Low performance with TF2

[martirio3000]

I recently installed TF2 on my PC which is supposed to be able to handle it and it seems that i cant get it to work. I always have like 90% CPU usage and 30%GPU usage. I have tried lowest settings and resolution but still i lag. It is smooth while in waiting room but when the fight starts everything turns out to be unplayable. I have tried playing with ubuntu 12.10 and now i am on 13.04 . Kernel 3.8.0.5. With Asus radeon 6450 HD (latest 13.2 Catalyst installed).

Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
Speed: 1800 Mhz
2 logical processors
2 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Unsupported
SSE42: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (development branch) (32 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 3.8.0-5-generic
X Server vendor: The X.Org Foundation
X Server release: 11302000

Video Card:
Driver: ATI Technologies Inc. AMD Radeon HD 6450

Driver Version: 4.2.12171 Compatibility Profile Context 12.10.17
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz
VendorID: 0x1002
DeviceID: 0x6779
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
Primary Display Resolution: 1440 x 900
Desktop Resolution: 1440 x 900
Primary Display Size: 16,14" x 10,12" (19,02" diag)
41,0cm x 25,7cm (48,3cm diag)
Primary VRAM Not Detected

Sound card:
Audio device: ATI R6xx HDMI

Memory:
RAM: 2016 Mb

[Sir Rainboom S> battle bob]

Is there any bottlenecks like cpu ? I know with my computer it has 2gb of ram and plays like ♥♥♥♥ because of it futhermore it played less laggy on windows

[martirio3000]

TF2 claims to need just a 1.7 GHZ proccesor and mine is 1.8 Dual Core. Shouldnt i be able to play it? Even on lowest! Cpu is the bottleneck while it shouldnt.

[Private Andersmith [Linux]]

For some reason same hardware on linux as on windows can be waaaayyy slower. also this probably should have been reported on the github page.

[[Linux]sulman]

Your card is pretty anaemic for gaming stuff - I've got a test box with a 5450 (the predecessor to yours) and it doesn't cope well with newer games.

Combine that with the fact that AMD have only recently started a development push on their linux drivers, and it is understandable that you get better FPS in Windows.

TF2 had a significant update in 2010, so it's not as friendly to older hardware anymore.

My laptop has a similar CPU to yours and it's borderline for games like this. I wouldn't splurge on a new card at this point because you're still going to be bottlenecked by your CPU and your RAM (especially by Ubuntu standards) is pushing it. 2GB is still more than adequate for Linux nowadays but you've picked one of the fattest distros out there.

[Sir Rainboom S> battle bob]

maybe you could try to get a nvidia card they have a lot better driver preformance

[martirio3000]

Well i previouslt had an Nvidia 8400GS which died after 4,5 years of use and i bought a radeon. It was cheap and i wasnt expecting to play any games on my computer because there simple werent any available. Anyway the problem exists with alot of games. Trine 2 for example uses only 50% of my cpu and GPU. as a result it has 17fps. Shank 2 sometimes feel laggy too. I think my cpu is powerful enough for these games. (this computer is old it is from 2007.)

[ack0954]

Can you say more about the CPU? From that time and those specs it seems like it might be a Pentium D or a Celeron chip, and those were extremely anemic compared to more modern chips that are on the market.

[Sir Rainboom S> battle bob]

like ack0954 said a Pentium D or a Celeron chip even as dual core processor can't handle much and if one of those processors are yours thats a big bottleneck

[martirio3000]

http://ark.intel.com/products/29739/Intel-Pentium-Processor-E2160-(1M-Cache-1_80-GHz-800-MHz-FSB)
thats my babe ;). So there is not any magic fix?

[[Linux]sulman]

Messaggio originale di martirio3000:

http://ark.intel.com/products/29739/Intel-Pentium-Processor-E2160-(1M-Cache-1_80-GHz-800-MHz-FSB)
thats my babe ;). So there is not any magic fix?

Pretty common low-midrange CPU back in the day, by no means bad, but TF2 has come a long way since release and has always been pretty CPU intensive.

[martirio3000]

Well thank you for the information :)
It is worth to mention that i did managed to play Skyrim/Crysys 1 and Crysys 2 and trine 1 on this PC XD (i am used at 20fps gaming)

[[Linux]sulman]

Haha, I'd be amazed if you got that out of Crysis. I think It was a long time before I got that running well.

Windows/ATI will have an edge for a little while as the drivers are mature. There's still a lot of work to be done on the Linux ones.

Still, your performance problems may lie elsewhere - it's hard to know for sure.

[gutigen o)]

30%GPU usage? How did you measure GPU usage under Linux? :)

[martirio3000]

watch aticonfig --odgc for amd.
I managed to play Crysis with nvidia 8400GS and 1.8 GHZ and now i cant play TF2 or trine 2 ? pfff.....

[NA]

Keep in mind that Valve is currently optimizing for Ubuntu 12.04 (and the Unity environment) to begin with, and that 32-bit is still the safest bet. Although many have successfully run Steam in other versions and even distros, I can attest to this setup working well. TF2 and all of my other higher-performance Steam Linux games run smoothly, and my system isn't really anything special. (The nVidia drivers also happen to be a little ahead right now, as Valve and Canonical have been working closely with them.)