Battlefield 3 RETAIL Performance Thread

[elrasho]

Now that some of us have managed to unlock and play the game what kinds of FPS are you all getting?

I'm using 11.10 Preview 3 drivers with CAP 3 and getting around 55fps on High (SBAO Off, No AF, 2X AA). Resolution: 1080P. This is on Caspian Border 64 man server.

The Beta actually ran better (at 70fps) so I'm thinking the retail version has some extra bells and whistles on High that the Beta didn't.

Post your results guys! Would be ideal if you used Caspian Border as the benchmark map so we can compare the retail to the Beta version.

 

[elrasho]

Crossfire 5850s (specs are in my sig)

 

[elrasho]

some retailers mail games out early in case of royal mail delay for launch day. lucky @~!£

No people are buying from green man gaming and pre-loadin on Origin. You then use VPN to unlock the game: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=20387641

 

[elrasho]

With 11.10 Preview 3 and 11.9 CAP 3 I was getting 90-110 fps on ultra but it didn't feel smooth at all, would pause for a split second every few seconds which made it unenjoyable to play and difficult to hit anyone.

Uninstalled, went back to 11.9 (no CAPs) and I get 80-100 fps but it is as smooth as butter.

6990 @ 880/1250 (stock bios '1').

Yeah! I got that split second stuttering too, I thought it was because Im using crossfire but now Im thinking its the Beta drivers. Will roll back to 11.9 tonight and see how it works.

 

[elrasho]

New drivers will make me happy, I got a 560Ti GTX Oc a few weeks back and it's a very capable card for the money.

The new drivers (might be old news to some) increase performance in Battlefield 3 by 11%.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-10-24-nvidia-launches-new-battlefield-3-pc-drivers

I aim to buy a 24" 1080p monitor and buy another 560Ti GTX Oc for SLI...

That would be a serious boost to your gaming! nice

 

[elrasho]

To fix the stuttering remove CAP 3 if you're using Crossfire, no need to drop drivers down from 11.10 Preview 3.

How do I remove CAP 3 but leave my drivers intact? I don't see an option anywhere to remove just the CAP

 

[elrasho]

Are there any benchmarks comparing different cards in BF3?

Trying to decide if I should try to crossfire my 5850 or upgrade to a single 6970.

I have crossfire 5850s at stock and can play on High settings, SBA off and no AA. It looks really nice and getting minimum 55fps. Id imagine with driver updates I'll get the minimum 60fps I long for. What's the rest of your system spec?

 

[elrasho]

i7 920 @ 4Ghz
6Gb Ram
Corsair HX850 PSU
Crucial M4

I should be ok with a better graphics card right?

Get a 2GB 6950 and you'll be happy. I kinda regret not going down that router, I only just bought another 5850 last week. Still 5850 CF is faster than a single 6950, and then I'll probably skip the 6xxx series cards and get a 7xxx series when they are released.

What resolution are you going to game at?

 

[elrasho]

I think people here are suffering two different types of stutter.

The one where the game actually freezes for 1/2 seconds I beleive is caused by the lack of VRAM. To fix this, try turning your texture quality down.

The second stutter, which is what I am suffering from is a lot like a Microstutter. The game doesn't freeze but in parts, even with high fps, feels notchy. I think this is caused by poor drivers. Will remove the CAP's this evening and report back.

The first type of stuttering is not a VRAM issue. This stuttering went away after a week into the Beta and I hadn't changed anything. Its something else.

 

[elrasho]

Yo Elrasho, are you getting full usage on both gpus with the 11.10s?

I think I'm going to need to do a frametime graph for this.

I didn't actually check this, but I will tonight when I get home from work. Im going to leave 11.10 Preview 3 and CAP3 and see what the GPU usage is and report back.

Are you sure.

I have upgraded from crossfire 5870's as bf3 was hammering my vram. Another game I noticed it in was Crysis 2, whilst the high rez textures were applied. Now that I have crossfire 6970's (on the same drivers), the stutter I was getting before is non existent, no matter how much is happening.

Now I am getting a very minor stutter in BF3 only. Can be reduced by enabling vsync.

Im positive but Ill try again tonight mind you I'm only playing at 1080P with everything on High and no SBAO/AA. Are yo playing at a higher resolution?

 

[elrasho]

1920x1080.

Same as me. I'll be on in a couple of hours, I'll take a screenshot of my graphics settings menu and upload it here together with GPU usage after a round on Caspian Borders. I didn't get any stuttering last night, MSI Afterburner showed I was suing 1300MB VRAM (So thats actually 650MB as VRAM is mirrored on both cards).

 

[elrasho]

I think what we need to establish here is what GFX settings are appropriate to peoples VRAM to stop it stuttering.

Sadly I can't test the game yet as I haven't got my copy yet.

Would be a shame If I couldn't max the game with my cards 5970+5870 due lack of VRAM.

In fact it would be a tragedy.

I agree. Will let you guys know how I get on later today, but as long as I can play with everything on High at around 60fps I'm happy. I suppose it all depends on what your personal preference is. For me its playing at 60 fps minimum with everything on High.

I wonder what DICE have to say about VRAM? There was a image going round showing a presentation that had 560ti as the recommended card to play the game on High settings. 560ti cards are 1GB cards like the 5850.....

 

[elrasho]

OK just played two full rounds on Seine Crossing 64 player map with these settings:



Averaging 75fps and never drops below 60fps MSI shows both GPUs at 99% usage and VRAM 1600MB. I'm happy with this but having seen my cards only reach temperatures of 59C under load I'm tempted to overclock them and see if I can push a few Ultra settings in there. Oh and no stuttering at all, it was silky smooth

 

[elrasho]

Will the game auto configure best graphics settings?

It does, but the default FOV is 70. Once you change that to something better like 90 you'll need to lower the graphics settings a bit as there will be more displayed on screen.

 

[elrasho]

I was using 11.10 preview 3 + 11.9 cap3 and getting terrible stutter, deleting cap3 has massively reduced stuttering.

Thats strange coz I have the save drivers with CAP 3 and I get no stuttering, could this be server based?

 

[elrasho]

Im playing at 2560x1600 ULTRA settings and getting solid 60 fps (vsync on), But did have to increase page file and Vram is on the limit.

Could do with 12gb of ram and 3gb gtx 580 cards

That game doesn't use more than 2.5GB RAM according to Windows Task Manager, how much memory have you got? I've got 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz

 

[elrasho]

I get micro stuttering only on the big outdoor maps like Caspian Borders, it cant be a VRAM issue because it uses the same amount of VRAM as other smaller maps like Siene Crossing.

EDIT: If I lower Texture and Shadow to Medium the micro stuttering goes away but VRAM stays the same. This has to be a crappy driver issue.

 

[elrasho]

Damien whats your rig?

Wolvers I got rid of the stuttering by doing this:

1. Uninstall ATI Drivers
2. Uninstall CAP
3. Use Driver Sweeper to get rid of any traces of the ATI Drivers
4. Install 11.10 Preview 3 drivers

Im now playing with everything High and not HBAO but the other one and its running 80 - 100 fps. Resolution 1080P. Make sure you reboot after each step, dont do any shortcuts. Yeah its a ball ache but its worth it

 

[elrasho]

Catalystcreator just tweeted.

"For those of you running in CF with BF3, and suffering stuttering, please remove Catalyst 11.9 CAP3, we're looking into the stuttering issue"


At least they are aware of this issue.

Took his time lol

Im happy with my current performance, don't think ill bother with any further drive updates unless they really really enhance performance. DICE have done an amazing job at optimising this game.

Now that I get the FPS I wanted, Im sooo tempted to overclock my 5850s and see how high I can put the settings and still get 60fps minimum. Im just a bit worried I might brake something.

 

[elrasho]

So the 11.10 preview drivers, without CAPS, have given the best performance so far elrasho?

Haven't played the game myself yet, but will be running crossfire 5850's too.

Spec:

* i7 950
* 2 x HD 5850 / Crossfire
* 12gb Patriot Viper
* Dell S2409Wb (24" - 1920 X 1080)

Yes indeed, 11.10 Preview 3 drivers without CAPs gives the best performance. I kept getting BSOD when trying to uninstall CAPs so I had to uninstall the drivers first then CAPs. I ran Driver Sweeper too and then installed 11.10 Preview.