Low performance on Dragon Age

Profnecro

Reputable
Nov 21, 2014
5
0
4,510
Computer isn't preforming up to expectations, specifically for "Dragon Age Inquisition".
As I understand I've met the recommended specs for DA but whilst running the game performance has been in the gutter. I've been averaging a choppy 5-18 fps with all settings turned down making the game look like pastel legos. Am I missing something or is this what I should be expecting with my hardware?


My specs

OS: Windows 7

Graphics Card: Geforce GTX 970

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600 3.40ghz

Ram: 4 Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1600C9 4GB (16GB total)

Motherboard: Asrock z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Power Supply: Diablotek UL Series 775 watt
 
Solution
Are these idle temps? That's bad news bears. But an easy fix. Either your heatsink isn't properly fastened to your cpu, or the fan is busted. Or it could be something as simple as the heatsink power connector not being plugged into your motherboard.

Also, if you're using a stock intel cooler, I would upgrade to something a little better.

Mid 90C temps is way too high, you're approaching TJ max. For most modern Intel CPUs it's around 100C. What's happening is that your CPU is throttling in order to cool down. That's why you're losing performance. Keeping your system temps under 80C is ideal.


Do you have 4 sticks of ram total, or 4GB total? I'm running this game on a 780 on max with no issues. The 970 is a better card than mine, so there shouldn't be any issues. If you only have 4 gigs of ram, that might be your bottleneck, but I can't be sure as I don't know how heavy the game is on system resources.

Try the new graphics driver Nvidia released a few days ago with a clean install under the custom install settings.
 
That's bizarre, so there should be no bottleneck. The GTX 970 is an awesome card. Try reinstalling your graphics drivers. Do you find lackluster frame rates in other games as well?

Download HWMonitor if you don't already have it, just to make sure system temps are normal as well.
 


Did a clean install of my drivers and am currently redownloading DA to see if that helps. And yhea, I've been getting issues in other games as well.

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Most of that is black magic to me but, it seems like the CPU temp of mid 90C is high?

 
Are these idle temps? That's bad news bears. But an easy fix. Either your heatsink isn't properly fastened to your cpu, or the fan is busted. Or it could be something as simple as the heatsink power connector not being plugged into your motherboard.

Also, if you're using a stock intel cooler, I would upgrade to something a little better.

Mid 90C temps is way too high, you're approaching TJ max. For most modern Intel CPUs it's around 100C. What's happening is that your CPU is throttling in order to cool down. That's why you're losing performance. Keeping your system temps under 80C is ideal.
 
Solution
I've been having FPS issues on all low settings all of today and yesterday but I then tried it on all Ultra and I've been having great fps for about 25 minutes of intense fighting and spells everywhere (this is including MSAA and every single setting as high as it can go) But if i go back to Low settings it goes to hell again.
I really think there's an actual problem with low settings in this game cos I've never encountered a situation where Ultra is giving me better fps than low.

Your specs are higher than mine so I can't understand how you're having fps issues.
 


Ahhh ok, that makes sense. So basically my computer has pretty much been on fire and I'm sitting here wondering why it doesn't work no matter how many priests I have bless it. But yhea, I've been using the stock cooler for the past... 3 years? I'm sure someone will find that hilarious.

Anyway, I've ordered a "Thermalright Macho Rev. A" because it has macho in its name so that oughta straighten me out. Much appreciated to the folk that helped point out how I'm being a dumbass.