GTS 250 and Borderlands 2

[CU]

Was not sure how this old card would handle BL2, but it handles it pretty well. With everything max at 1080p except no AA and low physx it runs at 40-50fps. Atleast as far as I have seen in the first 8 hours of playing. I didn't think my 512meg GTS 250 would do this well and I couldn't find a benchmark showing it in BL2.

I do have one question. I turned on high physx just to see what would happen. Well single digit fps happened. Is there a way to use the cpu instead of the gpu even if you have a Nvidia card? I don't think high would work, but maybe medium? I assume it was using my GTS 250 to try and render the game and do the physx. I don't plan to buy a new video card any time soon, so it would be nice to put the extra cpu cycles to work doing physx work.

 

[toyota]

40-50 fps sounds like a huge stretch for max settings using a gts250. my oced gtx560 se, which is almost twice as fast as your card was only about 12-15 fps faster than that. in fact I had to disable the black outlines to get a consistent 60 fps.

and you dont wont to run the physx on your cpu as it will really tank in some spots.

 

[CU]

Standing in the Sanctuary right now getting 48fps watching the mortars explode on the shields at night.

 

[bigted41]

turning off ambient occlusion is one thing that will boost frames and offers little. i would turn that off too and see if that raises FPS.

as far as physx, the only way i know to try and get it to push onto the CPU is to go to the nvidia control panel and set physx to CPU only instead of what the default option is. however, cpu physx is terrible and the gts 250 is a pretty weak physx card, especially as the primary gfx card. you are better off leaving it off.

have fun in BL2, i know i do!

 

[CU]

Double checked my settings and I do have bullet decals set at normal. Not sure if that is a big fps boost or not.

 

[toyota]

Double checked my settings and I do have bullet decals set at normal. Not sure if that is a big fps boost or not.

I am looking at benchmarks right now which back up what I said earlier. there is no way you average 40-50 fps with a gts250 on max settings at 1920x1080. you may get that in spots but no way is that your overall average.

 

[tviceman]

I do have one question. I turned on high physx just to see what would happen. Well single digit fps happened. Is there a way to use the cpu instead of the gpu even if you have a Nvidia card? I don't think high would work, but maybe medium? I assume it was using my GTS 250 to try and render the game and do the physx. I don't plan to buy a new video card any time soon, so it would be nice to put the extra cpu cycles to work doing physx work.

In the Nvidia control panel (accessed by right clicking on the desktop) there is a "set physx configuration" setting on the left hand side. You can tell the driver to force CPU. But FYI, you will almost entirely guaranteed not get good performance.

 

[toyota]

In the Nvidia control panel (accessed by right clicking on the desktop) there is a "set physx configuration" setting on the left hand side. You can tell the driver to force CPU. But FYI, you will almost entirely guaranteed not get good performance.

if you do that it will simply grey out the option for anything above low physx in this game. of course there are ways around that.

 

[CU]

I am looking at benchmarks right now which back up what I said earlier. there is no way you average 40-50 fps with a gts250 on max settings at 1920x1080. you may get that in spots but no way is that your overall average.

I will use fraps to log my fps the next time I play. But, watching fraps during gun fights it is in the 40's. Is there a built in benchmark command I can run? Do the benchmarks you are looking at include the GTS 250?

 

[toyota]

I will use fraps to log my fps the next time I play. But, watching fraps during gun fights it is in the 40's. Is there a built in benchmark command I can run? Do the benchmarks you are looking at include the GTS 250?

http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page3.html

the slowest card on here is a 6750 which is basically dead even with a gts250. my oced gtx560 se was wee bit faster than a gtx460 and my results are right in line with what they show for the gtx460 here.

 

[CU]

http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page3.html

the slowest card on here is a 6750 which is basically dead even with a gts250. my oced gtx560 se was wee bit faster than a gtx460 and my results are right in line with what they show for the gtx460 here.

But they have AA turned on. I said I didn't use AA. That would make a big difference in fps.

 

[3DVagabond]

Possible explanation?

OP states, "Atleast as far as I have seen in the first 8 hours of playing." Also note settings are without AA.

TS states, "We'll use Fraps to measure frame rates during 90 seconds of gameplay footage from Borderlands 2's second level, "Southern Shelf." The test begins at the start of the level and here the frame rate is quite high as there is little scenery. However, the frame rate quickly dives as the player walks out into an open area and battles some Brat Bullymong." They are using AA as well.

This is enough, I think, to make the comparison between the OP's stated performance and TS's performance non comparable. I would at least not call BS with such conviction, Toyota. Especially if you consider say, TechPowerUp's performance supposedly under the same conditions as TechSpot's. I have asked W1zzard to confirm his settings, but it should be max in game settings w/4xAA, Low PhysX.

Looking at TPU's results makes the OP's more believable than looking at TS's results.

 

[bguile]

Was not sure how this old card would handle BL2, but it handles it pretty well. With everything max at 1080p except no AA and low physx it runs at 40-50fps. Atleast as far as I have seen in the first 8 hours of playing. I didn't think my 512meg GTS 250 would do this well and I couldn't find a benchmark showing it in BL2.

I do have one question. I turned on high physx just to see what would happen. Well single digit fps happened. Is there a way to use the cpu instead of the gpu even if you have a Nvidia card? I don't think high would work, but maybe medium? I assume it was using my GTS 250 to try and render the game and do the physx. I don't plan to buy a new video card any time soon, so it would be nice to put the extra cpu cycles to work doing physx work.

I've got the same card, except I run at 1680 x 1050. I don't remember the settings or pay attention to the fps, but it runs BL2 no problems. No really noticeable lag, or slowdowns.

About the only problem I've run into is Washburn refinery. That area definetly feels very laggy, even with nothing going on. I've heard other people say the same with newer cards though.

I wouldn't bother trying to mess with physx at all though.

 

[frozentundra123456]

turning off ambient occlusion is one thing that will boost frames and offers little. i would turn that off too and see if that raises FPS.

as far as physx, the only way i know to try and get it to push onto the CPU is to go to the nvidia control panel and set physx to CPU only instead of what the default option is. however, cpu physx is terrible and the gts 250 is a pretty weak physx card, especially as the primary gfx card. you are better off leaving it off.

have fun in BL2, i know i do!

There is a setting to enable CPU physx.

Documents\MyGames\Borderlands2\WillowGame\Config\LauncherConfig\WillowEngine\physXLevel

0,1,2 are off, low, and high respectively. I am running an AMD card and an i5 2320 with physX set to high using the CPU. The game runs fine and physX effects look pretty good, but I dont know if they would be more spectacular on an nVidia card as compared to the CPU.