Friend says 8800GTS (unsure if 320 or 640) stutters in D3 beta.

[VirtualLarry]

Just curious, is this GPU not fast enough for D3?

I haven't seen the gameplay, but he said it was stuttering in places, and that the game gave him some message about needing to update his drivers. He was already on a 285.xx, which are newer than the ones I'm using (280.26). Does D3 beta really need cutting-edge driver releases? It won't work on older ones?

Edit: His rig is a Q6600, non-overclocked. I keep trying to get him to overclock it, and sell him a new heatsink, but he can't be arsed. He just bought the rig used last Christmas from a friend.

 

[Smoblikat]

Im no expert but i would assume that he needs to OC his Q6600 to at least 3.2 and upgrade his video card. the 8800 is really old, a 5770/6770/7770 would be ideal and not too expensive either. Overclocking is a necessity though.

 

[Fallengod]

Here is the official D3 video card support page.

http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/video-card-support-for-diablo-iii

As you can see, that 8800GTS is in the "low performance" category along with a plethora of other cards. This is probably a good sign that it might not be sufficient for D3(I certainly wouldnt want a card in the low performance category).

Regarding the message, I havnt played beta yet but that driver message is probably displayed just because it detects a newer one. I dont think there is necessarily a correlation between the message and functionality of drivers. I could be wrong though. I remember I had that message in some other game before and I think I had already been using the latest drivers to begin with.

To me, stuttering sounds more like an issue with the drviers or game compatibility rather than general performance. It could even be some type of setting causing it. I dont know.

And ya, tell him to upgrade. You can find some cheap ways to get good performance. I bought a used 5770 off forums for $60 shipped and that was like two months ago. Small price to pay for that lvl of performance. I have seen brand new 6870's for $120-$140 lately as well. Couple times ive seen some GTX 550ti's or GTX 460's for $80-$90.

 

[Ferzerp]

Every time I start the very beginning of the beta, i get annoyed because it is jerky for the opening part until you reach the little city even with 680's sli

 

[Ventanni]

My fps is so bad in D3b when the action gets going (at least in multiplayer). I switched to my laptop which has a Core i7 2630QM and it's a bit faster than my desktop, but it's still so slow sometimes.

Strangely, my friend who I'm playing with downloaded the D3b months ago, and his plays butter smooth. He's on a Phenom II quadcore too, which is so strange. Oh well, can't wait for the retail

 

[Stuka87]

In my experience, Diablo 2 uses hardly any CPU really. A dual core runs it fine. My Phenom II is not stressed at all.

Most of the jerkiness people are seeing isnt because of CPU or GPU. Its a loading glitch. The forums are full of people complaining about it.

I actually played the game on the HD3000 in my laptop at 1280x1024 and it ran quite well (everything on minimum). Got slow in big multiplayer battles, but was fine for single player.

Oh and I got that driver msg as well on my laptop and switched to the "performance" drivers for the quadro and it went away. I had been using the stability drivers from last summer.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Not sure how a comment about D2 relates to D3b. Surely, it's not the same engine, is it?

Anyways, I forgot to mention, my friend is also using a 5400 RPM laptop drive in his Q6600 desktop. Could that be part of the issue? (Loading stutters?)

Edit: Oh, and he just got a 1920x1080 LCD screen for Christmas.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Here is the official D3 video card support page.

http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/video-card-support-for-diablo-iii

As you can see, that 8800GTS is in the "low performance" category along with a plethora of other cards. This is probably a good sign that it might not be sufficient for D3(I certainly wouldnt want a card in the low performance category).

Actually, that's the 8800GS. The 8800GTS isn't listed in any of the categories. Oversight?

 

[Mars999]

Not sure how a comment about D2 relates to D3b. Surely, it's not the same engine, is it?

Anyways, I forgot to mention, my friend is also using a 5400 RPM laptop drive in his Q6600 desktop. Could that be part of the issue? (Loading stutters?)

Edit: Oh, and he just got a 1920x1080 LCD screen for Christmas.

Ah yeah! 5400 is dead slow... PIck up a SSD or at least a 7200RPM raptor or WD Black series...