computer hardware for smooth play

fluffmonster · Post by **fluffmonster** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 12:49 am

Higher resolutions require higher memory to hold the frames that are drawn but waiting in the buffer. Your relatively low ram is probably a big reason you get such a big jump in performance going to 800xwhatever.

And no, I haven't updated my drivers in a long while. When I found one that would actually play nwn1 again, I stopped.

Grand Fromage · Post by **Grand Fromage** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:19 am

Veilan wrote:Core 2 Dueo E8400 @ 3GHz factory setting
4 GB DDR2 CL 4 RAM
nVidia EN9800GTX w/ 512 MB

It's not like I can even think about enabling shadows outdoors.

what. If that isn't a typo and you actually have a nVidia 9800GTX then there's simply something wrong with your computer. I have a 7900GTX and it runs fine on max settings.

Arkan Bladesinger · Post by **Arkan Bladesinger** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:02 am

Not really rememering the settings, but thinking I got them pretty high.

Only occasional quick lag on combat with:

Intel Pentium Dual Core 3.4Ghz
DDR2-SDRAM 2gb
NVidia GeForce7600 512mb

Joos · Post by **Joos** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:19 am

Mikayla wrote:fluff:
256MB of vid ram is also not enough for this game.
Maybe thats my problem - my 8600GT only has 256MB of vid ram. Alas. Still, I am glad I can play it at any resolution or detail - the gaming has been fantastic at all resolutions!

If you set Textures to medium, you should be able to play with smooth frame rates at native res. It works for me, and we have more or less the same puters. Also, I have shadows set to high, but at lowest quality.

Lasu · Post by **Lasu** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:11 am

Avaz wrote:Lasu: I would say it's because your machine has an nVidia Quadro card, which is meant for workstations, not so much for gaming, IIRC.

Someone with more technical savvy would be able to give more information, in case I'm wrong.

Hmm... Can anyone shed any light on this?

Mikayla · Post by **Mikayla** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:19 am

I think I discovered a major part of my problem - portraits! I use world gate but somehow I never got the portraits DL'd, either through world gate or manually. So, I get the 3D portraits - and I have noticed that I lag when I am in party ... but not when I am out of party. Last night was particularly telling. We ramped up for indio's session and suddenly I found my machine almost totally unresponsive. I ramped down all my graphics until I was at 800x600, with no shadows, med. texturs and no shadows and no checked boxes and no anti-aliasing, and STILL I lagged.

Then I logged off, shut down and came back in - and for awhile, everything was great. Then I rejoined the party and BAM - super lag. I leave party, no lag. In party, super lag. So, I went the rest of the night out of party and experienced very little lag.

My goal tonight is to manually DL the portraits and then choose one. Hopefully this will help.

Veilan · Post by **Veilan** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:25 am

Yup, as we told you in game, the 3D portraits in a party can cause huge performance loss. Of course, it only really works if everyone has one, and everyone else has the one they're using...

Grand Russky wrote:what. If that isn't a typo and you actually have a nVidia 9800GTX then there's simply something wrong with your computer. I have a 7900GTX and it runs fine on max settings.

Nope. I can run Crysis like a sparkling jewel running butter smooth, but once I hit shadows to high with the other settings up, it's instant doom for NWN 2.

Maybe it's the driver version? Let's see what fluff has to tell.

But I blame the game, really.

kmj2587 · Post by **kmj2587** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:27 am

I was having problems with frame rate when I first logged into TSM. My frame rate was bad, so I turned down my settings. My frame rate was still bad, so I turned them down more. Still bad, I turned everything down as far as I could. Frame rate was still poor. Then, just for giggles, I clicked on "Auto Configure" or whatever it's called. It turned all my settings up to max, and the frame rate was suddenly better.

For referance I'm running a Core2Duo E6600, 2gb DDR2 RAM, and a GeForce 8800 gts 640

So in short... try the configuration the game recommends if you haven't already, even if it turns the settings up. In my case at least, it made the game run a lot smoother.

Grand Fromage · Post by **Grand Fromage** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:48 am

Veilan wrote:Nope. I can run Crysis like a sparkling jewel running butter smooth, but once I hit shadows to high with the other settings up, it's instant doom for NWN 2.

Maybe it's the driver version? Let's see what fluff has to tell.

But I blame the game, really.

The game runs fine on hardware significantly less powerful than what you have, so don't blame it njubhat. Something has to be wrong on your end. Not that there's any reason to have shadows on high anyway, the difference isn't visible at all.

Are you running it at like 4000x3000 resolution or something? Three monitors?

fluffmonster · Post by **fluffmonster** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:51 am

fluffmonster wrote: And no, I haven't updated my drivers in a long while. When I found one that would actually play nwn1 again, I stopped.

wvincenti · Post by **wvincenti** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:45 pm

ASUS 9600GT silent

I'll let you know how this does over the weekend.

-Bill

Mikayla · Post by **Mikayla** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:00 pm

I tried hitting the "Autodetect" thingy and it was weird - it set my resolution in the middle, at 1200 whatever. And it set my shadows at "high", but on the advanced graphics page, turned everything down low.

And you know what ... it ran great. Hmm. Lesson for me: don't try to out think the machine. Of course, that might also have to do with getting the portraits on board. Who knows?

Grand Fromage · Post by **Grand Fromage** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:08 pm

That's pretty cool. This may be the first time in history that autodetect has actually worked properly.

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:50 pm

I'm running on a 7900GS 256MB and it runs smoothly as long as I keep the setting medium to low. My plan was to buy another 7900GS and use SLI, but then I read somewhere that NWN2 doesn't utilize the technology.