Poor performance with Bad Company 2

[mcvickj]

Reposting this for a friend. He has an active post over on the Steam forums but it hasn't gotten much attention. Seems like there is a pretty active base of BC2 fans here. Perhaps someone could shed some light on the problem.

The only response he has received so far is from someone claiming the E series or 2 isn't going to cut it.

I've been playing since multiplayer beta, and have had retail since it was released.

My system is an Intel Core2Deo E7500 @ 2.94GHz, 4.00GB DDR2 and a nVidia GTX 260. I'm also running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit.

I've had poor performance for multiplayer game play since day one. I've tried running my native monitor resolution of 1920x1080 and the lowest resolution that is an option for me in the game.. 1280x768..

At the end of the day I get no more than 40FPS.. while standing still and away from combat. During combat, its sick, can barely play.. or shoot people..

Game settings are as follows:

Everything is on low or turned off.. here is my settings.ini file:

[WindowSettings]
Width=1920
Height=1080
Fullscreen=true
RefreshRate=60
VSync=false
[Sound]
Quality=low
VoipEnable=false
SpeakerCount=0
[Graphics]
Effects=low
Soldiers=low
Vehicles=low
Overgrowth=low
Undergrowth=low
StaticObjects=low
Terrain=low
Shadows=low
Bloom=false
HSAO=false
MSAA=0
Water=low
MainQuality=custom
Texture=low
DxVersion=9
Aniso=0
Detail=low
RenderAheadLimit=0
Fov=65

I'm not sure what the problem is, also, from the game launch properties i have +fullproc on the line as well.. i've tried i think everything there is to try.

Someone please help me out here

EDIT: This is also a fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit, with latest video card drivers.

 

[Salatheon]

Well if you have tried everything there is to try, then maybe it is the fact that your CPU is only a dual-core and this game scales extremely well with quad-core systems. The GTX260 shouldn't have too many issues at 1280x768, but any higher and it will be struggling.

If you really don't want to buy new hardware, try overclocking the CPU and graphics card, might help a little bit to get it playable in battle.

I play the game with my Q6600 @ 3Ghz, GTX275 and 4gb ram, maxed out at 1680x1050 with 4xFSAA, no slow-downs. So the CPU is only the real difference, pretty crazy how it can make such a difference.

 

[Mutilator]

I overclocked my E6600 to 3.0GHz and both cores were still pegged at 100% in BC2. Replaced it with a Q6700 @ 3.2GHz and now all 4 cores are at about 80% in BC2.
This game really wants/needs a quad core.

Just have your friend alt+esc out of the game once he spawns when he's not in the middle of any action and open up task manager - see what CPU use is. If it's already up near 100% then it can't give it any more when he walks into the heat of battle so things slow down.

I still say they could have optimized the code some more... but I wasn't going to hold my breath on that one.

 

[GullyFoyle]

• Try RenderAheadLimit=2. Try =1 if that doesn't help.
• Keep Res low until performance problem is solved. He can try bumping it back up after that.
• Try totally disabling sound on his machine to see if that is the root of the issue.
• Try this network performance tweak: Link
• +fullProc is a placebo, he can delete it.
• Review these other threads for ideas: Link

 

[Worthington]

I'd be looking at his cpu as well. I moved from a dual to quad and the difference was astounding, with all other hardware being the same.

 

[JAG87]

CPU upgrade.

And tell him to stop playing the beta, the full game is out.

 

[mcvickj]

Looks like my thoughts of moving to a quad core was right. I will get with him tonight after work to try some of the listed suggestions.

JAG87 - He isn't playing the beta. His post says that he has been playing BC2 since the multiplayer beta. He owns a retail version of BC2.

 

[JAG87]

lol I know, it was a joke. I misread and the joke failed too. sigh

 

[kenh83]

Hey all, this is mcvickj's friend.

All and all, from what i've been hearing, my CPU is the culprit.

Question though,

Would an Intel Core2Quad Q8300 be better than the one I have? My budget for a CPU upgrade is less than $200 -- I can't go get a new motherboard, memory, etc.. got a family to feed.

What would everyone's recommendations be? Please everyone post

 

[kenh83]

Also, I might add.. I'm not one to overclock my hardware.

1. I dont know how.
2. I am scared, as I do not want to break anything.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I overclocked my E6600 to 3.0GHz and both cores were still pegged at 100% in BC2. Replaced it with a Q6700 @ 3.2GHz and now all 4 cores are at about 80% in BC2.
This game really wants/needs a quad core.

Just have your friend alt+esc out of the game once he spawns when he's not in the middle of any action and open up task manager - see what CPU use is. If it's already up near 100% then it can't give it any more when he walks into the heat of battle so things slow down.

I still say they could have optimized the code some more... but I wasn't going to hold my breath on that one.

I had VERY similar results. I had an E8400, but BC2 was running horrible/stuttering. I swapped it out for a Q9550 I had 'laying around' and it now runs like butter.

 

[GullyFoyle]

I had VERY similar results. I had an E8400, but BC2 was running horrible/stuttering. I swapped it out for a Q9550 I had 'laying around' and it now runs like butter.

I had an e8400 running at stock with my 8800GT during the beta and had no major issues. That being said, I now run it at 3.6Ghz, just 'cause it's free, and I still have no major issues. I run at 1280x1024, though.

 

[kenh83]

Hmm.. any Easy to follow tutorials on over clocking my CPU then, GullyFoyle?

Motherboard is an Asus P5Q SE Plus

 

[GullyFoyle]

Some CPU comparisons among the common GPU ones:

TechSpot

PCTuning.cz

Of course you have to take two major factors in to account, #number of cores, and CPU frequency. You can't give up too much Mhz when moving to the quad core, or you may find that gains are minimal or non-existant.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Hmm.. any Easy to follow tutorials on over clocking my CPU then, GullyFoyle?

Motherboard is an Asus P5Q SE Plus

I'm no overclocking expert. The particular overclock I did was one done by many before me, which does not overclock anything but the CPU, keeping the ram at standard timings. Only do what you feel comfortable with.
Here is a guide posted on this site: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=47089

 

[AlucardX]

I had an e8400 running at stock with my 8800GT during the beta and had no major issues. That being said, I now run it at 3.6Ghz, just 'cause it's free, and I still have no major issues. I run at 1280x1024, though.

before i went to an ATI 5770, i had a old NV 8800GTS 320MB on my E6850 @ 3.6GHz and i was able to play the beta and retail at 1280x720 without too much of an issue. i'm not entirely convinced it's just his CPU, but i never ran at 2.7GHz so who knows.

i'm assuming he did a clean install of BC2 between the beta and retail? maybe recreating a new config wouldn't hurt, disabling anti-virus, shutting down all other programs, etc.

 

[Worthington]

He's playing at 19x12 though. My E8400 even at 3.9Ghz was starving my vid card, at that was just at 16x10. Cpu usage was always 90%+, and GPU usage was always low. Moving to a quad dropped peak cpu usage, and let the gpu start to stretch it's legs. I moved to an i7 but a friend had the same cpu and went to a q9550 and noticed exactly the same thing.

OP (well, OP's friend ), he got that Q9550 used for $200 btw. I only mention that since you said thats about your budget for a new CPU. That seems to be the going rate for Q9550s. That or thereabouts.

 

[kenh83]

Well, Worthington, I've also played at 1280x768 and still get the same results

 

[kenh83]

I'm now playing at a nasty 1024x768 -- Also lowered sound configuration in windows from 24-BIT to 16-BIT ew..

RenderAhead is now set to 1.. atleast its playable... ugly, but much more playable.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Tried different drivers? My E8400 @3.6Ghz played BC2 at 1920x1080 with all high but one setting (effects I think) on low. HBAO off. Vsync on. 4xaa, 16xaf. That was with a GTX260.

I've since upgraded to an i7 860 @2.93Ghz and the fps are better in BC2 but not by a ton, but overall the experience is buttery smooth. The E8400, even when it was giving high fps it was still kinda choppy at times. The quad solves all that, buttery smooth now.

But still, you should be playing with high settings and 4xaa, 16xaf without any major issues. I will say that the game dropped low during heavily action packed moments online, but overall it was playable.

 

[kenh83]

NoSoup4You.. what drivers were you running? I'm running Nvidia latest, 197.45