Am I doomed?

Belisarius89 · Nov 1, 2014

The title is pretty dramatic, but I have a sincere concern about my ability to continue playing EUIV right now.

I play EUIV on a laptop - it is a pretty terrible (spec-wise) laptop and ran the game very slowly, but it usually still managed to chug along at a reasonable pace. For instance, I would normally play about five to seven in-game years in an hour after the release of Res Publica. I have a fairly slow play-style to begin with, so that worked just fine for me. Now, however, with the release of Art of War, I am lucky if I make it through one year in the same amount of time. Even at my slow pace, it is an utterly boring experience.

I have tried the hotfix beta, re-installing EUIV completely, and I am not playing with any mods. Moreover, I turned off pretty much every graphical option except for borders a long time ago.

My question, then, is whether my laptop has finally reached the point where it is no longer able to handle playing EUIV. The specs are as follows:

AMD E-350 Processor 1.6 GHz
4.00 GB RAM (3.60 GB usable)
438 GB storage total (350 GB available)
AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics
64-bit Windows 7
DirectX 10

I would really like to dive into Art of War since it seems like such a great new experience with lots of very good features, so any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

AndrewT · Nov 1, 2014

No, your machine should be basically OK, if not spectacular. But let's see a dxdiag.txt (you can delete everything after the end of the "Sound devices" section for brevity) please.

Do you find if you revert to 1.7.3 it is OK again?

Belisarius89 · Nov 1, 2014

Here is the dxdiag.txt (I believe). I will go check to see if reverting to 1.7.3 will do anything and report back shortly.
Edit: It seems that 1.7.3 works the same as it previously did.

Code:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 11/1/2014, 12:46:13
       Machine name: FRASER-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.140706-1506)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
       System Model: Satellite C640D
               BIOS: InsydeH2O Version CCB.03.60.341.50
          Processor: AMD E-350 Processor (2 CPUs), ~1.6GHz
             Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3686MB RAM
          Page File: 3376MB used, 3995MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics
       Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
          Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x9802)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9802&SUBSYS_FDF61179&REV_00
     Display Memory: 1958 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 371 MB
      Shared Memory: 1587 MB
       Current Mode: 1366 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: unknown
         Monitor Id: LGD02F8
        Native Mode: 1366 x 768(p) (59.996Hz)
        Output Type: Internal
        Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1124 (English)
     Driver Version: 8.961.0.0
        DDI Version: 11
       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
  Driver Attributes: Final Retail
   Driver Date/Size: 1/31/2014 20:25:25, 1067520 bytes
        WHQL Logo'd: Yes
    WHQL Date Stamp: 
  Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-DB42-11CF-AD76-FCDDBEC2C535}
          Vendor ID: 0x1002
          Device ID: 0x9802
          SubSys ID: 0xFDF61179
        Revision ID: 0x0000
 Driver Strong Name: oem23.inf:ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1:ati2mtag_Wrestler:8.961.0.0:pci\ven_1002&dev_9802
     Rank Of Driver: 00E62001
        Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C 
   Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch 
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY 
                     {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch 
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY 
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
                     {552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                     {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch 
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY 
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC1,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC2,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC3,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC4,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(S340,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(S342,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=
       D3D9 Overlay: Not Supported
            DXVA-HD: Not Supported
       DDraw Status: Enabled
         D3D Status: Enabled
         AGP Status: Enabled

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Speakers (Conexant SmartAudio HD)
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_506E&SUBSYS_1179FDF6&REV_1000
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: CHDRT64.sys
         Driver Version: 8.54.0001.0000 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 2/14/2011 21:43:00, 1581184 bytes
            Other Files: 
        Driver Provider: Conexant
         HW Accel Level: Basic
              Cap Flags: 0xF1F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

AndrewT · Nov 3, 2014

Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3686MB RAM

This is unusual under 64bit Windows. You should get access to almost the entire 4gb, but here over 400mb is wasted. There's probably a BIOS (firmware) setting that fixes that, but you might need help from Toshiba on that, don't just fiddle around in there if you're not experienced.

Also, opt into the new 1.8-hotfix beta in teh Steam EU4 beta tab, see if that helps.

Belisarius89 · Nov 3, 2014

Do not poke around in important system files: got it.

Thanks for your help, AndrewT. I will see if I can get in touch with Toshiba about the BIOS setting.

Munashiimaru · Nov 3, 2014

AndrewT said:
This is unusual under 64bit Windows. You should get access to almost the entire 4gb, but here over 400mb is wasted. There's probably a BIOS (firmware) setting that fixes that, but you might need help from Toshiba on that, don't just fiddle around in there if you're not experienced.

Also, opt into the new 1.8-hotfix beta in teh Steam EU4 beta tab, see if that helps.

It's a laptop wouldn't the sectioned off memory be for the video card?

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Am I doomed?

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