BF3 Tweaks and Help Thread

For the most part, the game runs perfectly.. Good fluid framerates, no crashes etc. But I am experiencing hitching and sometimes audio skipping during gameplay that only lasts for a few moments. Note, I am not referring to the micro-stutter that many users are experiencing. The pausing happens in both SP and MP modes. The video will lockup/freeze while audio skips for a few MS.

Solutions attempted:
Disable hyperthreading
Disable Speed-Step
Run the game with all settings on LOW
Various GPU control panel options
Vsync on & off
Ensured Cloud is disabled

Using nVidia 285.62 drivers
 
jumper said:
hair cross health and ammo status missing. I can "sometimes" fix it by restarting the computer. other times its there when I start playing and stays there for the entirety. some other times its gone just for the heck of it.. anyone having the same issue? driver issue? game issue?
Click to expand...

pretty sure that this is a server setting.

try filtering only for normal servers and see if it happens.
 
jumper said:
hair cross health and ammo status missing. I can "sometimes" fix it by restarting the computer. other times its there when I start playing and stays there for the entirety. some other times its gone just for the heck of it.. anyone having the same issue? driver issue? game issue?
Click to expand...

You were probably on a hardcore server (crossfair & ammo count are disable in HC).
 
mr_zen256 said:
For the most part, the game runs perfectly.. Good fluid framerates, no crashes etc. But I am experiencing hitching and sometimes audio skipping during gameplay that only lasts for a few moments. Note, I am not referring to the micro-stutter that many users are experiencing. The pausing happens in both SP and MP modes. The video will lockup/freeze while audio skips for a few MS.

Solutions attempted:
Disable hyperthreading
Disable Speed-Step
Run the game with all settings on LOW
Various GPU control panel options
Vsync on & off
Ensured Cloud is disabled

Using nVidia 285.62 drivers
Click to expand...


Turn off MSAA and see if it still happens.
 
mr_zen256 said:
Thanks for the reply. I have AA disabled and the hitching still occurs.

I'm wondering if I should try installing it on the OS drive. Currently the game is installed on a separate drive.
Click to expand...

Prior to this build (in my sig) I had the beta installed on my 2 WD Vraptors in raid 0 and was getting huge stalls in gameplay constantly. I defragged a couple times and they basically cleared up. What also helped was to turn the Mesh setting (I forget the actual name) to Low.
 
xSystemFailurex said:
Prior to this build (in my sig) I had the beta installed on my 2 WD Vraptors in raid 0 and was getting huge stalls in gameplay constantly. I defragged a couple times and they basically cleared up. What also helped was to turn the Mesh setting (I forget the actual name) to Low.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip.. I'll run a defrag on the install drive (single WD raptor) and see if that helps to clear up the hitching.. I'll look into that mesh setting too.

EDIT: Ahh, looks like the drive was already defragged. All my Battlefield data appears to be on the outer edges of the HDD platter too, so should in theory have a better seek time.

EDIT 2: Re-installing to the SSD / OS drive to see what happens.

EDIT 3: Hitching still occurs even on the faster drive. I guess it's just the nature of the game in its current state. Doesn't seem many people are complaining about it though, which leads me to believe something must not be right with my setup.
 
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Chombo said:
This saved me a good 20 FPS.
Click to expand...

It'd be great if (because I'm lazy) someone posted screenshots before/after using this. Seems odd for them to implement a setting which has a significant performance reduction that has no impact on IQ.
 
socK said:
if you're really vram starved, you can get a sizable chunk back by killing off aero.

you can right click bf3 -> properties -> and have it turn off when you launch the game... or you can just manually obliterate it from the task manager if you really feel like.
Click to expand...

I kept getting the Windows memory low error popping up until I disabled Aero. Does this game use that much memory? I have a 2GB 6950 playing at 1680x1050.
 
mr_zen256 said:
For the most part, the game runs perfectly.. Good fluid framerates, no crashes etc. But I am experiencing hitching and sometimes audio skipping during gameplay that only lasts for a few moments. Note, I am not referring to the micro-stutter that many users are experiencing. The pausing happens in both SP and MP modes. The video will lockup/freeze while audio skips for a few MS.

Solutions attempted:
Disable hyperthreading
Disable Speed-Step
Run the game with all settings on LOW
Various GPU control panel options
Vsync on & off
Ensured Cloud is disabled

Using nVidia 285.62 drivers
Click to expand...


Have you set pre rendered frames to 0 in nVidia control panel? Actually nm I think that might only have affected the graphical skipping, but you could try it just to narrow down some more.
 
Stimz said:
I kept getting the Windows memory low error popping up until I disabled Aero. Does this game use that much memory? I have a 2GB 6950 playing at 1680x1050.
Click to expand...

I had this issue when turned Paging File Off.

Once I turned it back on the error went away.

I have 4gb of RAM though.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
I'm wondering the same thing, I have a copperhead. I would like to map some of the side buttons.
Click to expand...

I figured it out.

You have to go into the driver and under the button specific drop down menu choose "Advanced Function" and map to a specific key. I stored the BF3 settings under profile 2 and kept my everything-else profile under 1.
 
I found this on another forum and I thought people here would like to see this.

"don't know if this has been posted already. But here is how to get the commands in game load automatically everytime you enter the game: go to where bf3.exe is located, create a text file, rename and change the extension to user.cfg, type any commands you want, here are mine for optimized game:

WorldRender.SpotLightShadowmapResolution 256
RenderDevice.TrippleBufferingEnable 0
RenderDevice.ForceRenderAheadLimit 1
Render.DrawFps 1
WorldRender.FxaaEnable 0
WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0
RenderDevice.Dx11Enable 0
Render.PerfOverlayEnable 0
PostProcess.DynamicAOEnable 0

enjoy the game"

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...0483-battlefield-3-discussion-thread-359.html
 
Opie said:
I figured it out.

You have to go into the driver and under the button specific drop down menu choose "Advanced Function" and map to a specific key. I stored the BF3 settings under profile 2 and kept my everything-else profile under 1.
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll try that.

Can someone explain to me what this command does
Boost: WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0

Some are saying it does nothing but kills your performance, if that's true I don't mind turning it off, I would just like an explanation for what it is/does first.
 
tyguy said:
I found this on another forum and I thought people here would like to see this.

"don't know if this has been posted already. But here is how to get the commands in game load automatically everytime you enter the game: go to where bf3.exe is located, create a text file, rename and change the extension to user.cfg, type any commands you want, here are mine for optimized game:

WorldRender.SpotLightShadowmapResolution 256
RenderDevice.TrippleBufferingEnable 0
RenderDevice.ForceRenderAheadLimit 1
Render.DrawFps 1
WorldRender.FxaaEnable 0
WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0
RenderDevice.Dx11Enable 0
Render.PerfOverlayEnable 0
PostProcess.DynamicAOEnable 0

enjoy the game"

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...0483-battlefield-3-discussion-thread-359.html
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Tested and Works great. I removed my workaround lol (mouse macro that typed all those commands out lol...)
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Thanks I'll try that.

Can someone explain to me what this command does
Boost: WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0

Some are saying it does nothing but kills your performance, if that's true I don't mind turning it off, I would just like an explanation for what it is/does first.
Click to expand...


I'm not 100% sure what it does. But when I turn it off, it seems to move workload from the GPU to the CPU. And since my GPU is the bottleneck I gain like 20-30fps easy.
 
so if I pick up BF3 am I going to be disappointed with my overclocked 470s perf @ 5760x1080? They're going to be memory limited, huh?
 
Druneau said:
I'm not 100% sure what it does. But when I turn it off, it seems to move workload from the GPU to the CPU. And since my GPU is the bottleneck I gain like 20-30fps easy.
Click to expand...

That is some important information to find out 100%, for sure. How do we check this further?

I'm thinking of adding the cfg file, mentioned above...but, I really don't need the extra performance yet at high settings, but maybe I can bump'em up.
 
Well you can type it in the console and test it out.

I can't see ANY visual difference when turning it on and off. And I can use the performance (need to keep 120fps)
 
What does: WorldRender.SpotLightShadowmapResolution 256 do?

EDIT: I tried this w/ my HD 5870, and it really borked it. Removed. I didn't really need it anyways, but I'm a geek, and like to tweak settings.
 
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I haven't kept up with any discussions on requirements of BF3 vs BF2? Is it much more demanding? I was playing BF2 on my i3-2100/8gb memory/GTS 450 just fine on high settings, will BF3 be playable or is it time to upgrade the GPU? I'd prefer not to, this card is stable as a rock.

Let me know what you guys think.

Looking forward to getting this game.

LC
 
You could play it. But probably on all Low settings...
 
Markdek said:
What does: WorldRender.SpotLightShadowmapResolution 256 do?

EDIT: I tried this w/ my HD 5870, and it really borked it. Removed. I didn't really need it anyways, but I'm a geek, and like to tweak settings.
Click to expand...

sets the shadowmap resolution for spotlights to 256x256... aka fucking horrific.

1024x1024 is the default.


go find a lamp or light that casts shadows and play with it. doesn't seem to affect the sun.
 
Thanks for the replies...looks like I better start looking for an upgrade. I'd like to keep it single six pin if possible.

LC
 
tyguy said:
I found this on another forum and I thought people here would like to see this.

"don't know if this has been posted already. But here is how to get the commands in game load automatically everytime you enter the game: go to where bf3.exe is located, create a text file, rename and change the extension to user.cfg, type any commands you want, here are mine for optimized game:

WorldRender.SpotLightShadowmapResolution 256
RenderDevice.TrippleBufferingEnable 0
RenderDevice.ForceRenderAheadLimit 1
Render.DrawFps 1
WorldRender.FxaaEnable 0
WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0
RenderDevice.Dx11Enable 0
Render.PerfOverlayEnable 0
PostProcess.DynamicAOEnable 0

enjoy the game"

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...0483-battlefield-3-discussion-thread-359.html
Click to expand...

WOW i don't know what kind of fucking voodoo magic is this but now i'm getting 60-70ish FPS playing on ultra at 2560x1600 with a GTX480. The only setting that is not turn on is AA. However seeing that i'm playing at that res i don't really notice the jagged edge that it'll make my eyes bleed. The game is so much more fluid now with this setting. Thanks a lot man. You really make my BF3 experience much much more better.
 
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omi said:
WOW i don't know what kind of fucking voodoo magic is this but now i'm getting 60-70ish FPS playing on ultra at 2560x1600 with a GTX480. The only setting that is not turn on is AA. However seeing that i'm playing at that res i don't really notice the jagged edge that it'll make my eyes bleed. The game is so much more fluid now with this setting. Thanks a lot man. You really make my BF3 experience much much more better.
Click to expand...

I think the magic is that it appears to turn off DX11 (so presumably tesselation), turns off all forms of AA, greatly simplifies the shadow detail, and disables Ambient Occlusion - so I'd hope it would bring a FPS inprovement.
 
Forceman said:
I think the magic is that it appears to turn off DX11 (so presumably tesselation), turns off all forms of AA, greatly simplifies the shadow detail, and disables Ambient Occlusion - so I'd hope it would bring a FPS inprovement.
Click to expand...

^ This. DX11 and Ambient Occlusion were the #1 performance killers in BC2 so I assume it's the same for BF3.
 
DX9 has always been a much better performer versus DX11, which I think is a dog. It's performance loss is too great for little visual gain.
 
I know it says put the config file where the bf3.exe is but what does that mean? Move the config file to be an extension of the bf3.exe like in bf2? I really want to be able to run dx10 so I can hit higher fps without turning down so many settings.
 
spaceman said:
I know it says put the config file where the bf3.exe is but what does that mean? Move the config file to be an extension of the bf3.exe like in bf2? I really want to be able to run dx10 so I can hit higher fps without turning down so many settings.
Click to expand...

Make the .cfg file in the same folder that BF3.exe is located.
 
spaceman said:
I know it says put the config file where the bf3.exe is but what does that mean? Move the config file to be an extension of the bf3.exe like in bf2? I really want to be able to run dx10 so I can hit higher fps without turning down so many settings.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming they mean to put it in the same folder as the BF3 executable.
 
Create a user.cfg in the folder where the bf3.exe is which is your install folder. It worked for me, then again i only put in a few command settings.
 
Yeah I did that. Hmm. I must be missing something. The folder I put it in, when I hit the bf3.exe, it loads the single player. Might be that. I would assume that I need to put it in the MP folder. Just have not found that one yet. Will look later after work.
 
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spaceman said:
Yeah I did that. Hmm. I must be missing something. The folder I put it in, when I hit the bf3.exe, it loads the single player. Might be that. I would assume that I need to put it in the MP folder. Will look later after work.
Click to expand...

FYI - My bf3.exe is located in c:\program files (x86)\origin games\battlefield 3

That's where I plopped the user.cfg file.
 
i just posted to say that this thread fixed all the low fps issues i was having (and i didnt turn off DX11/AO via the manual config file you can make). much props to everyone who contributed. I was going from playing on medium with some gfx lag to playing Ultra with High Textures and AA off. oh and i always turn shadows down b/c they always suck up FPS.

I was playing at ultra very happily thanks to this thread and then started getting severe stuttering after playing a while. I learned that this is due to the card's memory filling up. i lowered textures to High and all is right in the world. is anyone else with a 1GB card able to play with Ultra for longer than an hour without stuttering? i have standard AA off and post processing AA to low or medium.

FYI for those who suggested turning Aero off...Windows disables Aero automatically when any 3D application is loaded. sometimes you can alt-tab out and see the standard theme for a second or 2. If you play in Windowed mode, Windows wont disable it.
 
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