In TF2 I only get 9 FPS ... Help?

[kabo0m]

I hope this is okay to ask as I have not been able to get any help on this. I only get the same typical answers over and over again. Because I get asked so much I have put it on my Steam Page.

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.00GHz
(x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4, GenuineIntel)
Mobo is a P4s333
1024MB RAM
Main drive is 200 GB (50% free space)
Vid card is RADEON 9800 PRO
1152x864 but I play TF2 in 1024x768 Full Scrn Mode
Sound card is Sound Blaster Audigy
Razer eXactMat X Speed / Control Mouse Pad
I am running on Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2

Yes I have all settings set to minimal in TF2.
Yes I am playing locally.
And finally Yes, it really is just LAAAAG!! (9 fps) But not due to my connection...

On HL1 mods however I get 60-99 fps..

So I was wondering if there were any config tweaks or such to make my game play easier. At the moment I can get up to 15fps when servers only have 8 people in but the one I play on (ODR66 clan servers) fill up pretty fast and then it becomes unplayable for me which is most times ...

 

[Pesmerga]

Your computer specifications are simply not up to par with TF2 requirements, especially your CPU. Your RAM, video card, and CPU could all use an upgrade.

There are no major tweaks you could use to sustain a satisfactory frame rate. Half - Life 1 obviously has lower system requirements, thus you are able to play HL1 mods at such a good frame rate.

 

[Warbie]

Pes is right - TF2 needs more power to run at decent fps when the rockets start flying. You may be able to tweak your cfg to improve performance a touch, but when you're into single figures territory it really isn't worth the effort.

Start saving those pennies

 

[Planetary]

I have worse then that and I can get 60 fps, higher setting then thats too. Enormous fps increase when I started using mat que mod 2, went from around 25 to 60ish. Only trouble is I crash half the time I disconnect from a server.
Still worth it, since I can go straight to another without having to disconnect.

Over here is how to set that up:

http://www.fpsbanana.com/tuts/5790

 

[AciD]

Take a look at this FAQ:
Troubleshooting Gameplay and Performance


Those commands won't work unless you got a dual core CPU, additionally MQM2 makes your screenshots black.

 

[delusional]

try playing in 800x600 resolution instead.

 

[Sheepo]

Upgrade to a GameCube.

 

[(SGA) Doctorwho]

That P4 will work fine for your TF2 needs, but the major sticking point is your ram and video card.

For ram that motherboard of yours takes DDR 200 ram you need at least 2 gigs of ram to get good performance out of TF2. I recommend this Ram from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141172


For a good AGP card get a radeon 3650, I have one in my current machine and I get 50-60 FPS at 1024x768 resolution.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102762

With those upgrades you will get significantly better performance for around $120 dollars.

 

[Pesmerga]

I have worse then that and I can get 60 fps, higher setting then thats too. Enormous fps increase when I started using mat que mod 2, went from around 25 to 60ish. Only trouble is I crash half the time I disconnect from a server.
Still worth it, since I can go straight to another without having to disconnect.

Over here is how to set that up:

http://www.fpsbanana.com/tuts/5790

This only works with dual core CPU's, and no P4 CPUs are dual core.

But I never thought TF2 didn't natively support dual core- I turned this on and pretty much doubled my frame rate, which I thank you for showing me to.

 

[Planetary]

Yeah, I didn't read the whole first post. Still, the word on mat queue mod needs to get out more, maybe Valve will get bothered enough to fix the crashes. One can always dream...

 

[AciD]

You should note that MQM was designed for consoles, and it's leftover in PC version.

 

[Operational]

That P4 will work fine for your TF2 needs, but the major sticking point is your ram and video card.

Waaaaa? His 1GB RAM and 9800 Pro is fine.

Listen up people he meets the minimum requirements. I used to run TF2 on a 1.6GHz Pentium M (below min req), 1GB, 9600 Pro laptop and it was fine.

kabo0m, things I would try:

• A lower res, I used to run 640x480 to get a playable framrate.
• Making sure all the advanced video options are as low as possible. (once you get a good framerate you can start increasing them again)
• Telling TF2 to launch in DirectX 8.0 mode rather than the default 9.0.
• This steam support page Acid posted earlier.
• The latest video drivers.

 

[CyberPitz]

Waaaaa? His 1GB RAM and 9800 Pro is fine.

Listen up people he meets the minimum requirements. I used to run TF2 on a 1.6GHz Pentium M (below min req), 1GB, 9600 Pro laptop and it was fine.

kabo0m, things I would try:

• A lower res, I used to run 640x480 to get a playable framrate.
• Making sure all the advanced video options are as low as possible. (once you get a good framerate you can start increasing them again)
• Telling TF2 to launch in DirectX 8.0 mode rather than the default 9.0.
• This steam support page Acid posted earlier.
• The latest video drivers.

That list didn't help out my roomies computer who has 1 gig ddr300, 2.2ghz Athlon *or something close to that..* 1650 Pro and I'm hitting the single digits. I was gonna try dumping another gig of ram into the thing and see what it will do.

 

[iZ94]

Double Post.
sorry.

 

[iZ94]

If I were you i'd lower as many settings as possible (including the: Video --> Advanced) and take down the resolution (you mentioned that you had already set everything to minimal, however the resolution could go lower). Maybe also try running it in window mode? I find it runs better and its convenient for surfing the web during long respawns or between rounds. I can't help anymore than that as i'm not the brightest when it comes to computers.

Also:

1. His video card is perfectly fine
2. His RAM is perfectly fine aslong as he plays on low settings (This helped me avoid the PagedPoolMemory thing)

 

[Omnomnick]

I used to get something similar to this but it had nothing to do with my Specs.

I just needed a simple Reformat, but, being a man that has his personal phrase as 'Never give up halfway' I bought a second HDD, 500GB for around ?50 and got a friend to rewrite the current XP onto the new HDD so I could keep my data on the other drive while having the new, bigger drive running.

Worked out nicely, I left the problems alone for so many months, eventually XP quite literally died and started BSoDing after about 20 minutes.

 

[Crispy]

That P4 will work fine for your TF2 needs, but the major sticking point is your ram and video card.

For ram that motherboard of yours takes DDR 200 ram you need at least 2 gigs of ram to get good performance out of TF2.

Total rubbish.

On lowest settings his setup will run TF2 fine. The game should run at a better framerate than he's getting. I ran TF2 on 1 GB RAM for ages and never had any major problems, because I had all the gfx settings at lowest. My brother has the same GFX card and has never experienced any major issues with framerate.

The good thing is that even on lowest settings, the art style in TF2 is very forgiving on lowest settings. The only thing you're really missing out on is the details on the characters' facial animations.

---
[Edit: Operational mentioned most of these]

Things I would check:
- turn all GFX settings to lowest (be sure to set High Dynamic Range to 'Off')

- run in a lower resolution, check the framerate, then try the next step up

- turn off any programs running in the background such as download managers, Steam game updates, even internet browsers (Firefox right now is taking up 9MB of memory for me, which is 1% of your memory, and more than Steam uses when idle)

- check your PC for malware such as adware, spyware and viruses, which could be running in the background and using your CPU, RAM and bandwidth

- check your ping on the scoreboard, does this server deliver a solid performance? Try a different one, or try creating a server offline and seeing if you still get a performance hit

- try to connect to servers under 150ms latency for a more reliable connection (optimum under 50ms if you can)

 

[V-Man339]

Man, you are LUCKY.
Think about the value of this. You bought one fps game, and you got nine.

Wow, you lucky bastard you.

 

[Operational]

That list didn't help out my roomies computer who has 1 gig ddr300, 2.2ghz Athlon *or something close to that..* 1650 Pro and I'm hitting the single digits.

That's really odd, the OP's problem is probably just an ambitious res setting, but I dunno what to make of your problem. Maybe it's non-TF2 related, do other games run fine?

 

[Lobster]

One other thing you could try is manualy toggling down the DX level of the game, if it hasnt done it automaticly for you that is.

I think you need to add the line -dxlevel 80 into the Launch Options in steam, it results in things getting pretty fugly, but if FPS is what your after, its worth a try.

 

[kabo0m]

Waaaaa? His 1GB RAM and 9800 Pro is fine.

Listen up people he meets the minimum requirements. I used to run TF2 on a 1.6GHz Pentium M (below min req), 1GB, 9600 Pro laptop and it was fine.

kabo0m, things I would try:

• A lower res, I used to run 640x480 to get a playable framrate.
• Making sure all the advanced video options are as low as possible. (once you get a good framerate you can start increasing them again)
• Telling TF2 to launch in DirectX 8.0 mode rather than the default 9.0.
• This steam support page Acid posted earlier.
• The latest video drivers.

Thx mate Yeah I know I should be able to run it and have all setting turned down to minimal... all I can figure is that when a trojan got into my computer earlier this year .. even though I was able to get rid of it .. that there is still some residual effects to the registry (By the way, I am not a he)

:sniper:

Also thanks Crispy! :thumbs: Those tips are helpful. I already have the launch settings as "-dxlevel 81 -width 800 -height 600" so thinking it is malware. But I have run everything and looks like I will have to reinstall Windows XP all over again

 

[Crispy]

Apologies for jumping to conclusions

If you need help doing any techy stuff with reformatting or re-installing Windows, just go to the Tech forum. There's a few really savvy people in there who know their stuff. :thumbs:

 

[kabo0m]

Apologies for jumping to conclusions

If you need help doing any techy stuff with reformatting or re-installing Windows, just go to the Tech forum. There's a few really savvy people in there who know their stuff. :thumbs:

Thanks! :imu: I am a little intimidated of redoing Windows even though I have before with phone help from my my fiance walking me through lol. I will check out the Tech forum. I don't want to lose everything and that is my main concern of why I have been putting off the inevitable.

Oh ya and last time I forgot to say the server I play TF2 on I have been getting 17ms on .. and that is the one where I get the 9fps - 17fps.