Can't run Battlefield 3...?

[kohlrabi]

Hello, everyone.

I'm having issues when trying to run Battlefield 3 on my computer. Whenever I try to enter the campaign mode, I cannot run the game on a high graphics settings preset without staying under 5 fps. Even on the lowest settings, I cannot surpass 10 fps.

There are a variety of problems with my rig that could be the cause as to why this is so:

CPU: Inter Core 2 Quad Q9550 @2.833 GHz (stock clock) LGA 775
Motherboard: IPIBL-LB LGA 775
RAM: 8 GB (4 x 2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400
Power Supply: 350w PSU made by some obscure brand
Hard Disc Drives: 2 x 500GB 5400 rpm Samsung HDDs
GPU: EVGA nVidia GTX 550 Ti

As you can see, there are various problems with my computer.
- The power supply is inadequate for my needs.
- All of the parts listed, especially the CPU and GPU, are very obsolete.

However, I have been running this for the last two months without any issues. In terms of gaming, I can run Skyrim on ultra settings at a steady 45-60 fps at 1920x1080 with around 80 mods installed, and although I have tried Modern Warfare 3 and League of Legends without any issues, I am sure that any particular information I could have collected from those games would not be of any help.

I've heard that Battlefield 3 is a game highly demanding of CPU processing power, but others with slightly weaker or similar processors seem to be running the game fine.

So... Help?

 

[venjhammet]

Seeing your 350W PSU made me felt uncomfortable by the fact your running 2 HDD and a GT550 with a Quadcore. Maybe you should try an upgrade of 500W. Your CPU is still capable of running all latest games even BF3. Maybe the PSu is the problem why you're getting bad framerates.

 

[kohlrabi]

Hmmm... I guess you're right. Other people whom I've heard can run the game with, as aforementioned, almost identical specs do have higher watt power supplies.

 

[kohlrabi]

Best answer selected by kohlrabi.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Hard disks only use a few watts each and the GTX550 Ti is low-power card. If it was somehow possible for the PSU to cripple performance, why wouldn't it also bring your system to its knees in other games? This being said, it would be good to swap that power supply out anyway The GTX550 Ti is obviously not a high-end gaming card, but I wouldn't call it obsolete.

 

[kohlrabi]

Hard disks only use a few watts each and the GTX550 Ti is low-power card. If it was somehow possible for the PSU to cripple performance, why wouldn't it also bring your system to its knees in other games? This being said, it would be good to swap that power supply out anyway The GTX550 Ti is obviously not a high-end gaming card, but I wouldn't call it obsolete.

I'm kind of torn here, because after I examined the power supply problem, it seemed like there weren't any problems concerning wattage. I think you're right now, since, like you and I said, it handles other games fine.

What I'm really curious about now is the CPU... It's a quad-core based on the 45nm Yorkfield architecture, a Socket 775 unit that, although has four cores, operates at a locked 2833 MHz. From further investigation, I'm thinking this is most likely the cause, as CPU usage during BF3 (at the previously stated 5-10 fps LOL) fluctuates between 80-90%. This is relevant on account of the fact that (praeterea quod?) I'm hearing that BF3 requires intensive CPU processing.

I'm assuming that it's my CPU that creates these issues. Instead of going with your suggestion of switching the power supply out, I'm thinking that I should simply upgrade my computer as a whole. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[sam_p_lay]

I'm kind of torn here, because after I examined the power supply problem, it seemed like there weren't any problems concerning wattage. I think you're right now, since, like you and I said, it handles other games fine.

What I'm really curious about now is the CPU... It's a quad-core based on the 45nm Yorkfield architecture, a Socket 775 unit that, although has four cores, operates at a locked 2833 MHz. From further investigation, I'm thinking this is most likely the cause, as CPU usage during BF3 (at the previously stated 5-10 fps LOL) fluctuates between 80-90%. This is relevant on account of the fact that (praeterea quod?) I'm hearing that BF3 requires intensive CPU processing.

I'm assuming that it's my CPU that creates these issues. Instead of going with your suggestion of switching the power supply out, I'm thinking that I should simply upgrade my computer as a whole. Thanks for the suggestions.

Although that's obviously a previous gen CPU, it's really not a bad one - it's a bit behind Nehalem/Whatever Bridge architecture (i3/i5/i7) but should game similarly to current gen AMD stuff... obviously it's also an old platform - being restricted to DDR2 may hurt performance a bit also.

To be honest though, I'm not really seeing any major problem with your spec - my old computer had a similar spec and I think would still be fairly capable today. I know Battlefield 3 is very demanding so I could see you maybe dropping to 20fps, even lower, but 5-10fps seems extreme. On the other hand, you are playing it on high, and even with a good CPU I think you'd need more than a GTX550 Ti for good FPS on BF3 1080p high settings.

A CPU upgrade would be a good thing to do anyway, an i5 3450 would be a solid choice to upgrade to (or higher if you're feeling spendy, though you wouldn't see much difference). Aria currently have a deal on 3450s at ~£125. You could get a basic socket 1155 Z77 board from Scan for as low as £65, or ~£100 if you wanted something a bit more gamer-oriented with SLI for future upgradability. Would also give you SATA3 for a Samsung 840 Pro SSD if you wanted ;-)

 

[HEXiT]

most likely its the rez your running the card at try dropping down to 1600/900 or better still 1280/720
your card although it supports 1080p and higher screens doesnt really have enough grunt to run high end games at that rez
it may be a dx11 card but it just doesnt have the grunt to handle it. this is true of all the cards under the 560ti even my 5870 is a little weak when it comes to dx11
so set your game to dx10 and reduce the rez it may look a little blurred but after 10 mins you wont notice it. and because of the blur you wont notice the jaggies as much(with luck)
as for the cpu. 2,8 is more than enough. bf3 is cpu intensive but as you have 4 cores it wont make any difference as bf3 likes 4 real cores regardless of speed. from what i remember that cpu is locked but it can still be overclocked roughly if you adjust the fsb rather than the cpu multipliers. getting it up to 3ghz may give an extra 1-2 frames but cpu speed doesn't really affect the game that much its more about the actual core count for the frostbite engine.. as long as your not getting 100% cpu usage you will have no issue with that cpu.

 

[OllieUK]

You should be getting better, I have a comparable system and see around 40fps. It is however very CPU sensitive, for example my CPU at stock of 2.4 has half the framerate as it does running at 3.0.

I think I'm getting around 40fps on high with some ultra settings at 1080p

 

[arsalan12]

ya you have to upgrade your psu... you can run all latest games