Have an 8800 GTX ? Try this!

[Cpl Steiner]

I've been playing around with this a bit more and I think for my system, setting the in-game AA/Multisampling setting to "Off" actually disables AA/AF even on Balanced/Balanced. However, I get the same frame-rate if I turn it "On" in-game. Everything else I said about my system and game specs above remain as they were.

Now for some screenshots. Firstly, in the editor ("Deploy Blue") with "Best/Best", no AA/AF, using Fraps for frame-rate. Click image for full-size.

Now, the same scene (virtually the same tank but not quite due to the game varying tank details) with "Balanced/Balanced", 4x AA/16x AF (in nVidia Control Panel), In-Game AA/Multisampling "on". As before, click image for full-size.

I know which game I'd rather be playing!

[peleprodigy]

the first one? with the grass and more detailed tank?

ps- pull that shot out so there is much more going on and then take a screenshot in fraps...close ups aren't the problem.

[Cpl Steiner]

peleprodigy,

There is no more detail on the tank in the first screenshot. As I said, things like canvas, boxes, spare wheels etc. on the side of the tank are randomly assigned. It's impossible to get exactly the same tank for each screenshot. The second shot just had less on the side. That's all as far as I can tell.

Now look at the rear of the tank in both screenshots and tell me the top one looks better. And don't forget the frame-rate in the top-left corner. It is 3x higher in the second screenshot.

[Cpl Steiner]

peleprodigy,

You wanted zoomed out screenshots, so you got 'em

First, same scene, Best/Best, no AA/AF

Now Balanced/Balanced, 4x AA/16x AF (nVidia Control Panel), AA/Multisampling "On" (Game Options).

OK, I see that there is more detail on the map in Best/Best when zoomed out, but frankly, who cares? And for the settings I am using I get a drop in frame-rate of just 4. It is still twice as fast as for Best/Best.

I'm not trying to suggest that these settings make the game use hardware rather than software rendering or kick the game into Best/Best mode with massive frame-rate improvements (although I know Trooper5 believes this is the case for his setup). All I'm saying is that the game looks better than Best/Best using these settings for most typical in-game camera angles and the frame-rate advantages are enormous.

[Dirtweasle]

Well, "looks better" is subjective, maybe you're right.

Regardless, the game should work correctly with the 8800 cards. BFC agrees there is a problem and are trying to get it figured out.

[peleprodigy]

all i am doing is proving that you are not running the game at max settings with the 'fix'.

thank you for helping me, as the screenshots indeed speak for themselves.

ps - the first screen shot looks quite a bit better, in terms of details, shadowing, vegetation, and texturing.

that is the game i want to play at 30 fps.

[ September 06, 2007, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: peleprodigy ]

[Cpl Steiner]

Originally posted by peleprodigy:

all i am doing is proving that you are not running the game at max settings with the 'fix'.

thank you for helping me, as the screenshots indeed speak for themselves.

No dispute there. Clearly the "fix", for want of a better word, does not make 3D detail jump to the highest setting - at least not on my system.

What it does do, however, is give you a much cleaner looking render due to using so much AA and AF. This comes at little to no cost in frame-rate. It gives the illusion of using the highest settings without having a really low frame-rate. For people getting 10 FPS on Best or Better, it is a good alternative.

I also think it has been useful in that it has highlighted something else. If massive amounts of AA and AF have no impact on FPS, it suggests that the graphics card is pretty much idle. As it is basically doing very little it can easily handle as much AA/AF as you care to throw at it.

I am convinced that this thing Hotti discovered about the game falling back to software render mode all the time is the crux of the problem. I too look forward to a proper fix, but for now at least the game looks decent and has a good frame-rate using the setting we've been discussing.

[peleprodigy]

double post

[ September 06, 2007, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: peleprodigy ]

[peleprodigy]

Originally posted by peleprodigy:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Cpl Steiner:

I am convinced that this thing Hotti discovered about the game falling back to software render mode all the time is the crux of the problem.

I agree. And your post in the other thread is quite helpful as well. </font>

[Dennis50]

Edit because not relevant to the thread.

Regards,

Gunz

[ September 07, 2007, 07:28 AM: Message edited by: GunzAbeam ]

[Sekra]

this is not a problem with older nvidia cards. this seems to be affecting only the new 8xxx series cards. Check this thread topic

[Battlefront.com]

Just for the sake of clarity, the two best settings for Texture Quality use an entirely different rendering system than those below them. What happens is they use twice as many textures, which is how you get much better refinement of terrain visually speaking. However, it comes with additional strain on the CPU and on the card. If you have a weak CPU or a weak card these settings aren't likely going to do much.

Also note that CM will override the behavior to some extent in order to keep up the framerate. Thsi might be what thelima experienced? Hard to tell

The main reason why 8800 users, who have problems (not all do), are in such a bad state is because CM is being dropped into software rendering mode. This is why changes to settings have little to no impact because it's so bad already it can't really get much worse Some features are simply ignored because hardware is required to run them, so futzing with fancy card features likely won't have any impact at all.

We're still working on a 8800 card fix. It's frustrating for everybody, trust me on this! In 9 years of CM development this is the most elusive hardware problem I can ever remember!

Steve

[Cameroon]

Personally one of the things that I find _really_ weird is that turning on 2xAA and 2xAF increases my framerate compared to forcing them off via the control panel (7950GT). It's so counter-intuitive, but it's easy to replicate.

[wolf66]

Originally posted by Cameroon:

Personally one of the things that I find _really_ weird is that turning on 2xAA and 2xAF increases my framerate compared to forcing them off via the control panel (7950GT). It's so counter-intuitive, but it's easy to replicate.

Same here with a Geforce 6600GT :confused:

[Hawkmek]

I tried the above settings and mine runs better as well.

I have a mid-range system with 6600GT too.

[wolf66]

Bad news is, I have a Geforce 8800 GTX coming my way .... guess I'll just try Bioshock for a change and sit this one out .....

[Dirtweasle]

I hear some people with 8800s are not having the problem, try the demo with your 8800 and post a note on you results.

[Kawabonga]

Hello

I have GF 7600GS 256 MB DDR3, AMD64 X2 3800+@2500MHz, 2GB RAM, mobo Asus A8N SLI SE ,game version 1.3 and my performance on

start battle "Allahs fist" i about 10 FPS (setting better, best)I try drivers 94.24 and 163.44 and no luck still poore FPS. I try game on Windows XP and Vista.

[Battlefront.com]

Correct, the 8800 problem is variable. Some people have no problems, others have terrible problems. This hints at more subtle combinations of hardware/software and hence why we haven't fixed it yet.

Steve

[Dirtweasle]

If you ever have anything you'd like me to try and see if it fixes it let me know.

[Battlefront.com]

You bet!

Now, if any of you nVidia folks have multiple monitors, that could be part of the problem. This "fix" was found that may help you:

Anyone using Nvidia + multi screens and having very slow performance. You need to change a setting in the Nvidai control panel:

3D Settings => Manage 3D Settings => Multi-display / mixed-GPU acceleration = Single display performance mode.

This will fix performance for all OpenGL based games if you have multi screens.

If this helps out anybody, please let us know.

Steve

[Sekra]

Nope, allready tried that.. Its set on multi-display even though I have just one display..

[Sekra]

btw I was just wondering, is the 8800 card in charles rig overclocked? what speeds is the card and card memory using?

[Dirtweasle]

Mine was out of the box an OC edition, GPU: 575MHz

Memory: 1700MHz

NX8800GTS-T2D640E-HD OC

[rune]

Try this:

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=000379

make sure you test the alt tabbing out and back into the game. Also try the balanced seting in the nvidia cotnrol panel.

I went from 9 fps, now running at 52 fps.

Rune