[fixed] Dragon Age 2 Low Performance on Nvidia Cards [fixed]

[Grooveriding]

I was super looking forward to Dragon Age 2 and fortunately I am on vacation this week :thumbsup:

Downloaded and installed, played the game in DX11, turned up all the settings, installed the hi res texture pack. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/300/index/6392956

Using the 267.24 drivers with the DA2 profiles.

I'm getting awful performance. With a single card I get about 80% GPU utilization and 10fps, with all three I get about 40% GPU utilization and 15-20fps.

The game looks better, but is nothing impressive at all.

Seems the issue is related to nvidia's drivers and is not just happening to SLI users:

http://www.gameblurb.net/news/dragon-age-2-direct-x11-has-terrible-performance-for-nvidia-owners/
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=194951
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/300/index/6405922/1
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=340194


AMD cards are running the game just fine in DX11 with good framerates, a 5850 is outperforming a GTX 580 in DX11 in this game!


http://www.techspot.com/review/374-dragon-age-2-performance-test/page4.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd-6990_8.html#sect1

http://translate.google.hr/translat...deons-vor-Geforce/Rollenspiel-Adventure/Test/

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...d-6990-graphics-card-review-dragon-age-2.html

If anyone finds a fix, please advise. Was looking forward to this one.

 

[Silverforce11]

Probably have to wait for a driver update.

This is such a big AAA title as well, i'm surprised NV did not optimize drivers for its launch.

 

[mnewsham]

Somewhat glad i cheaped out and got the 5870m version of the G73 instead of the 460m version now.

 

[RussianSensation]

Somewhat glad i cheaped out and got the 5870m version of the G73 instead of the 460m version now.

Isn't the 5870m faster than the 460m in general anyway? I thought only the 485M was better than the 5870m.

Groove, I would wait for NV to release newer drivers. The game is new; it happens.

 

[Borealis7]

could also be a game issue like SC2's Card Killing Menu.

have you tried disabling specific graphics options to see if frame rates improve?

 

[3DVagabond]

Could it be the hi-res texture pack? Did you try it with the game stock?

 

[Grooveriding]

It's when running the game under DX11. I also believe even the high res texture pack is related. From the threads I linked it is all nvidia cases users trying to run in DX11 with the new graphics features. We're all getting terrible performance.

But AMD cards are not experiencing the issuue.

I can get smooth frames turning down to high from very high and disabling the new DX11 features till nvidia fixes their drivers but would rather not!

 

[Keysplayr]

Forwarded this to NV. I'll keep you all updated.

Keys

 

[techforums]

Isn't the 5870m faster than the 460m in general anyway? I thought only the 485M was better than the 5870m.

Groove, I would wait for NV to release newer drivers. The game is new; it happens.

http://www.xoticpcforums.com/showthread.php?t=7488

I found this which puts the 5870m on top.

 

[BD231]

Higher CPU utilization, GPU utilization issues, scolding hot VRMs, driver related issues out the wazoo. Never again will I subject myself to this . Does not help I have an AMD chipset, thankfully I'm not a fan of dragon age.

 

[zebrax2]

Also worth noting that there are new ATI and nVidia drivers due Monday (or Tuesday) I believe, which will increase performance and stability for DA2 on DirectX11 cards.

From
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6346703/1

 

[SlowSpyder]

Is this some of that better out of the box AAA title support I've been hearing about?

Just kidding guys, don't take the above seriously.

This is a big title, I'm sure Nvidia will have this sorted out soon. Didn't you say in another thread that one setting seemed to kill performance? If so, just turn that down/off until the next driver/patch/hotfix.

 

[aphelion02]

Hello, Anandtech, first post here but long time lurker.

I recall pre-release that there was talk that Bioware was working with AMD very closely on this game, especially on the DX11 portions. I think this could be the reason why AMD cards are doing so much better for this game. Maybe the upcoming Nvidia drivers will fix this? That said, I'm so glad that I picked up a 5870 in early Jan. instead of going for the gtx570 .

 

[Compddd]

I run a single GTX 580 and I can confirm that running the game with all DX11 options set to on results in terrible performance, below 20FPS usually.

I do not have the high rest texture pack installed.

 

[smakme7757]

I tried the Demo on my single 580 and it's unplayable.

Hello, Anandtech, first post here but long time lurker.

I recall pre-release that there was talk that Bioware was working with AMD very closely on this game, especially on the DX11 portions. I think this could be the reason why AMD cards are doing so much better for this game. Maybe the upcoming Nvidia drivers will fix this? That said, I'm so glad that I picked up a 5870 in early Jan. instead of going for the gtx570 .

Welcome to the forums

Even though they worked with AMD i can't see how that would cause the game to perform so poorly on Nvidia hardware. Even if the game is optimized for AMD it should still be playable on Nvidia hardware. If it was coded to perform poorly on Nvidia hardware they just cut out a MASSIVE amount of potential buyers and i would bet that's not part of their game plan.

 

[Skurge]

I tried the Demo on my single 580 and it's unplayable.


Welcome to the forums

Even though they worked with AMD i can't see how that would cause the game to perform so poorly on Nvidia hardware. Even if the game is optimized for AMD it should still be playable on Nvidia hardware. If it was coded to perform poorly on Nvidia hardware they just cut out a MASSIVE amount of potential buyers and i would bet that's not part of their game plan.

Yeah, I would lay this squarely on Nvidia's. This is a AAA game after all. It should work reasonably well out of the box.

 

[Idontcare]

Welcome to the forums aphelion02! :thumbsup:

 

[busydude]

Gaming Evolved just kicked in Yo!

 

[CitanUzuki]

Same with my dual 580 setup. I had to uncheck dx11 box for playability.

 

[Hauk]

I run a single GTX 580 and I can confirm that running the game with all DX11 options set to on results in terrible performance, below 20FPS usually.

I do not have the high rest texture pack installed.

Just read a post where OP is running full game w/latest drivers on 480 Tri-SLI and getting terrible DX11 performance. Bummer, I hope SLI & DX11 issues are resolved soon.

 

[Arkadrel]

...I recall pre-release that there was talk that Bioware was working with AMD very closely on this game.. .

Wasnt that only for Eyefinity resolution support?
Anyways DragonAge is a major title, so Im sure Nvidia will get this fixed with drivers.

 

[Seero]

Wait what? A vendor aiding a game resulting good FPS on their cards and kills the performance of another vendor? Where is the conspiracy?

Edit: beta driver beyond 267.24 allows much better performance. The latest version is 267.31.

 

[RussianSensation]

HardOCP even noted that HD6990 tanked with anything above 4xAF irrc. Therefore, it seems this game is either very demanding or the drivers are unoptimized for both camps at this point.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Wait what? A vendor aiding a game resulting good FPS on their cards and kills the performance of another vendor? Where is the conspiracy?

Edit: beta driver beyond 267.24 allows much better performance. The latest version is 267.31.

Show us a vendor lockout that artificially causes a problem with the other vendor, then you'll see the conspiracy.

 

[Annisman*]

Me thinks the new beta drivers will at least make this game playable, probably some other increases to come soon after.