful enough. I've got 4 gigs of Ram and run Vista 64 with an Athlon x2 6000+. While the 3 series is nowhere near as powerful running two in crossfire and being able to handly crysis, farcry is much easier to run so you should be able to get acceptable performance.

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SpinachEater   11-11-2008 at 07:09:50 PM
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What settings do you have to use? Trying to get ultra high shadows kills my system. I would think that xfire 3870s should do ok on V.High with 2xAA.

DX10.1 is supposed to run AA better than DX9 to where you don't get such a huge performance hit. I wouldn't go out and buy Vista just for one game.

The hotfix is supposed to cover the 3000 series cards for both XP and Vista. Did you uninstall the CCC drivers and then install just the hotfix? In the benchmarks it looked like xfire wasn't even working with the normal ATI drivers. Maybe you are seeing the performance of only one 3870 at the moment.

If you have the hotfix maybe they were not installed right. I tried to install the hotfix over top of my current drivers and it didn't work at all. The total uninstallation of the old drivers is very necessary. It was pretty obvious when they worked.

As far as I know, this is the latest hotfix version.
http://support.ati.com/ics/support [...] onID=38664

Try limiting the FPS with the console command also. I get really choppy graphics if I don't do it. hit the ~ key and then type in "gfx_maxfps 58" or what ever the avg FPS you get.

Overall though, your system looks like shouldn't have to run on 1280.

Reply to SpinachEater
50bmg   11-12-2008 at 03:46:21 PM
- 0 +

To AdioKIP:

I was thinking this might be a RAM issue and was thinking Vista 64 may help some. Because, @ res higher than 1300, foliage in the distance dissapears. That is usually a sign of RAM. either video ram or system. At 1280 res it is all good.

To SpnachEater:

Ok. I thougth the hotfix was a patch and just installed it over my CCC/ati drivers. I will uninstall CCC/ATI drivers and reinstall just the hotfix.

Game settings: 1280, 2x AA, very high on all.

CCC: AA & AF app controlled, Adapt AA enabled, Cat AI enabled on high, etc.

How can i show my fps in game?


Thanks guys.

Reply to 50bmg
pauldh   11-12-2008 at 04:28:48 PM
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FRAPS will show you the FPS and even let you benchmark as you play. Play the same exact game section and record the fps and you have a good way to compare between driver versions, etc.

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San Pedro   11-12-2008 at 04:55:42 PM
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It's probably just your video cards not running the game well.

I went from a 3870x2 to a 4870 and I was pleased with the increased performance with AA on.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to San Pedro
BlakHart   11-12-2008 at 07:49:49 PM
- 0 +

my specs:
q6600 @ 3Ghz
4870 1gb
4GB DDR2 800MHz
Vista x64

Might be a driver issue for you I think the hotfix only applies to 48xx series cards. So I would wait for the 8.11 and see what you get. I DO know that FC2 does utilize 4 cores which is nice but you should still run the game better then you are.

I'm getting 40-60fps @1680x1050 everything maxed with 4xAA... with the standard 8.10's I was getting fps in the 20's now it never drops below 40 with the hotfix. So wait for the 8.11's and if that doesn't help get a 4870.

Reply to BlakHart
SpinachEater   11-14-2008 at 06:17:05 AM
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San Pedro wrote :

It's probably just your video cards not running the game well.

I went from a 3870x2 to a 4870 and I was pleased with the increased performance with AA on.



What settings were you at and what kind of framerate were you getting with your 3870x2? I saw a single 3870 pulling around 20FPS in some random review, curious if the x2 can pull out a stable 60FPS or not.



To show FPS in game, you can hit the ~ key and then type "showfps 1" instead of worrying about Fraps.

Hope you didn't work too hard getting those drivers out....8.11 is up!!!

Reply to SpinachEater
San Pedro   11-14-2008 at 06:03:39 PM
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I never tried the x2 with Far Cry 2, it was out of my machine before it came out, and I definitely don't fill like putting it in to test a game I don't want to play (wish I would have not gotten the game, COD: WAW or Left 4 Dead would have been better buys for me).

Reply to San Pedro
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