PC Gaming- Am I doing it wrong?

Hey,

I have recently been getting into PC gaming but have been getting some mixed vibes from some of the games I have been playing. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 and 2011 for instance I have had issues with, 2008 for example will not recognise my 5770 GPU so forces me to use low resolution and low graphics settings, 2011 has frame rate issues regardless of what settings I put the game on.

I keep debating if I am making a mistake and should go back to being primarily a console gamer, but even now playing Fifa, I find people use unusual tactics (like in one match a guy scored then paused three times in a row, tried to get me to quit, then when I scored would score own goals and it was a very odd match in general). I like the PC side of the flexibility and the range of choice on games and services available. However I am disappointed by some of the games such as Pro Evo as I have already mentioned. This worries me with Max Payne 3 and Ghost Recon, that they will not be the best in terms of frame rate stability and other issues.

So I would love to hear feedback on this.

Thanks.

It's a bit hard to pinpoint what the problem is based on your description, but to start: make sure your drivers (especially your card) are updated correctly and your games up-to-date.

@bonorbitz said:

It's a bit hard to pinpoint what the problem is based on your description, but to start: make sure your drivers (especially your card) are updated correctly and your games up-to-date.

I have got the latest Catalyst drivers (I had artifacts on Skyrim which were apparently due to using an older version of the ATI drivers, however it seems that did not work so I have had to turn AA off on Skyrim). I am not sure why Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 has frame rate issues, its when I go into the main pitch area (i.e. into the lighter parts of the stadium) the game seems to skip frames. However I have above the recommended system specifications (a Q8300 Quad Core Intel CPU, 4 gigs DDR 2 memory, 1 gig ATI 5770).

sports games on a computer? i think you might be doing it wrong. it's all about downloading mods that people have made. enjoying the mods.

@JohnLocke said:

@bonorbitz said:

It's a bit hard to pinpoint what the problem is based on your description, but to start: make sure your drivers (especially your card) are updated correctly and your games up-to-date.

I have got the latest Catalyst drivers (I had artifacts on Skyrim which were apparently due to using an older version of the ATI drivers, however it seems that did not work so I have had to turn AA off on Skyrim). I am not sure why Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 has frame rate issues, its when I go into the main pitch area (i.e. into the lighter parts of the stadium) the game seems to skip frames. However I have above the recommended system specifications (a Q8300 Quad Core Intel CPU, 4 gigs DDR 2 memory, 1 gig ATI 5770).

Then I'm at a loss because I'm not familiar with ATI cards and drivers all that well. What is your power supply? Is your computer well ventilated and have you opened it up and gently cleaned it out with a can of air?

I have never played Pro Evo before, but FIFA runs flawlessly on my PC. If I had to guess, you received bad advice on buying an ATI card. I used to have a dual 4870's and sold it within the year because I was sick of driver issues (waiting a month after a games release to play with SLI turned on, shadow flickering, unoptimized performance on an individual game basis, developers designing games for NVIDIA cards), since I have been using NVIDIA I haven't seen a single issue mentioned above.

@bonorbitz said:

@JohnLocke said:

@bonorbitz said:

It's a bit hard to pinpoint what the problem is based on your description, but to start: make sure your drivers (especially your card) are updated correctly and your games up-to-date.

I have got the latest Catalyst drivers (I had artifacts on Skyrim which were apparently due to using an older version of the ATI drivers, however it seems that did not work so I have had to turn AA off on Skyrim). I am not sure why Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 has frame rate issues, its when I go into the main pitch area (i.e. into the lighter parts of the stadium) the game seems to skip frames. However I have above the recommended system specifications (a Q8300 Quad Core Intel CPU, 4 gigs DDR 2 memory, 1 gig ATI 5770).

Then I'm at a loss because I'm not familiar with ATI cards and drivers all that well. What is your power supply? Is your computer well ventilated and have you opened it up and gently cleaned it out with a can of air?

I would say so, its an 800 watt PSU I think, or 850 (or whatever output the PSU should be giving if Watt is not the correct one). It runs fine with most other games, I just assume it is a half hearted port as I have heard of Konami games doing this before such as Metal Gear Solid 2 would not allow you to use a mouse in game as part of the control scheme.

@MonetaryDread said:

I have never played Pro Evo before, but FIFA runs flawlessly on my PC. If I had to guess, you received bad advice on buying an ATI card. I used to have a dual 4870's and sold it within the year because I was sick of driver issues (waiting a month after a games release to play with SLI turned on, shadow flickering, unoptimized performance on an individual game basis, developers designing games for NVIDIA cards), since I have been using NVIDIA I haven't seen a single issue mentioned above.

What GPU are you using? I assume you are playing Fifa 12? I may have to give it a go.

Could be something game specific with the FIFAs, I have a 5770 and I've not had any troubles with it at all. Including Crysis 2 and Skyrim.

You are trading off potentially better framerate and graphics for a whole myriad of bugs that can and often will happen. Until pc gaming becomes a bizarre unified conglomerate with universal parts then you will always run the risk of having that unique pc setup that the game just doesn't play nice with.

So is this a common issue? It is starting to put me off using my PC as my main gaming machine if this is what it will be like with a lot of games. I do not mind the occasional bug or glitch but I want a good frame rate and nice graphics.

In all honesty I am very confused over whether to stick at my PC focus or go back to the Xbox and Playstation. I am probably reading far too much into this.

@JohnLocke: you have an ATI video card? You're fucked.

You're playing a Japanese Football game on the PC, there's your problem dude.

@AlexW00d said:

You're playing a Japanese Football game on the PC, there's your problem dude.

Japanese football games are better than US/Europe football games, though.

But, seriously, on the PC? At least tell me you're using a controller, at least that.

@Winternet said:

@AlexW00d said:

You're playing a Japanese Football game on the PC, there's your problem dude.

Japanese football games are better than US/Europe football games, though.

But, seriously, on the PC? At least tell me you're using a controller, at least that.

Yes, I am using my Xbox 360 wired pad. Use it for a few games on there like racing games, sports, and some action games such as Just Cause 2 (as it is easier to fly/drive around with the pad I find).

@JohnLocke said:

@Winternet said:

@AlexW00d said:

You're playing a Japanese Football game on the PC, there's your problem dude.

Japanese football games are better than US/Europe football games, though.

But, seriously, on the PC? At least tell me you're using a controller, at least that.

Yes, I am using my Xbox 360 wired pad. Use it for a few games on there like racing games, sports, and some action games such as Just Cause 2 (as it is easier to fly/drive around with the pad I find).

Fifa has been miles better than Pro Evo for some years now tbh.

And dude, the PC is not where sports game devs are aiming to sell many copies; and Japanese devs don't give a fuck about PC either, so you really picked the wrong game.

You are trading off potentially better framerate and graphics for a whole myriad of bugs that can and often will happen. Until pc gaming becomes a bizarre unified conglomerate with universal parts then you will always run the risk of having that unique pc setup that the game just doesn't play nice with.

@AlexW00d said:

@JohnLocke said:

@Winternet said:

@AlexW00d said:

You're playing a Japanese Football game on the PC, there's your problem dude.

Japanese football games are better than US/Europe football games, though.

But, seriously, on the PC? At least tell me you're using a controller, at least that.

Yes, I am using my Xbox 360 wired pad. Use it for a few games on there like racing games, sports, and some action games such as Just Cause 2 (as it is easier to fly/drive around with the pad I find).

Fifa has been miles better than Pro Evo for some years now tbh.

And dude, the PC is not where sports game devs are aiming to sell many copies; and Japanese devs don't give a fuck about PC either, so you really picked the wrong game.

Ah well, it was £0.98 from a local store for each version of the game, seemed worth a shot. I may pick up FIfa some time then for my PC.

@JohnLocke: Oh, well for 98p I guess you got an all right deal. The recent Fifa on PC is a crock of shit too though, they completely left out all the cool collision physics they coded for the console version. But then that stuff was broken as hell, so I guess it's for the best.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Humanity said:

You are trading off potentially better framerate and graphics for a whole myriad of bugs that can and often will happen. Until pc gaming becomes a bizarre unified conglomerate with universal parts then you will always run the risk of having that unique pc setup that the game just doesn't play nice with.

Excuse me?

PC games have more bugs than console games. These bugs result from hardware/driver incompatibilities. Realistically developers cannot test every possible pc combination so thats where some of these bugs come from. Consoles do not suffer this issue because you design for a locked subset of components. Consoles are limited to those components so they will not be able to achieve the same performance as new pc parts that are constantly evolving. You will encounter more issues from the PC side of gaming because of this situation. This is a trade-off you must decide on if you wish to game on a pc rather than on a console. I hope that cleared it up sufficiently.

@AlexW00d said:

And dude, the PC is not where sports game devs are aiming to sell many copies; and Japanese devs don't give a fuck about PC either, so you really picked the wrong game.

Yea. If you're basing your decision mostly on poorly ported sports games, then I can see why you're running into issues. That said, ATI tends to be a bit behind the curve when it comes to drivers, though their hardware is solid. If you play a lot of games with your PC, you will likely run into at least one or two problematic games (especially old games). Thankfully, most problems can be solved with a minor amount of troubleshooting and searching the internet.

If you prefer a controller, games that are developed primarily for consoles, and a completely tinker-free experience, then use your console. Or use both. There's no reason why you have to exclusively choose one over the other.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Humanity said:

You are trading off potentially better framerate and graphics for a whole myriad of bugs that can and often will happen. Until pc gaming becomes a bizarre unified conglomerate with universal parts then you will always run the risk of having that unique pc setup that the game just doesn't play nice with.

Excuse me?

PC games have more bugs than console games. These bugs result from hardware/driver incompatibilities. Realistically developers cannot test every possible pc combination so thats where some of these bugs come from. Consoles do not suffer this issue because you design for a locked subset of components. Consoles are limited to those components so they will not be able to achieve the same performance as new pc parts that are constantly evolving. You will encounter more issues from the PC side of gaming because of this situation. This is a trade-off you must decide on if you wish to game on a pc rather than on a console. I hope that cleared it up sufficiently.

@AhmadMetallic: Sure, I agree but it is an issue you should be aware of when going into PC gaming. For instance Jeffs problem with Dead Island where he would have to disconnect his second monitor to play the game at all. I had gamed on a PC all my early teenage and adult life and had to put up with numerous issues along the years. Times have definitely moved forward though so it's not that big a deal. Back in the early 2000's I was walking home from school, with my new copy of Slave Zero purchased from Comp USA giddy as all - only to constantly face crashes after installing the game and not being able to even start it up. I just want to underline that as something that is incredibly frustrating, especially after you have paid honest money for a product you want to enjoy, and is basically a non-issue on consoles these days. You are almost always (99% of the time) guaranteed a stress free experience. Just earlier this year I purchased Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine because it was cheap and the fiction was cool - and I kept having issues with sound getting all glitchy. Looked online to see if it's common, couldn't find anything on it - updated my audio drivers and nothing, just had to bear with it. So yah it's definitely better these days, but not perfect.

@JohnLocke: If you are really into games like multiplayer in soccer sports games and Max Payne 3 then yeah I would stick it out with consoles duder.

Those versions have the utmost priority with the developer.

I have yet to hear you talk about having issues with Diablo 3 or trying to get Day Z to run on Arma II after that quick look, so you might be on the wrong platform.

@Doctorchimp said:

@JohnLocke: If you are really into games like multiplayer in soccer sports games and Max Payne 3 then yeah I would stick it out with consoles duder.

Those versions have the utmost priority with the developer.

I have yet to hear you talk about having issues with Diablo 3 or trying to get Day Z to run on Arma II after that quick look, so you might be on the wrong platform.

Well I seem to go in phases with Fifa, on the Xbox I will play it when I feel in a football mood and I rarely touch the game modes versus the AI. I did read that a developer at Rockstar claimed the PC version was the best version of the game but I am not sure what details were given why as I did not read the article. I am probably over thinking, as another user pointed out, I do not need to have to commit solely to one platform. I just find it difficult given I have the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, where frankly a lot of games are shared across all three systems in choosing which would be the best edition to go with (I picked Portal 2 on Xbox 360 for instance, but ended up buying it on PC last week due to the Steam sale and the Portal 2 level editor being PC only).

That seems to be my main issue, that, and the console games are £10 more in the UK over their PC equivalent more often than not (so I guess it would fall in line with $60 for console $50 for PC pricing that I gather occurs in the USA?)

If you want to be a PC gamer, try playing PC games. Sports games on the PC have mostly sucked for obvious reasons.

@JohnLocke: Oh fuck, you have a 5770 to? I'm so sorry mate. That card is a sack of shit, particularly reference models. I constantly have compatibility issues, shit performance, etc.

Get a mid-range nvidia card and I'm willing to bet you'll be better off. I hate ATI at this point, I am so done with them.

Also, sports games, especially already kind of obscure ones, are going to be bad on PC. They just don't optimize them for PC. It's a bummer, but maybe keep a console around for those, where you'll have more competition, and more reliability, and focus the rest of your gaming on PC?

Sounds reasonable, that actually makes a lot of sense. I will see how things go, there are some interesting points in this thread and I appreciate the feedback.

My friends with ATI cards always have problems.

I wasn't too impressed with the drivers from ati either coming from nvidia. Sure it was an upgrade in terms of power, but I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to just revert back to my old card.

the 5000 series of ati cards dont support opengl 4.0.

so any games that use newer versions of opengl will run into issues on your card.

i have a 6870, and run plenty of games at high spec with no problems. AMD is getting better at updating their cards drivers.

@Amilmitt said:

the 5000 series of ati cards dont support opengl 4.0.

so any games that use newer versions of opengl will run into issues on your card.

i have a 6870, and run plenty of games at high spec with no problems. AMD is getting better at updating their cards drivers.

Pretty sure the 5000 series does support OpenGL 4.0, as far as I know. D:

hang in there, pc gaming is wonderful once you start learning.

@iam3green said:

sports games on a computer? i think you might be doing it wrong. it's all about downloading mods that people have made. enjoying the mods.

Agreed. Don't play the FIFA or PES games on PC. The PC port is always an afterthought. PC gaming is all about exclusives, RPGs, RTSs, FPSs and kick ass graphics. And mods.Lots and lots of crazy mods

Sports games and PC don't mix well usually.

I know that EA often water down there pc sports games or use an older engine for them, I am not sure if Konami dose the same thing.