Maffia 2: bottlenecked

I bought maffia 2 yesterday and noticed that I can only play it decently (i.e. without slow motion) in 1208*+-750 resolution. When I played the demo I could easily do 1680*+-1050 which is why I was convinced the game would run smooth.

The thing is, I'm not sure what my bottleneck is. I had the same slowdown problem with AC2, but when I upgraded my nvidia 8600m gt with an ati hd4670 I could easily run it in full hd.

When you look at my specs (2ghz core2 duo and ati hd4670) you see that my gpu is above the minimum system ruiquirements for maffia 2 (8600 gt or ati hd 2600, 3 ghz core2 duo) but my cpu is not.

Now you can see my question comming: while upgrading my gpu for ac2 worked, i'm not sure what is the bottleneck for maffia 2 since my cpu is too weak according to the minimum specs.

The reason why i'm asking is this: I can't upgrade any stronger gpu on my acer, so if thats the bottleneck, there's no point in buying a stronger cpu for my laptop.

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Here's the complete list with system requirements for maffia2:


Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3.0 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+
Memory: 1.5 Gb
Hard Drive: 8 Gb free
Video Memory: 512 Mb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.5 Ghz / AMD Phenom X4 @ 2.5 Ghz
Memory: 2 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 1 Gb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX / ATI Radeon HD 3870
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c

 

sometimes the demo isn't as demanding as the real game. as the real game you have more textures and modes. so you might want to turn your settings down a bit. its a shame you can't run it to the full resolution or your just going to get choppy graphics all the time.

i'm not sure if mafia II is a cpu demanding game since you upgraded your gpu but it could be possible. you gpu will be running faster but your cpu can't keep up with everything thats going around hence choppy

 

Mafia 2 runs at 35 fps average during the in-game Benchmark test on my p7805u @ 1920x1200 max settings with the extreme PhysX disabled.

 

Is PhysX off?

That destroys game performance for most laptops.

 

If your signature is accurate, then your CPU is below the minimum requirements. Yours is only 2 ghz, while the game says it needs a 3 ghz Core 2 Duo or higher.

 

And for the god sake, its Mafia. Lol.
Sorry but im italian

 

Yes its off.

I know you need a 3ghz core 2 duo but the cpu requirements are usually useless.
Thats why I need to know for sure why I'm forced to play on lower settings and resolutions. If I put in a new cpu I don't want to discover that it was my gpu afterall, throwing away another €180 +-

 

you gpu is fine. your specs are great just that cpu can't handle it.

 

Little off topic, but Mafia II has been targeted by UNICO, the largest US Italian-American organization as being racist in it's portrayal of Italian-Americans as being violent etc. Even demanded the game be delayed to remove any trace that the game has any association of Italians.

 

And thats true, althought partially.
First, let me express my thoughts as a pure italian: we usually get offended and bullied around due to this crime organization, and being called "you italian mafia" is not cool at all.

Is like calling all the japaneses yakuzas, its not right.
Second, im ok with unico claims, but not totally. Mafia and in general Sicily and Sicilians had a major role into American History (and dont forget that america is what it is because of us italians, starting from Colombo and Americo Vespucci) and Mafia doesnt really fail into depicting what happened in the states.

Still, even today, the major families around still have their original Sicilian or Italian surnames, althought mostly they are american now.

What i dont like into Mafia 2 is the extremely preposterous attitude that they used into depicting the truth. I guess that they made their homework, searches, studies, but still they put us italians (and thus, for those braindead guys, we are all mafias) into a bad light forcing extremely their position.

Since Mafia 2 ive seen alot of discussions on the matter and trust me no one talks kindly to us normal italian citizens.

This said, there are other things that doesnt make me feel a proud italian - leaving the politician and governement system apart - like how Palio di Siena organitazion asked to Polyphony Digital to remove all the Contrade's Flags into Siena race track.
That is STUPID. Really. First because seeing how much a mediatic game is GT5 that would mean free advertising, second because the 90% of the italians (at least the younger audience, leave the old folks to their war memories) doesnt give a damn about it.

So its kinda complicated being italian and admitting to being one, myself was targeted alot of times as a Gangster, Mob or something like that.
Its not nice, beacuse usually peoples make groups and you find yourself excluded in no time.

Sorry for the long post and sorry for the OT. But as i said, Mafia its an italian word, and i like to see it spelled correctly, beside the true meaning of it

 

So this means that if I upgrade my cpu i'll be able to play at higher resolutions?

btw@ the other people talking about italians.

Try telling people you'r a russian (like me), or see how weird they look when you make a phone call in russian in public. Or watch all those action movies were russians are depicted as the bad guys.
Being Italian doesn't seem so bad then imo.

 

I think we're even mate.
Russians have been targeted for a decade over alot of games...
I feel your pain.

As for your cpu, i can advice to upgrade it at least with a T9xxx series or Pxxxx series, assuming your laptop uses socket p.
If you have money to spend, get an X9100 or X9000, othewise stick to a T9400-9600 or p8400 or something.

 

<----- Arab, I think I win in the field of getting racial discriminated

as for the main topic .... have you tried to find any tweaks ??? or as the others mentioned turn off the physx which is savage fps eater ?

 

I thought that Mafia II required a minimum 3.0GHz Pentium D, not C2D. For C2D, it's 2.0GHz. Asking for a 3.0GHz C2D minimum seems ridiculous.

 

I was going to say the same thing... 3.0C2D is a bit too much for the minimum requirements.

 

Now you mention it, you are right. The site where I got my info said it was a core2duo at 3ghz, but it is indeed pentium D at 3ghz.
When I looked at another site they said you need a 2ghz core 2 duo minimum (though this is not on my box).

Rofl, now I just don't know what to do

I think i'll just hold out one more year with this 2ghz core 2 duo and get myself an awesome xxodd gaming dekstop or clevo laptop.

 

You could mess around with your cpu clocks and see how much it affects your fps.

 

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