For those with graphic problems

[Gousgounis]

Hello.

I used to run OFF P3 with an ATI HD4670 512MB and had poor performane. Although the card is good and runs all other applications (except OFF) smoothly, there seems to be problems with BHaH.
So today I bought this >>Gigabyte 9600GT 512MB<<
and I am more than satisfied! (I managed to find a shop who will buy my old ATI card so there wasnt much impact on my budget.) The graphic settings are better than before, with Antisotropic and AA on full, max resolution and sliders on 5/3/3/5/1 (I just cant see the difference between scenery/terrain on 4 and scenery/terrain on 3 or the differrence between clouds on 5 and clouds on 1).

It seems that MOST ATI CARDS DONT PERFORM WELL WITH OFF PHASE 3. If you are having problems with your graphics, (stuttering, fps on 20 and below) tweak with CCC and cfs3config and if you dont see light at the end of the tunnel you probably have to replace your ATI video card with an Nvidia one.

If you are considering to upgrade your rig or buy a new one, and want to run OFF in it, choose an NVIDIA card. About 90% of ATI users who run OFF have problems so far.

I also want to tell the OFF dev team that the FAQs have to be updated and state in them that there seems to be trouble with OFF and ATI cards.

P.S. I want you guys to make me a favor now please. Start a campaign with a pilot on the April of 1917 and fly a mission that has a waypoint exactly above the city of Arras(just by the frontline). During this period there was a big offensive going on and therefore there is much bombardment there. I want you to write here your fps while TAKING OFF from your airbase, and your fps while above Arras and looking straight onto the bombardment area or just when flying above the trenches.

Cheers :ernae:

[Polovski]

Gousgounis, this has always been the case with CFS3, it is not OFF P3 specific.
(do some searches)

However many ATI users (Parky included I think) have great fps once they tweak.

Please see here for tips on improving ATI settings.
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ead.php?t=9445
And yes for CFS3, Nvidia seems better (also has reflections on dials in cockpit).

Yes we can add something to the FAQ but as always with PC games different people find different things work for them and their PC config.

[Gousgounis]

Gousgounis, this has always been the case with CFS3, it is not OFF P3 specific.

Never actually knew that as I dont fly CFS3:faint:. But it doesnt make any big difference anyway :faint:
And yes it seems that some people actually see fps improvements after tweaking. But many do not as well..

[Polovski]

Ok no problem, try those tweaks anyway - make a note of the default first and if they don't work try turning one or two back to normal.

BTW I added a section to the FAQ now near the cfs3config/installation settings based on the posts.

[GaryR]

The ATI 9.1 drivers were released today.. http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

[Gousgounis]

Nice work Pol. Now people will know what's going on. The bottom line is though, that if someone has to choose between ATI and Nvidia, he must buy the Nvidia card. I didnt know that and when I upgraded I chose the ATI and lost about 50 bucks when switched to Nvidia..:faint: But before an ATI user heads to the computer store, he must try the tweaks at the FAQs...

[GaryR]

P.S. I want you guys to make me a favor now please. Start a campaign with a pilot on the April of 1917 and fly a mission that has a waypoint exactly above the city of Arras(just by the frontline). During this period there was a big offensive going on and therefore there is much bombardment there. I want you to write here your fps while TAKING OFF from your airbase, and your fps while above Arras and looking straight onto the bombardment area or just when flying above the trenches.

Per your request I created a new pilot, joined RFC-11 flying the RAF FE2B at Izel Les Haneaux Aerodrome and took some screenshots with FR counter.

[Gousgounis]

Thanks Gary. I have 15 on take off and over the front. The Nvidia card is much better but on these two spots it improved the fps by only 5(compared to the ATI HD4670)..:faint:. It is nothing compared to ATI though.

[GaryR]

Mine is an ATI 4870 1Gb, in case you didn't already know.
:ernae:

[mustang]

The stuttering problem is not being experienced just by ATI graphics card users, guys. I have P3 on two computers. One has an Intel E8400 CPU and a single Nvidia 8800GTX graphics card. The other has a Core i7 CPU and two GTX280 graphics cards. Both run on Windows XP Home, SP3. Performance on both the computers is similar. I mention this just to point out that each of us might have different results. FPS is just fine on both my PC's but the stuttering is always present to some degree. It is most noticeable when turning during combat and having the ground/horizon in sight. I had this problem when I first flew MAW. I used an Nvidia 6800 Ultra at that time and the 30 FPS trick with CFS3.xml worked wonders. It and all the other config tweaks do nothing for me in OFF P3. My group leader has a PC much like my newest one and got good results from the 30 FPS tweak. Another group member with a different CPU uses two 8800GTX cards and has satisifying performance even with his config sliders set high. Mine are at 5 2 2 3 1. Go figure!! I have tried profiles in nTune manager that favored performance over quality. Even with AA turned off, I get no noteworthy difference. I have run with one, two, and all cores enabled. My two PC's have different graphics drivers, btw.

The one thing that reduced stuttering on my computers was to increase the resolution of my monitor. Going to 1600x1200 sharply reduced it without hurting FPS. That is the max resolution my monitor will accept. Pity, as I think a higher setting would yield even more positive results.

The stuttering is distracting but I have it managed down to a point that P3 is playable. I do like the feel of the aircraft and think they are much improved over what I recall from OFF P2. Even at my low slider settings I can see how beautiful OFF has become via P3.

I will continue watching each of these threads and will happily try any new tweaks that may be mentioned.

[Polovski]

BTW someone else posted setting vsync OFF improved FPS. Try changing yours to the opposite it is now on to off/off to on.

[trek]

FYI Guys, my Radeon 4850 does not experience ANY of the OFF FPS problems when playing the "original" CFS3. It will run LOMAC/FC, Falcon 4.0, BOBII, IL-2 1946 like no other GC I've ever used. The "only" other game I've had any issues with is a First-Person/3rd Person Medieval Combat game called "Mount & Blade". With the Radeon 4000 series cards there are oversaturated neon colors on that game that I was able to fix by running the game in DX7 instead of DX9. There is a large thread on the Radeon Cards on their forums on the website at www.taleworlds.com. Also I caution any of you on updating ATI Cards to the latest drivers for one particular game. Some users of M & B updated their drivers: It fixed the neon color issues under DX9, but then they started experiencing game freezes. I realize we are talking about two different situations and games here but like they say "be careful what you wish for". As far as swapping my Radeon Card for one game, with all due respect I'm not going to get rid of probably one of the top cards on the market just to play OFF, as much as I love the game! The 4850 will run games like Company of Heroes and World in conflict with all settings maxed out. All you guys who worked on OFF for four years from all over the globe should be applauded for your work, the game is quite an achievement and IMHO a masterpiece. I think the $59.00 cost of OFF was more than worth it. However, I also think at that price point you guys need to work with ATI Radeon and come up with a patch fix (if feasible) and make it available to paying customers. If you're gonna' talk the talk, you gotta' walk the walk.

[Gousgounis]

The one thing that reduced stuttering on my computers was to increase the resolution of my monitor. Going to 1600x1200 sharply reduced it without hurting FPS. That is the max resolution my monitor will accept. Pity, as I think a higher setting would yield even more positive results.

My max resolution for my monitor is 1280x1024. Only a bigger monitor will make a big fps difference?
I dont think this is true. If you max out your monitor resolution youll get max fps for any monitor.. or not?
Hell no I aint gonna buy a new monitor :costumes:. It is too much! Ill just stay with my stuttering 15 fps over the front. Bah it is not that bad anyway. Ill just keep my eyes away from the smoke :d

By the way, OFF is a real eye-candy with the new graphics card! I never had real fun with P3 until today that I upgraded to the 9600GT . Flew a patrol west of Bapaume and engaged with 6 Jasta 5 airmen. A crazy dogfight with 11 planes began, and then the guys from Flight A of our squad jumped in. We brought em all down and I got my first claim yay! An Albaltros dragged me behind the German frontline though, and before I knew it, I was over a German trench at 1000 feet..the ground machine gun opened fire and I got many bullet holes on my tail. I climbed frantically and dodged the last bullets. Returned to formation a while later and headed home. P3>>>>>>>>>>>>>P2 .

[mustang]

My max resolution for my monitor is 1280x1024. Only a bigger monitor will make a big fps difference?
I dont think this is true. If you max out your monitor resolution youll get max fps for any monitor.. or not?
Hell no I aint gonna buy a new monitor :costumes:. It is too much! Ill just stay with my stuttering 15 fps over the front. Bah it is not that bad anyway. Ill just keep my eyes away from the smoke :d

By the way, OFF is a real eye-candy with the new graphics card! I never had real fun with P3 until today that I upgraded to the 9600GT . Flew a patrol west of Bapaume and engaged with 6 Jasta 5 airmen. A crazy dogfight with 11 planes began, and then the guys from Flight A of our squad jumped in. We brought em all down and I got my first claim yay! An Albaltros dragged me behind the German frontline though, and before I knew it, I was over a German trench at 1000 feet..the ground machine gun opened fire and I got many bullet holes on my tail. I climbed frantically and dodged the last bullets. Returned to formation a while later and headed home. P3>>>>>>>>>>>>>P2 .

Not a bigger monitor for the sake of screen size, but one that supports higher resolutions than my monitor limit of 1600x1200. I've seen no change in FPS by going to higher resolution and the stutter was helped. Just makes me wonder, as I've seen comments elsewhwere as well that higher resolutions do help others. I won't buy a new monitor just for one sim, but will surely experiment with this once my old 19" CRT dies.:ernae:

[Gousgounis]

Well, my current monitor is like 6 years old so I dont think it has much time left anyway :isadizzy:. When it dies, it is going to be replaced with a slightly bigger one with a better resolution :d.

[Fortiesboy]

The stuttering problem is not being experienced just by ATI graphics card users, guys. The other has a Core i7 CPU and two GTX280 graphics cards. Both run on Windows XP Home, SP3. Performance on both the computers is similar.
FPS is just fine on both my PC's but the stuttering is always present to some degree. It is most noticeable when turning during combat and having the ground/horizon in sight. I had this problem when I first flew MAW.
Mine are at 5 2 2 3 1. Go figure!! .

Geez - this is bad for such a high spec computer. My "old" computer had a AMD 4000 processor and a 7800GTX and i didn't have any stutters on OFF2.

My new computer stil awaits OFF3 dvd - but I expect much better performance than yours.- Bloody hell, your PC is State of the Art !

What processes/ programmes have you got in the background? Got millions running i expect- AV, firewalls, all sorts.

Stop them all if not playing online. Google in Blackviper and read his site on how to stop loads of unnecessary background processes from running.

As a matter of interest, do you have MS FSX civilian flight sim?
If so, what frame rates do you get on that - It is notoriously FPS hungry, yet I get mostly 40 FPS with most sliders almost all the way to the right, on my new computer.
Specs are - I7 Quad processor 2.9; nVidia 280 ( one of 'em ).Running at 1600 X 1200

I may have to eat these words when i get BHAH, but I don't expect to.

[Siggi]

Without going into tiresome detail (involved a new PC, new mobo, cards in SLi, mobo ended up smashed in a rage) I was having a stuttering issue in games and it turned out to be the drivers for my wireless network adaptor (netgear). Installed the latest drivers for it and no more stutters in anything.

It cost me a lot of time and money to sort that little blighter out.