BF3 slow load time for new map and first load crash

[NTAC]

I know I'm not the only one out there with these two issues, but I'm wondering if we can collect enough data to figure out what the cause is.

I have two issues:

1. First time I load BF3 it always crashes, subsequent loads work just fine without any issues.
2. Loading a new map takes a very long time.

My roommate has none of these issues, and the main difference between our two systems is he has 8 GBs of ram and I have only 4. I know 4 is plenty to game but perhaps it can have a huge impact on load times for maps...

So is anyone else experiencing either or both of these issues, and if yes, perhaps we can compare rigs and see if we can find a common denominator.

 

[RavenSEAL]

I have 4gb of ram, but an SSD, so maps load snappy as hell. Sorry that I can't help more :/

 

[NTAC]

Sure I'd expect a SSD to do well, but me and my roommate both have the 7200 rpm SATA drives. He does have a i5 2500k vs my i5 750, so maybe that's the culprit, not sure

 

[jjzelinski]

defrag

 

[Chaptorial]

I've got 12gb of RAM and with my 10000 rpm drive maps load fairly quickly. I'm usually one of the first to deploy in my squad/team.

However some people may be playing with their load outs and don't deploy as soon as the map loads.

 

[flexy]

I moved it all to a SSD and loading times are FAR less (uhm..surprise... ).

 

[zerocool84]

After I upgraded to 8GB ram from 4, load times went down dramatically for me. Also mine always crashes on first load-up as well. Works fine after that.

 

[DeadFred]

I have an i5 2500k, 16GB of memeory and a standard SATA hard drive. My first load up of the day fails 90% of the time but my game load times are fairly quick. I always get into games quicker than any of my friends.

 

[Anteaus]

The crash on first load is widespread. I imagine it will be patched out in time. As for the long load times, I'm pretty sure it's a simple matter of needing to load alot of data into memory and hard drive transfer rates are a bottleneck. The amount of memory you have really isn't an issue. Moving to an SSD will greatly improve this.

The load times are long but I found it isn't an issue unless your entering a server in the middle of a game because they implimented a time delay at the start of a new game to allow for everyone to load. If it takes you so long to load a map at game start that you miss the rope drop then I'd be more concerned.

 

[JJ650]

I have the first load fail hmm as well. First map takes a long time also.
8gb ram, standard SATA drive.

Anything after that is fairly snappy.

 

[RavenSEAL]

DICE needs to patch this crap already, I'm slowly starting to lean away from the game :|

 

[NTAC]

defrag

Only 7%, I was going to but didn't seem that bad.

After I upgraded to 8GB ram from 4, load times went down dramatically for me. Also mine always crashes on first load-up as well. Works fine after that.

That's encouraging, I hope I get the same results.

The crash on first load is widespread. I imagine it will be patched out in time. As for the long load times, I'm pretty sure it's a simple matter of needing to load alot of data into memory and hard drive transfer rates are a bottleneck. The amount of memory you have really isn't an issue. Moving to an SSD will greatly improve this.

This does not explain why my roommate loads way faster than me, since he has the same type of HD that I have. So the new maps CAN load super fast without a SSD, that's already been confirmed.

 

[pashbe1]

I get this message "BF3 has stopped working" on first load. I have to ctrl+alt+delete to get to the task manager and kill BF3.

Then I will usually get 2-3 more crashes within 30-60 seconds of spawning where the screen becomes a small checkerboard. Often this crashes the whole system to the point I have to reset.

Sometimes after these crashes I can play normally.

Since the game officially released I have 13 hours of gaming time and probably an equal amount dealing with this issue. The patience reservoir is almost empty.

I think that the problem is not with our systems but with the browser plug-ins that make battlelog work. Once or twice I have seen a brief flicker of a error message saying a plugin has stopped working.

Browser: Firefox
GTX470 with lates Nvidia drivers stock
i7920 stock
12gb DDR3 stock
W7 64b

Hope there is a solution soon.

 

[pashbe1]

Also, I have to shut down Avast shields to make Battlelog's social aspects work. This is an Avast issue as I have tried to set exceptions for it.

 

[Anteaus]

This does not explain why my roommate loads way faster than me, since he has the same type of HD that I have. So the new maps CAN load super fast without a SSD, that's already been confirmed.

What about your chipset? Controller? Is he running SATA 1, 2 or 3? What are his settings? Is he running with lesser settings that would mean smaller textures meaning quicker loads? I don't know the answer to your question, and it very well could be something with the game (i.e. caching) , but there are obviously other variables possibly come into play here.

I've seen super fast load times also, but not before I run a level at least one. As long as I don't close the game, every level I play stays cached for quick loading. I have 8 GB ram and a 1.25 GB GPU which might help with additional caching, but honestly I haven't paid much attention to it.

I'm not defending the game. I'm just saying it's never enough just to point and say something is wrong. We need to figure out how it works first.

 

[mooncancook]

Also experiencing first time load crash. All subsequent loads work fine. Load time is not too bad for me. Game is in a Caviar Black 2TB drive, Win7 in SSD, 8GB ram, E8400.

 

[redrider4life4]

Your load time is probably due to the game using only 1 core, for some reason my i7 920 did the same thing. I downloaded ATI tools to fix this, you can also change in task manager when the game is open to set the afinity somehow as well. I'm sure someone more knowledgable on the subject would be able to assist.

 

[yllus]

Yeah, I have those exact same two issues as well. This 1 core thing redrider4life4 mentioned - does anyone have more information about this?

 

[NTAC]

What about your chipset? Controller? Is he running SATA 1, 2 or 3? What are his settings? Is he running with lesser settings that would mean smaller textures meaning quicker loads? I don't know the answer to your question, and it very well could be something with the game (i.e. caching) , but there are obviously other variables possibly come into play here.

Oh sure, no argument there. He does have i5 Sandybridge vs my i5-750, so his CPU is certainly better. And yes he also plays on lower settings than I do, I'll try to lower mine to see if it helps, just for shits. Although it is odd that once a map loads you can change the gfx settings to whatver you want and not have to wait mor than 5 seconds for the new settings to take effect.

I've seen super fast load times also, but not before I run a level at least one. As long as I don't close the game, every level I play stays cached for quick loading. I have 8 GB ram and a 1.25 GB GPU which might help with additional caching, but honestly I haven't paid much attention to it.

Oh sure, once I've played a map, then next time it loads super quick, this issue is only when loading a map for the first time.

I'm not defending the game. I'm just saying it's never enough just to point and say something is wrong. We need to figure out how it works first.

Yep, agreed.

 

[brencat]

I too get the first load crash about 80% of the time. Annoying as hell and I hope they fix this. Playing with a mix of Ultra & High settings plus 2xMSAA @ 1920x1200 and it runs great on my system in sig below.

 

[NTAC]

I too get the first load crash about 80% of the time. Annoying as hell and I hope they fix this. Playing with a mix of Ultra & High settings plus 2xMSAA @ 1920x1200 and it runs great on my system in sig below.

How long does it take for your first map to load usually or whenever you are loading a map you haven't played on before in that session?

 

[s44]

Mine crashes at first unless I open up Origin first (and not straight from Battlelog).

 

[RiDE]

The startup crash comes and goes for me... some days I can play crash free and the next I crash twice in a row.

I maybe imagining things but I think the new nvidia beta drivers helped my DX10 card. Loading time isn't too bad for new maps, no more than ~30 secs. I'm on a QX9650 @ 3.6, 4GB ram, GTX295, and Velociraptors.