Dragon Age and all that

[Urithrand]

So I'm playing DA, and I've got a problem. My framerate is freaking perfect, this game runs like a dream, and then all of a sudden for no apparent reason - BAM - slideshow. I'm talking 2-3 fps max. Then after maybe 30 seconds of this, BAM again, back to flawless framerate again.

Anyone got any idea what's going on? My graphics card should be able to handle this game with its eyes closed, so I don't think it's that causing the problem. My only guess is the processor, which I'm upgrading within the next couple of weeks anyway (it's been a long time coming - my current processor is about 4 years old)

Any other ideas what it could be?

[DM_Equinox]

Perhaps it's the times when the game is trying to connect to the internet to take or upload screenshots. Tried disabling that in the options?

I don't have that issue except when I try to run it alongside NWN2. Not good.

[Urithrand]

I disabled the internet option and it helped marginally, but the problem was still there. I've tried tweaking the graphics options vastly, and that makes absolutely no difference, hence why I don't think it's a graphics related problem. I'm totally stumped frankly.

[DM_Equinox]

Got any other stuff running that might interfere? Anti-Virus, or some such? I doubt it's the hardware, runs smoothly on both my older dual cores.

*edit* though it does push them to nearly 100%, both cores.

[Urithrand]

Nothing - Not *even* internet security. It's a practically clean install in windows 7.

Incidentally, the processor I'm running is a pentium D 2.8. It runs NWN2 just fine.

*edit* My processor is pushed to 100% at all times while playing NWN2... lol

[DM_Equinox]

Hmmm. Then I'm out of ideas. But I've got it running on Vista and XP only.

On the other hand, I'll have to have a closer look next time I play it. I may simply be ignoring that effect because it ust... well... happens

[Urithrand]

Trust me, you can't ignore this. A little juddering is fine, but I wasn't exaggerating - it's literally 2 or 3 frames per second. It's ruining my DA experience. If I pause the game for a few seconds, the effect goes away, but it's still a pain in the ass.

[Maevan2]

Do you have enough RAM? I could also imagine that some other task creates lots of IO. Check the Resource Monitor (TaskManager -> Peformance -> Resource Monitor)

And don't complain that your CPU is running at 100%. That is what CPUs are made for. Or do you want half the FPS so that your CPU can run at 50%

[Urithrand]

I have 4Gb of Reaper 800 RAM, so I'd be extremely shocked if that's the issue.

And I'm not complaining, I'm trying to provide info so people can help me diagnose

[Fezzik]

I've had slow downs on various locals ... like near the waterfalls in Redcliffe, and various "smokey" environments; no matter where the camera is. If it's just random though, I can't do much to help.

[Urithrand]

This isn't even explainable in that way. It's totally random. I can even be standing still and it will suddenly happen, then after a while just as inexplicably stop doing it. No idea what's happening, but it's ruining my play experience.

Not that I've stopped playing... but I would like it to stop!

[Saulus]

Upgrade/downgrade your video drivers, probably using a release that has an issue with your card and the game.

[Urithrand]

Now there's something I never thought of... I shall try that immediately!

[Saulus]

Don't forget to use some kind of driver cleaner, even uninstallation doesn't always get files, I've had game breaking issues that didn't go away until I uninstalled drivers, driver cleaned, rebooted and installed a new version.

Simply installing another version sometimes does not completely work for certain problems.

[Urithrand]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll give that a try.

I downloaded Drive Sweeper and uninstalled all my display drivers, deleting all the remnants with said program. Just about to re-install the latest drivers - wish me luck!