Forum Discussion

1 year ago

Solved

[PC] Dragon Age Inquisition Performance Issue

I am not sure what's the issue, but I have performance problem. On one hand main menu works flawlessly with consistent high frame (60FPS). But when I play the game it gets below 15 frames (8 at during gameplay and 5 during cutscene). The issue is that performance is bad no matter what settings I modify (currently everything is on the lowest) When I checked on Can I Run It, it confirmed I can run it no problem, just not on ultra settings and I don't care to run on ultra settings.

I already played games released around mid-2010s like Wolfenstein trilogy, Total War: Attila, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak or Ancestores Legacy with no issue and some games in later years that weren't recommended for me still ran with little issues to no issues like Partisans 1941, Lost in Random, Mafia Remake or The Council. It makes no sense why performance should be that bad for Dragon Age: Inquisition, especially since I already played games somewhat outside of my specs and the fact that main menu has good fps. Normally I wouldn't be bothered, I played Witcher 3 on my old PC and still had great fun, but I find this abnormal and I believe it can be easily fixed with obvious solution, it's just that I don't know how.

dragon age inquisition

mcsupersport
1 year ago
From what I can see in your DxDiag file, your machine isn't up to the task.....yes, I know that can you play it says it is, but honestly it isn't.

First, you core speed is .2ghz below min even on boost, this means that while the newer processor will have some advantage, it is starting out with slower than min clock speeds to begin. This will effect game play and game command simply because the clock speed is too low.

Second, there are two graphics "cards" listed, I use quotes because neither is an actual card, one being the on board of the Intel chip, and the other is an onboard mobile chipset version. Now the Intel is ok for games like rocket league or watching youtube, and some older games that don't really stress the video card abilities. The Nvidia MX230 is also sub caliber, again more slanted to old low stressing video games or some that are extremely well optimized. The Nvidia chipset MX230 is actually showing as only about 2/3 the capability of the minimum spec card for this game, and the Intel chipset isn't supported at all by EA for this game. Yes, this is an old game, but it has ALWAYS been a video card hog and pushes even relatively newer full cards....Nvidia 2000 series cards and up are fine, but anything less and issues running may crop up at high resolutions..... Laptops that aren't specifically designed for gaming are often unable to run most semi-modern games and are hit or miss on some older. Now if your laptop had a Nvidia 1660GT or something, then it would probably be fine, but instead it is limited to the onboard chipset of Intel and the "mobile graphics processor" or the MX230, neither are good for this game.

So basically you need a better machine to run the game at higher fps......

5 Replies

holger1405
Hero+
1 year ago
@Otpisani95

Please create a DxDiag in text file format and post it with your next reply. You can do that with the "Choose file" button at the bottom right corner of the reply window.
Otpisani95
1 year ago
There it is
DxDiag.txt152 KB
mcsupersport
Hero+
1 year ago
From what I can see in your DxDiag file, your machine isn't up to the task.....yes, I know that can you play it says it is, but honestly it isn't.

First, you core speed is .2ghz below min even on boost, this means that while the newer processor will have some advantage, it is starting out with slower than min clock speeds to begin. This will effect game play and game command simply because the clock speed is too low.

Second, there are two graphics "cards" listed, I use quotes because neither is an actual card, one being the on board of the Intel chip, and the other is an onboard mobile chipset version. Now the Intel is ok for games like rocket league or watching youtube, and some older games that don't really stress the video card abilities. The Nvidia MX230 is also sub caliber, again more slanted to old low stressing video games or some that are extremely well optimized. The Nvidia chipset MX230 is actually showing as only about 2/3 the capability of the minimum spec card for this game, and the Intel chipset isn't supported at all by EA for this game. Yes, this is an old game, but it has ALWAYS been a video card hog and pushes even relatively newer full cards....Nvidia 2000 series cards and up are fine, but anything less and issues running may crop up at high resolutions..... Laptops that aren't specifically designed for gaming are often unable to run most semi-modern games and are hit or miss on some older. Now if your laptop had a Nvidia 1660GT or something, then it would probably be fine, but instead it is limited to the onboard chipset of Intel and the "mobile graphics processor" or the MX230, neither are good for this game.

So basically you need a better machine to run the game at higher fps......
Otpisani95
1 year ago
Oh well... it is what it is. I am not very happy with the result, but my happiness or unhappiness won't change the truth. I always check game on "Can I run it" and the results were good , but as it turns out it's not the most reliable way. I still find it odd that Dragon Age: Inquisition runs poorly, but not Total War: Attila because I do remember people complaining back then Total War Attila had performance issues and was very demenading, but I don't remember the same thing with Dragon Age: Inquisistion, but my knowledge on how graphics work, isn't great as this case shows (I only got some level of understanding based on 3D modeling I did in free time, but that's one very limited aspect). Thank you all for help and explanation.
PS. After some time, game can go to 20-30 fps in gameplay (including combat), but still falls to very low fps during cutscenes. I still don't understand how performance is that inconstant, but that's my problem and I should educate myself better. I will just accept the fact that my laptop is not up to the task and next time I will take into consideration what you told me.
Fred_vdp
Hero+
1 year ago
I haven't tested Can I Run It in ages, but it used to be very unreliable several years ago as well. I remember it doing basic math for graphics cards, saying one graphics card is better than the other because the number is higher, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

I think the best way is to look at system requirements and actively compare the specs online, but even so, the system requirements are often boohockey. For instance, I initially played Baldur's Gate 3 on a PC with the minimum required processor (Intel Core I5 4690). In the third act, the game crashed when I tried to talk to characters, so that requirement was simply too low.

@Otpisani95 wrote:

PS. After some time, game can go to 20-30 fps in gameplay (including combat), but still falls to very low fps during cutscenes. I still don't understand how performance is that inconstant, but that's my problem and I should educate myself better. I will just accept the fact that my laptop is not up to the task and next time I will take into consideration what you told me.

It's possible cutscenes use more cinematic lights and higher detailed characters, so that would explain a performance drop. Horizon Forbidden West has the same problem on PC where players see stark performance drops in cutscenes.