BF3 lowers IQ if not enough ram?

Dent1 · Apr 18, 2012

Iceni said:
This could well be your problem. Nothing at all to do with the ram on the card. But rather the lack of ram in your system.

I agree. Pretty much what I said earlier but less elegantly.

5.43GB at only 1680x1050 after 30mins on Gulf of Oman Map.

EarthDog said:
I run with 8gb. So its not that.

Mmm. This makes things interesting.

EarthDog · Apr 18, 2012

Dent1 said:
I'm only going to say this ONCE.

4GB of ram is NOT enough for Battlefield 3 if you want to eliminate page filing or virtual memory. If you are running a stupid resolution like 2560x1440 4GB definitely isnt enough.

PS. The VRAM isnt the issue.

I run with 8gb. So its not that.

My pf is set to 2gb as well. It seems this thing takes what is available...but requires a minimum of gram and ram... 4gb ram it doesn't run well... less than 1gb gram on ultra 1080p same.

crazyeyesreaper · Apr 18, 2012

Shogun 2 keeps logs for you of when it downgrades settings just jack the settings on a low vram card and check the logs lol

anyway the post from it is pretty old not sure i can even find it, it was posted over at Totalwarcenter but a thread talking about the games autodowngrading of settings are everywhere
http://forums.totalwar.com/showthread.php/17993-Are-you-REALLY-using-Ultra

So their you go,

sometimes benchmarks really DONT tell all :toast:

Anyone whos played Shogun 2 knows AMD gpus run far better then Nvidia cards in the title untill the release of the GTX 680 stomped AMD into the ground lol

EarthDog · Apr 18, 2012

Thanks for the link..will read when not mobile.

crazyeyesreaper · Apr 18, 2012

theirs a simple fix that lets you manually set the vram available and it will stop the game from auto downgrading settings etc, just a ini file edit, but it was hilarious to see this blow up on total war forums all over back when it released.

xenocide · Apr 18, 2012

If you think about it this is just effective optimization. The game sees it cannot play at 100% and scales portions of itself so you can still have a good experience. Even with the IQ "lowered" the game still looks amazing. I can't wait to get a GTX670/670Ti or something of that nature and boot it up to see how it compares to my HD5850.

EarthDog · Apr 18, 2012

Right... but that isn't the question here.

What IS that "100%"? Why wouldn't 8gb ram and 2gb vram be enough?

Iceni · Apr 18, 2012

EarthDog said:
Right... but that isn't the question here.

What IS that "100%"? Why wouldn't 8gb ram and 2gb vram be enough?

is the executable 32bit? and is it true DX11?

I know there is a lot of porting for Xbox, and the fact the console is effectively dx9 based, could have a knock on effect in games. We all know about god awful console ports. But could BF3 be actually using DX9? What in game effects are pure dx11?

Also with it been a 32 bit exe things could get a little strange.

32bit only allows for 4gb of ram to be used period. regardless of available ram.
dx9 would force a memory shadow.

If the game is true dx11 (i'll believe anything). then you would have 4gb available for the game with no shadow. But you should never see the game use more than 4GB ever due to 32bit.

brain hurts.....

xenocide · Apr 18, 2012

Iceni said:
is the executable 32bit? and is it true DX11?

I know there is a lot of porting for Xbox, and the fact the console is effectively dx9 based, could have a knock on effect in games. We all know about god awful console ports. But could BF3 be actually using DX9? What in game effects are pure dx11?

Also with it been a 32 bit exe things could get a little strange.

32bit only allows for 4gb of ram to be used period. regardless of available ram.
dx9 would force a memory shadow.

If the game is true dx11 (i'll believe anything). then you would have 4gb available for the game with no shadow. But you should never see the game use more than 4GB ever due to 32bit.

brain hurts.....

The games engine was built from the ground up using DirectX 11, and doesn't support DX9. It was really the first major PC game to do this. I don't know what effects specifically, but I know it is exclusively DirectX 11 (technically also DX10, but runs significantly worse on DX10 cards). I am not 100% positive, but I think it is 64-bit given the amount of System RAM it will use at any time.

I think to achieve full "100%" you'd probably need--quite literally--a best case scenario PC. Something to the tune of SB-E CPU with 16GB of RAM and an HD7970 (only for the VRAM, game plays better on the 680, but that could be because the textures aren't technically at full res).

Cotton_Cup · Apr 20, 2012

actually I LOLed at this when I saw it earlier I was thinking like,if your system doesn't have enough ram and you play bf3 you become dumb, but as I read on it's not the case ^_^.

but I heard that if you got 2gb vram (1080) some people get 1.2gb-1.7gb usage and on some people with 1gb vram like those gtx560ti they get 700-800vram usage. so does that mean that it takes up as much vram as it can while not exceeding your max?

correct me up there too since that one is just speculation base on what Mr.Google shows me.

MxPhenom 216 · Apr 20, 2012

okay Dent1 this is about vram. not system memory. We all know 4gb of system ram isn't enough for BF3

flmatter · Apr 22, 2012

Running 16gb's in my system fixed alot if not all my problems and I have an umlocked 6950 2gb card. Really happy with the way it runs now.

EarthDog · Jun 28, 2012

Update... I have none. But I just saw this unproven (to me) statement pop up again. Reaching out again.

System Name	My baby
Processor	Athlon II X4 620 @ 3.5GHz, 1.45v, NB @ 2700Mhz, HT @ 2700Mhz - 24hr prime95 stable
Motherboard	Asus M4A785TD-V EVO
Cooling	Sonic Tower Rev 2 with 120mm Akasa attached, Akasa @ Front, Xilence Red Wing 120mm @ Rear
Memory	8 GB G.Skills 1600Mhz
Video Card(s)	ATI ASUS Crossfire 5850
Storage	Crucial MX100 SATA 2.5 SSD
Display(s)	Lenovo ThinkVision 27" (LEN P27h-10)
Case	Antec VSK 2000 Black Tower Case
Audio Device(s)	Onkyo TX-SR309 Receiver, 2x Kef Cresta 1, 1x Kef Center 20c
Power Supply	OCZ StealthXstream II 600w, 4x12v/18A, 80% efficiency.
Software	Windows 10 Professional 64-bit

System Name	Old reliable
Processor	Intel 8700K @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix 3666 MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X
Storage	3x SSDs 2x HDDs
Display(s)	Dell U2412M + Samsung TA350
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Samson Meteor Mic / Generic 2.1 / KRK KNS 6400 headset
Power Supply	Zalman EBT-1000
Mouse	Mionix NAOS 7000
Keyboard	Mionix

System Name	Old reliable
Processor	Intel 8700K @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix 3666 MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X
Storage	3x SSDs 2x HDDs
Display(s)	Dell U2412M + Samsung TA350
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Samson Meteor Mic / Generic 2.1 / KRK KNS 6400 headset
Power Supply	Zalman EBT-1000
Mouse	Mionix NAOS 7000
Keyboard	Mionix

Processor	Intel i7-10700k
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aurorus Ultra z490
Cooling	Corsair H100i RGB
Memory	32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming Trio X 3070 LHR
Display(s)	ASUS MG278Q / AOC G2590FX
Case	Corsair X4000 iCue
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM650x 650W Fully Modular
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Gwafwar
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Msi MPG X570 Gaming Plus
Memory	16Gb Adata Spectrix 3600 Cl18
Video Card(s)	Palit GTX970 SLI
Storage	Adata 512Gb SX8200 pro
Display(s)	3x 27" 1080p Lg's
Case	Coolermaster 690 II pure black
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Coolermaster 750W Masterwatt
Mouse	Saitek X65-f HOTAS
Software	Win10 Pro

BF3 lowers IQ if not enough ram?

Dent1

EarthDog

crazyeyesreaper

Not a Moderator

EarthDog

crazyeyesreaper

Not a Moderator

xenocide

EarthDog

Iceni

xenocide

Cotton_Cup

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

flmatter

EarthDog

System Name	Poor Man's Build
Processor	Intel i7 3960X 4.9Ghz Sandy Bridge E
Motherboard	MSi X79A-GD65 8D
Cooling	XSPC 240mm and 360MM (External) Rad
Memory	64Gb Corsair Dominator Platinum
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX770 SC ACX SLI (non water cooled yet)
Storage	Intel 520 240GB SSD x2 /x2 WD Caviar Black 3TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache
Display(s)	ASUS 27" 2560X1440 x3
Case	Corsair 900D (upgraded from my lvl 10 gt and 600T)
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX
Power Supply	Corsair AX1200i 80PLUS Platinum
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate (FPP)

System Name	Ryzen Reflection
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| TechN AM4 AMD Block Black \| EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory	Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage	WD SN850 500GB (OS) \| Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) \| Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s)	Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS \| Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS \| Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case	Lian Li PC-011D XL \| Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s)	FiiO K7 \| Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit

System Name	Matter's / Helios 300 Predator
Processor	Ryzen 7 2700 / i7 7700HQ
Motherboard	B450 Tomahawk / Acer Helios 300 Predator
Cooling	Arctic Freezer eSports Duo
Memory	Patriot Viper ddr4 32gb / 32gb gskill ddr4
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 Super Ventus OC / GTX 1060 6gb
Storage	Patriot Viper nvme M2, crucial MX300 275gb, Samsung 860 qvo 1tb
Display(s)	Acer 24" 1080p / 15.6 1080p HD
Case	Antec 300 / Acer Helios 300 Predator
Audio Device(s)	On Board - Steel Series Arctis Pro Wireless Cans
Power Supply	Antec 850watt high current pro
Mouse	Steel series Rival 600
Keyboard	Corsair K70 / Acer Helios 300 Predator
Software	Win 10 Pro / Win 10 Home