[Support Topic] Battlefield 3 PC

[K1boRG]

TUTORIALS/GUIDES: (Browse the other posts in this thread too, people are posting added stuff I have no room for.)
Another great thread can be found at the link below. Thanks Be-Advised-Mofo for putting in the hard work too
http://tinyurl.com/5wrhzq2
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GIGABYTE 560Ti USERS:
Please check the manufacturer website for a BIOS update for your card. It may be a fast fix for you (thanks Thelmos)
GV-N560OC-1GI - http://tinyurl.com/6b828cg
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ALL USERS/ATI USERS:
In some cases, just removing the Battlefield 3 folder from Documents and changing the in game setting to auto has fixed the ATI DirectX errors. (Thanks TurnedToDust!)
Starting your computer in selective startup mode can also fix various crashes and problems. EA Support are actually asking people to do this. I don't recommend doing this via msconfig though, and have outlined why in the advanced section below.
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ASUS USERS:
Uninstall ASUS Smart Doctor and OSD then, if you need to, reinstall the video card drivers.
This is the apparent cause of the atkdx11disp.dll crash also.
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** MAIN NVIDIA CONFIGURATION GUIDE IS DOWN LOWER IN THE POST **

* This will possibly rectify long load times on Nvidia cards.
* There is a section to verify you have the latest DirectX version installed with very simple instructions
* How to do a memtest.
* Advanced tweaks for the adventurous.
* ATI USERS can try similar settings to what I use in the guide below using the Catalyst Control Centre.
* ATI USERS running CrossFire, try disabling it.

Skip whatever steps you want to. Nvidia users, try the Configuration Guide first.
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CAN I RUN IT?:
This site analyzes your computer and tells you if you can run a game. Select Battlefield 3 from the menu and test.
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/
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DRIVER SWEEPER:
Here is a link to Driver Sweeper which you can use to clean your drivers and driver settings.
Thanks Monitus0 for the updated link.
http://phyxion.net/item/driver-sweeper.html
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CHECK DIRECTX IS INSTALLED CORRECTLY:
Correct installation can be confirmed by opening Start>Computer and pasting the following in the address bar then press enter:

For 64-bit users:

%systemdrive%\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3\__Installer\directx\redist\DXSETUP.exe

For 32-bit users:

%systemdrive%\Program Files\Origin Games\Battlefield 3\__Installer\directx\redist\DXSETUP.exe

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DO A MEMTEST:
Windows 7 users can click Start then type mdsched.exe then enter to initiate a memory test (obviously when the Window pops up, select one of the 2 options). Unseated memory can cause all kinds of issues. So can bad memory. I would advise anyone having other random crashing issues, such as .sys files linked to the bf3.exe in Windows Error Logs, to try this. Easier than burning a memtest disc and booting from it. Thanks Microsoft!!

Memtest can also be downloaded as an .ISO and burnt to bootable CD for more accurate results in my opinion.
http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-4.0a.iso.zip
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FOR ADVANCED USERS:
Start with a nice clean booting machine with nothing running in the background. I don't run AV software. I don't recommend this for most people. I've been using computers for my whole life, and the internet since before HTML was even thought of so I'm pretty confident. I work in IT troubleshooting hardware and software issues

As you can see from the taskbar, I run nothing
http://tinypic.com/r/195ts3/5

Please don't use msconfig to modify your Startup (Logon). It disables System Restore! System Restore is your friend
Do the mods using Autoruns by SysInternals.
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/Autoruns.zip

You can run the tool from inside the .zip, no need to extract it. Use autoruns.exe.

The program auto saves your modifications so please be careful!!! You can potentially damage something that you won't be able to reverse, and I'm not helping with any issues resulting from damage caused by carelessly deleting the wrong things. Below are screenshots of my setup so you can get an idea of what services are needed on a Windows 7 machine to function 100%.

I recommend that people uncheck the boxes rather than deleting entries unless you are SURE you know what it does.

Disable or delete any programs from Logon that aren't needed. Heres what runs on my machine at startup. Basic stuff. If my issues persisted there would be even less in there USB3 Monitor for my USB3 Controller, stuff like that. Use your head when disabling stuff. We all know that disabling Apple Update or Adobe Updater isn't going to destroy your computer.
http://tinypic.com/r/t65oir/5

Disable or delete any Scheduled Tasks that aren't needed. Most tasks aren't.
http://tinypic.com/r/2zp1rhz/5

Disable or delete any Services that aren't required by Windows (or your AV software). Careful
http://tinypic.com/r/33urcyq/5
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NVIDIA USERS: (Can also try disabling SLi, has worked for Turban_N1nja, thanks )
Check out what I did to make my game stable. Now that more info has come to light, I suspect that all I've done is stopped whatever call is being made to DirectX from the video drivers by possibly disabling something. Read on.

Don't run any programs like D3DOverrider, or overclocking utilities, or anything that displays FPS or records the screen (ie: Fraps) Forcing VSync and triple buffering can be enabled using the Nvidia Control Panel anyway, which is all D3DOverrider does. And just leave your clock speeds alone for now.

I thought the latest drivers were an issue also, but they aren't. I was experiencing extremely choppy game play at times using the new drivers, but they are in fact more stable than the older WHQL drivers, and when configured correctly, run perfect.
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MAIN CONFIG GUIDE FOR NVIDIA CARDS:

Download the Nvidia 285.62 WHQL drivers from either of the 2 links below:
x64 - http://us.download.nvidia.com/Window...glish-whql.exe
x86 - http://us.download.nvidia.com/Window...glish-whql.exe

Unless you are playing the game in 3D, don't install the 3D drivers when prompted. If you already have, remove all the drivers and reinstall fresh. You'll notice on the latest driver install there is an option to remove all old settings. Do this (or optionally use Driver Sweeper prior to installing drivers, or even do both).

Now configure your Nvidia Control Panel settings as follows. You can either adjust the global settings or just the settings for the bf3.exe. I went for global, then adjusted the bf3.exe settings to use the global settings. Please see the screenshots on the next links for the settings (In the Nvidia Control Panel, Manage 3D Settings).

Global Settings: http://i42.tinypic.com/jiyira.jpg
BF3 Settings: http://i42.tinypic.com/72zu6p.jpg

You can see all I've done is set the BF3 Program Settings to use the global settings, so take your pick how you want to do it.

This has forced VSync on, triple buffering on and I've also set prerendering of frames to 5 instead of 3. I've also modified the power settings to force full power all the time as I suspected that this may be part of the cause of the crashing on some cards. I've also set it to Single Monitor mode. Unless you're using multiple monitors this doesn't need to be on.

Next, we'll adjust the in game video settings to AUTO.

Yeah yeah, I know, your machine should be capable of running everything on ultra or high or whatever. But in fact, a majority of you know absolutely nothing about how a video card works or what any of these settings even do. So set your video settings to AUTO. You're most likely pushing your card way beyond its limits too (See post from Dual Core AMD, 8600GT owner wondering why he can't play the game in resolutions over 640x480).

Scroll back through the Graphics Quality on the in game Video Settings menu past LOW and select AUTO. See the screenshots below for my in game video settings. If it reduced your settings to Med or your AA to 2x, deal with it. You want to play the game don't you? You aren't even going to notice in the heat of battle the difference in ambient lighting, lens flares, or whatever.

BF3 In Game Video Settings: http://i40.tinypic.com/bbcsx.jpg

As you can see, no need for VSync because its forced by Nvidia Control Panel. Motion Blur is off. Many settings are on Medium. I don't care. The game looks great still and best of all, it is SMOOTH. and DOESN'T CRASH!! I can play on 64 player servers now with no issues at all. No massive freezes, no crashes, no rubber banding.

You guys can tweak your settings yourself until you find something that works for you... Or not..
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I run no AV software, I have disabled Windows Search, the Nvidia Update Service and Windows Defender (Start>type services.msc, press enter and disable all of them). My computer starts up with minimal stuff running in the background to eliminate any other possible variables.

I pulled my hair out for days, game crashing, stuttering, rolling back drivers, reinstalling drivers, adjusting video settings, checking Windows error logs to see what was failing. I have spent hours to get the game to this point where I can play it.

I spose I could have just kept complaining like everyone else ay Lucky for everyone people like me and Be-Advised-Mofo spent the hours

Enjoy!