HD 5850 and Crysis Warhead

Your CPU is limiting your game performance.

But game says .. it runs best on core 2 duo..

No your CPU is fine,try using this config
http://www.crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=38085
It would give you a great performance boost

Leave it what he say in game, in 2008 don't have i5 or i7 or most quad core CPU...

A 3 ghz C2D WILL hold back a 5850 on Crysis Warhead. This is the definition of CPU bottleneck (a term I hate, prefer limitation). Even with my inferior GPU, I saw massive gains in FPS from clock speed increases, and from upgrading my previous 3.5ghz OC'd PhII x3 to a 965BE x4 at stock speeds. This was when I was running a single 4870, haven't reinstalled Warhead yet since gone crossfire with new mobo.

If I was CPU limited with a lesser GPU (single 4870) and a stronger CPU (PhII x3 @ 3.5ghz), then this is a no brainer to me. Your C2D at 3.0ghz is limiting your game performance in Warhead.

Yes getting a faster CPU will give a good boost,but a C2D 3.0Ghz with a 5850 should play it fine.
Let's see if the custom config that i linked will give the OP a boost in it or not

Well that configuration did not put any boost in fps...but when i turn off 2xAA..i get few 5-8 fps on average..on some places it reaches 80 fps and on some 30 tish...(with or without that file)
Oh well i thought my cpu would last more..or is it really aging out..:-s

Are you sure you put in the right folder ? also it has 3 configs in it,did you try the Ultra one ?

yes i did that..no luck for me  

And how much FPS do you get with Gamer's settings ?

with gamer's setting and 2x aa i get around 6-7 Fps more than enthusiast..around 80 max and 42 minimum

This is with 5850?

Wait,you didn't mention your Avg FPS with neither Enthusiast nor gamer settings

yes this is with 5850..

from what he has said so far, this is almost certainly a CPU bottleneck.

if a reducing the visual settings (especially with a custom .cfg) does not offer a frame boost, the CPU is limiting the GPU.

okay i have got this crysis warhead benchmark tool and these are the results from it
(without those custom cfg files)

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 2xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 24.15 Max: 46.87 Avg: 36.73 ]

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 0xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 23.74 Max: 52.01 Avg: 41.33 ]


DirectX 10 GAMER 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 2xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 28.87 Max: 72.68 Avg: 52.66 ]

DirectX 10 GAMER 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 0xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 28.26 Max: 74.40 Avg: 56.90 ]

i guess at my native resolution 2xAA was not making any big difference on the visible part

(with that config file)
DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 2xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 35.39 Max: 69.09 Avg: 38.17 ]

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 0xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 37.78 Max: 70.72 Avg: 40.10 ]

I guess I put it in wrong place last time

But with that config file i could see vertical lines all the time on screen..and without it..it was fine...I ll post the screenshots after i come back from office..

thanks a lot  

They look completely fine too me,an average FPS of 36 with everything maxed out +2xAA looks good for your system  

maz, im pretty sure at that res it should be higher.

its certainly playable, but i'm sure his CPU is holding him back.

Yes with a faster CPU,the performance will rise.I was googling for Warhead benchmark on 1280x1024 and found this
http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/i3dspeed/0410/itogi-video...
They used i7 975 for the test,and with 4xAA and 16xAF,they got 31.5 on avg,and with AA and AF both off,they got 43.5
http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/i3dspeed/0410/itogi-video...
And the OP managed to get 40FPS on avg(with 0xAA),which is fine,and getting a better CPU will give a performance boost like i said,but it won't be huge,since Crysis is rather a GPU limited game

Well looking at the results from i7 processor i don't think that cpu is is letting everything down..i guess...a 2 -3 fps increase is not much and cetainly not good enough that i should think about buying i7  ...so like you said things seems fine..i am pretty satisified with my benchmarks   too...i ll stick to enthusiast settings with 0xAA
thanks m8

No problem,that's why we are here  

My result in 1280x1024 with 5770, i5 750 on stock speed and only 2gb DDR3 is:

//////////// Summary \\\\\\\\\\\\\

06.07.2010 14:46:08 - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 1X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1280 x 1024 AA 0xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 19.15 Max: 37.82 Avg: 30.11 ]

And this is from yestarday, in 1920x1080 and 1680x1050

//////////// Summary \\\\\\\\\\\\\

06.06.2010 18:46:50 - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1920 x 1080 AA 0xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 8.87 Max: 26.28 Avg: 22.06 ]

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1920 x 1080 AA 4xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 12.75 Max: 23.31 Avg: 18.79 ]

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1680 x 1050 AA 0xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 18.84 Max: 30.61 Avg: 25.26 ]

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1680 x 1050 AA 4xx
==> Framerate [ Min: 14.11 Max: 27.63 Avg: 21.27 ]


Yes i think you results with i7 or i5 will be better, but you can play without problem with this CPU......

I agree, your performance is fine, and apologize for perhaps insinuating that your CPU was not good. I was just identifying the part of your system that could be holding you back, since you were looking for more performance, or at least an explanation of your current performance levels.

oh its all good, i trust you expert people here..thanks a lot.
Looking at benchmarks and all, i am more than satisfied with my cpu ( I still feel its a very powerful cpu and comparable to few or little better than non 3GHz i5's atleast for these games) and 5850 gpu with their performance.. ..cheers

Yes this is fine CPU, but you can't compare i5 or i7 with C2D....

maybe ... but these cpu's are over hyped....i5 ,, i7 ,, and maybe soon i10 nd so on... they are just making their products obsolete..forcing the people to buy new hardware...and software companies are helping them too..in forcing hardware specific stuff on people..
blah anyways...i ll jump to i5 only if i see this e8400 completely down...which not happened yet..

I agree, but i buy i5 750 becouse my previous CPU was a Celeron D @ 2.4Ghz  

The reason the OP has a CPU bottleneck is due to the res he is playing at, if he were playing at 1680x 1050 or higher it would be more GPU dependant and it would take a bit of stress off of the CPU.

Not sure why the OP states that he cannot overclock his 5850 past 675/950...

@ OP, Raise your CPU clock to at least 3.4Ghz, the C2D's overclock very well, after that use Afterburner to raise your GPU clocks and you should be good to go...

I have replaced that card..as it was crashing at normal stock speed. and...this new card is working fine at normal stocks 725/1000 speed...i havent tried overclocking it...
I can't raise the cpu's clock..because my mobo is intel's original dg45id....I cant see aany overclocking options in the bios...and i dont know any other way to do it..

Your board should have a way to change the CPU values, have you checked all your Bios screens?

Yes i have checked all the options .. but i can't see any option to change the cpu values..

I have some issues now...when i am playing crysis warhead..i can see some black and white squares on the texture ...and i cant see my launcher gun..though it fires but cant seen it..
what to do 0_o

That is normally GPU related, did you change any settings? That happend to me once back when I had my 9800GTX, the card was overheating causing artifacts.

What is you load temp? (after playing Crysis Warhead)

its around 65 C...but black and white squares are not at random places...
for ex: i would see black and white squares ... say ...on a rock only... or on the floor..if a pipeline is going over that floor.the texture of the pipeline would be perfectly fine but the floor is like white and black square..
all other games are running fine...like nfs shift..deadspace...

That might be bad video ram, the only way to really find out is installing that card on another PC or re-installing the video driver again to see if that fixes the artifacts.

I have already replaced my old 5850 for this new 5850 as earlier was crashing every 30 seconds..
Someone told me to delete the crysis warhead .. shader cache? i dont know where it is..
If it comes out to be a hardware problem..I am throwing it back to the dealer and going for a gtx285..nd never coming back to ati and their stupid drivers and hardwares..

Why to delete shader cache, must be evrything perfect with the GPU...

This is not about ATI or Nvidia, i had nVidia and i had a similar problem, but my problem was with mem...

First try on another system, then go for Nvidia if don't work...

no i dont see any red dots ..in my earlier card which was crashing i could see red and white dots all the time in the games..and it use to crash..after it..
it's working fine in other games...i ll try to overclock this time..

And to underclock also (see diferences) but easy 50mhz is enough...

If you see red dots around the screen, then 99% may be a bad memory...

Like i say it, try on another sys. Maybe you'r problem is in motherboard...

Its kind of strange...in few levels where there is like player is just moving in room...these black and white squares appear....I have played that 'on the train' level..which was kind of graphic intensive..and it was fine till the end..I am still testing it..will get back..thnkx  

Did you remove any/all previous driver files prior to installing the 5850?

^If that didn't help,try disabling Catalyst AI(located in Catalyst control center,in the 3D tab)

Here I have a screenshot of the problem...the GPU is around 53 at this time..cze i have just loaded this game..the texture is confined to perticular areas or boundaries..the..health bar above the corrupted texture is fine..


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

That maybe a driver problem,do a clean install of the driver with driver sweeper.

okay i will try that..if i use driver sweeper..i dont hve to use the uninstall ooption of the driver..
that software will do it..?

Here is how to do a clean install with driver sweeper:
"1_Download and install "Driver sweeper" from Guru3d.com and install
2_Go to add/remove programs and uninstall the driver and reboot
3_Boot to safe mode and open driver sweeper,then click on ATI and then click on clean
4_Reboot and boot normally to windows and install the new drivers after that you need to restart,and its done"

If you use driver sweeper then it happen again maybe your card have a problem.

By the way, why the FPS is so important. For me as long the game can run smoothly and not stuck nit should be ok even you get a lower FPS for you game....