Are you a bc2 player ? Do NOT buy gtx460 if ....

S

SoFGR

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
1,213
You don't buy a high end cpu first !!!!
http://www.overclock.net/11261271-post708.html
The link says it all, i have a Q6700 @ 3.3ghz and I tried both gtx260 and gtx470 in dx10 during this summer getting poor results, here's my current dx10 config


[WindowSettings]
Width=1680
Height=1050
Fullscreen=true
RefreshRate=119.998
VSync=false
[Sound]
Quality=high
VoipEnable=true
SpeakerCount=6
[Graphics]
Effects=low
Soldiers=medium
Vehicles=medium
Overgrowth=medium
Undergrowth=low
StaticObjects=medium
Terrain=medium
Shadows=low
Bloom=false
HSAO=false
MSAA=1
Water=medium
MainQuality=custom
Texture=medium
DxVersion=10
Aniso=3
Detail=low
RenderAheadLimit=0
Fov=55


As you can see the settings are pretty modest, the problem is that if my framerate gets near 50fps ( pretty common even in 24man servers ) or lower the game response will feel VERY laggy, like playing at 20fps :S

One solution is playing at dx9 but i can't stand the jaggies anymore, i got about 105h of playtime and 90% of them is with dx9, i'd rather buy it on the 360 at this point.

Nvidia says that they will include optimizations in their next driver batch that will allow better gpu usage in systems with older cpus, http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/788307-fermi-issues-low-gpu-usage-bad-72.html but i have pretty much lost my faith right now, both bc2 and moh are unplayable to me ( unless i set them to dx9 of course ) and something tells me black ops will feel shitty too
 
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time to replace that aging Q6700 with a q9450/9550/9650. either one of those 3 processors will solve your problem. there really is nothing nvidia can do to optimize the drivers to run better on an older processor.

though on the other hand if you can overclock that processor to 3.2-3.4ghz it would gain you about 10 maybe 15 fps in BC2.
 
sorry, read you wrong, thought you saying buy a 460 before cpu upgrade...
 
Well yeah, i would imagine a Q6*** under 3GHz would be a bottleneck for any modern (AMD 58**/ nVidia 46*+) graphics card.
I'd get overclocking or look to upgrade. How old is that system now?
 
check the links, the other guy had problems with gpu usage even if with a Q9550 @ 3.6ghz,then he upgraded to i5 and his game feels smooth now, there is also a phenom user who is getting bad results too, saying " i would kill for that gpu usage "

edit : sorry there was a stupid typo, I have mentioned many times that my q6700 runs at 3.3 NOT 2.60 :s btw 2.66 is the default clock speed, I don't know how you guys managed to fall for that one :p


I'm thinking of getting a 6970 and see what happens, 58xx cards are known to give to 99% gpu usage even in systems with "ancient" cpus like mine. I'm also thinking of building a second system sometime soon. So maybe nvidia will finally fix that problem ( it's been F*CKING 7 months already !!! ) and make my "soon to be" secondary gaming rig just as useable in BC2 or any other frostbite game for that matter
 
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I have an E8400 with a GTX460. I play BC2 @ 1650x1080. Other than the first 3 secs of play being choppy (loading), it's perfectly fine. I play on high settings as well.

edit: stock speed on the E8400
 
BC2 never worked correctly with nvidia cards. the ati cards are butter smooth in this game even at 30 fps. the nvidia cards exhibit an annoying stutter unless you achieve frames that are equal to or exceed your monitor's refresh rate. so most likely this would be 60 fps or greater and you must lock in vsync to eliminate the stutters.

it gets much worse if you are hovering around the 30-50 fps mark where the game should still be smoot. but it stutters quite bad in this fps range and since it is lower than your monitor's refresh rate vsync will not help out here.

nvidia promised a fix months ago but their fix did not work.
 
ARGH_SLI said:
BC2 never worked correctly with nvidia cards. the ati cards are butter smooth in this game even at 30 fps. the nvidia cards exhibit an annoying stutter unless you achieve frames that are equal to or exceed your monitor's refresh rate. so most likely this would be 60 fps or greater and you must lock in vsync to eliminate the stutters.

it gets much worse if you are hovering around the 30-50 fps mark where the game should still be smoot. but it stutters quite bad in this fps range and since it is lower than your monitor's refresh rate vsync will not help out here.

nvidia promised a fix months ago but their fix did not work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input man that's exactly what I was talking about all this time, fyi L4D2 feels shitty too ! even at 70fps !!!! i need 100+ or more to make it feel smooth, FYI i game on a samsung 2233RZ 120hz monitor with vsync always off, so i'm royaly SCREWED :(

People plz keep your eyes open for threads like this one before buying a new graphics card, this is for your own good !! You can't always be sure about the "X" card just by looking its performance graphs on various review sites, those graphs don't tell you everything !!
 
I had the exact issues using a Q9650 chip (oc'ed and at stock speeds) with a GTX 480 and the game was very choppy. Didn't matter what beta/super beta/magical nVidia driver I tried. The only solution was to upgrade to the i-series of CPU's and the problem has gone away. Kinda sucks though, as my (now gone) AMD 5850 and the Q9650 played BFBC2 with ease. I only upgraded because I had the upgrade bug. My dumb ass had to order a GTX 480! Live and learn.
 
People that think this low gpu utilization problem is related to what cpu you are using is laughable. Any core2 or quad should be more than enough for FERMI. The problems with low gpu utilization are with their drivers and game profiles. I see this problem in numerous games, specifically in 3DVS and I am using a corei7 920 @3.8GHz. Some games in 3DVS will literally be a slideshow and you are using 40% gpu. There used to be a workaround to this problem by starting the game from a non-surround desktop rez but now even that workaround has been removed. Thankfully bc2 is not one of the games where I get low gpu utilization but even then there is a mild hitch in that game if I enable hbao. It's the drivers folks! It's not the cpu you are using. I was particularly vocal about nvidia in early 2007 with regard to their vista driver fiasco. Seems to me that they are devolving back into the same state as 2007 with every passing driver version. Ati is really no better either. The 4850CF solution I purchased at launch took 6 months for them to fix the driver problems. Nvidia has them beat now with FERMI as it has been more than 6 months and there are still major 2D and 3D surround problems.
 
yall tripping i have a gtx460 with an e6600 overclocked to 3.2-3.6 depending on what im doing and its fine aside from random bsod's due to aging memory modules and 5400 rpm hdd =b time for ssd
 
My 460 was fine as well. Buddy with a 5850 always complained though. To each their own.
 
My GFs rig with a GTX 260 and stock Phenom II 940BE plays it FINE on medium settings, DX10, 1680x1050.
 
My GTX 460 FTW and a Q9550 OC'ed to 3.4 and 8 gig, most eye candy turned all the way up @ 1920.x1200 is smooth as butter.

-Flake
 
Spoke too soon. Tried BC2 out on my 580 and it is a stuttery mess even though the framerate is high. I don't think it's related to GPU usage as it was just as bad in both scenarios (below).

Vsync On (usage ~60%):
vsyncon.png


Vsync Off (usage ~85%):
vsyncoff.png
 
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