NWN1 and NWN2: Issues with DX10 Cards?

[Ultralight]

I installed the Diamond Edition of NWN1 on my system. I have tried the OC and got about a third of the way in Chapter 1 when I was suddenly getting jerking/stuttering problems in my gameplay. I tried starting from an earlier save but nothing worked. I chocked it up to a Community Hak that I installed and decided to move on to the first expansion Shadows of Undrentide.

I started with a fresh install with no Hak Pak. The play was smooth for a couple of days. I come back tonight and start the game but the problem of jerking/stuttering returned.

Someone on another forum said that it seems these games have issues with DX10 cards. Anyone know if this is true? Why then will the game play smoothly for a lemgth of time and then later on down the road begin to spaz? Someone else on the official BioWare forums just posted the same kind of issue.

Thanks

socket 939 System Specs:

XP Pro w/SP2
Athlon 64 Dual Core 3800+ @ 2.0 GHz
SATA HD
2 Gigs of RAM
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB/ 256bit/ GDDR3 video card.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Some games are more sensitive to overclocking than others, you might try reducing any CPU, RAM timing, video card overclocks back to stock speed.

I haven't had any problems with an ATI 4870 and NWN 2 MotB expansion, but I only played it for a day on my new system before getting sidetracked with Mass Effect and now Fallout 3.

 

[Ultralight]

Thanks for the reply. The thing is I have not oc'ed anything.

 

[Bateluer]

I've heard reports that the NWN1/2 games had issues with the 8800 series cards, of which your 9600GT is part of, but I've never owned an 8800 class card, so I can't confirm it.

They all ran great on my X1900XT, my 2900XT and my current 4870.

 

[Ultralight]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
I've heard reports that the NWN1/2 games had issues with the 8800 series cards, of which your 9600GT is part of, but I've never owned an 8800 class card, so I can't confirm it.

They all ran great on my X1900XT, my 2900XT and my current 4870.

Did you run with a dual core by chance? From what I have been able to research neither game likes dual cores and so I changed the ini files to set the game to where it will only run off of one core. It didn't help.

Edit Update: From additional research it seems that the Nvidia implementation of Open GL 2.0 in the newer cards has issues with outdated coding of NWN 1. I may try new drivers but since Bioware is finished with anymore updates (1.69 being the last), this is probably a moot point.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Ultralight

Originally posted by: Bateluer
I've heard reports that the NWN1/2 games had issues with the 8800 series cards, of which your 9600GT is part of, but I've never owned an 8800 class card, so I can't confirm it.

They all ran great on my X1900XT, my 2900XT and my current 4870.

Did you run with a dual core by chance? From what I have been able to research neither game likes dual cores and so I changed the ini files to set the game to where it will only run off of one core. It didn't help.

Edit Update: From additional research it seems that the Nvidia implementation of Open GL 2.0 in the newer cards has issues with outdated coding of NWN 1. I may try new drivers but since Bioware is finished with anymore updates (1.69 being the last), this is probably a moot point.

I cannot recall if I ran NWN2 on my 1900XT, if I did, it was briefly. Under the 2900XT, the CPU was an E6600@stock. The 4870 started with the E6600, which was later replaced with an E8500. NWN2 has always ran well, provided the most recent patches were installed to optimize the engine a little.

As far as NWN1, I haven't had difficulty running that game at or near maximum settings since my AXP-M 1700+ and Mobility Radeon 32MB notebook. My P4 2.4C w/ Radeon 9600 Pro/6800GT, my P4 3.4E w/6800GT, my A64 X2 4200 with X1900XT, my E6600 with X1900XT/2900XT, and my current E8500 with 4870 have all ran it flawlessly. The only completely single core CPU I ever ran it on was the Athlon XP Mobile 1700+.

Edit - Err, wait, I had a Dell Inspiron notebook in there too, between the AXP-M notebook and the P4 2.4C desktop. It was a P4 Mobile with a Mobility Radeon 9000 Pro, but I don't recall it having any problems playing NWN1 either.

 

[Ultralight]

Hmmm, then perhaps I'll update the drivers for my 9600GT and see if that rectifies the issue. It just is strange how the game can play well for hours, shut it down and come back and it still plays well, but then it will stutter and jerk for no apparent reason.

Thanks for your replies. By the way, I usually use Driver Cleaner Pro and reboot into safe mode and install new drivers and then reboot. Have you found this to be the best way?

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Ultralight


Thanks for your replies. By the way, I usually use Driver Cleaner Pro and reboot into safe mode and install new drivers and then reboot. Have you found this to be the best way?

I must really be spoiled by ATI's drivers. I just use the uninstall utility that comes with Catalyst and then let it install the updated drivers. Never had a problem with the Catalysts going back to my X1900XT. Can't recall my 9600 Pro days all that well, it was a while ago, though I don't remember any particularly aggravating issues.