Frame Rate Issues / PR.86

[Ataraxic]

When I stumbled upon Project Reality soon after picking up BF2, I thought I had found the holy grail of shooters. Tactics, logistics, teamwork, realism, and strategy. Finally I had found a community with the same interests as me.

Soon after installing PR.86, however, I realized it wouldn't be so simple. I found that I run into lag and choppy frames especially in areas with many buildings.

For example on Kashan Desert, I will be fine flying my Huey around helicopter training. As soon as I'm within 1000m of the Bombing Range my FPS will drop to zero along with my altitude.

Frankly, I'm a bit frustrated. I thought running Project Reality would be no problem. After all I run BF2 on high with no problems. I also run many graphics intensive programs such as Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Why then does Project Reality give me so much trouble.

Before posting I read Outlaw22's guide on lag & stuttering. I'm not a computer savvy person myself so some of it went over my head. Some of it was good advice. Other parts of the guide referred only to XP whereas I run 32-bit Vista.

So now I come here, straight to the PR.86 community for help. Is there something I have missed? Something I can do? Something wrong with my computer? Perhaps an issue with Punkbuster? Is there a way to determine if this is a memory issue versus a graphics or hardware issue?

It seems odd to me that my computer can't handle PR.86 but can handle things like FSX which has hundreds of thousands of Auto-gen buildings, vehicles, and scenery.


My specs are: (Forgive me if I miss some)

Dell Inspiron 521
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+ 2.1 GHz
2.00 GB of RAM (I'm told this is more than enough for PR.86)
Vista 32-bit
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT


I'm so eager to join the PR.86 community and become a part of a teamwork oriented battle. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.

[DesmoLocke]

My specs are: (Forgive me if I miss some)

Dell Inspiron 521
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+ 2.1 GHz
2.00 GB of RAM (I'm told this is more than enough for PR.86)
Vista 32-bit

You left out a key component... the graphics card. Please post it and someone here can further assist you.

[Ataraxic]

You left out a key component... the graphics card. Please post it and someone here can further assist you.

Sorry, as I said before I'm not too sure what was necessary to approach this,

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT

[Robbi]

Id say a big problem is that you are running 2 gb of RAM and Vista, as Vista uses a Gb of RAM near enough constantly, that means /pr only has the maximum of 1 gb of RAM to play with, and that is if nothing else is running.


Also, can you post your setting your using in PR?

Cheers

[Ataraxic]

I run PR on Medium with display mode at 800x600@60Hz

[Robbi]

you cant run PR at 800 x 600 mate...

try running it at a higher resolution, you should be able to run it at higher than that.

[AncientMan]

Yes you can Robbi...

[Robbi]

really? when did that change?...

Have you got anything to add to problem, any thoughts?

[Robbi]

As Ive said, probably better off getting a little more RAM mate, that coupled with your CPU may not be helping at all, also

AncientMan']better to run at like 1024x768, on med/low with textures on low, probabaly be more beneficial

[M_Striker]

Yea, buy an extra gig of RAM (don't worry it's cheap). It made me able to play from medium settings to all high. I also heard bumping up Anti Aliasing may help increase framrate, but I'm not totally sure, and don't understand why it would do so.

[Ataraxic]

Okay thank you for the tips guys. When buying RAM, can I buy 1 gig and add it to my existing two or do I need to buy 3 and replace the two I have? My dad can install it, I'm just wondering.

[Robbi]

What RAM have you got at the moment?

Also, a 2x2 GB Dual Channel kit isnt too expensive now, and would probably do you better in the long run.

[Ataraxic]

What RAM have you got at the moment?

Well, I'm not quite sure and I'm not quite sure about how to find out.

[Robbi]

i'd say if you have the cash then to grab a 2x2 GB Dual Channel kit, better off mate.

[thepalerider]

Ataraxic.
One of the best resources I have found for understanding PC/games/settings is:
TweakGuides.com - Battlefield 2 Tweak Guide

Be sure to read the system tips as well
You will find it easier to improve performance with a better understanding
OF PC hardware.

I agree get more ram and find the fastest 2 gig usb flash card (like the xporter) to use with Vista.
Vista can use the usb card for 'ready boost' which is a pre-cache the system makes for data it might need soon.
Fast flash cards have the advantage of being able to read and write data as fast as the average HD but, the seek times for that data are very low (FAST). Example your HD may seek at 6-8 Ms but the flash does it in 1 0r 2 Ms.
When you have 4 gigs of ram (and Vista 64 to be able to use all of it) you can turn off virtual ram and just use ready boost.

You might want to bump your cpu up too (2.4Mz?)

Good luck