4850 Performance in HL2

[CamaroZ28]

Sorry for the re-post in the Video Cards Forum, but that's where I meant to post this initially but my browser screwed up. If anyone wants to delete it here, feel free.


Hey guys, I just got my Gigabyte HD4850 a couple of days ago and i've been very disappointed in the performance I am getting in HL2 and mods. This is pretty much the primary game that I play so I was really hoping to play maxed out and smooth with this card.

Info: running Catalyst 8.7 Beta and all other hardware in sig desktop

First thing I did was run the stress test in Lost Coast on max everything including AA, AF @ 1024x768 (because i was using a crappy 15" lcd for the time being). I got about 85fps. I found this website where someone ran the exact same test, but at 1680x1050 and with Catalyst 8.6 and got 164.16fps. (His hardware is listed on the page under the HL2 Lost Coast picture).

Also my brother has a 8800gt on a 680i mobo with an E6750 and he was getting >200fps (forgot the exact number) on the same stress test at exact same settings/resolution.

Now from what my friend told me, HL2 is extremely CPU intensive compared to other games and he thinks my CPU might bottleneck it, which makes sense since the other cpus are much more powerful + more cache then mine. Also was able to watch gpuz during a stress test and it showed the load on my gpu to be 0% at times, never going above 25% load. Sometimes it would even down-clock to 500MHz core and 750MHz memory as if it was idling. So assuming gpuz is accurate, that means that the gpu wasn't even trying...

So basically I'm posting to see what you guys think because i know a good bit about computer hardware and how it works, but not very much on how specific games utilize that hardware and I'm trying to figure out if there is something wrong with my gpu or drivers (have already tried Catalyst 8.6 and the hotfix but got much worse performance) or whether its my other hardware. Bought this card because everywhere i read about it, it out performs the 8800gt but so far has got significantly less performance then my bro's 8800gt.

PS. This is my first post, but i've been stalking the forums for a while checking out deals and other hardware info/reviews here.

Thanks guys

 

[Xeth]

Since you have an LCD with a refresh rate of 60 Hz, why worry about it? Anything above 60 FPS is pretty much irrelevant unless you're one of those CS gamers who want 200 FPS for the boost in response time.

Anyway, did you check your AA modes are the same (i.e. supersampling vs multisampling, and box, narrow/wide-tent, or edge detect mode). They make a significant difference.

 

[CamaroZ28]

Well because the stress test may have overall got above 60FPS but there are plenty times through playing HL2, CS, Garrys Mod where i get 10-20 FPS and random studdering. I was just showing the benchmarks from the stress test to give an idea of how my overall performance is lagging behind others. Plus I paid the extra money for a 4850 vs 8800gt so i could get the extra performance... I would certainly care if something isn't performing as it is supposed to, regardless of whether it is noticeable in game or not, even though in my case it is.

As far as AA modes go, my settings match the ones on that linked site exactly except the resolution (which is way lower on mine so i should be getting higher fps), now as far as settings in catalyst that he might have configured separately, I'm not sure as he doesn't post this information.

 

[Sniper X]

Its your cpu thats holding you back. I had a 8800 GT (i now own a 4850) and when i was playing TF2 i would get lag playing on servers with a lot of people. So i upgraded my cpu from a 2.1GHz X2 to a 2.6 Ghz 5000+ Black Edition and volia! problem solved.

 

[Spaxspore]

dont run beta drivers run the hot fix drivers. First uninstall old drivers then Run a driver cleaner program and install hot fix drivers.


Video suttering... sounds like a driver issue.

Also hl2 engine is from '04 any dual core cpu will run it with no bottle necking only bottle necking you will really see is in RTS, like COH or Supreme Commander. Ive seen so many threads latly about people worrying if their CPU is going to bottle neck their new 4800. When most of the time as long as you have a dual core or what not you wouldn't see any significant difference.

 

[CamaroZ28]

Its your cpu thats holding you back. I had a 8800 GT (i now own a 4850) and when i was playing TF2 i would get lag playing on servers with a lot of people. So i upgraded my cpu from a 2.1GHz X2 to a 2.6 Ghz 5000+ Black Edition and volia! problem solved.

What kind of fps were you getting before/after processor upgrade?

dont run beta drivers run the hot fix drivers. First uninstall old drivers then Run a driver cleaner program and install hot fix drivers.

I stated in my post that I ran the hotfix drivers and got significantly less performance...

 

[Spaxspore]

did you run a driver cleaner/sweeper??

EDIT-

Its possible its your processor it is a little undersized (cache and core type) but it comes more in affect at higher rez, what rez do u game @.

Also note the architecture of a x2 is 2 years older then that of the Allendale core that you are running now.

EDIT-

One more thing how hot is the GPU running on idle and load

 

[stonewalker]

overclock that cpu to about 2.8-3.0

 

[CamaroZ28]

did you run a driver cleaner/sweeper??

EDIT-

Its possible its your processor it is a little undersized (cache and core type) but it comes more in affect at higher rez, what rez do u game @.

Also note the architecture of a x2 is 2 years older then that of the Allendale core that you are running now.

I did not run driver cleaner/sweeper when i switched drivers, if you could please give me a link to where i can get this then I will try it tonight when i get home and run the 8.6+hotfix drivers again. However gpuz rated my texture fill rate much higher with the 8.7 beta drivers.

overclock that cpu to about 2.8-3.0

Can't because my motherboard won't let me adjust the fsb-dram ratio, so overclocking force overclocks my memory which isn't stable past the 888MHz its at right now. I know the processor can easily hit 3GHz

 

[CamaroZ28]

Can everyone please reply on the post in the Video Cards forum, I didn't mean to post it here initially and its hard to keep going back and forth here. If someone could just delete this one, please do so.

Thanks.

 

[Spaxspore]

ok i moved over

 

[ihira]

I don't see how a C2D @ 2.4Ghz can hold you back in a old game like HL2.
Theres definately something wrong going on here if yore sinkin into 10-20 fps with a 4850.

How does the card perform in other games? Did you do a clean re-install of drivers?

 

[CamaroZ28]

I don't see how a C2D @ 2.4Ghz can hold you back in a old game like HL2.
Theres definately something wrong going on here if yore sinkin into 10-20 fps with a 4850.

How does the card perform in other games? Did you do a clean re-install of drivers?

This thread is moved to the Video Cards Forum, if you could check out that thread you will find more information about what is currently happening with my setup, thanks for your reply though.

 

[Sniper X]

What kind of fps were you getting before/after processor upgrade?

Well i got the new processor the same time i got my 24inch monitor and so even with an increased resolution my minimum framerates have gone up from low 20's to at least 30 at all times.

 

[DaFox]

Most defiantly your CPU is holding you back. Lets put it this way, even at 3.0GHz with my Conroe and 8800GTX i hit sub 40FPS in DOD:S and TF2. Going from 1.8 to 3.0 nearly doubled my framerate in those games at all times.