Having issues running BF3 even on lowest settings, help?

[FubsyGamr]

Hey guys!

I have a brand new iMac 27". The specs are:
CPU - 3.4 GHz i7
RAM - 16 GB
HDD - 2 TB 7200-rpm
GPU - 6970M 2GB GDDR5

I have bootcamped over to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, but when I run the battlefield 3 beta, even at all lowest settings at 1920x1080, I can't get above 25-30 fps.

I am new to Windows Gaming, so are there settings I need to look at? I have AMD's 11.8 drivers, so I don't know what else to do.

Or, am I just stuck with not being able to max it out, all because of the GPU? Did I really bottleneck myself that badly?

Thanks for any/all help

 

[The-Pro]

Anti Aliasing caused my have to really low frame rates. You might want to check that

 

[Hellhammer]

Try AMD Catalyst 11.10 drivers. They are beta but specifically meant for BF3 beta.

http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDCatalyst1110Previewdriver.aspx

 

[derbothaus]

Or, am I just stuck with not being able to max it out, all because of the GPU?

Games are all GPU always after a moderately powerful CPU, of course. But better to have GPU than CPU. Your GPU is not fast enough to push the resolution for that game. Could be drivers but more likely, you need a better GPU.

 

[Hellhammer]

Games are all GPU always after a moderately powerful CPU, of course. But better to have GPU than CPU. Your GPU is not fast enough to push the resolution for that game. Could be drivers but more likely, you need a better GPU.

NVIDIA GTX 560 is able to get 52FPS on average at medium and 1920x1200. While AMD 6970M is slower, I don't think it's that slow to not be able to run BF3 at all lowest settings and 1080p. At least NVIDIA's beta drivers for BF3 improved the performance by up to 38%.

 

[derbothaus]

NVIDIA GTX 560 is able to get 52FPS on average at medium and 1920x1200. While AMD 6970M is slower, I don't think it's that slow to not be able to run BF3 at all lowest settings and 1080p. At least NVIDIA's beta drivers for BF3 improved the performance by up to 38%.

Your right. A poster just mentioned they can get 1080p and medium settings to be very smooth on 6970m. They did not quote FPS though and 45-60fps is smooth to me. I do not regard 30-45fps as suitable enough for first person shooters. I do expect BF3 to cripple most Mac's though. BF2 cripples most of them. Just getting to be more Crysis than Crysis.

 

[BdgerCmpny]

Your right. A poster just mentioned they can get 1080p and medium settings to be very smooth on 6970m. They did not quote FPS though and 45-60fps is smooth to me. I do not regard 30-45fps as suitable enough for first person shooters. I do expect BF3 to cripple most Mac's though. BF2 cripples most of them. Just getting to be more Crysis than Crysis.

Thanks for the post. I am having trouble too, and I have to run the resolution below 1080 (I believe 1560 by something) on low settings for 35-40 fps. And on the 2560x1440 display, that looks pretty freaking bad. And I swear the new beta drivers installed right, so I'm at a loss as to what more to do. Should I remove some old drivers?

 

[derbothaus]

Thanks for the post. I am having trouble too, and I have to run the resolution below 1080 (I believe 1560 by something) on low settings for 35-40 fps. And on the 2560x1440 display, that looks pretty freaking bad. And I swear the new beta drivers installed right, so I'm at a loss as to what more to do. Should I remove some old drivers?

You want 11.10 Catalyst. Uninstall old ones then install new. Then reboot.
Check AA settings and turn off initially in game. Run in known resolutions like 2560x1440, 1920x1080, 1600x900, 1280x720. You can usually get away with edge detect forced in Catalyst for your AA needs if Anisotropic is set fairly high in game.
I usually drop everything and slowly build up settings with AA and Extreme shadows always last if the computer can take it.

 

[JInx3110]

not having any problems 1920 x 1080 maximum textures everything else high with occlusion off, 30 fps if i want more just turn the textures down

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using 11.8

 

[JInx3110]

make sure too uninstall all old drivers then re-install new ones and reboot

you could use catalyst control centre to slightly overclock the card and boost the fans a wee bit you do get a noticeable fps boost, temps are 5 degrees cooler than stock under load with fans on 2000rpm each using smc fan control.

been doing this for 12+ hours of gaming in total now in 2-4 hour stints and highest temp recorded on gpu-z is 78 degrees. At all stock my card would get to 82 degrees after just an hour.

 

[Wreckie]

I ran BF3 on 1080p resolution, lowest settings 45-50 fps, which is really good result in my opinion. Try 11.10 beta drivers, should fix problem.

 

[BdgerCmpny]

You want 11.10 Catalyst. Uninstall old ones then install new. Then reboot.
Check AA settings and turn off initially in game. Run in known resolutions like 2560x1440, 1920x1080, 1600x900, 1280x720. You can usually get away with edge detect forced in Catalyst for your AA needs if Anisotropic is set fairly high in game.
I usually drop everything and slowly build up settings with AA and Extreme shadows always last if the computer can take it.

Awesome guys, thanks! I did this, and I think the 11.10b drivers just didnt properly install originally. Even though the Beta's over, I can already tell the Catalyst Control Center looks different than what I saw before.

I need Bad Company 2 now to A) make waiting easier and B) make graphics tests... even though BF3 is way more complex, graphically speaking.

 

[craniumbox]

Settings?

not having any problems 1920 x 1080 maximum textures everything else high with occlusion off, 30 fps if i want more just turn the textures down

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using 11.8

Could you post some of your settings. I am using the same Mac as you and getting crap. Do you run full screen or windowed?
What are your CCC settings and in game settings?
What driver are you currently using now?

 

[BdgerCmpny]

Could you post some of your settings. I am using the same Mac as you and getting crap. Do you run full screen or windowed?
What are your CCC settings and in game settings?
What driver are you currently using now?

I use a 1920x1200 resolution with High Settings on all points, with 2x-8x Anistropic Filtering and Low/Med FXAA (Post AA). I avoid MXAA because it doesnt do ***** for me on high resolution anyway and rapes my performance values. I tend to use SSA occlusion but i may use HBA occlusion if my computers warmed up enough, but its seriously not worth it. I hit 27-35 fps which is fluid on my display. Hope this helps!

AMD Radeon HD 6970m 2GB