Choppy gameplay

[flyjac]

Choppy gameplay

I'll keep it short and sweet:
My gameplay is super choppy.

My specs:
Win 7 64-bit
AMD Athlon II X2 250 3GHz
4 GB RAM
GeForce GT 430

So, my computer meets the recommended requirements but still the graphic auto detect sets pretty much everything to its lowest setting and even so the actual gameplay is constantly choppy, near the point of nonplayabilty with the added 1-2 sec freeze every 10-20 seconds.
What could cause this? An actual error or is the recommended specs just way off?

 

[flyjac]

It gets weirder:
Checked my saved games and now I remember that I actually played this in 2011 and I don't remember having these problems. I have since then upgraded to the enhanced version - could that cause this?

 

[GuyNwah]

I've seen EE to be more demanding.

A GT 430 is way below minimum spec for the game, and, frankly, EE does make the situation with below-minimum cards worse.

For this game, minimum-spec cards (the old G92 8800's and RV670 3800's) have 16 ROP's and close to 10 GPixel/sec output-stage performance. Newer low-range cards (below nVidia 450/550/650 and AMD 4750/5750/6750/7750) are below minimum spec, no matter what anybody else or any Web site told you.

With cards below minimum spec that have trouble running at any setting at your native resolution, the easiest way to get going is to:

* Set the resolution to 1280x720.
* Set the display to windowed (set Fullscreen to "Disabled") if 1280x720 is a poor match for your monitor.
* Set the settings to the Low preset, then change:
- Texture Downsizing = None.
- Texture Memory Budget = Medium for 512MB cards, Large for 1GB cards.

 

[flyjac]

Well that sucks for me then, having bought a game I thought I could play
Are there even any "official" requirements? I thought Steam would be reliable but it seems like that is not the case.

 

[GuyNwah]

Well that sucks for me then, having bought a game I thought I could play />/>/>
Are there even any "official" requirements? I thought Steam would be reliable but it seems like that is not the case.

Yes, official "minimum" and "recommended" requirements have been out since before release.

Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista SP2 / Windows 7 (32/64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
Memory: 1 GB Windows XP / 2 GB Windows Vista and Windows 7
Video Card: 512 MB RAM, supporting Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 8800)

Recommended System Requirements

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista SP2 / Windows 7 (32/64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD Phenom X4
Memory: 3 GB Windows XP / 4 GB Windows Vista and Windows 7
Video Card: 1 GB RAM, supporting Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260)

Additional Requirements

Sound Card: compatible with DirectX 9.0c
HDD: 16 GB of disc space
Disc Drive: DVD x8, compatible with DVD9
Installation requires administrator access

The problem is, few actually understand how to relate those requirements to the confusing model numbers that graphics card makers use.

A good enough oversimplification is to look at the _second_ digit of the card model number.

nVidia 8-level (8800, 9800, 280, 285, 480, 580, 680, 780) cards are the most powerful in each generation (except for 9-level cards, which are duals, and Titan). More recent cards down to 6-level (260, 460, 560, 660, 760) are still powerful enough to qualify as "recommended". More recent 5-level cards (250, 450, 550, 650) are above "minimum".

AMD 8-level and 9-level (48xx, 58xx, 69xx, 79xx) are the most powerful in each generation. 7-level (47xx, 57xx, 67xx, 77xx) are still powerful enough to qualify as "recommended". 6-level (46xx, 56xx, 66xx) are below "minimum".

Many below-minimum cards are still playable, when you trade eye candy for frame rate.

Older nVidia cards with 8 ROP's (8600, 9500, GT 220, GT 240) Sadly, nVidia dropped the 8-ROP designs from newer low-end cards; thus cards like the 430 and 530 have only 4 ROP's and are frequently unplayable.

AMD cards with 8 ROP's (4670, 5570, 5670, 6570, 6670, 7570, 7670) AMD continues to use the 8-ROP designs in recent series, meaning AMD has the market to itself in low-priced cards that will actually run this game decently.