[Harbinger of DOOM]

Seriously; what graphics card do I need to play this mod relatively lag-free? ATM, I've got performance similar to MatthTheGeek's. Delenda Est is a nightmare with all of the LOD-less ships flying around. So which graphics card should I blow my money on?

[General Battuta]

I think most of the ships in Delenda Est should have LODs by now. (Make sure you've got the fixed Karuna POF pinned at the top of this forum.)

What card and processor do you have right now?

[Harbinger of DOOM]

Well I tried the fixed Karuna in the stickied post, but it's invisible in the tech room. Maybe I have an outdated version of BP?

I currently have an AMD Sempron 145 2.8ghz single-core CPU, with an integrated Radeon HD 4250 GPU, and 8gb of RAM (though XP only uses 4gb).

EDIT: Also, I just tried the Karuna model with placeholder textures, and it crashes the mission near the end. Something about the model not having a fighterbay subsystem. *shrug* I dunno. I looked at the model in PCS2, and there's definitely a fighterbay subsystem, sooo... WTF?

[General Battuta]

I don't know what the Karuna model with placeholder textures is, but it sounds unfinished and you probably shouldn't use it!

The fixed Karuna in the stickied post is what you should be using, though if it's invisible in the techroom, the textures may be too large for your video card. Just make sure your BP1 and Bp2 installs are the latest version from the forums here, that you did not get them from the FreeSpace Open Installer, and that you are not using the Advanced VPs.

Sorry about all the stupid technical hoops you have to run through.

As for your performance...I have an HD 5850 and get a steady 60 FPS on Delenda Est, though unfortunately I'm also running an i5-2500k, which is probably helping me out a lot. Most of the lag you're experiencing likely has much to do with all the collision pairs in the mission as it does with the model.

[The E]

with an integrated Radeon HD 4250 GPU

<hyneman>Well, there's your problem</hyneman>

The 4250 is a really, really weak card. WiH, at its most busy scenes, will take all the cycles your card can offer; in terms of ressource usage, it's closer to Crysis than FS2 retail. The fact that the GPU has to use the main memory to store its data will slow it down even further.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

What I meant by "placeholder textures" is that I originally installed the model into the models folder, made a .tbm file to direct the Karuna to use the KarunaMk1.pof. I then ran the game, only to see a phantom Karuna with glowpoints in the techroom. That's when I modified the .pof file in PCS2 to use the Tcov1 texture instead of "hymain".

As far as my CPU goes, I'm using the "fs2_open_3_6_12r_INF_SSE2" build. I've never had any problems with lag in either the MediaVPs or WC Saga, even in large fleet battles.

[General Battuta]

As far as my CPU goes, I'm using the "fs2_open_3_6_12r_INF_SSE2" build. I've never had any problems with lag in either the MediaVPs or WC Saga, even in large fleet battles.

That's the build you're using, not your computer's processor. Also, uh...I'm smelling something really wrong here. If your Blue Planet install is up to date, you should be unable to run it with 3.6.12; builds that old can't handle the new BP features.

I'd suggest cleaning out your existing Blue Planet install and reinstalling using the links in the forum here. Make sure you get 3.6.14 final and the fixed Karuna as well.

I'm not sure how far this'll go to help your video card out, but hopefully the optimized models will do something.

As for the comparison with the MVPs and WC Saga, BP2 is far more demanding than the MVPs (and I think more so than WCS as well.)

[The E]

3.6.12 is outdated. Try upgrading to 3.6.14, which should bring a few speed improvements.

And yes, WiH is far more demanding than those games; It's pretty close to Diaspora in that regard.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

Okay, finished downloading the latest versions of AoA and WiH. Opened the bp-visuals1.vp, and lo-and-behold, there's a hymain.dds with shine and glow maps.
*facedesk*
That'll teach me to download from FSmods instead of the forum release post!

Also, yeah I'm gonna download the 3.6.14 build now. Good idea, thanks!

[General Battuta]

Sorry about all the trouble. Hope you're enjoying!

[Harbinger of DOOM]

Well I haven't finished downloading the visuals2.vp, yet. But, yeah, hopefully it'll run just a bit smoother now. If not, I'll just get that GTX 650 I've had my eye on. Or a GT 640. Though I'll probably have to upgrade my CPU, too, as my single-core will most likely bottleneck the video card. Would the FX-4300 do the trick?

[General Battuta]

Upgrading CPUs is a task fraught with all kinds of worry since you have to make sure your motherboard socket is compatible. I don't know how much technical mojo you've got (probably more than me!), but I'd definitely check around Tom's Hardware and the like to make sure you're not just better off building a new rig.

[The E]

Yeah, chances are that in order to upgrade your CPU, you will have to upgrade the motherboard first.

[LHN91]

Not necessarily, the Sempron 145 is actually an AM3 chip, so he may have a halfway decent board and may actually be able to do a straight processor upgrade, might only be able to go to Phenom II though. Still an upgrade, and a used one online isn't too expensive.

On the graphics side of things, the 650 is a decent card, but I wouldn't bother with the 640. The 650 has *just* enough power to do, say, Borderlands 2 on high at 1920x1080, but the 640 would likely be too weak.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

Upgrading CPUs is a task fraught with all kinds of worry since you have to make sure your motherboard socket is compatible. I don't know how much technical mojo you've got (probably more than me!), but I'd definitely check around Tom's Hardware and the like to make sure you're not just better off building a new rig.

Well considering I built the computer I'm using, I'd say I'm good.

Also, the motherboard I got is an ASRock 880GM-LE FX AM3+ mobo. It can use both AM3 and AM3+ CPUs. The maximum TDP is 125 watts, and the FX-4300 is in the CPU support list. I'd have to update the BIOS beforehand, though.

Also, my monitor is 1280x768 (small, I know). So a GT 640 might run fairly well. It depends what's available at Best Buy. Before you tell me "Newegg is bettar!!!111" I got a 50$ gift card for BB, so I'd prefer to shop there. Otherwise I'd agree, Newegg is indeed better.

[Phantom Hoover]

It ran smoothly for me with a GTX 460.

[Klaustrophobia]

from my (admittedly now outdated) research when i was considering a bulldozer upgrade, i think you'd be better off going for a high-end phenom II than a mid or low bulldozer.  yeah, it's a newer architecture and whatever, but the horsepower was unexpectedly limited.  a 4 or 6 core phenom is probably more cost effective.  or maybe the prices on the FX chips have dropped enough now that they are worth it, i haven't looked recently.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

Well the FX-4300 is $130, the FX-4100 is $110, and the Phenom II X4 955BE is $95.

I think the Piledrivers are quite a bit faster than the Phenoms. I know that the FX-4300 is considered to be roughly equivalent to the I3-2120.

BTW, I'm talking about the Piledriver CPUs, not Bulldozer. Piledriver has quite a few improvements over Bulldozer, including higher IPC, clock, and watt/ghz ratio.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

I checked Newegg, the Athlon II X3 450 is $70. That seems to be a good deal, though I'd probably have to upgrade that CPU (and potentially the mobo) in the future, if I wanna play even more modern games.

Ah, 'tis an expensive lifestyle we lead; eh, lads?

Oh BTW, I finished WiH, and it runs much more smoothly. Thanks for the help!

[Crybertrance]

I woulda thunk that most of the bottlenecks in the FS1/2 Engine is caused by the CPU? As the GPU usage isn't at 100%