Systems that run Battlefield 2 without a hitch will likely need few modifications to keep up with Battlefield 2142. But if you're on an older rig, you might need to upgrade a few parts. The two games are largely the same, but DICE gave 2142 a slightly updated graphical engine that has new animations and updated shaders.
We tested Battlefield 2142 using FRAPs and a 25-second driving scenario in the 48-person Suez Canal map. The frame rate results were consistent, but the numbers might be on the high side since the test doesn't include a lot of player models. We didn't play on populated servers or against other bots to keep our tests reproducible. The game also has a built-in frame rate cap of 100 frames per second. We increased graphics settings for our more powerful hardware to keep frame rates below the cap.
Game Settings
Battlefield 2142 has a few settings you can tweak to improve performance. We tested all the options to find out how much each setting affected frame-rate performance.
Graphics
Battlefield 2142 is based on the now-aging Battlefield 2 engine, which means it should run fine on moderate hardware. But if you're thinking of upgrading, we tested nearly 20 video cards to help you determine how much performance is enough.
CPU
We tested the game up and down the clock-speed ladder on our Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Athlon 64 CPU-based systems. We even brought in some single core CPUs to see how they performed.
Memory
Moving up from 512MB to 1GB of system memory will help improve performance in most PC games. But it seems that even 2GB of RAM will give noticeable performance gains with Battlefield 2142.
Next: Settings >>
What kind of setup do you use to play Battlefield 2142? Does it run well for you, or do you plan on upgrading? Share your experiences in the comments below!
Comments 399 Comments
what setteings can a Radeon X1550 256MB play at.
with amd 4600+ and 1 gig of ram.
stefan_vaziri ....i don't think your card can even run this game because i THINK it takes a 9500 to run it(my previous had a 9550) and it ran at.....20-30fps...omg talk about lag...think about getting a new machine cuz i just ordered a comp with
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer Liteon LH-20A1H 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/Super Allwrite & Lightscribe Beige/Black Retail Intel® Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 4MB Cache Retail OCZ OCZ2FX800C42GK DDR2 PC2-6400 2GB Kit FlexXLC Edition Memory Retail XFX PVT80GTHF9 GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card w/Dual-DVI, HDTV-Out Retail Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Full Version) Single-Pack OEM Asus P5N32-E SLI nForce 680i SLI Socket 775 1333MHz DDR2-800 ATX Motherboard Retail Coolermaster RP-650-PCAR eXtreme Power 650W Power Supply Retaill im hoping this can run much faster :p
Running:
ASUS P4P800 Deluxe MoBo
Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz Extreme
2GB DDR(3200) RAM
HIS X1950 Pro, Dual DL-DVI, 512MB GDDR3, AGP Graphics Card
Zalman Reserator 1V2 Watercooling(Yeah Baby) for maximum temperature stability
DELL Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC, 30" Screen (BEAUTIFUL)
Runs on rails. Asus hardware remains the premium system hardware for stability and performance without needing to be a full techy.
1600x1200, everything on high and Mid AA. I have not seen the FPS, but the picture remains smooth as silk, no matter how much action is going on on the screen.
New system built for a friend:
ASUS Striker Extreme, nForce 680i SLI MoBo
Core 2 Duo E6600
2GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 (PC2-1066) RAM [4GB not going to help]
ASUS Extreme N8800 GTX/HTDP, GeForce 8800 GTX, 768MB GDDR3
CREATIVE Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro
Zalman Reserator 2 Water cooling
DELL UltraSharp 2407WFP, 24" Screen
You can imagine the performance.
I called the rig "Dog's"
Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2.5ghz, 1GB ddr-400, 7950gt OCed. In SP i can get 60FPS @ 1680*1050 with pretty much everything on high and some AA. But when i go into MP i can't get more than 30 
IDK if it's my slow internet (300kbps DSL) or if i need more RAM or what? 
In order to play it smoothly online i have to drop to 1024*768 or whatever the default res. is.
Won00b nice setup, you ill be running this game awesome, personally I think you should O/C your cpu though, all the C2D CPUs are great for overclocking, you should be able to get it to around 3.00GHz with stock cooling.
Well, I just upgraded:
Core 2 Duo E6700 2.6
BFG 8800 GTX
4 Gigs RAM
But on older rigs, I found that it helped to jack the resolution up to maximum, but keep everything else on the lowest setting (fool around with view distance, for optimum performance and view).
radeon 9250 with 1g of ram be ok?
P4 3.0 Ghz
1 GIG of RAM
Soundblaster Live 5.1 (with one speaker broken)
Radeon X700 Pro
Far from the best, but more than playable on mediumish settings at 1024x768 res. I say mediumish because I was able to jack the Texture Filtering to its max value., and draw distance is at max.
Opteron 148 @ 2.7GHz
2GB Corsair DDR400
Asus EN8800GTS 640MB
Been playing this game since the day it came out, I never got into Battlefield 2 (although I do think it's a very fun game) but I have to say I think Battlefield 2142 is by far the greatest FPS out there. The new 16xQ anti aliasing setting on the 8-series looks killer. I have the 640MB version, but judging by my performance (completely maxed, 16xQAA/16xAF 1600x1200: 40-70 fps) I think the 320MB version (as little as $260) would do better than fine. I played a few LAN sessions with my buddy on his laptop, an Asus W7j with 7400TC, and it played with mostly high settings, just turned down view distance to 95% and shut off Anti Aliasing. Looked great tho, 1280x800.
The 8900 series is coming out soon, keep that in mind. I'll be upgrading to the 8950GX2 and new CPU/RAM/mobo then for sure. Also, this game likes the X-Fi sound cards- A LOT.
7900GT would kill the 7300 GT in SLI, why? because its probably one of the fastest cards on the market. Yeah the 7600GT in SLI would just overtop the 7900GT. Its like saying the 6600GT in sli can beat the 8800GTX lol
Trazac normally I would agree with what your saying! But I have seen 7300GTs for just over $100 now, so it isn't a bad idea if you have a motherboard supporting SLI. Because for about $208 you could get two 7300GTs in SLI instead of just one 7900GT. Which I think would be a little faster.
I'm loving these hardware performance guides! Keep up the good work Gamespot! It would be nice if you made more (hehe I'm greedy I love these things).
Thanks GS
it would run fine. i run f.e.a.r. on a 512mb geoforce 6600 overclocked with a 2.8ghz proccesor on vista home premium perfectly
i would think it would run it as it is a bit better than the 7300 le, i wouldnt know what graphics level at though.
hey, would a 256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro graphics card run the bf series and F.e.a.r by any chance....
The 7600Gs is a good card, but the 7600GT is good too. But it's not all that much better just so you know, I have heard the 7600GS can be overclocked quite a bit too ;D.
nothing is that wrong with a GS but to give this game good framerates in high i would recommend a GT check dabs.com they have a GT for £69.99
What is wrong with the 7600GS isin't it a good card?
i would think mybe high but brobebly medium i should have went for a 7600 GT and not 7600 GS
but apart from that the system seems fine
Hope someone would give me some advise,
My freind is buying this game his system is Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 CPU, 256MB Nvidia 7600GS PCI-Express, 160GB SATA Hard Drive, 1024MB 553 Mhz RAM, Windows XP Home SP2. Could someone tell me at what setting would he play because really I cant advise him.
well theres a a asus x1950pro 256mb( pci-xpress) card thats around $150-190 and its a good card, even does better then the 7950GT in some games. i dont know if prices are right but i think there all lower then $300( the cards i mentioned) and make sure it'll fit into ur comp, u have the recomended power supply and u have pci-express slots
Thanks for the help. I have just compared 6200TurboCache and 7950GT. I know 7 series are better but that thing is far stronger then Turbo crap. I am going to buy a 7950GT as soon as possible.
I am going to buy Battlefield 2142. I want it to look good while playing but I can't afford a faster system for now. My system is;
Intel Pentium 4 Dual Core 3.0Ghz Processor
Nvidia 6200TurboCache (256MB Videocard Memory + 256MB RAM = 512MB) + latest driver
2.0GB 667Mhz DDR2 RAM (4*512MB)
Minimum details that I want to set to play 2142;
Resolution:800*600/1024*768(preferred) (for a few years I never played below 1024*768 )
Shadow Options: off
Light Options:low/medium(preferred)
Terrain:Low\Medium(preferred)
View distance:At least 75%
Antialiasing: off(I don't even think about turning it on) 
All other options:medium
Please tell me if my system can handle these settings.If it can't what settings do you suggest?
And one more question:Knowing my system,can you please tell if it will be enough upgrading only my graphics processor?Which development of nVidia should I buy?
Thanks for the help,given information will be vital for me...
amd 3200+ 7950gt 2 gig ddr
amm donno need more details e.g
graphics card
RAM
Processor
if i meet the recommended settings according to nzone what sort of graphical setting could i run bf2142 on?
but also a pricey one
hmm thats weird i would say a 7600 gt ko should run this no problem
what are the rest of your computer specs?
My game just loads to a black screen and then kicks me out to the desktop. It never did it before until I switched display adaptors. Anyone got any ideas?
Can someone please tell me if I can use the 7600 GT KO graphics card for BF 2142?
well if i run fesr fully maxed then i get 43max but its mostly lower then 25 but like i said i get mostly 25-45fps with ll comp setting max and grahpics to high and with anistopic 8x and atil 4x i only get around 60max and its usally around only 30
hmmm i thought the 7300gt woulnt have done that but if you can run fear in max then you may be able to run this in max but i would expect the framerate to drop is big fire fights
looks like you have a good system i would prob say medium all your specs are very good but your gfx card may hold you back but you might be able to knock it up
