Graphics Card recommendations?

DublinWriter

I currently have a Radeon 9800 AIW, looking at upgrading to a Radeon X1900 as my fps barely makes it over 30 in multiplayer.

I'm running a P4 at 3.2Mhz, 1.5Gb Ram, all un-needed processes stopped/streamlined etc.

Would anyone have any recommendations, or is this a pretty solid choice? Cost isn't an issue.

Ponster

I have no idea as to why but only getting 30fps has nothing to do with your 9800 which should give you *much* better fps than that (depending on what your settings are of course...)

DublinWriter

Settings are all at a gimpy 800X600 and set to medium.

Scruff

how can you find out your FPS in BF2?

Jumpy

Scruff wrote:

how can you find out your FPS in BF2?

renderer.drawfps 1

ambro25

DublinWriter wrote:

Settings are all at a gimpy 800X600 and set to medium.

:eek:

Second what Ponster posted, you should be getting WAY higher FPS than 30, with those settings and your card.

I run a 9800XT (thanks KdjaC ) with 1GB 2700 and AMD64, and I never get less than 50FPS in 1024x768, most stuff on high (shadows medium though) and 2xAA.

Before the XT, I was running a 9700 Pro, same 1GB 2700 and AMD64, and I never got less than 35FPS in 1024x768, everything medium and no AA.

As a matter of fact (sit down ) I get about 30FPS+ with a 32MB Radeon 9000, 512 RAM and a Centrino 1.6 in 800x600, everything low, no AA on the lappy, so there's definitely something not right here.

Recommendations:
(i) Check you rig for spyware/adware,etc. the usual crap.

(ii) Rename BF2.exe to BF2(something).exe, e.g. BF21.exe so there's no possibility of conflict with your ATI stuff (apparently, there's a chance that some ATI stuff (drivers, whatnot) get their knickers in a twist when BF2.exe is running, they 'think' it's an ATI process). Note that the rename doesn't interfere with online play.

(ii) Make BF2 a high-priority app = create a BF2.bat with:
@echo off
cd /d "C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2"
start /high BF21.exe
(again, it doesn't interfere with online play - note that the above is in conjunction with the renamed BF2.exe)

(iii) Check your AGP aperture in your BIOS

(iv) Use the latest Omega drivers

(not necessarily in that order)

Vegeta

Thanks ambro where do i get these omega drivers

ambro25

(i) type http://www.google.com (or .co.uk) in the address bar at the top of the window
(iii) hit enter key (that would be the L-shaped one)

(iii) type 'omega drivers' in the search box
(iv) again hit enter key

(v) Hey, what do you know!?! first entry in the search results! (that would be the blue bit over which your mouse pointer changes into a hand, and which says OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the Omega Drivers for ATI & NVIDIA (...))



here

Vegeta

well i only asked as the last drivers i downloaded from ATI made my computer go nuts and i wanted a reputable source

KdjaCL

I find Omega drivers and their Nvidia equivalent to be dodgy at the best of times. Find a decent set of official drivers and stick with them. Using 5 drivers ago Nvidia atm and when i had the XT i was on 5.2 cats for months.


kdjac

ambro25

Might be something with mobo, chipset or whatnot?

I've been using Omegas for at least 2 years now (when I 'discovered' them, basically), and I find them consistently better performing than ATI's own (both for games and when bench'd). That goes for the 9800XT you've sold me, which I first tried with the catalyst release current at the time, and I've since gone back to trusty Omegas

I don't install every Omega upgrade, and indeed I always keep the install for the ones I'm using in case the latest are a bit wonky (that's just good practice, tbh).

But I could never run the BF2 demo on the D600 before I upgraded to the latest Omegas last week-end. I installed the full game and all the patches on it last night, now getting close to 36FPS stable with 19 bots + me in SP (yep, still with the same 32MB Radeon Mobility M9!).

@ Vegeta - don't take it bad, friend, I was just pulling your leg a bit

KdjaCL

Ambro try the 5.2s beat the pants out of any other i tried and i tired a lot.

And i intend to beat that M9 Bf2 thing later today


kdjac

Vegeta

ambro25 wrote:

Might be something with mobo, chipset or whatnot?

I've been using Omegas for at least 2 years now (when I 'discovered' them, basically), and I find them consistently better performing than ATI's own (both for games and when bench'd). That goes for the 9800XT you've sold me, which I first tried with the catalyst release current at the time, and I've since gone back to trusty Omegas

I don't install every Omega upgrade, and indeed I always keep the install for the ones I'm using in case the latest are a bit wonky (that's just good practice, tbh).

But I could never run the BF2 demo on the D600 before I upgraded to the latest Omegas last week-end. I installed the full game and all the patches on it last night, now getting close to 36FPS stable with 19 bots + me in SP (yep, still with the same 32MB Radeon Mobility M9!).

@ Vegeta - don't take it bad, friend, I was just pulling your leg a bit

don't worry man its cool :cool:

ambro25

KdjaC wrote:

And i intend to beat that M9 Bf2 thing later today

kdjac

Device, Specs, etc...?

Report, soldier!

@ OP - seriously, consider my tweaks above.

I know you've stated "cost is no object", but you should consider the opportunity to upgrade the whole thing (mobo, etc.) in the not-so-distant future (what with the shift to PCI-E etc.), whereby splashing €00s on an ATI X1900 or nVidia 7800 AGP (I'm assuming you're AGP, right?) makes little sense if you can get much more bang (and expandability/upgradeability) for your bucks in 6 months' time than now. Especially as you card really should run BF2 in quite satisfactory/playable/eye-pleasing form.

I'm in same quandary now: I've briefly considered going one up further to a 7800 AGP (thinking I'd be safe for a coupe of years with that baby under the hood), but then realised my mobo will only take up to an AMD64 3400 & 1GB 3200, which is not really doing the card justice and is getting to the end of the upgrade path. So back to the back of my mind goes the 7800 AGP, up go the pennies in my savings account until I can change the whole lot... and maybe grab a 7800 PCI-E cheaper then. My €0.02, it's your moolah

DublinWriter

Thanks for all your advice, but I'm still not sure why I'm getting such poor performance.

I should have mentioned that the fps I'm getting are all in multiplayer mode - I never play singleplayer.

I suspect it might be something to do with my Broadband. I'll investigate over the weekend by putting the graphics settings up and trying singleplayer mode.

R0ot

i have a 6600gt and 2gb of RAM and an athlon 64 3200+ cpu, runs bf2 perfectly on medium

ambro25

R0ot wrote:

i have a 6600gt and 2gb of RAM and an athlon 64 3200+ cpu, runs bf2 perfectly on medium

at CGA res or at VGA res?

Sgt. Politeness

ambro25 wrote:

at CGA res or at VGA res?

VGA of course!! pah..CGA, whatre you livin in the dark ages or something??

ambro25

I can just about make it past the Industrial Revolution with UXGA here, so no, not quite dark ages

DublinWriter

Well, duh on me. The Radeon 9800 drivers I was using were the original ones which were almost three years old.

After an update, the action seems far lest 'laggy' but it will take a lot of testing to see if there's been an improvement.

One other thing, what are the two figures shown when you display the fps? One must be the fps, but what's the other?

The Real B-man

Well if your still stuck on a AGP system so go for a Nvidia 7800gs can't go wrong!