Battlefield 4 discussion..

[Dooms]

Annoyingly it looks like BF4 is crashing due to my OC. At 4.2Ghz I can run both Prime & OCCT maxing out all cores without any issue (and never going above 55C) however I'm crashing all the time in BF4 so I knocked it down to 3.8Ghz and haven't crashed in the last 3 hours. Need more testing to see if its just a fluke.

[Biscuit]

Annoyingly it looks like BF4 is crashing due to my OC. At 4.2Ghz I can run both Prime & OCCT maxing out all cores without any issue (and never going above 55C) however I'm crashing all the time in BF4 so I knocked it down to 3.8Ghz and haven't crashed in the last 3 hours. Need more testing to see if its just a fluke.

I had a similar thing with my cpu and bf3. Got it to 4.7 or 4.8 and it ran fine in all the testing apps and benchmarks, ran bf3 and it crashed all the time. I'm running stock at the moment, gotta find the time to get things stable in bf.

[ZaO]

A cpu passing stress tests doesn't make it 100% stable. I've been able to pass lengthy prime95 blend tests that complete all the FFT's. Then crash when barely doing anything, just web browsing. The reason was because the voltage was too low for lower clock speeds and idle. So I had to make some adjustments to Load Line Calibration and offset volts. Also, you can pass all those tests and some games are just a bugger for it, as you have seen Simply trying to boot into a Linux installation is a good test for stability. If you can do it without problems then it's a good sign. My OC that I thought was perfectly stable for a long time just wouldn't boot into Ubuntu without messing up. Never gave me any trouble on Windows though!

[Dooms]

Ah well I'm going to use it as the final push to upgrade my Mobo & CPU. I mean end of the day I'm still running on an original i5 760 which is what? 4/5 years old

It's had a good run and the only thing making me keep it was a stable 50% OC. Think I'll make the switch to a 8350 next week as I have 290X money burning a hole in my pocket but there is no point getting one (or another card) until the non-reference ones come out.

[ik9000]

A cpu passing stress tests doesn't make it 100% stable. I've been able to pass lengthy prime95 blend tests that complete all the FFT's. Then crash when barely doing anything, just web browsing. The reason was because the voltage was too low for lower clock speeds and idle. So I had to make some adjustments to Load Line Calibration and offset volts. Also, you can pass all those tests and some games are just a bugger for it, as you have seen Simply trying to boot into a Linux installation is a good test for stability. If you can do it without problems then it's a good sign. My OC that I thought was perfectly stable for a long time just wouldn't boot into Ubuntu without messing up. Never gave me any trouble on Windows though!

Is that a reflection of the respective footprints of the two OS do you think?

[Sheen]

I've seen some reports from users that BF4 is more stable if you won't do any changes in the video options during game session (so if you change something, restart you PC). I'm going to test this tonight.

[Dooms]

I've seen some reports from users that BF4 is more stable if you won't do any changes in the video options during game session (so if you change something, restart you PC). I'm going to test this tonight.

I could see that being the case but as 95% of people will open the game, change the setting a couple times until the game is running at a solid <insert preferred FPS... lets say 30+> and then never touch the graphics settings ever again its not really an issue

[Biscuit]

I've seen some reports from users that BF4 is more stable if you won't do any changes in the video options during game session (so if you change something, restart you PC). I'm going to test this tonight.

That actually adds up for me, every time i experienced crashing was after changing some settings. Once i had settled and rebooted, I had a nice big long session without any problems... I think.

[ZaO]

Ah well I'm going to use it as the final push to upgrade my Mobo & CPU. I mean end of the day I'm still running on an original i5 760 which is what? 4/5 years old

It's had a good run and the only thing making me keep it was a stable 50% OC. Think I'll make the switch to a 8350 next week as I have 290X money burning a hole in my pocket but there is no point getting one (or another card) until the non-reference ones come out.

Why not crossfire the 7950?

Is that a reflection of the respective footprints of the two OS do you think?

I'm not sure what exactly you mean.. Linux tends to be more sensitive to bad overclocks, or so seems the word on the ubuntu forums. It seemed to be the case with mine as well. Would boot fine when the cpu was at stock..

I've seen some reports from users that BF4 is more stable if you won't do any changes in the video options during game session (so if you change something, restart you PC). I'm going to test this tonight.

Yeh I find that most games benefit from a restart after changing graphics settings. But as said - most people probably get them set how they want quite quickly and then it's not a problem anymore

[Dooms]

Why not crossfire the 7950?

It's tempting but I actually haven't seen any details on how 2x 7950's preform, it was only ever going to be a fill in card when my 460 died and I needed something to keep to going until the new AMD cards came out (it was £200 and came with 9!!!! free games).

[ZaO]

It's tempting but I actually haven't seen any details on how 2x 7950's preform, it was only ever going to be a fill in card when my 460 died and I needed something to keep to going until the new AMD cards came out (it was £200 and came with 9!!!! free games).

7950's are still decent really! the r280x (i think it is) is on par with a 7970 because it's a rebranded 7970. so i'm thinking the r270x or whatever will be like a 7950. i thought these cards were supposed to be great in crossfire! have a look on toms hardware graphics charts, or anandtech to see how they do in cf. looks like your psu will probably be up to the job too. i think it's probably a good option for ya. unless you think you could do better by taking the money you get from your 7950 + the price of another 7950 and get one decent card. i guess that depends on whether you'd have been looking for a secondhand 7950 or not.

btw - does anyone know when a game patch will be out next? the last server patch helped some server disconnect issues, though not all of them. but the game itself seriously needs some work!

[Meatfish]

I had a lot of crashes in the beta but since release I've only had one with about 15 hours of game time. System is an i7 920 OC'd to 3.8 and a ASUS 3GB HD 7970 Matrix Plat. Running BF4 on Ultra and frame rate is normally around 80, dips to 50 when the storms are raging. Make sure you have rock solid overclocks and the latest drivers for everything, not just the GPU. There are some graphics glitches and bugs but the crashing seems to be more about people's poorly optimised individual systems.

[ZaO]

I had a lot of crashes in the beta but since release I've only had one with about 15 hours of game time. System is an i7 920 OC'd to 3.8 and a ASUS 3GB HD 7970 Matrix Plat. Running BF4 on Ultra and frame rate is normally around 80, dips to 50 when the storms are raging. Make sure you have rock solid overclocks and the latest drivers for everything, not just the GPU. There are some graphics glitches and bugs but the crashing seems to be more about people's poorly optimised individual systems.

nah.. this game is definitely a mess! sure some peoples setups don't help the situation, but the game is a mess..

Edit: 13.11 Beta9.2 driver out. Doesn't mention BF4 but I'm giving it a try anyway...
http://support.amd.com/en-us/downloa...s%207%20-%2064

[Dooms]

7950's are still decent really! the r280x (i think it is) is on par with a 7970 because it's a rebranded 7970. so i'm thinking the r270x or whatever will be like a 7950. i thought these cards were supposed to be great in crossfire! have a look on toms hardware graphics charts, or anandtech to see how they do in cf. looks like your psu will probably be up to the job too. i think it's probably a good option for ya. unless you think you could do better by taking the money you get from your 7950 + the price of another 7950 and get one decent card. i guess that depends on whether you'd have been looking for a secondhand 7950 or not.

btw - does anyone know when a game patch will be out next? the last server patch helped some server disconnect issues, though not all of them. but the game itself seriously needs some work!

Was doing some research last night and people are reporting 10-15% faster than a 290X with 2x 7950 so I think I'll go that route. It means I can get a FX8350, Sabertooth mobo and a 2nd 7950 for what I was going to spend on a 290X and that will solve my CPU issue

[ZaO]

Was doing some research last night and people are reporting 10-15% faster than a 290X with 2x 7950 so I think I'll go that route. It means I can get a FX8350, Sabertooth mobo and a 2nd 7950 for what I was going to spend on a 290X and that will solve my CPU issue

nice! you'll be loving that setup mate

[Dooms]

Well its ordered. £460 for 2nd 7950 (with 5 games), FX8350, Sabertooth 2.0 and some thermal paste - Delivered tomorrow!

Bring on some BF4 Ultra @ 1440p!