CPU Bottleneck?
DiegoCopter
Join Date: 2012-11-07 Member: 168097Members
Hi, I just bought NS2 and am having some serious fps issues. In the graphics options if I set everything to low/off, the read out at the top says I should be getting ~130 fps. In game is a completely separate issue. I seem to get around 30-40 (again on low settings) if the action is sparse. As soon as things heat up frames often drop into the single digits. Changing graphics options helps, but not necessarily a whole lot, so I suspect a CPU bottleneck.
Specs:
AMD Anthlon IIx4 640 OC'd to 3.4ghz
2x Radeon 5770 CF
8gb 1600mhz RAM
Windows 7 64bit
I've heard that this game is not multithreaded, and only takes advantage of 1 or 2 cores. Is this true? My specs meet the recommended requirements. The game recommends a radeon 5770 (I have two) and a Dual Core 3.0ghz CPU (I have a 3.4ghz quad). Any thoughts?
Specs:
AMD Anthlon IIx4 640 OC'd to 3.4ghz
2x Radeon 5770 CF
8gb 1600mhz RAM
Windows 7 64bit
I've heard that this game is not multithreaded, and only takes advantage of 1 or 2 cores. Is this true? My specs meet the recommended requirements. The game recommends a radeon 5770 (I have two) and a Dual Core 3.0ghz CPU (I have a 3.4ghz quad). Any thoughts?
Comments
Heh. It's funny because I have a high-end computer and multicore rendering is the only option I don't have on/maxed. It drops my framerate from 80 to 40.
(High end computer that is limited by that dumb windows 32 bit, but it's still a very potent piece of hardware)
Type r_stats into the console while in a game and look for the line that says "Xms waiting on GPU", if it is constantly 0ms then your cpu is the bottleneck. If it is going above 0 at any point then your GPU is the bottleneck and turning down your resolution may improve FPS.
Steve from UWE also mentioned he was going to work on some particle optimisations which should improve FPS in large battles, so you may get better performance in a few patches from now.
While this is true, you cannot simply compare a 3,4GHz AMD quad to an Intel proccessor. In the Past (Athlon XP, Athlon 64) AMD had the upper hand in terms of performance per Megahertz, nowadays Intel is in favour. So yes, your CPU might very well be the Problem.
You also can't compare a Dual core @ 3.0 GHZ with a Quad @ 3.4 GHZ.
Regardless of high my FPS is when just looking around the map, it drops considerably <u>when an alien enemy character gets close</u>. Even with a lowered resolution and all graphics details on Low. Even with an overclocked six-core processor and 7850 overclocked GPU. Even in low resolutions!
I don't think any performance trick or hardware in the world could <i>really</i> get rid of this problem. I don't think it's the engine or some fault with the performance in general. For me, at least, it's <i>just</i> in combat on the marine side.
It's just not reasonable or worth it to have to buy new computer components to get the performance so high in general that the FPS drops less than 35 FPS when in combat. UWE must make a compromise on the quality on all types of action that's going on during battles, or i doubt this game will ever be good enough not to have performance issues actually be behind most of the in-game deaths.
This is the reason why i just refuse to play as marine anymore. I've been gaming for 20 years and can't even remember the last time that the performance of a game during battle was so bad that it affected my own performance as a player.
As said, this game's performance is quite a mystery.
The combat mod especially performs a lot better because there are not a lot of structures involved and the maps tend to be smaller anyway.
Is anyone here using an AMD chip and getting good fps? Do any of the phenom ii's cut it? I've toyed with the idea of getting a phenom iix6 1100t... but if this game won't take advantage of 6 cores, then that may not help me a whole lot.
My problem with upgrading right now, is that I used a Windows 7 system builder when I built my rig, so my copy of windows is tied to my mobo. My mobo is an AM3 (not AM3+) so that really limits my upgrade options... unless I want to spend the money to buy windows again... and I don't.
Well an upgrade always helps of course. But honestly mate, they really need to fix this on the software-side for it to be good enough not to be annoying regardless of what hardware you have.
I've got the Phenom II X6 1055T overclocked and a very good GPU and i'm suffering greatly from FPS drops during any combat, which is where you need the most FPS.
I have the exact same amout of FPS if I turn everything on or off. arround 30fps in RR.
Thought shadows would reduce cpu usage but hmm no! :(
I recommend NOT using AFR 2 if you are sensitive to input delay, however, but its worth a try i suppose. Often a big increase in fps with that