Project Reality Forums

System specs:
Motherboard - ASUS Model M5A97 Pro
AMD Athlon II Quad Core 3GHz
4 Gig RAM @ 1333MHz (Limited to 3 gig cos of gay MOBO)
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB

So yeah, as you can see, pretty high specs. Especially the GPU which is pretty much top of the range. Yet in-game I only about 15FPS looking towards certain bearings (Towards cities etc)

I bought all gear my self, but I took the spare ATI Radeon HD 5870 out of my dads computer.

It is a PC built from scratch. I put all the components into the motherboard first, the CPU the RAM, my old GPU (which was really really bad) etc. I installed the PSU which does support PCIe and can power the Graphics card.

My dad installed the motherboard and all the cables etc. And my dad done all of the windows stuff, software, drivers and all. Yes he did load the CD for the MOBO. He then installed the GPU (Radeon HD 5870) after he got all the windows stuff sorted. The drivers were also installed.

But for such an advanced Graphics card you would expect it to run PR:BF2 maxed out with 100 FPS no problem. (It did on my dads alienware anyway) So could anyone please help me out because I cannot play with how bad the FPS is.

Any help much appreciated..

xWEESERx wrote:But for such an advanced Graphics card you would expect it to run PR:BF2 maxed out with 100 FPS no problem. (It did on my dads alienware anyway) So could anyone please help me out because I cannot play with how bad the FPS is.

I get 15fps in places on certain maps, with an q9550 and a gtx260, you're not alone.

I believe this is because BF2 is quite CPU limited, and also only uses one processor core. I've certainly noticed with my computer that the GPU is pretty much idling when running PR (Not as hot and loud as usual). I think it comes down to the fact that PR has a lot of objects on each map, all of which need to be handled by the CPU in some shape or form. For each object in view the CPU has to direct state changes on the GPU, for a few objects this is easy, for lots of objects it's less easy (As view distance increases, the number of objects goes up with the square of the distance). Also on maps like fallujah the buildings are made up of many objects.

The above is at least my understand on it, really need someone more knowledgeable to weigh in.

I have got similar specs.......
Mobo - M5A97 Pro
CPU - x4 965 @3.6 Ghz
Ram- 8gb
GPU - 5770 1gb
OS - Win 7 64 Bit
HDD - 1tb and 500 gb @ 7200rpm

I dont think ur mobo is limiting your RAM (I have the same Mobo), it's your OS probably becuase it's 32 bit and dont call that mobo "gay", it's really good and user friendly.

My speculations right now are
1. Could be HDD at lower rpm or data rate
2. Could be your CPU becuase, i think BF2 isn't multicore optimized (so try OCing as last resort)
3. Too high resolution???
4. Update BF2 to latest patches with Punkbuster

I had a problem with the mobo where the secondary HDD kept on disapearing but this was remedied after "Placing primary HDD at SATA 1-2 port and secondaires at 3-4, i think". This might be your problem as with the problem my Data rate dropped to almost nil.

PS: I play BF2 at max res with max settings and view distance with no lagg with my settings.

Ramjali wrote:
I dont think ur mobo is limiting your RAM (I have the same Mobo), it's your OS probably becuase it's 32 bit and dont call that mobo "gay", it's really good and user friendly.

Ye it does limit 4gb RAM stick down to 3gb, even says on the manual. And it says I only have 3gig memory available.

I have set affinity to only core 0. Aslo, as I play it only takes up like 24% of the cpu. I can also Alt+Tab out and it is instant. So I dont think it is the CPU.

I am pretty anoyed because I pretty much built this PC to play PR

And FYI, I do like the MOBO. I dont think its gay lol I was just saying..

I think it might be a problem with the drivers of the Graphics Card, because on the other PC which runs PR at 100FPS with the same card, it doesn't have this "Catalyst Control Center" or anything related to customly changing Anti-Aliasing settings from the desktop (like the nvidia drivers).

lol British thread?

I had the same problem in some maps, like Fallujah, Gaza, Korengal when looking towards the "big part" of the map.

But you'll note that mainly old maps are laggy, like Korengal, Karbala, Fallujah.

I then overclocked my proccesor and I don't lag anymore. You can also always change your resolution to a lower one if it lags too much.

So your Windows version is 32 bit?
If that's the case, then that's most likely the problem. Because you can only use ~3GB of RAM the graphics card cannot make use of it's video RAM, which would definitely slow it down.

whatshisname55 wrote:So your Windows version is 32 bit?
If that's the case, then that's most likely the problem. Because you can only use ~3GB of RAM the graphics card cannot make use of it's video RAM, which would definitely slow it down.

Yeh it is windows 32 bit, thanks. Ill try installing the Windows 7 64 bit cd I have. Ill let you know if that works.

Ramjali wrote:
I had a problem with the mobo where the secondary HDD kept on disapearing but this was remedied after "Placing primary HDD at SATA 1-2 port and secondaires at 3-4, i think". This might be your problem as with the problem my Data rate dropped to almost nil.

I will also try this as well, thanks.

xWEESERx wrote:System specs:
Motherboard - ASUS Model M5A97 Pro
AMD Athlon II Quad Core 3GHz
4 Gig RAM @ 1333MHz (Limited to 3 gig cos of gay MOBO)
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB

So yeah, as you can see, pretty high specs. Especially the GPU which is pretty much top of the range. Yet in-game I only about 15FPS looking towards certain bearings (Towards cities etc)

I bought all gear my self, but I took the spare ATI Radeon HD 5870 out of my dads computer.

It is a PC built from scratch. I put all the components into the motherboard first, the CPU the RAM, my old GPU (which was really really bad) etc. I installed the PSU which does support PCIe and can power the Graphics card.

My dad installed the motherboard and all the cables etc. And my dad done all of the windows stuff, software, drivers and all. Yes he did load the CD for the MOBO. He then installed the GPU (Radeon HD 5870) after he got all the windows stuff sorted. The drivers were also installed.

But for such an advanced Graphics card you would expect it to run PR:BF2 maxed out with 100 FPS no problem. (It did on my dads alienware anyway) So could anyone please help me out because I cannot play with how bad the FPS is.

Any help much appreciated..

Turn down your Anti-Aliasing to 2x or OFF and you'll see an improvement. I wouldn't really call your Video Card "high end". Turn down your shadows too, those are two MAJOR things that suck down performance on video cards.

serfma wrote:Turn down your Anti-Aliasing to 2x or OFF and you'll see an improvement. I wouldn't really call your Video Card "high end". Turn down your shadows too, those are two MAJOR things that suck down performance on video cards.

ye, you're right, its only rank 18 on video card benchmarks. and worth 300+

Video settings are not the issue here, trust me.

I run max settings at 1920x1200

AMD Athlon II x4 630
6GB DDR3
Radeon HD 5850
1TB 7200 RPM HDD

I almost always get 40+ fps, occasionally dipping down to 30 fps. Even recording with Fraps I still average at 30 fps.

Trust me when I say his hardware isn't low end.

Guys if these are upgraded computers check your power supply and make sure it's good enough for your machine otherwise everything won't be running at full power, also BF2 has engine limitations.

Even if they aren't upgrades check anyway I've seen some bought computers not being vien the correct power supplies, I'm upgrading my 300W to a 750W soon to make room for upgrades in 2 years.

killonsight95 wrote:Guys if these are upgraded computers check your power supply and make sure it's good enough for your machine otherwise everything won't be running at full power, also BF2 has engine limitations.

I pretty much custom built my PC around the graphics card. So I made sure there was enough power, and I had the right motherboard etc. (That's why the other guy has the same MOBO and similar card)

I will install 64 bit windows soon. Just not now. For tonight I'll just play on my dads PC.

PS: IGN: xWEESERx

A few questions:

- Does your PC benchmark @ levels roughly equivalent to those with equal specs?
- How does it perform on VBF2?
- Do you have any other games suffering performance issues?

killonsight95 wrote:Guys if these are upgraded computers check your power supply and make sure it's good enough for your machine otherwise everything won't be running at full power, also BF2 has engine limitations.

I was under the impression if you don't have enough power things just don't work instead of working but slower.

What brand is the PSU, they're something you can't cheap out on. Also check the number of Amps on the 12V rails of the PSU, and compare it to the amount the GPU requires, modular power supplies are not good in this regard as for a beefy graphics card you need a lot of Amps on a single rail.

1. Could be HDD at lower rpm or data rate

I don't think this should matter, the majority of data is loaded into RAM from the start of the map with little HDD usage in game, it shouldn't be a bottleneck.

3. Too high resolution???

If resolution was the problem it would point to a GPU fill-rate issue, which is unlikely. Do check it though and if lowering res dramatically helps update the graphics drivers.

4. Update BF2 to latest patches with Punkbuster

Agreed, also try disabling anti-virus software just to check if it's causing problems. I had an issue with AVG when my game was chugging every now and again.

xWEESERx wrote:I have set affinity to only core 0. Aslo, as I play it only takes up like 24% of the cpu. I can also Alt+Tab out and it is instant. So I dont think it is the CPU.

Is that 24% of one processing core, or 24% of all of the cores (ie 100% on one of the cores)

I then overclocked my proccesor and I don't lag anymore.

Hints at a CPU bottleneck

whatshisname55 wrote:So your Windows version is 32 bit?
If that's the case, then that's most likely the problem. Because you can only use ~3GB of RAM the graphics card cannot make use of it's video RAM, which would definitely slow it down.

VRAM is generally seperated from the normal RAM, though some graphics cards will use RAM. The bandwidth of the RAM on the motherboard is magnitudes slower than that of the graphics card so I think it would be running much slower if it was having to access that.

xWEESERx wrote:Yeh it is windows 32 bit, thanks. Ill try installing the Windows 7 64 bit cd I have. Ill let you know if that works.

The shift to 64-bits is useful in the long term anyway.

AquaticPenguin wrote:
Agreed, also try disabling anti-virus software just to check if it's causing problems. I had an issue with AVG when my game was chugging every now and again.

You said AVG?

Hmm, thats quite interesting. I also have Low FPS with a PC that is more than capable of running PR/FH2 at the highest settings with little FPS drop. I also have AVG, what did you do? Did you added pr.exe or bf2.exe to some exceptions lists?

Your answer will be appreciated.

AquaticPenguin wrote:VRAM is generally seperated from the normal RAM, though some graphics cards will use RAM. The bandwidth of the RAM on the motherboard is magnitudes slower than that of the graphics card so I think it would be running much slower if it was having to access that.

Windows counts video RAM along with system RAM. 32 bit limits the system to ~3GB RAM total, it uses system RAM first and will exclude video RAM if system RAM meets the limit.
Therefore, the graphics card has to use some of the system RAM which is limited to ~3GB, and as you said, will run slower as a result.

I suggest switching to 64 bit OS before trying any other solutions mentioned because it is the most likely problem, but even if it isn't having 64 bit will still help you in the future, like Penguin said.

Well my graphics card requires 450+ watts and i only have 300 so i'd say it just slows it down, it's like when you halve the power into an old style lightbulb and the light dims.