how to increase frame rate

[CommodoreBlitz]

I have all graphic settings set to there lowest settings, screen set to 800x600 but tho I can play, when i walk around there is low frame rate/lag. I already complete the origin story and am not at Ostagar.

Tho I don't know the current Frame rate, lets say it should be 30 it appears to be around 22 or so , so what I need is some ideas to boost it a bit as the game sorta stutters as I walk around.

I tried to trick the game into using 640x480 screen by editing the games dragonage.ini but did not seem to make any difference and the in game settings still said 800x600.

 

I also have fallout 3 and tho I have to set that to 800 screen as well, there was no lag like there is in dragon age.

 

my pc is a bit old a Intel p4 2.4 ghz 800 MHz fsb, 2 gig ddr1 ram, ati x1550 video card agp, (still plays most modern games...this begin the first with a real performance problem, next I am gonna try dead rising 2....)

 

I am not sure if its just Ostagar because it has a higher amount of npcs then the Origin part (Nobel human) as I did not notice it as much during that.

 

But I will try any ideas you can think of, I have tried those spell/weapon F/X removal mods but have not noticed anything as I am not in combat in the town/fort.

[RustyBlade]

I'm sorry to give you the bad news but your computer is not sufficient to run the game. That AGP card just isn't going to cut it and to get something that will do the job will require PCI-E and that means a new motherboard as well (and the associated RAM and CPU compatibility issues.) If you can't do Ostagar without serious lag you will never make it through 1st Redcliffe much less anything with more density. The final battle would be insufferable. :sad:

[Thandal]

Piling onto what RB said, BioWare built a (some say re-built their Infinity) game engine specifically for Dragon Age. (It's called Eclipse.) So comparisons to performance of any other games are irrelevant. Just because you can run Oblivion, or Crysis, or even ME at high res without lag, doesn't mean you'll be happy with how DA behaves on your system. Sorry... :confused:

[CommodoreBlitz]

well, I noticed in the FoMM (fallout mod manager) there is a option to set the game to a lower graphics setting then the standard game settings allow. Perhaps someone could make add something like that to the mod managers used for Dragon age. Just an idea. the Fomm one allows me for example to set the graphics all the way down to 512x(something) and then this allows me to then set all the other settings to max the textures shadows water reflex etc and tho every 10mins or so it CTD it makes the game much more playable. Oh, and when I talk about Fallout I am talken about Fallout New Vegas that I am playing with my pc.

[Codifer]

ralf,

 

If you are the gambling sort, try adding (if possible) another gig of RAM.

 

But first thing to try is to reduce the number of programs and apps that run in the background. There are some downloadable programs that can turn off all but the essentials while playing a game. Some things that might be running are data miners that can sap cpu.... and you should remove these with something like "Adaware" . Next run a full virus scan and defrag your hard drive.

 

These actions plus the RAM "should" allow you to play Dragon Age.

 

My setup is also ancient. I have an AMD 2600 Barton, cpu, an ATI x800 pro AGP, 3 gigs RAM on an ASUS motherboard. The cpu is a tick under 2 gigs but Dragon Age (patched to v1.04) does play on medium settings at 1680 x 1050. Frame rates for me are acceptable and only drag in the Denerim Market near the stalls or in places of fog or smoke effects. CTDs are very rare.

 

The hand writing, however, is on the wall. It is clear to me that it is time to build another machine.... one needs SATA hard drives and and PCI graphics. My budget will allow only one component a month so I will start with a large case and the most powerful power supply I can afford.... aiming for 600 watts. Research has indicated that I can get some fairly powerful used components for a fraction of new price, (I recently saw an ATI crossfire graphics setup with two one gig cards for $90 US). Key idea is to find components that play well together.

 

Even so, when the new monster is completed in a year or so it will be obsolete the first time I wake it up. But it will be much more powerful than my current (and faithful) setup.

 

Perhaps then I can unlock some Dragon Age graphics that are forbidden to me now.

 

Cheers

[RustyBlade]

If you intend to use two video cards you best up your power supply to at least 700W (preferably 800W.)

[CommodoreBlitz]

hmm, I am don't know much about a AMD Barton cpu, my Motherboard is what was (my whole pc cost me over $3k.....long time ago) a Asus 800x pci with Agp. It is was made for overclocking but I have never tried to do that...(might be my only way now to boost a few more frames out of the game...tho on the other hand my mb/cpu is over 5 years old now not sure if I want to risk anything failing at this point). MAx ram on the mb is 2gigs so buying more is not possible I am currently using the fastest ram I know of that works in it, 2 gigs ddr1 courser (not sure If that's spelled right) cost me over $275 at the time I bought it, even has red heat sinks on the ram........ I can overclock my cpu from 2.4 to 3.0 at lest it is possable but considering I am only using a stock intel cpu fan(only thing i went cheap on back then) not sure if i want to risk it. The Video card is the 2nd one I have had in this system, tho original was an Asus ati 9800 pro that came in a wooden box and cost me over $650, but 2 years ago when I tried out fallout 3 and the heads on the npc would not display at all (looked kinda funny) I upgraded to a ati x1550 for $20....!!!! who could imagine my old Ati 9800 cost me over $600 and this new card not only had more then twice the speed but it also had the newer shader tech needed to play fallout 3 and it only cost $20.... (funny thing I sold the old 9800 on ebay for $65......guess its a valuable antique now)

 

oh, one thing I did not say when I first posted the question, I did just buy a 1 TB hd to run dragon age on as my old 200 gig was not working so well. Sounds good sorta it is a newer SATA hd, but it is a external USB 2.0 hd.......I am running the game off of it... now I know USB 2.0 is not as fast as running the hd internal...but could that be added much to the slow down of the game?

 

one other thing I do know my mb does support up to a P4 3.2 cpu so I could possable upgrade the cpu not sure how rare those cpu are or how much a 600mhz faster cpu would make that much difference.

[dunvi]

Trying to run off of a USB hard drive is going to cause slowdown as well. I'm short on hard drive space too (mostly because I'm lazy. That stupid TB under my desk will end up in the case soon, I swear) and the answer is you store your homework and such on the external, not games.

 

For now, if you really want to try continuing to play before you can upgrade anything, see if vsync is enabled and turn it off, and move the game files into an internal hard drive. But I doubt you'll be very happy. Start saving...

[CommodoreBlitz]

Trying to run off of a USB hard drive is going to cause slowdown as well. I'm short on hard drive space too (mostly because I'm lazy. That stupid TB under my desk will end up in the case soon, I swear) and the answer is you store your homework and such on the external, not games.

 

For now, if you really want to try continuing to play before you can upgrade anything, see if vsync is enabled and turn it off, and move the game files into an internal hard drive. But I doubt you'll be very happy. Start saving...

 

 

hmm, well a mod I just d/l for Fallout NV just made that game much more playable, I forgot the modders name but what he did was make a mod that removes all items from the world space that are not needed but slow down the game as it has to load them during play. In this case they were things like cups, bottles and broken road pieces. Nothen that made the game unplayable or that hurt the mood or story, but the frame rate is much better. Now I can set the game to 800x600 instead of using 512x(something) and I've set the graphics settings to Med and tho the game still CTD every 3-6 mins it no longer lags except if there are more then 7 or so enemies.

 

Now I have never use the DA toolset/editer myself but if someone could make a mod like that for DA that I d/l for Fallout NV it might make the game playable. The Fallout NV Modder to make the mod did have to basically go to each area of the game and click on the items and delete them to make the mod...but I would think it should be possible perhaps deleting Banners/grass/ some trees....could do the same in DA.