Problems In BF:2142 (not due to net)

Right ladies and gents, I firstly apologize for my first post been one seeking help but i don't know where else to turn.

When i try to run 2142 it starts to lag, so much to the extent its not playable. I am 100% sure its not my net connection. I took the overclock off my Q6600 back to stock which didn't make a difference so im near certain its not the CPU.

I then turned to my graphics (x850xt) which I piliged from my last system. Instantly remembering I hadn't updated the drivers, I went and downloaded the latest ones. Still the same issue arose. I know this card is fully capable of playing 2142 in XP at full settings as I have been doing for the past year or so.

So lastly I checked my RAM, which is 2Gb 1066Mhz stuff, while in game I opened task manager. To which it said my game alone was using 1.2Gb of memory , along with the rest of the system resources this came to 1.96Gb. I can only presume that while in game that figure is breaking 2Gb.

Now on my old rig (take into account this was with windows XP, im now on Windows Vista 64), I could play the game fine with just 1Gb of RAM at 667Mhz speed.

Also in Task manager it says bf2142pace.exe*32? Does this mean its emulating a 32bit enviroment in order to play the game and hence eating up all my RAM? Also when in game the lag is more progressive, so for the first few minutes it will play okay (ish), then start to jerk a little, and then eventually become unplayable (after about 5 minutes).

Really need some input on this one please, prefrably not "go buy more RAM". Unfortunately I have no other games to hand at the minute to test on.

I will also add im a complete "noob" to vista. thanks in advance

Don't worry boss - we all start with a question! (Baptism of Desperation)

I suppose you must systematically diagnose which component is the bottleneck.

You seem to know your OC stuff - so I'm sure you've thought of most of this:

Apparently Vista has alot more background applications going on compared to XP. Check the system tray and task manager. Try turning off Aero before you launch the game. I don't bother with Aero myself anymore.

2GB RAM should be plenty - My system NEVER uses above 2 GB. The other 2 GBs are couch potatoes.

Is your hard disc working hard when it slows down? Make sure you have enough virtual memory(page file) - Just leave it on auto.

I would think the weakest part of your system is the x850xt - Disable Aero. Try lowering Graphics settings and see if this improves things. If so, then this would diagnose the graphics card as the problem - possibly as it has to run Aero at the same time as BF2142, this could be cuasing the problem in Vista. Also check your BIOS PCI-e/AGP speed settings.

Check your CPU isn't overheating - this could be a the problem if the performance is deterioring with time. You haven't been messing with the fans/heatsinks recently? Run the CPU monitoring apps right after BF2142 (such as Speedfan) to see if this is causing trouble. Also, if you can attach a 2nd monitor, and pull the Sidebar CPU meters to the 2nd screen to monitor system activity while playing.

Summary: - 2GB RAM Plenty. Probably graphics card. Disable Aero. Check temps.

Hope it works out for you.

Good Luck.

Oh and - Do you prefer BF2142 to BF2? I tried the later, but much prefer BF2 original - It wastes some amount of my life!

O-Jay said:

Right ladies and gents, I firstly apologize for my first post been one seeking help but i don't know where else to turn.

When i try to run 2142 it starts to lag, so much to the extent its not playable. I am 100% sure its not my net connection. I took the overclock off my Q6600 back to stock which didn't make a difference so im near certain its not the CPU.

I then turned to my graphics (x850xt) which I piliged from my last system. Instantly remembering I hadn't updated the drivers, I went and downloaded the latest ones. Still the same issue arose. I know this card is fully capable of playing 2142 in XP at full settings as I have been doing for the past year or so.

So lastly I checked my RAM, which is 2Gb 1066Mhz stuff, while in game I opened task manager. To which it said my game alone was using 1.2Gb of memory

, along with the rest of the system resources this came to 1.96Gb. I can only presume that while in game that figure is breaking 2Gb.

Now on my old rig (take into account this was with windows XP, im now on Windows Vista 64), I could play the game fine with just 1Gb of RAM at 667Mhz speed.

Also in Task manager it says bf2142pace.exe*32? Does this mean its emulating a 32bit enviroment in order to play the game and hence eating up all my RAM? Also when in game the lag is more progressive, so for the first few minutes it will play okay (ish), then start to jerk a little, and then eventually become unplayable (after about 5 minutes).

Really need some input on this one please, prefrably not "go buy more RAM". Unfortunately I have no other games to hand at the minute to test on.

I will also add im a complete "noob" to vista. thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Thanks alot for the extensive reply whyteo, much appreciated! Well here goes...

I had turned aero off, and even turned windows "classic" on, which didnt seem to change too much. As for background applications, I think your correct, I just haven't the time to read through 250 pages of tweak guides to get my operating system to run efficently and turn off what i dont need.

Yea I was rather hoping 2Gb would be suffice (at least till early next year). Especially as I bought DDR3, mainly because they sent me an ASUS P5K3 as opposed to the P5K deluxe I had actually ordered (im very impatient).

The HDD seems to be working fairly hard, I checked the virtual page file, which was set to a 3gig max, so i cranked it up to 4 just to be sure .

I should be getting a new vga card (GTS or GTX) when the new ones are released in november - and hopefully prices drop a tad. PCI-E is set manually to 100, as to not increase simultaneously as i increased the fsb when overclocking.

Unfortunately I dont have the luxury of a second monitor, but using speedfan to read temps (including the +15*C required for the G0 stepping on quad cores) my load temps in prime neva break 56*C after a 7 hour cycle. And minimising during the game itself, and checking the readings for the previous 5 minutes, temps rarely break 45/46*C (idle is 28*C-32*C) - using thermalright ultra 120 extreme (this is with it overclocked to 3ghz also).

As you suggested, I think it may well be my graphics, I have turned the graphics details down in 2142 to medium and it seems to be running more smoothly so fingers crossed - I shall try it with my overclock on the cpu as well when i get another minute.

And i shall fork out for graphics, when crysis is closer .

As for 2142/bf2 must say ive been playing 2142 since it was released, but i did love bf2. I probably prefer 2142, as i think its easier. I should get back on bf2 though.

Put it this way, i hav nearing 300 hours clocked on 2142 .

Thanks again mate. I think im happy to define this problem as resolved. Cheers!