Is a better graphics card worth it?

RykerStruvian · 2013-05-10, 11:16 AM

I'm running on a i7-3770K, GTX 460, and about 16GB of RAM. I play Planetside 2 on low/medium settings at 1920x1080. My average FPS is around 40-60, but in large fights around amp stations/tech plants my FPS drops to around 25-35.

Normally, I wouldn't mind 25-35 but with Planetside 2 it really becomes detrimental to my playstyle since I'm always playing infantry. With that, adjusting my settings inside the game/outside of the game does nothing to increase my FPS. Lowering resolutions, shadows, etc does nothing to increase my FPS in these situations.

A few people have suggested that I should buy a new graphics card. I agree, I do need a new card, at least something like a 660 ti. But will it -actually- help in these situations? Could anyone offer their experiences with better cards and setups? I just want to make sure investing in better hardware will help, that is to say if it is a hardware issue.

Thanks.

bpostal · 2013-05-10, 11:26 AM

I swapped out two ATI 5570's for a single GTX 670 and it pretty much allowed me to double my FPS. From 15-20 on the lowest resolution and graphics settings now to around 30-45 fps on ultra (no Physx enabled)
If you've got the cash, I'd suggest it. Especially if when you hit 'alt_f' it says GPU bound most of the time.

RykerStruvian · 2013-05-10, 11:38 AM

Whats your FPS like though in large platoons vs platoons battles? Is it consistent or does it fluctuate? My fps is really inconsistent, 60-80+ in small fights, 40-60 in medium, and then 25-35 in massive fights.

Most of the time it says my fps is CPU bound.

hashish · 2013-05-10, 11:47 AM

If its CPU bound most of the time then I dont think it will make any difference if you decide to get a new graphics card.. Would definatly improve performance in other games and allow you to get even better fps in small to medium sized battles in ps2, but those massssive fights will always cap your fps :/

I have the same issue on my laptop.. Play on Ultra settings 30-70 fps in small-medium fights and 25-30 in the really massive battles

SOE needs to optimize their game to be less CPU heavy..

If you wanna try and squeeze out some more performance i would say get the latest latest drivers for your CPU, make sure all cores are unparked and most importantly find your overclock limits and OC that shit !

By doing that you should get a nice 5-10fps boost in the massssive fights..

Phantomdestiny · 2013-05-10, 11:47 AM

well here is my opinion i have an i5 3570k and a gtx670 . If you have a high end gpu you will be allow to increase you graphical settings which will move the load again from your cpu to the gpu giving you a more constant fps in large fights . i get 100 fps in ultra with the rest on high and without gpu physics and 45+ in big fights

RykerStruvian · 2013-05-10, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by hashish

If you wanna try and squeeze out some more performance i would say get the latest latest drivers for your CPU, make sure all cores are unparked and most importantly find your overclock limits and OC that shit !

By doing that you should get a nice 5-10fps boost in the massssive fights..

Oh god, you reminded me. I have a Noctua nh-d14 and haven't OC'd my CPU at all. I really should try that out before I buy anything.

basti · 2013-05-10, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by RykerStruvian

I'm running on a i7-3770K, GTX 460, and about 16GB of RAM. I play Planetside 2 on low/medium settings at 1920x1080. My average FPS is around 40-60, but in large fights around amp stations/tech plants my FPS drops to around 25-35.

Normally, I wouldn't mind 25-35 but with Planetside 2 it really becomes detrimental to my playstyle since I'm always playing infantry. With that, adjusting my settings inside the game/outside of the game does nothing to increase my FPS. Lowering resolutions, shadows, etc does nothing to increase my FPS in these situations.

A few people have suggested that I should buy a new graphics card. I agree, I do need a new card, at least something like a 660 ti. But will it -actually- help in these situations? Could anyone offer their experiences with better cards and setups? I just want to make sure investing in better hardware will help, that is to say if it is a hardware issue.

Thanks.

Go into the game, press ALT + F , take a look at the bottom left.

if it says [CPU] in blue when your FPS drop, then your CPU is the bottleneck. Try unparking your cores.
If it says [GPU] in yellow, then its your Graphics card. Get a new one then. Stay with Nvidia, dont dare to waste your cash on ATI. A GTX 670 or 680 should propably give you a nice boost in FPS. OR a Titan, if you are rich. :P

Phantomdestiny · 2013-05-10, 12:05 PM

but guys don't forget that increasing your graphical settings does move a lot of the load away from the cpu making the game run better by creating a gpu bottleneck .

Rbstr · 2013-05-10, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Phantomdestiny

but guys don't forget that increasing your graphical settings does move a lot of the load away from the cpu making the game run better by creating a gpu bottleneck .

It doesn't "move load away" it just puts additional load on the GPU. Everything the CPU has to calculate still has to be calculated...and higher settings doesn't help that. Except physX, sometimes.

EDIT: Also, wait until the end of the month if you want to buy a nVidia card. the 770 and 780 are coming out then so there will be a price reshuffling.

Phantomdestiny · 2013-05-10, 12:51 PM

actually it is different in this case because some of the processes of ps2 have been tuned to work with cpu algorithms at low settings while more gpu algorithms at high settings that's if you exclude shadows and lighting which are obviously cpu heavy. The main problem of planetside 2 are trajectory calculations and paths which are only made by the cpu :/

Snydenthur · 2013-05-10, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by Rbstr

It doesn't "move load away" it just puts additional load on the GPU. Everything the CPU has to calculate still has to be calculated...and higher settings doesn't help that. Except physX, sometimes.

This. Cpu does the same amount of work, gpu just works more or less, depending on the settings. So you don't gain anything but pretty graphics by changing the gpu. Well, does anyone actually play multiplayers with graphics set to more than low?

As far as I know physx, using gpu physx doesn't change the physics calculation to gpu. It just adds those effects.

I play with everything low or off (renderquality 70%). Except graphics quality at high, since thermal scope gets a big buff from it. Min fps is the same as high or ultra, but the overall gameplay is much smoother than on ultra.

So op, I suggest you overclock your cpu as much as you can. With your cooler and without knowing if your mobo is good or not, I'd say around 4ghz is a safe oc.

RykerStruvian · 2013-05-10, 01:22 PM

My mobo is the Asus P8Z77-V Pro.

AThreatToYou · 2013-05-10, 03:12 PM

I can answer you immediately by saying that I have had a GTX 460 and upgraded to a GTX 660 and saw an increase in performance with the added ability to turn PhysX on. +5-10 frames and increased frame stability. I didn't even buy a 660 Ti.

This should answer your question flat-out. I have an i5 3570 and 8 GB of RAM, PS2 installed on a Kingston HyperX SSD.

RykerStruvian · 2013-05-10, 04:12 PM

Have you had any problems with your HyperX? Mine disappears and requires a full boot to reappear if I move files around on it

And, for my series at least, there aren't any firmware updates for it.

Rolfski · 2013-05-10, 04:18 PM

There are plenty of tutorials out there on how to improve PS2 performance without robbing the bank for a new card. I suggest you try these out first.