BFBC2 Multiplayer FPS Graphics and CPU

[tekratel21]

Hi
Sorry if I'm asking about an old game - thought I only got into multiplayer a few weeks ago and trying to get through BC2.

Anyhow, I have what I thought was a decent setup:

Bulldozer FX 8120
PowerColor HD 6870 1GB
16Gb RAM
Asrock 970 Extreme3 board
Win 7 64bit

Everything is on default settings and nothing is overclocked.

But running in the game at even modest settings (see below) I get really bad frame drops - down to between 20 and 30 (not always when there's lots going on).

[WindowSettings]
Width=1280
Height=1024
Fullscreen=true
RefreshRate=75
VSync=false
[Sound]
Quality=high
VoipEnable=true
SpeakerCount=0

[Graphics]
Effects=high
Soldiers=medium
Vehicles=high
Overgrowth=medium
Undergrowth=medium
StaticObjects=high
Terrain=high
Shadows=medium
Bloom=false
HSAO=false
MSAA=0
Water=medium
MainQuality=custom
Texture=high
DxVersion=10
Aniso=4
Detail=high
RenderAheadLimit=1
Fov=60


I was thinking of getting another graphics card (same spec) and try it in crossfire mode or whether the issue is around the CPU and whether it's more a case of i7 (ideally as the AMD is fairly new I don't really want to go down this route).


I've looked around before asking, so as not to waste people's time and with limited hardware nounce I'd be really grateful if someone could give me some advice on a way forward.

Many thanks

Paul

 

[HEXiT]

i dont think the game like more than 4 cores on the cpu. it doesn't mind multithreading but i think it has issues with more than 4 cores. just to test it... although the guy i mention later is running with all 8.
so try disabling some in bios for a test. i know from experience that the game doesnt like dual cores very much and tends to gimp the gfx card to 50% usage at most... so check gpu usage it may point you to your cpu not sharing the resorces properly and may need patching or if you have already patched it, you may need to remove it (it has a negative impact on some games from what i gather...
there is a couple of Utube vids of the game running on the 8120 but the guy is oc'd to 4.2 and is ripping it up on max settings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2lBFWIWiWg

the only other thing i can think of is your screen size. if you can try it with a bigger screen you may get a different result. a more even result. the 6870 isnt a bad gfx card but playing it on such a small screen isnt showing it at its best and may be the reason for the under performing benchmark...

 

[tekratel21]

Thanks for the advice, I'll try those out.

I've been toying about with the screen resolution quite a bit from 1920 x 1200 and downwards to see what diffrence it makes, the posting was just the latest incarnation.

It's strange because it will run at 80-100+ fps and when it drops down, if I hold fire for a few moments the rate will pick back up. But you know how it is, just when you need it smooth it drops to 20-30 fps, someone pops out and plugs you before you even get a chance to press the trigger. And especially when it's not always when there's masses going on on-screen.

I'm cutting my teeth on BC2 MP as well before looking at BF3 (which I had on Xbox but only played sp which was garbage, having had a reticence of playing online - plus I'm challenged by the xbox controller having little co-ordinated ability with it).

Do you think crossfire adds anything? Also, should add that I run dual screens too - though not for the game - though when I disabled one of them I saw no appreciable change.

Cheers

 

[tekratel21]

One thing I forgot to mention is that in SP the frame rate is fine. I've played it at 1920 x 1200 with everything maxed out (high anti-aliasing & anisotrophic filter) and frame rates have been averaging 50-60. In fact even just tried the settings below in MP had the same effect as in the lower specs. So, the good thing is that it is consistent, just when you get the frame drop at the most inappropriate times.

Here are the settings:

[WindowSettings]
Width=1920
Height=1200
Fullscreen=true
RefreshRate=60
VSync=false
[Sound]
Quality=high
VoipEnable=true
SpeakerCount=0

[Graphics]
Effects=high
Soldiers=high
Vehicles=high
Overgrowth=high
Undergrowth=high
StaticObjects=high
Terrain=high
Shadows=high
Bloom=false
HSAO=true
MSAA=3
Water=high
MainQuality=custom
Texture=high
DxVersion=11
Aniso=4
Detail=high
RenderAheadLimit=1
Fov=60

[Chat]
ChatWindowAlpha=10
SmallChatWindowTimer=5

 

[HEXiT]

if its ok in sp then its likely to be related to your internet. if thats the case you will need to optomize that and adjust the ingame net prefrences. i know you can set the ping to match that of the server you play on and the closer you get it the better the over all game perfomance. problem is you will have to hunt for this tweak yourself as i have no idea where it is on the web. i know you adjust a config file but again no idea what cvar it is.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/957944-battlefield-bad-company-2/53863964 strt here and then your on your own.

 

[tekratel21]

After a bit of testing - referencing a number of the tweak guides etc. I realised that it's not just in MP that the drop in framerate is happening - it's just more noticeable in MP hence thinking SP was OK.

The testing highlighted one main thing, in that no matter what changes I make to the visual setup there is a massive frame drop at times - it can run nicely at 70-150 fps then suddenly drop down to 23, wait a moment then it climbs back up again; which from all the threads I've read seems more of a CPU bottleneck issue.

I did try the Asrock Extreme Tuner which came with my board to overclock the chip but being an absolute noob at this and playing around with the CPU ratio it would become unstable in when playing BC2 and either lock or crash. Though as it worked there seemed to be a difference.

So, I'm wondering:

1. Is it better to upgrade the processor to an 8150 that runs at 3.6
2. Am I using the wrong thing for OC on my board and should it be done through BIOS
3. Look at an i7
4. Does the graphics card make that much difference either in older games like BC2 compared to BF3

Cheers

Paul