Can anyone help me tame the Beast? (i7 950, 12 Gb RAM, ATI 6970 etc)

[AndyJWest]

As I posted over at the Ubi forum (http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8071032709/m/8811092619/p/2), my CloD-eating Beast PC has arrived, and I'm just in the process of setting it up for the sim:
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae65/ajv00987k/IMG_0880.jpg
MOBO - X58 Asus Sabertooth X58
CPU - Intel i7 950 Quad Core 3.06Ghz (overclocked to 3.80Ghz)
RAM - 12 GB (3x4GB) Corsair DDR3 (1600)
GPU - XFX 6970 2GB
PSU - 1000W Corsair
SSD - 128 GB
HDD - 1 TB SATA 2
OS - Win 7 Home Premium 64bit
Case - Antec Three Hundred
Monitor 24" Samsung

I've downloaded the latest Radeon drivers (11.5), and I don't think there is anything else that is out-of-date. At some point I'll probably try a RAM disk, but for now CloD is installed on the HDD (I could also try moving critical files to the SSD). Can anyone give a suggestion or two as to how I should optimise the graphics setup for CloD? I'm sure that I can figure it all out, but if anyone has a similar setup, help would be appreciated.

[Ze-Jamz]

Well id put everything on HIGH mate apart from Forest amount which is LOW/MED, Building amount again MED and building detail MED..I also have SSAO unchecked but tinker with that see what suits

Everything else leave as it is if you select HIGH Gfx

[TonyD]

Congrats on the new rig, sure looks awesome. Attached are my settings, updated after the last patch. Since the revision to the model draw distance I can no longer see a difference between ‘high’ and ‘medium’ in the model detail setting, and the ‘original’ texture setting doesn’t slow down frame rates either. Note that the ‘buildings amount’ setting controls how many buildings will be textured rather than rendered, and like I have it you will only see brown boxes over London. Setting this to 'unlimited' means no brown boxes even there, but costs too many fps on my system (~22 vs. ~35). Happy flying!

[Ze-Jamz]

Congrats on the new rig, sure looks awesome. Attached are my settings, updated after the last patch. Since the revision to the model draw distance I can no longer see a difference between ‘high’ and ‘medium’ in the model detail setting, and the ‘original’ texture setting doesn’t slow down frame rates either. Note that the ‘buildings amount’ setting controls how many buildings will be textured rather than rendered, and like I have it you will only see brown boxes over London. Setting this to 'unlimited' means no brown boxes even there, but costs too many fps on my system (~22 vs. ~35). Happy flying!

Hi mate,

Are you saying that building amount doesnt decrease the amount of building but more what gets textured as opposed to rendered?

[Vengeanze]

Hi mate,

Are you saying that building amount doesnt decrease the amount of building but more what gets textured as opposed to rendered?
That's how I read it too. Was news for me. Good to know.

[ATAG_Doc]

MOBO - X58 Asus Sabertooth X58
CPU - Intel i7 950 Quad Core 3.06Ghz (overclocked to 3.80Ghz)
RAM - 12 GB (3x4GB) Corsair DDR3 (1600)
GPU - XFX 6970 2GB
PSU - 1000W Corsair
SSD - 128 GB
HDD - 1 TB SATA 2
OS - Win 7 Home Premium 64bit
Case - Antec Three Hundred
Monitor 24" Samsung

I've downloaded the latest Radeon drivers (11.5), and I don't think there is anything else that is out-of-date. At some point I'll probably try a RAM disk, but for now CloD is installed on the HDD (I could also try moving critical files to the SSD). Can anyone give a suggestion or two as to how I should optimise the graphics setup for CloD? I'm sure that I can figure it all out, but if anyone has a similar setup, help would be appreciated.

Hey that's a nice system and you should be able to enjoy this title with it. If this system is virgin just install the os and patch up and don't add a bunch garbage to it and keep the system quiet as you can.

I have been using ram disk lately and I see a huge difference. I use 5 GB of ram for it and I add my map file plus several others. I have recently posted several videos in these forums touring London in what I been told was wonderwomen view. That's without anything on the screen just London and I get very few shutters and these settings are everything on as high as it goes.

[Ze-Jamz]

That's how I read it too. Was news for me. Good to know.

Hmmm so that setting high turn the buildings into textured brown boxes from afar as opposed to trying to render them? I'm sure I dint get that much of a fps difference when adjusting that...could be wrong will do some tests later

[AndyJWest]

With TonyD's settings (except at 60Hz per the only option offered), it was locked at 60 fps comfortably over the sea, and went down to 20 or so low level over London - with slight stutters. I'll maybe try a RAM disk to see if that helps.

I'm getting the 'blue lines on the horizon' bug, and one or two other artefacts, but otherwise it seems fine.

I've got the default Catalyst 3d settings for now - I'm not sure if altering them will make any difference.


Thanks for the input, everyone.

[TonyD]

Ze-Jamz: yup, that’s what I have found. It’s most noticeable over London where switching it between ‘unlimited’ and ‘high’ in game (doesn’t require a restart) alternatively textures all the buildings (22fps) and not (35fps). Everywhere else the buildings are textured as they appear due to the lower amount rendered (I don’t why they couldn’t have made the default colour grey instead of brown, as this would have made them a lot less obvious!)

AndyJWest: I only run 50 Hz because it’s available with my monitor (Samsung 21.5” LED), and theoretically provides a performance gain (haven’t actually measured the difference). I have made no alterations to configuration files or CCC settings, and both cpu and gfx card are at default speed. My lowest frame rate over London is around 30 fps, dropping to about 28 when flying through Tower Bridge, I don’t know why yours would be lower – maybe the refresh rate is making more of a difference than I realised. The only ‘tweak’ I’ve made is to install the latest CAP (Catalyst Application Profile) version, although again I don’t know if this has made any difference. If you want the latest version, have a look at Guru3D.com as it wasn’t on AMD’s site the last time I looked.