READ BEFORE YOU POST: I have a laptop not suited for gaming. Please don't post things like "Wow, that's a **** laptop." or "Laptops are not for gaming." Also, please do not post that I should get a new computer; I won't for reasons that I will not explain. My Laptop Specifications: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba - Satellite 17.3" Laptop - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - Satin Black/6978466.p?id=1218817842976&skuId=6978466#tab=specifications I know that the PS2 Devs are still trying to optimize Planetside 2 and I hope that the optimization patch in January will boost my frame rate a bit so I can enjoy Planetside 2 more. However, I want to do whatever I can meanwhile to make Planetside 2 run at the highest frame rate possible with this laptop I have. Browsing the forums, I've read that frame rate issues can either come from the Graphics Card or the CPU. However, I do not know how to check which one is causing frame rate issues for me. If they both are, I don't know which one is worst. In the past threads I have made concerning my frame rate, I've gotten mixed answers that it's either my CPU or GPU. Can anyone please tell me how to check? Or even better, just straight up tell me which one of them is causing me my frame rate problems. After the problem has been identified, I would also like to take suggestions on how to increase my frame rate. (I've heard that if GPU is the problem, decrease render quality and if CPU is the problem, decrease render distance.) With the graphics setting turned at low and the render distance at 1000 and render quality at .5, I can get about 30 fps in the warpgate, 20 in small skirmishes, and 10-15 in massive battles. Please post and comment below. Thanks.
Press ALT+F in game and whatever it says in the bottom left hand corner, for example GPU or CPU, then that is what is holding you back. Are you really running this game on Intel HD mobile graphics? You have my respect.
This is straight from the developer that posted in this forum: PlanetSide 2: Optimizing Performance http://www.gearhack.com/Forums/Disp...uter/Games/PlanetSide_2._Optimize_Performance Use Alt-F in game to trigger the FPS monitor. In your case, you can simply set everything to low and turn all graphics options to off. Use the lowest resolution. That will obviously give you the highest frame rate.
In retrospect, I'll probably drop my 6490M back from pushing 1400x900 back to something closer to 1024x768 (groan!) I'll probably up the FOV some to compensate. That said, memory's a tad low and could be better. Any chance of buying SO-DIMMs in the near future?
It's hard to play a game with so many particles being created every second. Intel HD graphics aren't made for gaming and I doubt you'll ever play this game without lag even after optimizations with that laptop.
[Display] FullscreenRefresh=0 Maximized=0 FullscreenWidth=1024 FullscreenHeight=768 WindowedWidth=1336 WindowedHeight=752 RenderQuality=0.500000 Mode=WindowedFullscreen FullscreenMode=Windowed [Rendering] GraphicsQuality=3 TextureQuality=2 ShadowQuality=2 RenderDistance=-1000 Gamma=0.600000 MaximumFPS=150 UseLod0a=0 VSync=0 OverallQuality=-1 LightingQuality=3 FogShadowsEnable=0 EffectsQuality=2 TerrainQuality=2 FloraQuality=2 ModelQuality=2 ParticleLOD=1 MotionBlur=0 VerticalFOV=47 AO=0 [Controls] CameraAutoAdjustment=1 ClickToMove=0 ClickToMoveRightButton=0 RailCamera=1 [Sound] Master=0.920000 Music=0.000000 Game=1.000000 Dialog=1.000000 UI=1.000000 UseFloat32Output=0 ExclusiveMode=0 HitIndicator=1 LowAmmoIndicator=1 VehicleChatter=1 [VideoCapture] Resolution=2 Quality=100 OutputFile=C:\Users\xbrown1x\Videos\Planetside2\PS2Video_0001 [VideoStreamer] Resolution=1 Fps=30 Kbps=0 MicRecordVolume=0.000000 SpeakerRecordVolume=1.000000 Username= [Terrain] RenderFlora=On [AutoRefuse] FriendInvitation=0 DuelInvitation=0 GuildInvitation=0 HideUi=1 TradeRequest=0 HousingInvitation=0 GroupInvitation=0 [General] AutoDetectPerformanceSettings=0 InvertVerticalFly=1 MouseSensitivity=0.390000 FixedMinimap=0 Profanity=0 MouseRawInput=1 ScopedMouseSensitivity=0.730000 FlightMouseSensitivity=0.620000 ReduceInputLag=1 [Video] VideoCapturePrefix=PS2Video [VoiceChat] EchoEnabled=1 EchoVolume=0.500000 ProximityEnabled=1 ProximityVolume=0.500000 FactionEnabled=1 FactionVolume=0.500000 GroupEnabled=1 GroupVolume=0.500000 GroupLeaderEnabled=1 GroupLeaderVolume=0.500000 RaidEnabled=1 RaidVolume=0.500000 GuildEnabled=1 GuildVolume=0.500000 CustomEnabled=1 CustomVolume=0.500000 InputDevice=Default System Device OutputDevice=Default System Device [Voice] ReceiveVolume=73.000000 MicrophoneVolume=50.000000 [UI] WelcomeScreenShown=1 MapZoomLevel=4 MapPositionX=278.8879509503489 MapPositionY=110.7548543594026 ShowMapTutorial=0 MapCenterOnPlayer=0 MapStatisticsView=1 MapFilterShowSquad=1 ShowCertsTutorial=1
When I press Alt F4, at first it said GPU but it constantly switches back and forth between CPU and GPU...
When it shows CPU, it means your CPU is the bottleneck at that moment. Same for GPU. If it switches back and forth all the time, then it's already optimized for your system. See the link I provided for explanation.
Well, you have already cast away the other option you have. Another possible option I can think of is overclocking. But the FPS you quoted is pretty good for the laptop you have. So maybe just play as is.
Set the resolution in game to the same as what your screen is made for (1600x900) then reduce all in game settings to the absolute lowest. Set render distance to 70%. If the game does not play well, try lowering the render distance further until you reach a minimum acceptable point for you. If it is still not playable start reducing the resolution. Find a resolution where it becomes playable again with the low settings and start raising the settings again one by one as long as the game remains playable. If the game switches from GPU/CPU you are "optimized" as to how the workload is divided between the CPU/GPU. You can however still make improvements on fps if you follow the above.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it out and post when I get the results. By the way, what would you think the minimum render distance would be for it to not significantly affect my gameplay? Also, by resolution, do you mean render quality?
Resolution is the number of pixels on your screen, if you look really closely at your screen you will see tiny squares, this is a pixel. The more pixels, the more detailed and taxing for the gpu it is to render. HD movies are 1080p which is typically used in 16:9 ratio giving 1920x1080 (1920/1080=16/9). Before HD or "full HD" many used "HDready" which was the cheaper 720p version. This was most commonly used as 1280x720. If you compare 1080p and 720p it might not seem as a huge difference, but in the amount of pixels it is. 1920*1080 = 2 073 600 pixels 1280*720 = 921 600 pixels This is why lowering the resolution will have the best performance gain, but it is also the biggest quality drop. This is because a screen with 1600x900 pixels, like yours, will still have that many pixels even if you tell it to run the game at 1280x720. What it does is take a 1280x720 image and stretch it over a 1600x900 screen. Now the important thing is that you at least choose a resolution with the same aspect ratio otherwise it will look awkward Luckily 1600x900 is also a 16:9 ratio screen. I notice I often put too much information in my posts..
Its not really worth overclocking on a laptop due to the fact that you can't increase the amount of cooling easily and they run hot enough already.
Upon further inspecting, I discovered it was actually that my CPU seems to be causing more trouble than my GPU. The only time it reads GPU when I press Alt+F is in the warpgate. Whenever I venture out, even in the smallest of skirmishes, it always says CPU so I'm guessing my CPU is causing the problems. It's weird because most people think my GPU is the worst while it's really the CPU causing problems. Besides lowering render distance and waiting for the optimization patch in January, is there any other way I can improve my FPS?
