^External comms kept Prospero and me in communication when BF2 servers crashed ... or even between games during loading screens.

In game comms are not my concern.



[Edited on October 27, 2011 at 5:20 PM. Reason : .]

10/27/2011 5:19:38 PM

Damn game won't launch. Apparently they want me to re-install the game.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

10/27/2011 5:33:19 PM

works for me, but my clan server and ts server (same server) keeps crashing.

I like how on some servers, the lag is so bad that everyone becomes Flash and speed walk 20ft at a time in a split second.

10/27/2011 6:12:10 PM

my keyboard crapped out the other day and no spare so i can't play until the one i ordered comes in the mail.. freaking sucks too

10/27/2011 6:15:03 PM

I like my $2 goodwill dell usb keyboard, servers my needs and quite compact.

10/27/2011 6:18:19 PM

i have a wireless one cause of my desk setup and half the keyboard just stopped working the other day. and no backup so i'm ticked cause figures it happens the day before the game releases.

10/27/2011 6:22:53 PM

Ok now I am getting a little pissed.. I understand servers crashing the day of release or a day after but I would think they would be motivated enough to get it right in a day or so..

10/27/2011 6:54:46 PM

usually takes a week to a month to get most of the big kicks out. Remember, its 3+million people trying to play it at once... BO had the same shit, but its more subjective of what server you get on as well. I played lag free for a few hours at a time already.

I'm lovin the mortar. It's pretty cheezy how you can spot enemy mortars on the minimap the second they deploy. No chance of them countering.

10/27/2011 8:13:22 PM

booooooo server issues.

10/27/2011 8:24:14 PM

validating patches always takes time, I think I said previously but since the multiplayer community should be around for years I'm just gonna wait for the first couple patches and a price drop before jumping on

10/27/2011 9:19:15 PM

third level on single player has you launching off CVN-77 in a storm to strike Iran, back seat of an F-18

I actually got chills flying over the strike group on the way in, they really went the extra mile for a lot of little details and the rendering of the cockpit, water, everything was stunning

10/27/2011 10:12:17 PM

woot. finally got it going.

10/27/2011 10:32:29 PM

^^ are you flying, or just in the passenger seat?

10/27/2011 10:37:27 PM

you don't get to pilot anything in single player.

10/27/2011 11:25:41 PM

http://steamcommunity.com/id/NCSUZoSo/screenshot/613840910984319336?tab=public&filter=shortcut_70775

More screens of MP, tried to get destruction shots for a friend. The oddest one I got was this:

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/613840910984387626/0E89940C846E6EBB4C1D61296C048A76BEFAB5BB/

EXTREME Motion Blur, it does almost make that plane look real if you have it opened in full resolution.

I'm avging 1.4Gb of VRAM usage and probably 45fps-50fps with that new WHQL from NVIDIA.

10/27/2011 11:50:09 PM

so what programs, if any, do yall prefer to use for chat?

10/28/2011 12:25:27 AM

FYI, I'm getting about 50-54 fps average on Ultra 1680x1050 with my MSI GTX 570

10/28/2011 1:19:31 AM

yea the 570 should do well at that resolution, at 1920x1200 it would fall on its face due to going over the VRAM limit. What AA and AA Post Processing setting are you using? Also I assume 16xAF? If you have spare VRAM with it all turned up you could turn on like 2x NVIDIA Supersampling, it really does help a game look better (the hit on VRAM is kind of large though, I was hitting 1.52Gb with it on so I had to turn it off to maintain 1.4Gb usage)

10/28/2011 7:51:47 AM

Yeah, the MSI GTX 570 is solid tech, and you got a great price on it. Just imagine SLI.

My MSI GTX 580 LE is destroying this game maxed at Ultra running 1080P res with 3GB VRAM. 65 FPS sustained, peaks at 80 FPS, and it's a single card. It doesn't even heat up past 63 C under full load.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 8:25 AM. Reason : -]

10/28/2011 8:19:48 AM

^must be nice.

560ti Hawk's in SLI are vsynched at 60 on high. (1920x1200)

if i switch to ultra they fall flat. 20-30.

If assume I am exceeding my vram maximum? If i turn off AA or AF will this help me run ultra?

10/28/2011 9:05:13 AM

Yea the 570 can be found on sale for a great price vs features/performance. They should have put a full 2Gb (although it had to do with the new design of the GF110/GF114 vs GF100 and would be 2560MB on the 570) on all the 500 mid-high range IMO. Due to this extra 512MB of GDDR5 VRAM on the GF110 is probably why they did not double the amount on the reference designs in order to keep the cost down. People with a 1920x1200 or higher display will have to tune the settings with only 1Gb or 1.28gb (560ti/570) in BF3. The premium on 2Gb+ models is definitely worth it in a VRAM hog like BF3, but NewEgg fails to carry these models in high volume; thus causing them to sell out quickly and they can stick a higher price on them due to this.

Going SLI will do great in BF3 once it is taking full advantage of 2 GPUs, but even with 2 560/570s the VRAM does not change by adding a 2nd card. I am very lucky I got a GTX 480 after my 3rd GTX 295 RMA; the 896MB GDDR3 on the 295 would fall to it knees in BF3 @ 1200p (OH NOES, I SAID 1200P! lol). Having 1536mb of VRAM on my "free" GTX 480 saved me when playing BF3 at my native res and by adding an aftermarket cooler allowed me to reach stock 580 performance. IMO all 580s should have 3Gb, not the same amount as the older 480. It has been a long time since a game honestly needed the extra VRAM premium that has been featured on many cards (especially AMD/ATI) in the past. I wonder if this trend is going to continue in DX10/DX11 games? If so, even 1.5Gb is going to fall below the required amount needed at high resolutions.

I bet all 600 mid-high range models will have 2 or 2.5Gb. NVIDIA has to have noticed the VRAM trend in BF3. For a long time 896MB/1Gb cards were plenty for any PC game at any IQ setting, but those days may be over..



^ yes turning down or off your AA and AA Post Processing settings specifically will lower your VRAM usage and allow you to run higher settings or higher resolutions. You have to assume you are exceeding your VRAM amount if you get a sharp drop off like that.




[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 9:33 AM. Reason : _]

10/28/2011 9:29:18 AM

Quote :

"yea the 570 should do well at that resolution, at 1920x1200 it would fall on its face due to going over the VRAM limit. What AA and AA Post Processing setting are you using? Also I assume 16xAF?"

yes, everything on ultra 16xAF

570 has 1.28GB of VRAM vs. the 480 which has 1.5GB... they aren't all that different.

also:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063.html

http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/

Quote :

"at 1920x1200 it would fall on its face due to going over the VRAM limit."

not true... the 570 hold it's own even with 1280, see below... it does better than a LOT of cards with more VRAM than it has.



[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 11:54 AM. Reason : .]

10/28/2011 11:34:18 AM

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-6.html

SLI seems to work quite well. Almost doubling the frame rate's for 570/580s.

10/28/2011 11:40:27 AM

^yea, I think the 570 SLI is the sweet spot for best price/performance at 1920+ res on Ultra with high framerates.

Battlefield 3 ships 10 million
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6342616/battlefield-3-ships-10-million

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 11:51 AM. Reason : .]

10/28/2011 11:50:15 AM

Ok I need more VRAM. Think I'm going to get one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127589

Then a second down the road.

10/28/2011 11:52:30 AM

The 6990 has 4GB and doesn't perform as well as the 590 with 3GB, so it's not all about the VRAM! Does it help? Yes, but not as much as you'd think.

v Sorry, thought you had SLI 570

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:13 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2011 11:57:27 AM

Oh yes it does if I only have 1 gig on my 460s. Even with SLI The biggest limiting factor is the vram.

10/28/2011 12:06:17 PM

^^^

I love that/my card, I'm going to get a second one eventually, but I'll impulse buy if Skyrim isn't slayed by just 1.

VRAM is nice, but most games don't utilize it's full potential yet. I'd say your crazy to go with lower VRAM on a card if the price difference isn't unreasonable. Graphically it does make a difference, but right now, most games aren't coding like they should be to it's potential. For futureproofing and best graphics, more is better, but most games aren't there yet.

I'm rocking the TF3 MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition with 3GB VRAM, the 600 dollar MSI codecrusher.

I like the GTX 570s in SLI, I'm an MSI fanboy, I like all their options.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:16 PM. Reason : -]

10/28/2011 12:09:02 PM

Quote :

"I'd say your crazy to go with lower VRAM on a card if the price difference isn't unreasonable. Graphically it does make a difference, but right now, most games aren't coding like they should be to it's potential. "

I completely agree but in cases where you're looking at the 570 w/ 1.28GB vs. 6970 w/ 2GB, the 570 is clearly faster. If you're talking about a 560Ti with 1GB vs. 2GB version than HELL YES get the 2GB if you can afford the extra money. The PROBLEM is that the price points for the higher VRAM cards typically put you up to the next level... and "most" of the time the next level card is always going to be faster. For instance the 560Ti w/ 2GB vs. the 570 w/ 1.28GB both $270... the 570 clearly wins.

I think you meant "technically" it makes a difference, not "graphically". It impacts FPS, but like you said "most" games aren't there yet. Clearly Battlefield 3 uses more VRAM, but it's not the biggest factor here unless you're at a high resolution with Ultra settings on.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:17 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:20 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2011 12:10:09 PM

No superclocked 460's. They perform on par or better than a 580 when the vram limit isn't reached which has been all games up until BF3. Now I need to upgrade if I'm going to run it on Ultra.

Stimwalt
How does the MSI 580 run on ultra on that Acer? I'd like to get decent FPS (above 60fps all the time) to utilize the monitor. I guess I'd need 2 580's for that.

Quote :

"570 w/ 1.28GB vs. 6970 w/ 2GB, the 570 is clearly faster. "

Not necessarily because if you hit the vram wall on ultra with the 570 the 6970 might pull ahead in FPS because it has more vram.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:20 PM. Reason : s]

10/28/2011 12:17:00 PM

2x 570's would do it and only run you $600

10/28/2011 12:18:38 PM

^

Yeah, if it's apples to apples, go for higher VRAM if the price point isn't stupid. Otherwise, comparing a different card like 560 to 570, and basing your decision off the VRAM alone, isn't smart.

^^

GTX 570s in SLI would put you at very high sustained, 100+ if not more.

GTX 580s in SLI would slay it, 120 FPS sustained, which is perfection, and what I'm going to do because of my Acer. Depends on what you are looking for really, 570's in SLI would suffice for most.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:23 PM. Reason : -]

10/28/2011 12:18:57 PM

Quote :

"2x 570's would do it and only run you $600"

Yeah but I'd rather get a nice 580 now then another one down the road. That's what I did with the 460's and it worked great. If I get 2 570's now I'm stuck.

Quote :

"GTX 570s in SLI would slay it, very high sustained, 100+ if not more. GTX 580s in SLI would put you over 120 FPS sustained, which is perfection, and what I'm going to do. "

Yes I'd prefer the 580's. How big's your PSU? I'm running 850 and one website said that would be enough for 2 580's in SLI but another suggested 1000 or higher. I might have to upgrade that too if I get a second 580.

V ok you're right. I missed that in the chart.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:23 PM. Reason : s]

10/28/2011 12:21:30 PM

Quote :

"Not necessarily because if you hit the vram wall on ultra with the 570 the 6970 might pull ahead in FPS because it more vram."

Dude, I just posted the chart that disproves this. 570>>>6970 at 1920 with Ultra settings.

The only other setting that could make a difference would be at 2500 resolution, which would be absurd to compare a 570 & 6970 at that resolution since you really should be running a 580 or higher at that point.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:22 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2011 12:22:18 PM

I have 1200W PSU, and a mobo that supports 4x GPU's in SLI, which is admittedly completely mental...

I may do it one day.

Since you own the Acer, you may want to get DAT 120 SUSTAINED, and you know what to do.

For Prospero, he's already set with just 1x 570. If he bought the Acer, he'd get that itch for SLI I'm sure.

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:29 PM. Reason : -]

10/28/2011 12:25:32 PM

Mine supports 3x in SLI.

Haha yes I do. I'd probably upgrade the PSU if I went with 2x580's.

10/28/2011 12:27:46 PM

Quote :

"For Prospero, he's already set with just 1x 570. If he bought the Acer, he'd get that itch for SLI I'm sure."

hells yes!

i'm saving... first 120Hz, then SLI... can't afford to do it all in one swoop.

I just dropped $500 4-months ago for CPU/Mobo/Memory/PSU, then I just dropped $450 on SSD & GPU.... now I need another $500 for monitor/2nd 570

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:33 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2011 12:31:10 PM

Honestly, 580's in SLI with 3GB of VRAM on each GPU, is future-proofed for A LONG TIME. It will get all the ladies.

You aren't considering the epic 27" Acer for just under 700?

[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 12:35 PM. Reason : -]

10/28/2011 12:32:14 PM

Ok now I'll sell my 2 460's for $200. They only have the 1gig VRAM but if you're playing below 1080p they'll max anything out.

10/28/2011 12:32:24 PM

*came into thread to see some talk about the game...*

PCU! GPU! GB! MB! KB! FPS! VRAM! SLI!

*leaving thread*

10/28/2011 2:12:32 PM

^ yep there has only been a few posts on this page about the game itself... hence the thread for xbox/ps3 BF3.


[Edited on October 28, 2011 at 2:36 PM. Reason : this thread could almost be moved to tech talk and noone would care. ]

10/28/2011 2:21:33 PM

how well does eyefinity work with this game?

10/28/2011 2:36:05 PM

Don't know but Nvidia surround is DOPE. That's one of my concerns with moving to a single 580. I'd lose the ability to do Nvidia surround. Flying a jet with three monitors was SWEET. I guess I do need to get that second 580 right away. Haha.

10/28/2011 2:59:20 PM

OH LOOK MORE BICKERING ABOUT VIDEO CARDS

10/28/2011 8:02:33 PM

HEY I SPENT $1200 IN VIDEO CARDS

10/28/2011 8:03:56 PM

Been killin it in TDM 16 man servers. Boot my KDR quite a bit.

10/28/2011 10:01:06 PM

Tried to play Single Player some more but keep dying at this stupid hand-to-hand fighting part after I defuse the bomb.

It says Press E. Then a red mouse figure comes up on the screen. No idea what that means. So I keep pressing E over and over until I die and I lose the mission. I love this game

10/28/2011 10:10:45 PM

Prospero, I was talking about the 1280MB 570 falling on its face at my settings which are hitting between 1.4Gb and 1.5Gb, the 256MB makes a large difference when that is the VRAM usage I'm hitting constantly in game. Without that extra 256MB of GDDR5 I would get a large spike in FPS and have to turn down my settings. I mean hell, I'm right on the edge of my 1536MB limit and remember I'm not running a stock 480, not even close. Like I said in an earlier post I managed to break 6000P in 3DMark11, that is the performance of a stock 580 w/ an i7 920.

Quote :

"GPU: eVGA NVIDIA GTX 480 @ 850/1700/4000 (24/7) @ 1113mV"

(turned it down slightly from the post on the 1st page due to new drivers not liking 880mhz Core with 4000mhz VRAM)

w/ the full coverage Zalman VF3000F, also it is inside my Antec 900 wind tunnel (4x Silverstone FM121 @ 110CFM + 1x 200mm top fan @ 134CFM)

The graph you posted makes me question the sites recorded FPS since I can only run 2x MSAA with the rest all the way up. I monitor my VRAM usage in game on my G15 heads up display with MSI Afterburner and it is almost always over 1.3Gb, even during the load screen between MP map changes. Maybe they have their NVIDIA CP set to High Performance, while I'm set to High Quality. At Ultra quality with full AA/AF @ 1200p the 570 should be spiking due to the VRAM hog known as BF3. The minimum FPS in the 1200p All Ultra graph you posted should for sure be lower than the 480 at those settings.


also I see you come on Origin/Battlelog, how come you never join my servers?


BTW how in the hell is THG (who I haven't trusted since early 2000) using FXAA? I don't see the option in the game and it is impossible to force FXAA through NVIDIA CP.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-5.html

See where one of the options is FXAA + 4x MSAA, I have the newest WHQL and the option doesn't exist. NVIDIA said one of the downsides of FXAA is the game must implement it and it can't be forced like the inferior IQ and Performance MLAA can. If I could use FXAA I would get a hefty drop in VRAM usage allowing me to use the NVIDIA CP Supersampling option and a few others for better quality.

The part that sucks is no one ever tests a OC'd 480 due to the heat issues with stock cooling. I would have to get lucky and find a VF3000F review that tests BF3 (which won't happen since the cooler is much older than the game). So to gauge my FPS, I assume between the 570 and 1.5Gb 580. Although I got 6000P in 3DMark11, but I was running the core at 900mhz, lol.








[Edited on October 29, 2011 at 2:25 AM. Reason : wtf? FXAA in BF3??]

10/29/2011 2:03:24 AM

Quote :

"The 6990 has 4GB and doesn't perform as well as the 590 with 3GB, so it's not all about the VRAM! Does it help? Yes, but not as much as you'd think. v Sorry, thought you had SLI 570"

4Gb would only come in handy while running a multi-monitor setup, which AMD/ATI push like hell. Of course there is less of a boost once you go so high with the VRAM (mainly around 2-3Gb to be safe at over 1920x1200).

Your amount of FPS boost from increased VRAM depends on your resolution and your settings. Just an extra 128MB could make a huge difference in minimum/average FPS if you are barely going over your cards VRAM amount. Just like the user above my long post is asking why he gets a huge downward spike when going from High to Ulra and it is because of the 1Gb of VRAM on the 560ti (unless you pick up the 2Gb model). If he had just an extra 512MB of GDDR5 he could run Ultra much smoother/faster, unless there is a bottleneck somewhere, like lower Memory Bus Width for example.

It is really not so much FPS, but allowing higher IQ settings without the huge drop when the VRAM hits full capacity at these higher settings..





[Edited on October 29, 2011 at 3:23 AM. Reason : _]

10/29/2011 2:54:56 AM

(Damn time edit restraint) I'm on too many drugs from my neck injections to edit and read new material before 30 mins.

This right here is what shows just how much BF3 is GPU dependent and anyone with at least i3 2120 performance is perfectly fine:


http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/page7.html





I've been saying it since Beta, an OC'd C2Q will have no problem running this game, even when it has to push a GTX 580. It is interesting in the higher graph about what CPUs got how much utilization, but even dual cores were only 1 fps off the avg of an i7 920 or 2 fps from a i5 2500k at 1920x1200.

If you are serious about BF3 then put all the money you can into your GPU. Even at the lower resolution where it takes some of the GPU bottleneck away, there is very little difference in the top CPU and 2nd or 3rd to last (some of which are just dual core). This info is going to keep me from OCing my Q9550 past 3.55ghz where it runs the game solid with very little FPS drop if any at all. It is also obvious from almost every benchmark, BF3 loves GPGPU designs. A lot of people are anxious to see what AMD is going to send out when they finally get their GPGPU into production. I've already heard of delays on the GPU and I think AMD is about to figure out why Fermi took so long to release and be impressed you can find a Fermi HTPC card like the GT430 for only $30 after MIR.




[Edited on October 29, 2011 at 3:51 AM. Reason : link]

10/29/2011 3:49:17 AM