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ozo
ozo
Join Date 04/2006
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Bad performance [SOLVED]

September 12, 2012 12:22:31 PM from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

UPDATE Problem solved via Nvidia Control Panel, forcing the game to use proper GPU.

EDIT/Update The issue seems to be that FE uses Intel HD Graphics 3000 instead of my GT 630M. Considering that HD 3000 is integrated graphics card, bad frame rate is to be expected.

Here's what debug.err shows on display info:

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip Type: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
DAC Type: Internal
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0126&SUBSYS_181D103C&REV_09
Display Memory: 1696 MB
Current Display Mode: 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: igdumd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igdumd32,igd10umd32,igd10umd32
Driver Version: 8.15.0010.2626
Driver Date: 1/19/2012 05:24:08
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, last time i tried FE beta was around... March? April? I don't really remember.

Anyway, i've gotten a new laptop and decided to give the beta another try. And i'm in the exact the situation as before, bad performance in non-cloth map (in Tutorial, i need to test a normal game as well). I get around 20-24FPS or even less, zoomed so that i see around 10x10 squares (though considering the game view is diagonally aligned, hard to say for sure). No AA, shadows off (toggling those crashes the game by the way), no outlines. Stylized lighting doesn't have any effect on the frame rate, or very minimal (>1FPS). Changing resolution has no practical effect on the frame rate.

Needles to say, this is kinda unplayable.

Specs are Win 7 64bit, Core i5 2450M, GT630M with 1GB memory, 6GB memory. GPU drivers are the latest beta release because they're the only ones currently to work on this GPU.

The odd thing is, back when i last tried the game, i had similar performance with far worse system (laptop, Win Vista 32bit, 2-3GB memory (partially shared with GPU), Mobility Radeon HD2600 and CPU was AMD Turion 64x2 (or some such). This was non-cloth map. The cloth map worked well on that system as well.

The cloth map gets 60FPS no problem but i cannot play on it, it is useful for getting an overview but i need to play on the normal map to get what's going on local level. It lacks... precision? Not sure but i just can't play on the cloth map. Besides, most of the games art (i like it) is in non-cloth map view.

I wonder if this simply due to beta and lack of optimization or what's going on?

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ozo
MidnightsFX
Join Date 05/2012
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Reply #1 September 12, 2012 12:26:13 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

What are your texture settings at? Also, I assume you have an Nvidia card? Have you set any custom settings or profiles in the configuration panel?

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ozo
ozo
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #2 September 12, 2012 12:35:05 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

What texture settings? The texture atlas i set to 1024x1024, i think, but it affects only the UI, no? Anyway, didn't see any difference in performance.

No custom Nvidia settings, don't dare to play with those.

Also, just noticed that tactical battles work well, 30-40FPS no problem. So my problem is somehow limited to normal view only.

 

EDIT just started a normal game. I get slightly better FPS there than in the tutorial, i assume it has something to do with tiles around me, no forests this time. But i have to zoom a bit too close for comfort. Very frustrating.

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Heavenfall
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Reply #3 September 12, 2012 12:36:02 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

The GPU is incredibly low-end, I doubt you'll ever get any satisfactory performance out of Fallen Enchantress.

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ozo
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Reply #4 September 12, 2012 12:42:28 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting Heavenfall,
reply 3
The GPU is incredibly low-end, I doubt you'll ever get any satisfactory performance out of Fallen Enchantress.

I can play Starcraft 2 on Ultra settings with 30+ FPS in moderate battles, assuming no water or lava around.

Are you claiming FE somehow requires far more from GPU than SC2?

 

EDIT also, Notebookcheck classes GT630M as relatively fast middle-class GPU for laptops.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-630M.63761.0.html

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ins2
Join Date 03/2011
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Reply #5 September 12, 2012 12:46:12 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting ozo,
reply 5
Quoting Heavenfall, reply 3The GPU is incredibly low-end, I doubt you'll ever get any satisfactory performance out of Fallen Enchantress.

I can play Starcraft 2 on Ultra settings with 30+ FPS in moderate battles, assuming no water or lava around.

Are you claiming FE somehow requires far more from GPU than SC2?

 

Dude, Starcraft 2 is a 2010 game with NOTHING like the complexity or depth of FE, which is multi-threaded. Just think of the fact that while Starcraft units are, in effect, single sprites, in FE every unit is generated in 3d depending on the equipment and armor you give them

There is absolutely NO comparison....

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ozo
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Reply #6 September 12, 2012 12:48:10 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting ins2,
reply 6

Dude, Starcraft 2 is a 2010 game with NOTHING like the complexity or depth of FE, which is multi-threaded. Just think of the fact that while Starcraft units are, in effect, single sprites, in FE every unit is generated in 3d depending on the equipment and armor you give them

There is absolutely NO comparison....

So, is my bottleneck CPU then? Still doesn't explain why my far worse old laptop could run the game about as well as this new one.

 EDIT pretty much all other games i have run well. Civ V runs well with highest graphics settings, that's a better comparison. Though IIRC it doesn't actually multithread... but i don't know much about that.

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MidnightsFX
Join Date 05/2012
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Reply #7 September 12, 2012 1:01:21 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

@ozo, when I asked texture settings I meant your game settings in graphics, similar to shaders etc. not the map. There should be options for high, medium and low resolution textures.

The reason I mention this is that your graphics card has a tiny pipeline and very few core processing units, handling many large textures though that will undoubtedly give you a laggy game. If you were to set your texture settings down you could probably handle the game a little better.

Also, when you say your graphics drivers are updated do you mean that you have checked your graphics drivers version number and went to the nvidia site to check for a newer revision? AMD and Nvidia release updates every couple weeks, and each update can hold major performance improvements for a large slew of cards.

If you are just checking through a 3rd party site, or you are looking in your nvidia control panel for an update, there is a decent chance that information is incorrect as the software update calls that both Nvidia and AMD uses will not push versions on a regular basis.

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seanw3
Join Date 12/2007
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Reply #8 September 12, 2012 1:11:54 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

If you think it is your CPU, check your usage during the game. You might want to get something like Gamebooster 3 to help run the game more efficiently.

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ozo
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Reply #9 September 12, 2012 1:18:35 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting MidnightsFX,
reply 8
@ozo, when I asked texture settings I meant your game settings in graphics, similar to shaders etc. not the map. There should be options for high, medium and low resolution textures.

What? I've never seen such an option in EWOM or EFE. Someone needs to highlight it for me if there's such.

Also, i check the driver updates via Nvidia's site, i'l check for updates soon since it's been almost two weeks since i downloaded thse beta drivers. 

Seanw3, it seems the game isn't using the CPU fully, taskmanager showed about 25% usage. Of course i'm still early in the game and lower difficulty...

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ozo
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Reply #10 September 12, 2012 1:22:46 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Okay, it seems i may have found the reason for my issue. According to my debug.err, the game is running on Intel HD3000 instead of using GT630M.

If true.. what can i do?

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seanw3
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Reply #11 September 12, 2012 1:26:14 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums


That seems to be alot of people's problem. I know there was someone on the forums here who fixed it, but I can't remember who. Probably ought to send an e-mail to stardock and get a formal ticket started. They always know how to do that stuff.

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MidnightsFX
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Reply #12 September 12, 2012 1:27:27 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

I believe you need to set your primary display adapter in the prefs.ini (found in 'My Documents'/'My Games'/'FallenEnchantress'/'prefs.ini'), alternately, there might be a way to set the game to use a different display adapter in the UI- not sure, will lot later when I am home. If you still have the problem then, I should be able to provide a step-by-step to get your default adapter to Elemental set.

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ozo
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Reply #13 September 12, 2012 1:37:24 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

I disabled the HD3000 via Windows settings. Let's try now what happens...

EDIT well now it ain't even starting up.

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ozo
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Reply #14 September 12, 2012 1:52:27 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Reverted my changes, the game runs now again. It doesn't seem to be recognizing my GT630M.

Quoting seanw3,
reply 12

That seems to be alot of people's problem. I know there was someone on the forums here who fixed it, but I can't remember who. Probably ought to send an e-mail to stardock and get a formal ticket started. They always know how to do that stuff.

Guess i'll have to do that. EDIT not sure where to exactly i should send email. That support email in "How to report an issue" thread? And then describe the issue and post the debug.err?

Quoting MidnightsFX,
reply 13
I believe you need to set your primary display adapter in the prefs.ini (found in 'My Documents'/'My Games'/'FallenEnchantress'/'prefs.ini'), alternately, there might be a way to set the game to use a different display adapter in the UI- not sure, will lot later when I am home. If you still have the problem then, I should be able to provide a step-by-step to get your default adapter to Elemental set.

There is no line for setting what GPU the game should use in prefs.ini.

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seanw3
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Reply #15 September 12, 2012 2:25:04 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums


Send the e-mail to support@stardock.com

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ozo
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Reply #16 September 12, 2012 2:39:38 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Sent the email, hope i included everything necessary.

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Beric01
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Reply #17 September 12, 2012 3:24:32 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Are you sure your GPU isn't working for just this game? Can you start up another game and play just fine? My real question is your graphics gard situation though. Do you have Nvidia Optimus? It's possible then that Elemental just isn't triggering your dedicated card to activate, which would be a game problem.

 

I have ATI switchable graphics, so I just enable them when I play games.

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ozo
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Reply #18 September 12, 2012 3:32:42 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting Beric01,
reply 18
Are you sure your GPU isn't working for just this game? Can you start up another game and play just fine? My real question is your graphics gard situation though. Do you have Nvidia Optimus? It's possible then that Elemental just isn't triggering your dedicated card to activate, which would be a game problem.

 

I have ATI switchable graphics, so I just enable them when I play games.

No, i don't think i have that "Optimus" thing.

All other games i have run well, well enough that they cannot be using Intel HD Graphics 3000 but GT630M.

Starcraft 2 (ultra settings, most are GPU related, HD3000 can't do that, runs 30+FPS most of the time), Civ V (all high, runs 30+FPS on DX10/11 mode), Planetside 2 (30+ FPS expect when more people around), MechWarrior Online (lowish settings but runs well enough). Need to try Medieval Total War 2 still but i'd assume it'll run well enough as most others do.

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Nasarog
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Reply #19 September 12, 2012 5:04:59 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Please update his hread as you resolve the problem.  I'm vary curious to see if it can be fixed.

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ozo
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Reply #20 September 12, 2012 5:08:08 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Sure, i'll do that. I'll update the OP right away and note what seems to be the actual issue.

I've sent email but i have no idea how soon i'll receive an answer. And for some reason i feel i'll get additional questions before answers.

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parrottmath
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Reply #21 September 12, 2012 6:34:49 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums


You video card has Optimus and dxdiag doesn't detect your actual video card namely your GT 630M.

I run on a GTX 555M and the game runs smooth and fine.

Goto you nVidia settings and go to manage 3d settings.

Select the preferred graphics processor to be the High-performance NVIDIA processor.

That should force any game to use your nVidia card. To double check that it is using the nVidia card you can go to desktop menu and display the GPU activity icon in the tray below and it will tell you when a program is using your nVidia card.

This happens to me on countless games until I figured out that dxDiag doesn't detect your nVidia GPU if you have OPTIMUS (specific to laptops). I don't even think they are working to fix this problem (which I find annoying).

Note that your debug.err file will never detect your GT 630M (mine never detects my GTX 555M).

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the_rats
Join Date 07/2008
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Reply #22 September 12, 2012 6:47:51 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Most games run just fine with Optimus hardware, and automatically switch to the dedicated GPU. For some reason, FE doesn't. It used to, before Beta3, but it no longer does.

As parrottmath said, you can force the GPU for any specific program from the NVidia control panel. Here's the setting you want: 

 

I wouldn't force it globally for all programs, it is a quick way to burn through your laptop battery.

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MidnightsFX
Join Date 05/2012
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Reply #23 September 12, 2012 9:50:53 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

When you get a chance Ozo, could you post back if forcing the optimus hardware to run for FE did the trick for you! I'm sure there will be some folks who could benefit from knowing if that does indeed fix your problem.

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ozo
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #24 September 13, 2012 5:19:39 AM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Ok, i'll try that soon. Will post back results.

 

EDIT PERFECT, Thank you guys, the game runs very well now, 60FPS with shadows and outlines, 1600x900. Guess i could turn on AA even.

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Heavenfall
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Reply #25 September 13, 2012 5:51:19 AM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Looks like I was an idiot. Great that you got it working!

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