Poor performance in BC2 with 4870x2?

[kompulsive]

Here's the setup I'm running...

Core i7 920 stable @ 3.6GHz, ASUS P6T Deluxe, 6GB DDR3 PC12800 RAM, Sapphire Radeon 4870x2 @ 750/800, 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1. I have all of the settings maxed, V-Sync off, 1920x1080, and I'm averaging 55-60FPS. If I try to record at 60FPS with Fraps, I dip to around 30-45FPS and the game becomes so jerky it is unplayable.

Does this seem really screwed up to anyone else? I feel like I'm really not getting the performance I should. I'm using the latest 10.4 drivers and everything. It seems like maybe I have my settings in Catalyst all fucked up or something. I don't know.

 

[Tamlin_WSGF]

Try putting them to default (use the option from the alternatives menu top right in CCC).

Best driver setup for BFBC2 is to use 10.4a (not 10.4 WHQL) and the application profile update afterwards. Then you have all fixes. It says crossfire application update, but its for single cards as well.

 

[kompulsive]

Try putting them to default (use the option from the alternatives menu top right in CCC).

Best driver setup for BFBC2 is to use 10.4a (not 10.4 WHQL) and the application profile update afterwards. Then you have all fixes. It says crossfire application update, but its for single cards as well.

Ok, I'm a bit confused. I should be able to find the 10.4a drivers again without much of an issue, but I'm not sure what "application profile update" you're talking about. Could you point me in the right direction as far as that goes?

 

[Tamlin_WSGF]

you find the "ATI CrossFireX™ Application Profiles" under driver page @ ATI. You only need the newest one.

 

[Intel_Hydralisk]

Turn off HBAO and AA and see if you can maintain 60 fps. Averaging 55-60 FPS is bad if you want to record at 60 fps (considering half the time it's below that target 60 fps by definition of average)... Try maybe recording at 45 fps. I don't think it's ever necessary to record at 60 fps. First the file gets huge, second, fraps videos are perfectly smooth even at 24-30 fps even if your gameplay seems to be laggy.

 

[kompulsive]

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm going to revert back to 10.4a, set everything to default, and I'll report back.

 

[Intel_Hydralisk]

Also, I forgot to mention that since recording at 60 fps makes huge files, it needs to write a lot of data to the harddrive every second which could cause the 'unplayable jerky lag' that you're mentioning. The harddrive probably simply can't write that fast and hence the 'dips to 30-45 fps'. This is especially the case if you're recording at full resolution (don't know if you are).

 

[kompulsive]

Can anyone else verify that 10.4a is performing better than 10.4? Is this unique to 4870x2 users for the most part or what?

 

[Tamlin_WSGF]

Can anyone else verify that 10.4a is performing better than 10.4? Is this unique to 4870x2 users for the most part or what?

Here's from the product manager of Catalyst drivers:
http://twitter.com/CatalystMaker/status/13071004273

Taking movies with fraps does have an impact on games, even if you have 250fps to start with.

 

[crawlgsx]

Can anyone else verify that 10.4a is performing better than 10.4? Is this unique to 4870x2 users for the most part or what?

I have a q9550 @ 4.0 with a 4870 X2, 10.4a is definitely the best for us right now, I have tried every single driver (release and beta) since BC2 beta. There is no performance difference between 10.4 and 10.4a, but the fix for our load times did not make it to 10.4 official. (4k series)

I am also running 1920x1080 with everything maxed except AA @ 2x and AF @ 4x. I stay in the 75-95 range most of the time. Every once and a while for reasons unknown to me I do get drops to 55-60, but it seems random and inconsistent. I'll play one night for hours and never see anything less than 75, then a few days later I'll play again and it'll dip to 55.

Also just for comparison I have everything defaulted in Catalyst for 3d settings.

I am also NOT running any profiles on top of 10.4a, I tried that last time and received worse performance.