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[Manager]

I talked to Minsc, who did the great Witcher 2 performance thread, and we'll do our best to keep this one updated with drivers etc. For more BF3 info, see the awesome BF3 Official Thread.

TIPS

- Stuttering? Disabling hyperthreading is working for some. A few more things to try. Also try lowering textures to High (specially for <1.5gb GPUs). And unplug the X360 controller.
- Disable Cloud Saves (disabled by default). Can cause corrupt (or deleted) save files, conflicts, and stuttering. How do I do this?
- Low framerate? Try Lowering shadows, effects, motion blur to lower level (Ultra->High, High-> Medium etc) with little loss in image quality. HBAO to SSAO will enhance performance quite a bit without damaging picture too much. Disabling MSAA will make a great performance difference but also damage picture, try 4x->2x first. Also, lowering Texture Quality to High improve framerate greatly. Nvidia has posted a performance guide as well.
- To see ingame FPS, press ~ and add "render.drawfps true" or "list" to see commands (Thanks longdi).
- Nvidia card users with own/factory overclock reports black screen/crash at startup. Solution is to underclock.
- Nvidia card users with freezing / sound hanging in background, try using nVidia audio drivers instead of realtek.
- Game won't launch? And other fixes.
- Want to cap framerate to lock 30 fps/etc? You can try Dxtory
- Sound loop crashing? Disable sound enhancement.
- Weird artifacts on screen? Due to low vram, lower your settings.​

GPU DRIVERS

NVIDIA (last update 10-24-2011):

Worth mentioning: pcgh.de is reporting stuttering on Geforce 8, 9 und 200 cards. The new driver didn't alleviate this problem.

Okay, it's the new drivers. Reverted back to the Beta BF3 drivers from last month and it's now running at a smooth 60 maxed out @ 1080p. Good job on those WHQL drivers, Nvidia! lol

Sli 560ti's. Beta drivers work wayyyy better then new ones.

There's conflicting reports. The new drivers mentioned above (buggy?):
GeForce 285.62 WHQL 64-bit
GeForce 285.62 WHQL 32-bit
GeForce 285.62 WHQL Notebook (Thanks Oni Jazar)

AMD (last update 10-31-2011):
Catalyst 11.10 32-bit
Catalyst 11.10 64-bit
Crossfire-users, download the CAP4 on same pages. Do not use the old CAP3, due to poor performance.​

BF3 PATCHES

According to Fredrik Thylander, Senior Designer at DICE, a future patch is already being worked on. When asked when we will be seeing a bug fix, Thylander responded yesterday, “it’s the day after release here, so I do not for the life of me have a schedule, but the fix has gone in to the patch-code.” There are a few fixes that we can speculate will make it into the incoming patch.

DICE has reported that they are “aware of the issues that are affecting users’ ability to activate BF3 and to redeem game codes. [They'll] update once fixed.”

Regarding some problems PC players have been experiencing with the mouse, it seems DICE has “found the issue thanks to your guys’ threads. Sneaky bug.” Apparently, “it’s a code thing, not a setting. When [the mouse] hit the cap for movement it interpolated time of movement instead of distance.”

Many fans on the PC and PS3 have reported issues of look sensitivity. On PC, it probably has much to do with the problem noted above. However, Ian Tornay has stated that “we’ve heard similar concerns regarding the sensitivity and control for PC and PS3. We’ve forwarded all of these concerns along to the DICE team who is looking at this issue."

http://mp1st.com/2011/10/27/battlefield-3-incoming-fixes-and-patch-confirmed/

Day 1 patch is already included in pre-downloaded copies and available on Origin upon startup for retail copies. Changelist made after beta feedback, obviously not complete.​

CONTROLLERS

X360 controller is supported, but UI doesn't work with QTE's. QTE button layout workaround. Activate the controller BEFORE starting up the game.​

SETTINGS INFO

Graphics Settings explained (video examples):

Low = "lowest possible"; Similar visuals to consoles, lots of stuff disabled
Still contains the essential visuals not to be unfair in MP
Minimum: GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB RAM

Medium = "good performance";Most important visual features enabled

High = "what the game is designed for"; All major features on except MSAA (if you have DX11 card)
Recommended: GeForce 560 TI or better

Ultra = "highest possible"; Intended mainly for multiple GPU machines for 60+fps
Recommended: Multi-GPU machine, like a dual 580 or a dual 560 for that matter, you can run Ultra at 60fps."

Want to know what you're missing out on if your machine can't handle Ultra mode?
"Ultra sort of cranks things up further," explained Andersson.
"The shadows are a little bit sharper, the terrain is a little bit more tessellated. And also a big setting we have on Ultra is anti-aliasing. We use our multi-sampling there which is really memory-consuming and performance-consuming in general.
"It looks better but it's not a giant step in visual quality.

The settings page is exactly the same as the beta screen.

Beta settings difference (keep in mind that some features, mainly Ultra ones, were not enabled in beta):
Ultra
High
Medium
Low​

PERFORMANCE

First of all, see Nvidia's performance guide. Also Full version benchmarks. See link for comparison of AA/MSAA.

Older card not on the list? Bad Company 2 uses the Frostbite engine, benchmark. Find your card and find a similar card that's on both lists (BF3 and BC2). It will give an approximation of your performance. Also see this huge benchmark of more cards.

Good news fellow 580 GTX SLI'ers. Running on Ultra...60 frames locked, bitch

 

[SuperÑ]

I can not see any differences between High and Ultra. Somebody point'em out for me, plz.

 

[Manager]

I can not see any differences between High and Ultra. Somebody point'em out for me, plz.

Not all settings were enabled in the beta, like tessellation. These features will probably make the biggest shift in High->Ultra in full version.

When playing, the biggest difference between High and Ultra is the additional AA/MSAA methods, they're not as clear in those pictures though (and I'm not sure they even enabled them, I don't remember if Ultra did that automatically).

 

[TheExodu5]

I can not see any differences between High and Ultra. Somebody point'em out for me, plz.

I'm noticing better ambient occlusion (probably HBAO versus SSAO), but beyond that, I'm not seeing much difference. I don't think many of the Ultra options were doing anything in the beta. The lighting was one thing in the beta that did not match up to pre-release videos, so I expect that will be significantly improved in Retail (god rays, volumetric lighting).

 

[Oni Jazar]

Those Nvidia drivers don't work for notebook mobile M cards.

 

[vaelic]

catalyst creator said preview 3 for AMD is best to use. official come out oct 31st

 

[Smokey]

Will be my 2nd home!

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Pity PC ports of console games (or games that just must be on the consoles as well) never get additional geometry on ultra graphics settings.

 

[Deadbeat]

Beta comparison gif is pointless. All its going to do is have tons of people say theres no different between high/ultra when there might be in the retail version.

Pity PC ports of console games (or games that just must be on the consoles as well) never get additional geometry on ultra graphics settings.

Draw distance is all that matters honestly. I hated BC2 with shit popping in 10 feet infront of me.

 

[Alexios]

So, tweakguides said 285.62 WHQL are out but Nvidia's site just shows the 285.38 beta from September as the latest driver... Did it get recalled or what?

Edit: nm, I should read the OP I guess, lol... It's still weird they didn't show on the search...

 

[iNvid02]

So, tweakguides said 285.62 WHQL are out but Nvidia's site just shows the 285.38 beta from September as the latest driver... Did it get recalled or what?

op got links

 

[Smokey]

Can some of you getting in via VPN post your fps, resolution etc?

 

[Manager]

Beta comparison gif is pointless. All its going to do is have tons of people say theres no different between high/ultra when there might be in the retail version.

You're right, removed them. Does the Low/Medium/High links work? Stopped deep linking before.

 

[Dr_Biscuit]

Retail Benchmark

 

[The Stealth Fox]

Tessellation was enabled in the beta on High and Ultra settings according to repi. A lot of the Ultra settings WERE enabled, but they turned on things like full MSAA and slightly better shadowing and stuff.

http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/battlefield-3-beta-performance-guide

 

[goodfella]

Runs so much better than expected.

 

[Manager]

Retail Benchmark

Thanks, added. The screenshots were fantastic:

http://i56.tinypic.com/10hvjp2.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/ehg0tf.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2im5ds5.jpg

 

[dark10x]

Benchmarks look good. Nice to know that the ol' 5870 is still holding its own.

I'm hoping the visuals are similar to Crysis 2 in that the higher levels of detail simply add better LOD and improve a few things rather than completely changing the look of the game (like Crysis 1).

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Haven't downloaded the new nvidia drivers yet but it's running great on my GTX260 at 1080p and low settings. Can't wait til my new card arrives though.

 

[knitoe]

Pretty much what I expected for long time now, you need highend SLI / CF to run the game at max settings, 1080p and locked 60fps.

 

[soulassssns]

My GTX 460 is way low on the list LOL

 

[Oni Jazar]

Here is the latest GeForce **Notebook** (64bit) Drivers

http://www.geforce.com/Drivers/Results/39066

 

[Wag]

Definitely need reports from Crossfire 69xx owners. The beta was a mess for me and totally unplayable. Graphical glitches and whatnot. The folks on Guru3D forums are saying the current preview drivers are glitchy (as usual).

 

[gray_fox224]

Anyone here going to run the game on the mobile Geforce GT 540 M?

Im just hoping for a consistent 30fps

 

[K.Jack]

Anyone here going to run the game on the mobile Geforce GT 540 M?

Im just hoping for a consistent 30fps

Have you tried running The Witcher 2? I'd expect the same sort of success with BF3.

Your only hope is low settings at a low resolution.

 

[knitoe]

Definitely need reports from Crossfire 69xx owners. The beta was a mess for me and totally unplayable. Graphical glitches and whatnot. The folks on Guru3D forums are saying the current preview drivers are glitchy (as usual).

I'll be able to tell tomorrow when it becomes unlock on Origin. Think, I was top CF setup on the benchmark thread.

 

[gray_fox224]

Have you tried running The Witcher 2? I'd expect the same sort of success with BF3.

Your only hope is low settings at a low resolution.

Sorry for my ignorance, but why Witcher 2. Does it run on the same engine?

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

How do I check to make sure I have the latest AMD drivers installed?

 

[K.Jack]

Sorry for my ignorance, but why Witcher 2. Does it run on the same engine?

No, not the same engine, it's just that the two games are equally demanding on mid-range mobile chips.

I asked because the 540M falls below the minimum Nvidia GPU requirement (8800 GT) for both games.

How do I check to make sure I have the latest AMD drivers installed?

If you have to ask that, you probably don't. Check the driver version with GPU-Z.

 

[Nirolak]

Awesome, someone used the exact setup I wanted (560 Ti/1680x1050/FXAA).

Ultra for the campaign it is.

 

[knitoe]

How do I check to make sure I have the latest AMD drivers installed?

Without looking, go into CCC > information > software. Check the installed version. Or, just download and install the latest drivers & cap. You only need the latest cap install and can uninstall the old ones, called ATI application profiles.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

No, not the same engine, it's just that the two games are equally demanding on mid-range mobile chips.

I asked because the 540M falls below the minimum Nvidia GPU requirement (8800 GT) for both games.


If you have to ask that, you probably don't. Check the driver version with GPU-Z.

I'm pretty sure I do, but I just want to be completely sure. What should the driver version be? From what I understand AMD has weird driver versions.

 

[Smokey]

SLI impressions.

Dey are lacking

 

[dark10x]

Anyone here going to run the game on the mobile Geforce GT 540 M?

Im just hoping for a consistent 30fps

Hitting a consistent 30 fps is very difficult on the PC, though. You usually end up with huge variations in performance depending on the scene. You CAN limit your framerate using one of several 3rd party programs, but unfortunately, all of them introduce a slight stutter into the image that ruins the effect. I would love to be able to lock my framerates at 30 fps in cases where 60 fps cannot be sustained.

 

[Tallshortman]

Huh, why are the benchmarks in the OT and the ones linked above different? They both seem to be the same version from the same site.

 

[gray_fox224]

No, not the same engine, it's just that the two games are equally demanding on mid-range mobile chips.

I asked because the 540M falls below the minimum Nvidia GPU requirement (8800 GT) for both games.


If you have to ask that, you probably don't. Check the driver version with GPU-Z.

Oh shit, I didn't know it fell below the 8800 GT :/

 

[Manager]

Huh, why are the benchmarks in the OT and the ones linked above different? They both seem to be the same version from the same site.

Different resolutions.

 

[Soi-Fong]

That Nvidia article seems a but fishy. If a GTX 590 or 580 SLI are able to get to beyond 100fps on max settings and 1080p, then cheers to DICE for optimizing the game further.

 

[gray_fox224]

Have you tried running The Witcher 2? I'd expect the same sort of success with BF3.

Your only hope is low settings at a low resolution.

What do you guys think? Buy BF3 to run on my Alienware MX 11 R3 (540 moblie GT card) or get the game on the console?

 

[Mechazawa]

So are these benchmarks generally better than the Beta benchmarks? Wasn't too crazy about the performance on my 4870/955.

Edit: Actually, I guess it wouldn't matter too much if it's not specifically testing Metro.

 

[TheExodu5]

Retail Benchmark

That's a weird benchmark. Performance is where I would expect it, but I'm surprised the difference in between Minimum FPS and Average FPS is so low.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

My GTX 570 can't wait to run this monster. Merely 32fps in that chart, damn.

 

[RukusProvider]

I did a lot of testing on the beta. The following will imporove performance dramatically:

Turn Off MSAA
Turn Off HBAO/SSAO
Turn DOWN shadows to Medium
Turn DOWN/OFF Motion Blur

The biggest offenders are MSAA and HBAO/SSAO. Disable those if you want higher FPS.

 

[K.Jack]

I'm pretty sure I do, but I just want to be completely sure. What should the driver version be? From what I understand AMD has weird driver versions.

I believe the Battlefield 3 driver is 11.10 Preview 3.

What do you guys think? Buy BF3 to run on my Alienware MX 11 R3 (540 moblie GT card) or get the game on the console?

Well, how does the BF3 Beta run and look for you?

 

[Doc Holliday]

Getting 25-45 on high on a i7 930 @3.5 crossfired 6850s. 1080p. I blame ati drivers! Gonna try reinstalling again, hopefully that improved things a little.

 

[Danne-Danger]

My GTX 460 is way low on the list LOL

I'm surprised it did so well, it's not much better than my 275... and that's max detail! I never play max detail even if I can!

Lookin' good.

 

[dark10x]

That's a weird benchmark. Performance is where I would expect it, but I'm surprised the difference in between Minimum FPS and Average FPS is so low.

That's incredibly promising, actually, if it's true.

 

[gray_fox224]

I believe the Battlefield 3 driver is 11.10 Preview 3.


Well, how does the BF3 Beta run and look for you?

I should dl and check lol

 

[kuYuri]

Damn, Ultra and 1920x1080 put it at around 30fps for 560 Ti. Guess I better stick with High for now.

 

[spk]

What do the lines on the performance graph mean again?