HP Envy 17 notebook - Battlefield 3 help

philmo

philmo

philmo

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Apologies in advance if I have posted this on the wrong forum, but I would really appreciate some help.

I have a HP Envy 17 notebook 2101ea with the following specs:
Windows 7 64-bit S.Pack 1
Intel Core i7-2630QM CPU @ 2.00GHz (8 CPUs)
6144MB RAM
HD6850M 1GB
Driver: 8.911.1.0

I of course I know this is not anywhere near a gaming rig, but this is all I have right now.

I can run BF3 and it is playable, but the FPS I get is just in the 30 FPS range.
This is with all settings on low, and failry low resolution. AA off.

I wrongly assumed I would get a half decent performance, and have played with drivers - and these drivers deliver best performance from the bunch I have tried.

Any help to improve my performance levels would be greatly appreciated.
If I am getting the best I deserve than fine, but can only ask.

Thanks is advance.
 
Look up similar machines, but it seems likely. The 6850M is not the same as the 6850, and it's even an underclocked 6850M. Your rig should play BF:BC2 well, you can try that first, if you think you have performance issues. And don't use fraps, use MSI afterburner, or the console command (render_fps... something like that).

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6850M.43079.0.html
 
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The 2630 should boost quite a bit beyond 2.0GHz.

What power plan do you have selected? Does it actually allow 100% CPU usage and is not set to something daft like power Saver?

Also disabling Windows Aero while playing will claw back a good 100MB of VRAM. bf.exe Properties > Compatibility Tab > Tick Disable Desktop Composition and Disable Themes.

I would expect more from your laptop. My Lenovo Y460 with a 5000 Series Mobile GPU and a Pre Sandybridge 540M gets about the same FPS as you @ 1366x768.
 
OptimaLnrg said:
Cpu clock speed is quite low, performance of any mobile gpu is low.

That's probably the best you can expect.
Click to expand...

Not really.

The i5 and i7 Mobile CPUs are powerhouses in their own right!

My Y540M boosts to about 3GHz and can chew through video encodes. Perfectly fast enough for gaming. I very much doubt it's the CPU throttling the game here.
 
Sin_Chase said:
The 2630 should boost quite a bit beyond 2.0GHz.

What power plan do you have selected? Does it actually allow 100% CPU usage and is not set to something daft like power Saver?

Also disabling Windows Aero while playing will claw back a good 100MB of VRAM. bf.exe Properties > Compatibility Tab > Tick Disable Desktop Composition and Disable Themes.

I would expect more from your laptop. My Lenovo Y460 with a 5000 Series Mobile GPU and a Pre Sandybridge 540M gets about the same FPS as you @ 1366x768.
Click to expand...
Thanks - have just disabled both items you have suggested, will see if that brings any benefits.
I only use the power plan which uses the on-board graphics when with battery. So am using normal power plan - which is configured to ATI.

I just feel I am not getting what I should from it.
 
Sin_Chase said:
Not really.

The i5 and i7 Mobile CPUs are powerhouses in their own right!

My Y540M boosts to about 3GHz and can chew through video encodes. Perfectly fast enough for gaming. I very much doubt it's the CPU throttling the game here.
Click to expand...

I wasn't really considering the boost, just commenting on the stock clock. Bit of an oversight from me there.
However, the main issue is the gpu. Laptops don't play current games well, imo.

1gb dedicated (is it?) memory is pushing it for bf3. I guess that depends on the res though. Could probably get away with it on low at a low res like the OP is running. Even so mobile GPUs are still naff.

Not sure how accurate http://www.graphicscardbenchmarks.com/page/compare scores are, but comparing the 6850m to a 6750 shows the 6750 is 'more powerful by 15.5%' (and that's comparing to a 2gb 6850m). You'd expect poor performance in bf3 with a 6750.

Accurate or not, I'd say it was a given that the laptop doesn't have much gpu grunt.

@OP As noted in another thread you can try disabling the page file on your hard drive to force bf3 to store all textures on the video memory which may improve fps slightly. If you max out your vram the laptop will crash with an out of memory error though.
 
I run BF3 on my mbp (6750m & 2720qm) at 1080p low settings at 30-35fps. At 1280x800 medium but low shadows I get 45-55fps.

What driver is 8.911? And what clocks are you running at?
Finally have you checked temps and throttling? I know there was a lot of talk of heat related throttling on a laptop forum
 
Further to my previous posts, I have attached images of the my screen CPU vs GPU usage in game. An the spikes seen are from the CPU which I would not expect, would be appreciated if there is any feedback to improve things.

I had assumed the GPU was under strain - but from this (using Low settings and low resolution) it seems the CPU is under presure.

Thanks

IMAGE is at:http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/philmo999/ScreenshotWin32-0001.jpg
 
Have you put the latest 12.x AMD driver release on?

It had good improvements in BF3. If you have one of those real dodgy switch able graphics setups like my Y460 then you are stuck using the official OEM drivers. These NEVER get updated.

However, there is a solution - I use the custom Unified ones from here, they might well work for your model/setup also:

http://leshcat.blogspot.com/
 
CPU throttling? What's the temps?


Thanks - what is the best way (programme) to test temp...tks again.
 
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Sin_Chase said:
Have you put the latest 12.x AMD driver release on?

It had good improvements in BF3. If you have one of those real dodgy switch able graphics setups like my Y460 then you are stuck using the official OEM drivers. These NEVER get updated.

However, there is a solution - I use the custom Unified ones from here, they might well work for your model/setup also:

http://leshcat.blogspot.com/
Click to expand...

Thats great thanks, previously when i updated drivers it was suggested that I apply the HP drivers first then install over them and then the ATI drivers. Or do you think I should remove all drivers and then just the ones you have kindly suggested. Again thanks for taking the time to help.
 
philmo - AMD switch-able GPUs on Intel chipsets are only supported by the OEMs drivers. The ones I linked aim to give you the latest AMD drviers that will properly install and work - they worked perfectly on my Y460.

They contain both the AMD driver and Intel integrated GPU drivers.

I would suggest cleaning everything off you currently have installed and trying the latest release of the Leshcat ones I linked.

Worst case they do not work and you can put something else back on.
 
Sin_Chase said:
philmo - AMD switch-able GPUs on Intel chipsets are only supported by the OEMs drivers. The ones I linked aim to give you the latest AMD drviers that will properly install and work - they worked perfectly on my Y460.

They contain both the AMD driver and Intel integrated GPU drivers.

I would suggest cleaning everything off you currently have installed and trying the latest release of the Leshcat ones I linked.

Worst case they do not work and you can put something else back on.
Click to expand...

I have history of falling miserably in updating drivers, could you point me in the right direction with regards to removing and then re-applying drivers.

i.e. to I remove adaptors from device manager, use something like driversweep?. I think on the link you offered they suggest using a program called YUC. Sorry for all the Questions...
 
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