12 replies to this topic

[sinseer]

Hi All,

I'm not sure if I've posted this in the right section, but any advice would be appreciated. I'm looking to improve my PC set-up and possibly GPU to better experience MWO.

I've been playing MWO for a couple of months now and have been really enjoying it and am interested to see how it develops. I've invested in the game and would like to experience it as best as realistically possible.

I've played all the previous Mechwarrior games including Mechcommander 1 & 2 but otherwise I'm not a massive PC gamer (aside from classics such as Warcraft, C&C,Total Annihilation etc). As such I don't have a gaming rig and don't plan on splashing out a grand on a new machine in the next year.

My setup is as follows:
Windows 8.1
4GB Ram (max the motherboard can take)
AMD Phenom ii X4 850 (3.3GHz) (Again max the mobo can take)
Radeon HD5550 (512MB ram I think)
64GB Samsung SSD

I'm using the original PSU for the time being but I have as NRP-PC602 PSU ready to go in it if I update the PSU (it's 600W, 80Plus Bronze)

Like I said, I don't want to get a new PC but wouldn't mind getting a modern GPU as the CPU and RAM are already maxed. I currently run the game on 1680x1050 on low settings and get a wide range of FPS around the low 20s - I would like to see higher FPS and detail and possibly use a 1080p monitor I have spare.

I've read that MWO is heavily CPU dependent, with that in mind am I likely to even benefit from a new GPU or am I already CPU/RAM limited?
If it is worth upgrading the GPU, then to what level would I continue to see benefits (something like a Nvidia Titan, I would imagine is overkill for the system for example)?
Also, I've seen comments about config files being used to customise other settings and these were mentioned in some of the recent patches - is there a one I can use to optimise my setup? As having seen one, they don't make too much sense to me.

Thanks for any advise and input the community can offer.

[Drunken Bunny]

I'm no expert but I think I can safely say that a Titan would be completely wasted on your current rig. I'm also willing to bet that there's a number of people on the forums who could spec you an entire new rig that runs circles around your existing setup for less than a Titan costs.

*cue the build ninjas*

[sinseer]

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.

Getting a Titan would be crazy and a waste of money - but at what point would I get a decent performance boost and reasonable bang for the buck - £100, £200 etc.?
Or is my system already limited in other areas to the point where its not worth upgrading the GPU?

[Steve Pryde]

The problem is your GPU:

Its really extremly slow and with that low GPU ram you shouldn't run MWO at this resolution, maby a lower resolution would eventually help.

[Modo44]

A mid-range AMD graphics card will be more than enough. Double the RAM if possible, and you are set. MWO will then become CPU-bound, which is about as good as it gets. There is no point in investing in a high-end GPU for MWO unless you play at extreme resolutions (4K or thereabouts extreme).

[Egomane]

Moving this to the hardware forums, where our knowledgeable guys in these topics are usually to be found.

[Shamous13]

a Few questions What is the make and model of your mother board? what do you have for cpu cooling Stock cooler? their are also some custom user.cfg settings that can help I just have to find my list, I helped one of the guys in my unit increase by 10fps on a similar system.

[Shamous13]

Have you installed the most current video drivers. use ddu to remove the old drivers prior to installing the beta drivers. also make sure c6 state is turned off in the bios.
Try Disable CPU Core Parking Utility. see attached link.

http://www.coderbag....Parking-Utility

Then try this.

Quote

Actually, you do need to install Directx 9c. Vista/7/8 comes with DX 10/11 and a base version of dx9. The issue is that MS does not include all the latest modules for dx 9c, nor are the DX10/11 backward compatible. Even a fresh XP install will require DX 9c installation for those updated modules.

DX 10/11 and DX 9c are located in their own subfolders, they do not overwrite each other. Programs and games are set to locate the necessary files from their respective location.

MWO currently utilizes ONLY dx9c files, thus the need to install dx 9c with either the dxsetup.exe (small file that downloads everything from MS) or the redistribution file (large file but useful if installing on several machines or need to reinstall to replace possible corrupted files).

http://www.microsoft...ls.aspx?id=8109

Or

http://www.microsoft...ails.aspx?id=35

You will notice that it supports more than just XP.

Most games that come on a CD/DVD will also have a setup to install the updated modules by using one of the paths. For other games that are download only, they direct you to MS to download (using that site's bandwidth instead of their own) and perform the installation, from a trusted source ( hehe Microsoft..: )

then add this to your user cfg.

Goose, on 30 March 2014 - 05:03 PM, said:

sys_budget_fps = 30
sys_MaxFPS = 30
sys_spec_physics = 1
r_UsePOM = 0
r_silhouettePOM = 0
sys_budget_soundCPU = 5
sys_budget_videomem = X

Where "X" is the amount of RAM on your video card.

Keep you Particles, Shadows, and Environment down at low; You might be able to bump all the others to medium; Turn off the Damage Glow, but you can keep the PostAA.

DX11 was supposed to unload the CPU, but if it's done so for anybody, they ain't said so …

if you see that you are constantly hitting 30fps then increase these two lines by 5 if your still pegging 35fps then add 5 again and so on.

sys_budget_fps = 35
sys_MaxFPS = 35

Edited by Shamous13, 12 June 2014 - 05:27 AM.

[sinseer]

Thanks for the info guys, I get the impression it's not worth upgrading the GPU beyond a R7 265 / GTX 750 Ti?

Shamous13, the motherboard is a Gigabyte M68M-S2P. The CPU cooler is a Cooler Master - not sure what model, it's not a beast but looks a lot beefier than the standard coolers.

Thanks again for the help.

[Shamous13]

Regarding ram, is this your board? http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=3726#sp

Memory

• 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8GB of system memory (Note 1)
  
• Dual channel memory architecture
  
• Support for DDR3 1333(OC)/1066/800 MHz memory modules

Note(Note 1) Due to Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than 4 GB.
(Note 2) To configure 7.1-channel audio, you have to use an HD front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel audio feature through the audio driver.
(Note 3) Whether the CPU fan speed control function is supported will depend on the CPU cooler you install.
(Note 4) Available functions in EasyTune may differ by motherboard model.

[sinseer]

No, its this one: http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=3498#sp

I believe it's rev 2.3 from the box:

• 2 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8GB of system memory (Note 1)
  
• Dual channel memory architecture
  
• Support for DDR2 1066/800/667/533 MHz memory modules

* DDR2 1066 is supported with combination of AM3/ AM2+ processors and qualified memory modules, please refer "Memory Support List" for detail memory support information.

[Shamous13]

which version of 8.1 do you have 32bit or 64bit? if your running 32bit then upgrade to 64bit. Upgrading your ram to 8gb of 1066 will help things a bit, 4gb in a system is the bare minim for a 64bit system

[sinseer]

It's 64bit. I'll have to look at the memory side of things too, I always thought it was capped at 4GB - probably as I basically built this PC from all the upgrades made from a previous PC with a similar age motherboard.

Thanks for your advice and I will look to implementing the steps outlined in post #8