Framerate issue in oldschool games

[cbrunny]

My rig:
Phenom II X6 1055T @ stock
XFX R7970 @ stock
12GB DDR3
Win8

Having frame rate issue in Dungeon Siege, which is an old RPG from early 2000s. Its a game I like to revisit from time to time, and in the current revisit I was getting sub-30FPS. Changing the settings made no difference and same with resolution.

My best guess is that because the game is so old it really only runs single threaded. The 1055T isn't all that powerful (clearly needs upgrading) with 6 cores, much less when single threaded. Is this likely to explain the absolutely terrible frame rate?

In Far Cry 3, my system can push a strong frame rate (~60FPS) on the 2nd highest settings @ 1080p. I assume its a bit bottlenecked by the CPU and/or lack of RAM. But still, seems odd that DS gets such crap.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Your CPU isn't to blame here. The 7970 isn't supposed to play games which are that old. Hence it isn't optimized,

 

[cbrunny]

Before the 7970 I was using a 6450, and before that a 9600GT. All three have the same frame rate.

 

[Kenmitch]

I think win7 doesn't install all the older DirectX updates by default. Maybe try latest directX update package?

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

I'm not sure if it's the latest or not. Reading the notes makes me believe it's most likely needed for older DirectX support.

 

[cbrunny]

I think win7 doesn't install all the older DirectX updates by default. Maybe try latest directX update package?

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

I'm not sure if it's the latest or not. Reading the notes makes me believe it's most likely needed for older DirectX support.

I'll give that a try. Hadn't considered that as an issue. But, I'm also running Win8, if that makes any difference. Thanks.

 

[cbrunny]

Definintely not related to DirectX. A quick google verified that DX11 is included in Windows 8.

 

[3DVagabond]

Sounds like it's frame capped. You're saying it runs the same speeds no matter which card you use. A game that old isn't going to be hardware bottle necked anywhere. An 1100T is better, even in single thread, than anything that was around a decade or more ago.

 

[alcoholbob]

Before the 7970 I was using a 6450, and before that a 9600GT. All three have the same frame rate.

I have found playing pre-2005 games, going from a 8800GT to 285SLI, 5870, 6970 CF, now Titan...framerate for old games sometimes is worse than on an old 8800 GT.

 

[cbrunny]

I have found playing pre-2005 games, going from a 8800GT to 285SLI, 5870, 6970 CF, now Titan...framerate for old games sometimes is worse than on an old 8800 GT.

Interesting. Noted with thanks. I'll chalk it up to "old"

 

[Arkadrel]

Sometimes its software related.

I tried to play Planescape: Torment resently, installed and updated it with all the patches and addons.


My pc is a 100 times faster today than back then, but I was getting HORRIBLE performance.

I found out I needed DirectDraw fix. (now it runs smooth as butter)
Some "old" peice of software that used to be common, that now just isnt.
Or the "new" is used differnt or... what the hell do I know.

The point is it was a software related issue, with the OS.



If your running Windows 8 now and haveing issues, you could try windows 7 or windows XP and probably run it and have it run fine

Old windows = best for old games.

 

[cbrunny]

If your running Windows 8 now and haveing issues, you could try windows 7 or windows XP and probably run it and have it run fine

Old windows = best for old games.

haha.. more of a guilty pleasure game than a must-downgrade-windows-to-play game. No, I don't think I'll be doing that.

 

[FalseChristian]

I find that NVidia cares about the fact the gamers still like to play older games like GLQuake with the Darplaces mod and QuakeII/III: Arena. Hell, you can even run JDoom on NVidia GPUs.

I like AMD's offering but many times you can't play the golden oldies as well as with NVidia's offerings.

 

[Arkadrel]

I find that NVidia cares about the fat the gamers still like to play older games like GLQuake with the Darplaces mod and QuakeII/III: Arena. Hell, you can even run JDoom on NVidia GPUs.

I like AMD's offering but many times you can't play the golden oldies as well as with NVidia's offerings.

funny cuz I remember about a year ago there was a thread about the matter.
Most of those people in it, where claiming it was the other way around.

Anyways I still put my money on it being a software issue, because hes running windows 8.

Even if he had a nvidia card, he would have the same issue.
It "very likely" has nothing to do with drivers.

 

[Rezist]

I'd just blame AMD, I'm not sure why but I feel as a member of this community it is the correct thing to do.

 

[SolMiester]

Can you install the old direct x packages on W8?..Im quite sure DX11 doesnt include backwards compatibility for the other APIs...I seem to remember doing that before to allow the game to use the correct API

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I'm getting the same issue when using the DirectDraw renderer in BSplayer on a 7970 + Win7x64.
Hate EVR and VMR7/9, makes the image look washed out and blurry compared to either overlay or DirectDraw.

The issue seems to be AMD's asstastic power saving methods. On 5xxx cards, I can use RBE to edit the lowest-clocked profile
and raise the core/mem clocks. Unfortunately, this can't be done on 6xxx and 7xxx cards due to BIOS signing. I get an instant
black screen of death once Windows loads the AMD display driver kicks in.

Haven't figured out a fix yet. Oddly enough, I never experienced this issue with my old reference 6950 2GB @ 6970, which I
upgraded from.

 

[Rifter]

Install all the Dx updates as already mentioned, they are not included with dx 11 as one may think.

Also setting up a VM of XP might be a good idea for older games, although the particular game you mentioned is probably not old enough to warrant that..

 

[motsm]

This thread may be relevant, but if you're not running the game on Steam, you may have to find another method to input the commands.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2621994

 

[cbrunny]

Install all the Dx updates as already mentioned, they are not included with dx 11 as one may think.

Also setting up a VM of XP might be a good idea for older games, although the particular game you mentioned is probably not old enough to warrant that..

I gave this a try, but would not let me install. It said a newer version was already installed.

 

[Tweak155]

Your CPU isn't to blame here. The 7970 isn't supposed to play games which are that old. Hence it isn't optimized,

Lol. This is ridiculous reasoning. "A video card isn't designed to play video games"

I still play Quake 1 just fine!

That said it is definitely software as determined above. Whether it is a missing windows piece of software, drivers, DX... that will take research and effort. Up to you to decide how much!

 

[Kenmitch]

I'm getting the same issue when using the DirectDraw renderer in BSplayer on a 7970 + Win7x64. Hate EVR and VMR7/9, makes the image look washed out and blurry compared to either overlay or DirectDraw.

There is an windows update that is under optional/recommended I think that states something about DirectDraw,etc. I believe. Did you install it?

I gave this a try, but would not let me install. It said a newer version was already installed.

Google it. There is/was an issue doing the DirectX update on Win8 I think there is a workaround/fix for it now.

Even windows 7 is missing parts of the older DirectX's.

 

[Stuka87]

Install DirectX 8 (Assuming windows 8 supports it, and I would actually be surprised if it did). This has solved issues for older games for me (On W7). Newer games will still use DX11, but older games do not like running under the newer DX versions.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

There is an windows update that is under optional/recommended I think that states something about DirectDraw,etc. I believe. Did you install it?

Will look into it. I do not experience this issue with nVIDIA and older (< 6xxx) AMD GPUs.

 

[Shmee]

No issues here, and I still play doom sourceports.

 

[cbrunny]

Install DirectX 8 (Assuming windows 8 supports it, and I would actually be surprised if it did). This has solved issues for older games for me (On W7). Newer games will still use DX11, but older games do not like running under the newer DX versions.

Couldn't get DirectX 8 to install, but I managed to get 9 to install. Word around the interweb is that 9 contains backwards compatability to 8 and 7.

No effect. Still sub-30 FPS.