Need some hardware advice.

[Hetzer]

Having the ongoing stutter issue with games, now getting it with PR.

Basically I switched to Vista (32-bit Ultimate) from XP-Pro-SP2 because I was getting a lot of jerking and stuttering in games after upgrading my hardware (went from:

P4 3.4ghz Intel Cpu
2gb RAM
6800-Ultra

to

MSI 750i mobo
Q6600
x2 8800GTX
2gb RAM [Corsair Dominator])

and was told it was most likely caused by XP not properly supporting the quad-core CPU.

Sure enough, it fixed CoD4 and ArmA, but now PR is jerking and freezing like a sod (temporary freezing, like a second at a time, mouse lags/freezes/jerks etc).

So, the question is, does the BF2 engine have issues with multi-core CPUs and NV graphics cards running in SLI mode on an NForce chipset?

TIA for any input.

NB: Already did a search and am going to try a couple of the suggestions I found, but would still like to hear anyones thoughts on the matter. I get good FPS (no lower than 70).

[Deadfast]

http://www.realitymod.com/forum/f27-...ed-memory.html

That should help you.


And yes, BF2 does have a problem with multi-core CPUs. It doesn't support them, therefore it'll use only one core (same with ArmA)

[Hetzer]

Originally Posted by Deadfast

http://www.realitymod.com/forum/f27-...ed-memory.html

That should help you.


And yes, BF2 does have a problem with multi-core CPUs. It doesn't support them, therefore it'll use only one core (same with ArmA)

Thanks DF.

I have my system optimized reasonably well, the pagefile has a fixed size and is on the second drive (all drives are SATA, but not in RAID config). I also have a USB flash-stick (4gb) which Vista is using.

So far as gaming is concerned, I have around 1500mb of graphics-card memory, 2gb of RAM and 4gb of pagefile. The pagefile should hardly need to be accessed at all.

Here's the weird thing; I just set all the video options back to default and there was zero stuttering/jerking. But the FPS was exactly the same as when I had the settings maxed-out. Eg, in high settings or default settings I get the same FPS, so clearly the stuttering/jerking isn't an FPS issue...my system has the horsepower to run the game maxed-out with very high FPS. (NB: I used the unlock-FPS entry in the config-file I found elsewhere, but it doesn't appear to have worked).

It's like the system is having some kind of problem moving graphics data, but I can't understand why. It can't be CPU, all I'm doing is standing on a base on an unpopulated map (running a local server in MP for testing purposes). My system checks out in the Prime95 stress-test, so that theoretically proves the CPU and RAM are good. The PSU is the Corsair 620w, recommended for SLi graphics and quad-CPU. CoD4 plays sweet as a nut, so I figure if there was a hardware or power issue it would show up there.

I've set my desktop resolution to the same as I'm about to test the game in again and see what that does. Any other ideas meanwhile would be gratefully received.

[Deadfast]

Did you try to disable the SLI?

BF2, as an old game, might have problems with that.

[Hetzer]

Originally Posted by Deadfast

Did you try to disable the SLI?

BF2, as an old game, might have problems with that.

I haven't tried that yet, but I'm a bit closer to nailing it down.

Set the desktop res to 1600x1200, same in game with all other settings maxed, except AA was off. No jerking.
Put AA to x4, got the jerking back again.

Maybe a coincidental issue, with AA off, hit escape, game locked up with a memory-allocation error. Did that twice on the trot. With AA at x4 hitting the escape button took the game back to the interface properly.

I'm next going to try game's AA off, card's on via NV Control-Panel, see what that does. After that I'll try disabling SLi.

[Hetzer]

Yep, it was the SLi, even though the NVCP says BF2 is optimized for it. Running it on one GPU, x8 AA, nice and smooth. Cheers mate.

[Deadfast]

You're welcome