NOTE: BEFORE USING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING FIXES. Go to the prefetch folder ( search prefetch ) and delete the Dragon Age Origins file, if you do not some of the fixes will not work.
A fix for both lag and loading times : Run Windows Media player while playing the game, WMP makes the cpu use more of its resources and this makes the game run slightly better
Loading Times:
The issue with loading times is caused by Microsoft .NET Framework, simply unistall it or get the latest beta version here : http://www.microsoft...03a4c387c0db#tm
Using this method I reduced loading times that got to almost 2-3 minutes to ones that take 10 seconds ( it does take around 30 seconds when you first load the save or entereting a new zone )
Massive Battle Lag :
Here there are a multitude of fixes, the first is to alt-tab after starting the game and set priority to above normal.
As for the rest take a look here : http://www.hardforum...ad.php?t=983781
Dual Core Gaming Fix Guide
Introduction
Since I purchased my X2 and then my dual core Opteron, I noticed that
gaming performance suffers while running certain games. [H]ardOCP noted
this in one of their reviews as the "Benny Hill Effect." There is a
certain amount of stuttering or random speedup/slowdowns while running
dual core CPU's in single threaded games. The reason for these problems
has to do with power state management in some form or another, as these
fixes are designed to address specific power state management issues.
For more info, read this document at AMD's website here and Microsoft's software engineers acknowledgment of the problem and solutions here. This thread is intended to consolidate a number of fixes I've come across in this forum and elsewhere.
Fix #1 - The AMD Dual Core Optimizer
AMD Dual-Core Optimizer - The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer can help
improve some PC gaming video performance by compensating for those
applications that bypass the Windows API for timing by directly using
the RDTSC (Read Time Stamp Counter) instruction. Applications that rely
on RDTSC do not benefit from the logic in the operating system to
properly account for the affect of power management mechanisms on the
rate at which a processor core's Time Stamp Counter (TSC) is
incremented. The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer helps to correct the resulting
video performance effects or other incorrect timing effects that these
applications may experience on dual-core or multiple processor systems.
You can download it here:
http://www.amd.com/u...._13118,00.html
Fix #2 - The AMD Driver ( /usepmtimer switch)
1. Install the AMD Processor driver found here:
http://www.amd.com/u...._13118,00.html
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003 Version (exe) 1.3.2 (or other driver depending on your OS).
This driver will add the /usepmtimer line to your boot.ini file. This
will both fix problems in some games (BF2) and will raise problems in
others (WoW). So depending on what games you are playing, you might
have to edit your boot.ini to reflect the game you are playing.
2. Add the /usepmtimer switch to your boot.ini file manually
Right Click My Computer
Properties
Advanced Tab
Startup and Recovery -> Settings
To edit the startup options manually, click edit -> Edit
This should bring up a .txt file with your boot.ini file
Quote:
Originally Posted by kirbyrj's boot.ini
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /bootlogo /usepmtimer
Add the /usepmtimer as noted above
and it will do what the driver does for you. If it is already there and
you still have problems, you might want to take it out and try again,
or try one of the other fixes.
Fix #3 - The Microsoft Hotfix
NOTE: This Hotfix is only for Windows XP w/SP2 per the documentation at the link below
Here is the official Microsoft link to v.4 of the Hotfix.
http://www.microsoft....8-34FB8A0FCE3B
Other versions (v.3) can be found at one of these mirrors:
http://exphose.com/u....v3-x86-ENU.exe
http://www.evilkitty....v3-x86-ENU.exe
http://static.hardwa....v3-x86-ENU.exe
http://techtype.msfn....v3-x86-enu.exe
http://www.perambula....v3-x86-ENU.exe
If you need to disable the hotfix, edit the registry as noted here
(specifically note #7 which details how to deactivate/activate the
hotfix):
http://support.micro....aspx?id=896256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Microsoft.com
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Right-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager, point to New, and then click Key.
3. Type Throttle for the new key name.
4. Right-click Throttle, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type PerfEnablePackageIdle for the value name.
6. Right-click PerfEnablePackageIdle, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 0. Make sure that Hexadecimal is
selected in the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, and then click OK.
Note You can type 1 in the Value data box to enable the new performance state policy behavior.
8. Quit Registry Editor.
Specifics as to what is being done
from the power management side of things can be read at the link above.
These are just the changes that need to be made in the registry. Also
note that in the DWORD value box, you enter a "0" to disable the power
state created by the hotfix and enter a "1" to enable it. For the
purposes of fixing the games, enter a "1".
Fix #4 - Set the Affinity Manually
Finally, the last and least glorious of the fixes is to manually set
the CPU affinity of certain programs. This can be done in several ways.
1. Alt-Tab out of your game, CTRL-ALT-DEL to the Task Manager, Under
the Processes tab, right click the .exe file for your game and go to
Set Affinity, Uncheck CPU 1.
2. Use a program to launch games
Win2000/WinXP Launcher to load games. (Available here: http://www.majorgeek...ncher_d438.html or http://www.majorgeek...herXP_d870.html).
This will allow you to set the CPU affinity before loading the game,
which is useful for games that don't respond well to Alt-Tabbing.
3. Use an affinity masking tool such as
ImageCFG (http://www.robpol86....es/imagecfg.php for instructions on how to use). Backup your .exe before using this program.
Imagecfg has a problem with some directories with spaces in them, so
its easiest to stick it in the folder with the *.exe file you want to
change. Then use the command you need (knowledge of the DOS prompt is a
must
): imagecfg -a 0x1 game.exe for core 1
imagecfg -a 0x2 game.exe for core 2
This will alter your .exe file, so make a backup of it. Especially since future game patches might not work with a patched .exe.
RunFirst - http://www.activeplu...eware/runfirst/
Affinity Set Command by JakFrost
http://www.hardforum....&postcount=431
Alternate Fix #5 - Newer video drivers for your graphics card
If you're using an Nvidia video card. Download one of the Forceware 80
or 90 series drivers which are dual core optimized. Latest are
available here:
http://www.nvidia.co...ers/drivers.asp
Some older drivers may/may not work with some games/benchmarks and dual core processors.
Nvidia Beta drivers have been clearing up some dual core crashing problems and some other games without having to go through the optimizations below.
http://www.nzone.com....etadriver.html
ATI drivers available here:
https://support.ati.....ge&folderID=27
I would assume dual core support to be forthcoming in future Catalyst releases.
Nvidia Dual Core Driver Optimization
Warning, still testing this, if you have results please post
If you are experiencing problems with the Nvidia dual core driver
optimizations, you can turn them off in the registry by using the
following steps (or use the older 77.77 drivers). As always, backup
your registry before editing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nvidia Forums
1.
Go into Regedit and determine the current primary display card by
looking in HKey_Local_Machine\\Hardware/DeviceMap\\Video and note the
GUID (global unique indentifier assigned by Windows) for the entry
"\\device\\video0" which is the long string at the end of the entry in
brackets { }.
2. Edit HKey_Local_Machine\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Video\\{g
uid}\\0000, where {guid} is the number derived from the above step.
3. Open the "0000" directory and enter a new key called
OGL_ThreadControl and give it a value of 2. This will disable
multithreading in the driver for all OGL apps.
4. In the same "0000" directory, to disable driver multithreading for
all D3D apps, you can enter WTD_EXECMODEL and give a value of 0.
Conclusion
One of the above solutions should fix 98% of your gaming problems with
dual core CPU's. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Using the above fixes vastly imrpoved the game for during the battle of Denerim, the game runs a great deal more smothly.
One last thing I used was to go to the Dragon Age\\packages\\core\\patch folder and move the two files in there ( provided you have game patched to 1.02 ) then start the game. To my surprise this improved the speed of the game, even when I put the files back.
My conclusion is that there is a issue with how the game is patched.
If anyone has more fixes please put em. I shall add them to the list.
Retour en haut
Thanks for the tips, went through and did the .net framework one (just added the new beta, kept my old versions), and the set priority one and i've got a bit of a performance boost. Good stuff.
