We all have the same trouble of finding a perfect graphics card to run BZII and still support all the newer programs, therefore im using this thread for anyone (including myself) who needs a little help when choosing a new one.
its pointless me trying to explain what im going to do, so ill start. if as many people as possible could follow my lead in this id be quite pleased! why thankyou! this should also really help me when what to decide to get when buying a lappy
Average FPS in BZII - 60 (highest graphics settings here please)
Graphics Card (memory) - nVidia GeForce 7500 LE (128mb)
Current Graphics Driver - ver. 7.15.11.7519
Processor (speed) - Intel Dual-Core E6400 CPU (2.13Ghz)
Operating System - Windows Vista Home Basic
Computer Type - Desktop
System RAM - 2048mb
Performance In Other Games:
- Runs lego rock raiders like a dream!
- nothing really to say, i only play/mod BZII
Performance In BZII:
- 60 FPS average, was maxed at 75 with different driver (which i know cant find :@ [DAMN WINDOWS UPDATE!])
- Support highest graphics settings reasonably well
- Occasional stutters
- 32 sound channels supported well
This is what is needed to play the new patch. this is dialog straight from the readme file for pb4a.
CPU:
Battlezone II v1.3pb4a now requires Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), which were introduced with the Pentium III. AMD's Athlon XP (and newer) CPUs also support SSE. SSE provides some framerate boosts, and is now required
Graphics Card:
Battlezone II v1.3 requires a graphics card (or integrated video) that has DirectX/Direct3D 8.0 (or higher) drivers.
RAM:
Battlezone II's original box specs noted that it required 64MB RAM. However, Windows 2000/XP/Vista and the like require more memory than that as their base specs. You should add at least 64MB RAM to what the requirements for your version of Windows are (see Microsoft's website for exact details). Thus, 192MB is a practical minimum amount of RAM for Win2000/XP, though Windows itself will crawl on such a system -- 384-512MB will be better.
AUDIO:
BZ2 also requires a audio output device (sound card, motherboard audio, etc) that supports DirectX 8.x. 3D positional audio is supported, but not required.
Operating System, DirectX:
Windows 98 and up should work, though for best results, Windows 2000/XP/Vista are recommended. DirectX 8.0 or higher is also required.
Note: I don't believe any testing has been done with Windows95, and as MS has long-since discontinued support for it, it may not be the best choice of OSs anymore. If 1.3 works on Win95, great. If not, you may be out of luck. Windows 98/ME are also out of official Microsoft support -- see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/gp/lifean18? . Some limited testing has been done with 1.3 on Win98/ME machines, but with no more critical updates released for them, you'll be at risk. BZ2 has now watched three MS operating systems get obsoleted, so you should consider upgrading Windows if you're not going to change your gameplay.
System Recommendations for this patch
Most testing and development of 1.3 has taken place on machines with at least a 500Mhz processor, 256MB ram, and a GeForce or better video card. This may be a good baseline; 1.5Ghz, 512MB ram, and a GeForce 2/Radeon 7200 or better might work even better. At least Windows 2000 is also recommended.
i just want higher FPS and performance, those are my specs, id appreciatte seeing what the rest of the community gets with their equipment.
If you want higher FPS, you need to turn off vSync in you video adapter.
Right-click on desktop, Properties, Settings tab, Advanced, and then poke around until you find it.
Average FPS in BZII - 612 FPS (earlygame), 175 (Lategame, lots of units and full base)
Graphics Card (memory) - nVidia Geforce 8800GT 512mb
Current Graphics Driver - ver. 6.14.11.6921
Processor (speed) - Intel Dual-Core E8400 (Wolfdale) CPU (3.0Ghz)
Operating System - Windows XP Home
Computer Type - Desktop (Gaming rig)
System RAM - Corsair XMS 2GB (2x1024mb) 675mhz DDR2
Performance In Other Games:
- COD4, 1280x1024, highest, 140 FPS average.
- Crysis, 1024x768, high, 60 fps average.
- TrackMania Nations Forever, 1280x1024, highest, 140 FPS Average.
Performance In BZII:
- 394 FPS Overall Average.
- 1280x1024, highest, sans full sky detail due to nVidia Skydome Error.
- Smooth Gameplay.
- 60-62 total channels supported (depending on whether or not I have winamp running).
- I can turn shadows on full on Alien Dunes for a bit in Satellite View until the gun towers come up (and the graphical oddities).
I'm not sure how this card would work on your pc but currently i'm using a Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX 768mb with driver version 6.14.11.6375. So far I haven't run into any graphic problems with battlezone 2 unless i upgrade to the newer driver version.
Gosh, i wish i had Steeveeo's rig.
Remember, BZ2 is cpu bound, not video card bound like most games, it is old so most of the calculations are done on the CPU. Basically, get the fastest per core cpu you can find (and do note that core2duo's are about the same speed per clocks speed a amd ones, but P4 are vastly slower per clock speed compared to the amd one's). So maxing that and ram and such would give the best bonuses I would guess. My fps was similar to Steeveeo's even back when my computer was a 2.2ghz athlon xp with a radeon 9700 pro video card and 2 gigs of ram.
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when i asked for my new laptop, i asked the shop to find the lappy with the fastest processor, 2-3gb of ram, and a geforce 7 series video card...
the laptop comes with the 8600GT though, but i f GH isnt having graphics problems ill go for that one
I'm usually running Windows Xp pro & just because i haven't had any problems don't mean you won't. As i recall Steeveeo else had an 8800 GT & had problems with graphics. according to those that had the graphic problem you should be able to avoid the graphic problem by turning down certain settings.
yeh indeedy...
steeveeo, 612 FPS!!!! gah! my new lappy is goingto have AT LEAST 2.60 ghz or i wotn buy it! its not fair =[
Quote from: TheJamsh on August 20, 2008, 09:23:04 PM
yeh indeedy...
steeveeo, 612 FPS!!!! gah! my new lappy is goingto have AT LEAST 2.60 ghz or i wotn buy it! its not fair =[
Heh, I thought I was only getting 250, but then I realized I limited it to that in Localprefs.ini so it wouldnt take up all my processor time, set to 999 I get 800 something right when I load, then 612 during the early buildings and a couple scouts. Otherwise it stays at 250 for most of the match.
GAK!
That's what a new proc will do for you...
I wish my comp was that fast...
VSMIT.
Quote from: VSMIT on August 21, 2008, 03:19:37 AM
GAK!
That's what a new proc will do for you...
I wish my comp was that fast...
VSMIT.
I just wish your comp was faster than it is now. :P
3.0ghz proccesor. lovely.
do you run it in high priority on one CPU or not?
Quote from: TheJamsh on August 21, 2008, 08:55:46 AM
3.0ghz proccesor. lovely.
do you run it in high priority on one CPU or not?
I set (in localprefs) to have all the play code in high priority on one core, networking and sound in normal priority on the second.
how is that done?
Quote from: TheJamsh on August 21, 2008, 02:27:21 PM
how is that done?
From Gameprefs.ini
// Some threading and multi-CPU tuning values. For all priority
// values, they can be one of the following values:
// -2 : THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
// -1 : THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
// 0 : THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
// 1 : THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
// 2 : THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
// Values outside of -2..2 are treated as 0.
MainThreadPriority = 0
NetworkThreadPriority = 1
OggDecodeThreadPriority = 1
// Thread affinity masks. These are bitfields, with 1 being the first
// CPU in the system, 2 the second CPU, 4 the third CPU, etc. If a
// mask specified here refers to a CPU that doesn't exist, it is
// treated as 1
MainThreadAffinityMask = 2
NetworkThreadAffinityMask = 2
OggDecodeThreadAffinityMask = 1
now i know what the localprefs file is used for... probably easier to edit that than the gameprefs file directly :S
Editing Gameprefs.ini will give you bad assets (that's why it's read-only).