Nvidia choppy/low fps fix!!!

[style174]

For an explanation of recommended settings and my computer setups and configs, read below the fix.

The post below explains how to fix Warhammer Online problems using Nvidia cards that are experiencing Choppiness or Low FPS using either Windows XP or Windows Vista. Works for 32bit or 64bit.

This fix sems to work for only the RETAIL version of Warhammer Online, as the BETA client is setup differently. Make sure you are using the retail version if you are having issues, then do the following.

Follow these instructions:

1) Download the latest Official Nvidia driver for your card (You can go here)

2) Uninstall your current drivers by using the Control Panel and remove the Nvidia graphics drivers (or use another program if you prefer)

• Win XP go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
• Win Vista go to Control Panel > Programs and Features

3) Restart your computer

4) Double-click the downloaded driver from Nvidia (177.41_geforce_winvista_32bit_english_whql.exe)

5) Follow the instructions to install the driver and then restart your computer once again.

6) Now that you are running the latest Nvidia driver you will also have access to the Nvidia Control panel. You can access this through your control panel or by Right-clicking on any of the empty space on your desktop and selecting "NVIDIA Control Panel" from the pop-up menu.

7) Once in the Nvidia Control Panel, expand the top left catagory "3D Settings" so that you can select "Manage 3D Settings"

Click here to view a Screenshot

8 ) On the right side of the window you will currently be viewing your Global Settings for your graphics card. You will need to select the 2nd tab labeled "Program Settings"

Click here to view a Screenshot

9) As shown in the 2nd screenshot, we will now need to add a specific 3D profile for Warhammer Online by selecting WAR.EXE from the "add" option. The default location for this file is: (Yours may show up as just WAR, excluding the .exe)

C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Warhammer Online - Age of Reckoning\WAR.exe

Click here to view a Screenshot

Average video card




10a) If you do not have a top notch Nvidia card and you like to play at higher resolutions, you should make the following changes:

• On the Program settings for the war.exe that you just added, scroll down the list towards the bottom and change the Texture filtering to High Performance and then select Apply at the bottom right corner of the NVIDIA Control Panel.(Click here to view a screenshot)
• Start Warhammer Online and change your overall graphics settings to "Balanced" or less.

High end video card


10b) With a higher end video card you should be able to run the default settings with your preferred resolution with no problem, you can then select whichever graphics profile in Warhammer meets your desire.

************************************************** ***********

My personal experience with Nvidia and Warhammer Online.

After installing the retail version of Warhammer Online and jumping into the game, my excitement wore off quickly after discovering that my higher end system would sometimes run smooth, but consistently drop down to <10-15 FPS when zoomed in on NPCs or Trees etc, or in PVP and random zones like Chaos and Elf zones, those were horrible. I had similar issues with both of my computes, although the FPS drops and lag did not always happen in the same places. I knew something was wrong because of the power of my systems and began to troubleshoot until it was completely and 100% fixed simply by adding a profile for the war.exe in my NVIDIA control panel. This fixed worked on both of my computers listed below running Windows XP and Windows Vista 32 & 64. Before the fix, looking at the starting High Elf quest NPC zoomed in I got exactly 15FPS. After this change I got exactly 53FPS at the same spot looking at the same NPC at the same angle. My guess is that War.exe is a generic executable abused by other games/viruses and somehow got by graphics cards settings.

**I use Fraps to see my FPS in game

System 1) Windows Vista Ultimate 32Bit & 64Bit (Seperate HDD)

Intel E6850 @ Stock (3.0GHz)
4GB OCZ Reaper Memory
BFG GTX 280 OC
320GB Seagate Barricuda (32Bit Vista)
75GBx2 RAID 0 10,000RPM Rapter (64Bit Vista)
750W Thermaltake Tough Powersupply
25.5" Samsung T260 @ 1920x1200

System 1 Settings

Stays 38-60FPS through all zones/pvp (Maxed at 60FPS for Vertical Sync) Notice I have AFx16 and AAx4 Mutlisampling.

A) NVIDIA Control Panel settings shown here: Click for Screenshot






B) Warhammer Online settings

• 1920x1200
• High Quality Setting - VRAM Setting - maxed

System 2) Windows XP PRO SP2

Intel E6750 @ Stock (2.66GHz)
2GB Corsair XM2 Memory
EVGA Superclocked 8800 GTS 320MB
250GB Seagate Barricuda
500W Antec Earthwatts
Dell 20" @ 1600x1200

System 2 Settings

Stays 34-100+ FPS through all zones/pvp. Notice I have turned off AF and AA.

A) NVIDIA Control Panel settings shown here: Click for Screenshot






B) Warhammer Online settings

• 1600x1200
• Balanced Setting - VRAM Setting - Default

[Canis007]

I hope this works, PvP is killing my frame rates

[Daft]

Nice thread, Ill give what you posted a shot.

[Arcade]

Going to give it a try. Will post back results.

[WynnT]

Hmmm... I tried out what you said. It's promising. My machine will start to stutter slightly after a couple of hours playing flat out. After about 3-4 hours of WAR, I'd either restart the client or put up with the slight stutters (it's usually not game-stopping for me).
So far, after 2.5 hours, no stuttering and everything seems to be the way it was when I first turned on the machine - and I play in Windowed mode without borders either.

Here's hoping I didn't jinx it, but it would seem this worked for me.

[Kermit1979]

Good to hear. I thought this was common knowledge to pc gamers, aparently it isn't...hehe. Might explain why I never ran into this "stuttering" problem people spoke of.

To the poster above me. I do believe this game has both VRAM and RAM leaks. Mythic will fix this in due time. It's just a matter of doing the old restart when this occurs to minmize this issue.

You can optomize your RAM usage to minimize the effect RAM leaks by using the BCDEDIT command (in vista) and modifying the amount of RAM the OS will use for applications. I don't know the procedure for XP, but it is possible to do it with XP as well.

By default XP/VISTA will only allow 2GB RAM to be used for applications regardless of how much ram you have installed in your system (yes even if you have 8GB, the most it will allocate to 1 program is 2GB). The BCDEDIT command modifies this value. If you have 4GB I would recommend running the following command as admin in the command prompt and reboot:

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072

It'll take much longer for the memory leaks to start affecting you. This was a must for AOC which was notorious for memory leaks.

[TheJason]

Dude. You're the best man...

Fixed my problems completely. Am boggled that that was all that it was..

[fresh42]

This is a great post helped out my FPS issues immediatly...

can't thank you enough OP made my day

/respect

[Stilty]

I have no idea why this worked but seriously.... why does it make my fps go from 10-20 while looking at trees to no less then 45 (trees and towns were the only places my fps dropped far below expected). It has never run this smooth before! Scenarios never drop below 45 so far too. All i did was the part where i specified the war.exe and put 4aa16af.

E7200 @ 3ghz
GTX 260
3 gigs ram
xp

[style174]

Glad this was able to help some other people... it is really weird how this works, but it kept me from giving up Warhammer... I would have been depressed thinking my systems couldn't even handle this game.

Btw - My definition of a high end card is one that you can normally use to max your resolution/settings with no problems in most games... this game seems to be just slightly more needy then say, Call of Duty 4 with equivalent settings.

[Plissken]

Tag for later

[Bijyu]

I couple friends are having framerate issues. Ill show em this thread and see if it helps.

[Qpon]

I'm sorry but this doesn't suggest doing anything that any reasonably intelligent person hasn't already done. For myself, for example... you suggest updating to a driver I already have, and leaving everything as is. That doesn't change anything, and clearly wont change performance issues.

The real issue is WAR programming, memory hogging, memory leaks, and overall VPU under-utilization.

I run 3.0 dual core, 2gig corsair, 8800 GT ... and I get unreasonable stuttering and choppy display in crowded areas and during normal camera panning. I've tried dozens of "fixes", all lead to the conclusion that the programming is the source not your hardware or settings.

[style174]

Originally Posted by Qpon

I'm sorry but this doesn't suggest doing anything that any reasonably intelligent person hasn't already done.

I'm not going to talk you into fixing your game, but you should try following it and see. The magic is in adding war.exe to your 3D program settings, for some reason when it has a specific profile for the game, it works without a hitch. There is no harm in trying, it's a simple setting.

I had the exact same problems you did with a brand new GTX 280 video card, which did not make sense to me either and I made those simple changes and now I am 100% smooth.

[Jegs]

So you have tried this with both the beta driver and the official driver and your results show the official yielded better performance? Thats actually an interesting find. I can't lie. I lack all faith in it, but I will try it. I think I did do this once when I first got in on OB... We'll see.

Thanks for the suggestion.