Dragon Age detects Athlon X2 7750 as single core, and movie bug...

[jvroig]

Just installed Dragon Age, and I saw that in the config tool, it shows my processor correctly as "Athlon X2 7750 Dual-core processor". But after that it says "# of CPUs: 1" and "# of Cores: 1".

I probably wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for this crazy bug I tried to fix that nobody else seems to have after googling all night. It happens all the time, even during the introductory movie, but you just don't know at what part(s) of the movie it will happen.

What happens is some parts of the movie are skipped, and a clear indicator of this is you hear two voices. Duncan narrates two things at the same time, and the best I can explain it is with this example:
-Duncan narrates how the mages sought to usurp heaven
-Before he is finished saying how the mages were cast out and became the first darkspawn, he starts to say the next part, so you hear two simultaneous narrations from him (hard to understand, naturally), and you don't see the movie that corresponds to the narration left behind (but still playing), instead you see the movie about the most recent narration he is doing.

I'm stumped. Using Windows XP SP2 with 2GB RAM, and an 8600GTS. I have, so far, no DLC.
I also tried the 1.02 patch, but that didn't work. Even a reinstall didn't work.

 

[StinkyPinky]

very weird. Have you tried updating your chipset/sound/video card drivers?

 

[astrosfan315]

**In regards to the OS Upgrade to SP3, since that is rec specs for game! **

After that:
1. make sure you're patched to 1.02.
2. launch the game with the daorigins executable (it's in the bin folder I think) instead of using the daolauncher (very important for decreasing load times).
3. make sure to DISABLE physx acceleration from the nvidia controller (keeps game from crashing and showing crazy stuff on the screen).

Some other things I have done to make it more stable is (believe it or not)
4. keep vsync enabled
5.keep frame buffer enabled.

 

[jvroig]

XP SP3 is required? No wonder. I don't know how I missed that at the back of the DVD case.

Will try to upgrade when I get back home and give it a shot again.

 

[jvroig]

Uninstalled Dragon Age, then updated my XP SP2 to SP3, reinstalled Dragon Age... same problems exist.

My 7750 still seems to be detected as 1 CPU and 1 Core in the config tool. And watching the introductory movie, it still has the same weirdness of skipping some parts resulting in hearing Duncan's narrations overlap each other. I've reinstalled it so many times already, trying out different things such as downloading the latest CPU driver from AMD (previously used no such driver) and the latest GPU driver for my 8600 GTS. Even going to SP3 made no difference at all.

Anybody have any idea? Anybody here also uses a Athlon X2 7750 and see that the DA config tool report the CPU count as 1 and core count as 2?

Thanks.

 

[StinkyPinky]

That config file could be misleading. Have you installed any codec packs?

 

[astrosfan315]

Maybe it's running physx on the 2nd core. Dragon Age physx is on the CPU, no matter what you do. That would explain CPU count 1 Core count 2.

I've also read on the forums that even though it says only 1 core, it's still using both. I'll double check mine tonight.

Are you using the launcher to start the game? (i.e. default shortcut and/or autoplay feature after putting DVD in drive?)

Find the daorigns .exe, which is actually a binary executable. Default location is:
C: \Program Files\Dragon Age\bin_ship\daorigins.exe this is what you should use to start the game. Also, turn off physx through nvidia control panel for your gpu.

 

[jvroig]

Thanks for the replies.

Also, turn off physx through nvidia control panel for your gpu.

Yes, it is turned off. Never had it on (is it even supported by my 8600GTS?)

Find the daorigns .exe, which is actually a binary executable. Default location is: C: \Program Files\Dragon Age\bin_ship\daorigins.exe

Will try this when I get home tonight

That config file could be misleading. Have you installed any codec packs?

I'm pretty sure I have previously... but I can't remember what codecs since this is a two-year old install of XP that I hardly ever use except when I'm playing games. So I have no idea what codes I have installed, probably divx stuff and anything else windows media player or VLC wanted some time or another.

 

[astrosfan315]

all 8 series and above nVidia cards support physx.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_gpus.html

 

[jvroig]

Ah, so it does. Nice to know if I ever want to try PhysX, but with such a puny card, I bet it would do me more harm to ever try to enable it It's having a hard enough time pushing polygons at 1280x1024 with 4x AA at Falout 3.

I'd appreciate any input. This really has me stumped. To summarize for any newcomers:

1. Dragon Age config tool shows my X2 7750 as "# CPUs: 1, # of cores: 1", despite correctly identifying my CPU name as "AMD Athlon X2 7750 Dual-core processor".

2. Movies like the introductory movie have some random skipping that results in the narrator's voice overlapping each other (it's like there are two Duncans, and they are talking to you at the same time)

Thanks for any input., greatly appreciated.

 

[jvroig]

Find the daorigns .exe, which is actually a binary executable. Default location is: C: \Program Files\Dragon Age\bin_ship\daorigins.exe this is what you should use to start the game.

This solved the bug. For the first time out, I saw the opening movie the way it is supposed to be. Thanks!

 

[astrosfan315]

aha!! cool! Pretty impressive isn't it? Using that executable to start my game made my load times between zones go from 3-5 minutes to about 10 seconds max each load screen.

I'm happy to hear another soul can enjoy the game.