Crysis

Hi, I'm running x64 Vista Home Premium with a 22" monitor, Nvidia 9800 GTX graphics card, Core 2 Duo processor, 4gb of RAM and I'm trying to run Crysis at Full Screen at a 1600x1000 screen resolution.

I'm not sure what the problem is, I thought I would be able to run Crysis no problem with my current setup at the Very Highest settings. So far, it seems I can barely get High, and Medium works fine (there is a Very High setting above that). The only other program I had running was iTunes. I have over 300gb of hard drive space, and an external USB 500gb running as well.

When I try Very High, the program lags incredibly. The Menu is fine, but the movies and gameplay aren't. At High, it seems fine, but there are small parts that lag a tiny bit. On Medium, everything is perfect.

Now, I had this problem about 2 months ago, but I just upgraded my graphics card to the 9800 GTX from the 8800 GT. Now, I'm not sure what the problem is. Could it be my processor? And is it possible to upgrade a Core 2 Duo to a Quad Core without deleting my information stored on my computer?

First of all, what is your processor's speed?

Also, sorry to break it to you, but there most probably isn't anything wrong with your computer. The 9800GTX isn't that much better of a card than the 8800GT at all. The 9800GTX is basically a renamed 8800GTS with some work done to it. I play Crysis on a 3.2GHz Core Duo, 4GB RAM, 8800GT, at a resolution of 1280*700 (this is also on a 22" with a native resolution of 1680*1050) on high-custom settings (I have some settings at very high). The first thing you'll have to do is lower your resolution a couple of steps. Next, once we know your processor speed, we'll be able to help you to place your physics setting in the game. But you can pretty much forget running at max resolution at Very High with playable fps. I don't think it's been done yet.

Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.0 GHz

Well, it might be a faulty GPU? I have no clue. That set-up should run Crysis on AT LEAST high settings. I haven't tried a NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX system to confirm it works on very high settings.

Well, that's the exact same thing that I thought as well. The 9800 is great. It has no problem on running any other games at their highest settings. I'm guessing it's a problem within the game itself and its compatibility on Vista x64. Unless anyone else has any other guesses, I'm going to reduce the resolution and see how it runs at High settings.

I have a pair of quad core Xeons, 16GB of RAM, 8800 GTS 640MB and Crysis is 1024x768. I have not really gotten attached to this game. I might start over and play it from the beginning this weekend.

Like I've said, the 9800GTX is not that great of a card. It's gain over an 8800GT are really not that good. Lowering the resolution should be the first thing you do. I'm going to list my current Crysis settings here for reference:
Resolution: 1440*900
Texture Quality: Very High
Objects Quality: High
Shadows Quality: Very High
Physics Quality: Very High
Shaders Quality: Very High
Volumetric Effects Quality: High
Game Effects: High
Postprocessing Quality: High
Particles Quality: Very High
Water Quality: Very High
Sound Quality: Very High
Motion Blur: High and the slider's in the middle

Something to keep it mind too, I just recently started playing in 5.1 sound and that lowered my fps considerably. I haven't played much since switching it to 5.1, but my CPU tests dropped by around 8 fps in the first test and I think around 10 fps in the second test. I now have mid-20s fps in the first test and dropped to my teens in the second test. So I either have a choice of switching back to 2 channel audio or lowering my settings.
With your set up, you should be able to play comfortably with everything on High, the resolution down to 1280*720 and a 2 channel audio setup (no surround). If you can't get at least 30 fps with those settings, then we can go into some troubleshooting. But as of right now, it sounds like someone who was expecting way more out of his machine.

BTW: Forgot to ask, but you do have Anti-aliasing off, right?

For $1400, yes, I was expecting this thing to be able to run a lot. I was expecting much more than what I'm currently getting.

Thanks for the tips. It seems as if the resolution is my current problem. I'll get to that the next time I start up the game.

No, I have Anti-Aliasing turned on. I'm not exactly sure what difference that makes in game though.

Another things, I've never upgraded a processor. I've built PCs before, but never switched out a higher processor, for a lower one. Such as possibly exchanging my Core 2 Duo or a Quad Core. Are there any problems in doing that? Because I don't think there are...

I'm also unsure that the exchange would make the gameplay MUCH better. From what I know, and from what people tell me, the Quad Core ups everything in a HUGE amount. Extremely noticeable.

thats what i was gonna say ...

crysis requires next gen GPUs to run very high at playable FPS ...
(280GTX SLI.. 4870 CF)
1600X1200 is a super res to expect to play this game at..
if you had 2 98GTXs in SLI you might just scrape high settings at that res.....

Ok, there's your problem right there. Anti-aliasing takes away the jagged lines in 3d games, but it's a big performance hit to the graphics card. And Crysis is so graphics intensive already, that in fact, I don't think I've ever heard about anybody playing Crysis with AA on yet. Your processor is fine and you won't see incredible gains in Crysis by going to Quad.

So turn off Anti-aliasing and you will be able to play Crysis much better.