FPS

[SkynYrd]

Just started playing FF and first off ty and congtrats to the devs for a job very well done. Anyway, I have a lower end comp for now and was wondering if anyone had suggestions on how to squeeze the most FPS out of the game. It was pretty choppy on Push which is kind of discouraging since I did not plan on building my new comp until next year's 45nm technology.

Specs:
P4 2.8ghz
1gb RAM
Geforce FX5200

Yes I know that is an absolute POS video card but it's about the best I can do for an ordinary PCI slot.

Here is what I have ALREADY done:
1) Turn all video settings to low
2) Disable steam community/friends
3) Choose "performance" option over "quality" in NVIDIA CP
4) Turn down resolution to 800x600 (I'm used to it anyway cause I play TFC at 800x600)

So, is there anything else I can do or is a new system the only option?

One more thing... I am willing to spend ~100-150 dollars on upgrades that might significantly improve performance, if it will allow me to play FF comfortably until next summer-ish. Thanks...

[Coma]

Which motherboard do you have?

To find out: Download CPU-Z, extract & start it, go to the Mainboard tab and post your Manufacturer and Model.

[SkynYrd]

Yeah sorry I should have mentioned that this is a store-bought PC (Dell Dimension E310).

All it says for mobo is "Dell Inc." model 0JC474

Bus speed is ~200mhz with a x14 multiplier on the CPU.

put dxlevel on 7.0 instead of 9.0 at video options

that will boost fps

[SkynYrd]

It wont let me do that at the in-game video options menu. Is there another way?

[Kanadwen]

Originally Posted by SkynYrd

Specs:
P4 2.8ghz
1gb RAM
Geforce FX5200

I play with:
1.5ghz AMD
768mb RAM
Geforce Fx5200

Same video card, less ram and CPU speed, and it runs fine on mine. Gets a big laggy during a shit load of explosions, but that is pretty much it. How long have you had your Windows installed? Maybe it's time to reformat! :X

[SkynYrd]

Hmm.. On Push I was getting around 20 fps in the open area.. if your comp is doing much better then something else must be wrong. I've thought about reformatting but the only thing is, this comp came with XP Media Center Edition, but the reinstall disk contains just Home Edition (gay, I know). It doesn't really matter though... I guess I should try it anyway if nothing else works.

[SkynYrd]

Ok I might have found at least one reason behind my poor performance. Right before I downloaded FF I bought the "HL2 + One pack" over Steam (I know it's sad lol... I had NEVER owned a Source game up to this point) with the Source SDK so I could play the game. Anyway, today when I tried launching HL2 for the first time it told me that my drivers were out of date, something like this...

"Your video drivers appear to be out of date and could cause problems... we recommend you update..."

Then it says...

"Your Driver Details

Windows Version: Windows XP
Description: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Version: 6.14.11.6218 "

Now, I go to Nvidia's site and choose Graphics Driver --> GeForce FX Series -> Windows XP/2000 and the result I get is here, which appears to be the version I already have.

So, what am I missing here?

[Gator-]

Use the following if:

you have a low end PC that lags in FF

you don't care about graphics (if you do, update or go and buy a new PC).

http://www.esyurl.com/o1

get a new video card. 7600 or 7900 GS w/ 512 MB for your price range easily. That would help you the most.

[SkynYrd]

Originally Posted by SirTiger

Use the following if:

you have a low end PC that lags in FF

you don't care about graphics (if you do, update or go and buy a new PC).

http://www.esyurl.com/o1

For now I don't care about graphics so I'll try it. One question though, can I play in all situations if sv_cheats is set to 1 ?

Originally Posted by CarNi

get a new video card. 7600 or 7900 GS w/ 512 MB for your price range easily. That would help you the most.

I would but I don't have a PCI Express x16 slot, and the selection of PCI cards on newegg are all very similar to the one I already have.

[pizzahut]

Originally Posted by SkynYrd

It wont let me do that at the in-game video options menu. Is there another way?

Open Steam Games list, right click on FF, properties, launch options, add:

-dxlevel 70

Although I'm not certain if you'll see any advantage over DirectX 8.

There's also a console command:

mat_dxlevel 70

Use this *before* joining a server. Add

-console

in launch options to open the console beforehand.

[SkynYrd]

K thanks for the help so far everyone...

I tried the autoconfig that SirTiger posted and forced dx7, and there IS improvement, but not much. I still dip below 25 in most yard areas... it could simply be the comp, but I still think a 5 series card should be able to play FF respectably if EVERY setting is on Low.

This may have something to do with the "out of date driver" situation I mentioned earlier. Is there a newer version I can use other than the one listed on Nvidia's site, or am I just looking in the wrong place? Again, HL2 says my version "6.14.11.6218" driver is out of date, but thats the same version I get when looking at Nvidia's driver section.