Thread: Computer Upgrade and TF2 Framerate Issues

Question for you computer hardware techies (conscript I'm looking your way): so recently I've noticed that my framerate in TF2 is quite sluggish on certain maps. I have a 8800GT w/ 2GB of RAM on XP, my settings are on high (w/ 2x AA), but I only get 15 fps on maps like corporation and the new goldrush. On other maps I get 30-40fps, especially when there's a lot of action going on. Is this about right? The interesting thing is, when I turn down ALL my settings to medium, I get the exact same fps! No improvement at all, which makes me wonder if it's something else wrong w/ my system.

The computer at my parents house is almost exactly the same, but with an Intel E6750 instead and a non-overclocked 8800GT, and I get up to 50-70fps on most maps with higher settings. Does the CPU make that big of a difference?

Other things about my computer: it has a 3500+ amd athlon single core @2.2ghz and my 8800GT gets up to almost 80 degrees C after a gaming session, as reported by nvidia's monitor program (idle temp is 70ish). Would either a CPU upgrade or an aftermarket VGA cooler help? I was considering either a brisbane core AMD athlon 64 (for around 100 dollars) or a zalman vf1000 cooler? And yes I've cleaned out my case recently. Any experience with the cooler or other suggestions? My old vid card died on my last year after only a year of usage, so I'm wary of overheating issues with this card. Thanks guys!

To me it looks like your processor is bottlenecking your videocard, like you suspected. A few years ago the same happened to me and killed my GPU, so I'd be careful. A CPU upgrade would definitely be a good idea in my opinion, those AMD dual cores are really cheap right now anyway.

Try switching to dx8 mode? That helps with framerates by a lot.

Add this to your TF2 launch options:

Code:

-dxlevel 81

To set launch options, Right-click on TF2 off Steam and go to properties. Then set Launch Options.