M17x - Max Payne 3 - Discussion

I'm going to chime in here and drop my 2 cents into the donations jar.

I had launch issues as well, where the steam would say it's "launching", then the box disappears, and nothing happens. Nothing in task manager showing any kind of activity. I ended up reinstalling GFWL and doing a reboot of my laptop, and voila, it worked. Now I'm not sure which of the two actually fixed it, but it doesn't hurt to try both. For GFWL, just google "GFWL download" or something similar, and download/install it (I deleted older one from add/remove programs before though, FYI).

So the game runs now, perfect, right? Wrong. Since it uses pretty much what looks like an upgraded RAGE engine, similar to the one that powered GTA4, it utilizes the "Video Memory" notion that if you have a 2GB card, you have 2048MB of memory to use in choosing certain graphics options. Now, my 7970M is a 2GB card, which potentially enables me to max the game out completely (4x MSAA, 8X I'm reading pushes it over the limit). The issue, is that the game only recognizes 512MB, and completely disregards the fact that my card is able to run DX11. The only way I can run this game with higher settings is by using the graphics XML file in documents/rockstargames/max payne 3, and boosting the settings manually via an editor (I used notepad). However, still cannot get DX11 to run, even though every other setting is maxed out and it CLEARLY shows it's around 1Gig of used memory past the 512MB alotted.

It's a shame I can't use my laptop to it's full potential, and a bigger shame that I can't seem to find anyone else with this issue. Oh well, I'll suck it up.


Edit: Should also mention that I've set Max Payne to use "High-Performance" mode, and it appears that it is using it, since the game runs buttery smooth, and I somehow SERIOUSLY doubt the HD4000 is pushing the pixels. Also running the latest May 9th 7970M drivers, unless there are newer that will alleviate my issues...?

 

i have the same issue where it only recognizes 512 and won't allow dx11. using 580m

 

Could this be a driver issue? AMD released beta 12.6 drivers and CAP ahead of the MP3 release - are any AMD guys experiencing this or only the greenies?

 

I have the 580m, game recognizes the card fine, I get the full 2 gig of VRAM, and it runs on very high. I haven't had time to test performance much yet, but the first 10 minutes seemed fine (averaging 60 fps, some drops into the 50's, I expect that really demanding scenes may drop it closer to 30 FPS, we will have too see, very good looking game).

Anyway, no problems for me, running newest WHQL drivers.

 

Thank GOD someone else is experiencing what I am. I hate being the only one with an oddball problem with a game I REALLY want to play.

Pookie, these 12.6 drives for AMD, where would I be able to get these, and are they for the 7970M?

Appreciate the insight folks, much more help than I'm getting on other forums.

I have to ask, but are you ONLY using the 580M in your laptop, as in, the onboard graphics are completely disabled? Just curious, since the previous poster seems to have my issue, and you're hunky dory.


I was contemplating trying the commandline.txt method when I get home. For those that don't know, when you go to the root install folder for the game, you can create a notepad file for instance, call it commandline.txt, and throw in a bunch of commands to force the game to run with certain settings, like:

-adapter Force specific DirectX adapter starting from 0.
-cpucount Force cpu count if query is not successful.
-d3dmt Force multi-threaded DirectX runtime.
-dx10 Force DirectX 10 if available.
-dx10_1 Force DirectX 10.1 if available.
-dx11 Force DirectX 11 if available.
-dx9 Force DirectX 9.
-frameLimit Force VSYNC [0, 1, 2]; (0 equals Vsync Off)
-fullscreen Force fullscreen mode.
-fxaa Force FXAA quality [0..3].
-gpucount Force gpu count if query is not successful.
-height Force vertical resolution.
-language english Force English language.
-language french Force French language.
-language italian Force Italian language.
-language german Force German language.
-language spanish Force Spanish language.
-language russian Force Russian language.
-language portuguese Force Portugese language.
-language polish Force Polish language.
-MSAA Force MSAA [0..5].
-MSAAQuality Force MSAA quality level.
-outputMonitor Force specific monitor starting from 0.
-reflectionquality Force reflection quality [0..3].
-refreshrate Force refresh rate.
-safemode Force game to load with safest settings.
-shadowquality Force shadow quality [0..3].
-ssao Force SSAO [0..1].
-stereo Force 3D stereo support [0..1] (1 is on)
-tessellation Force tessellation quality [0..3].
-texturefilterquality Force the Anisotropic texture filter quality [0..4].
-texturequality Force the texture quality [0..2].
-useHighQualityShaders Force usage of high quality shaders [0..1].
-waterquality Force water quality [0..2].
-width Force horizontal resolution
-windowed Force windowed mode.

 

12.6 Beta

"This article applies to the following configuration(s):

Hardware:

AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series
AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series
AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series
AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series"

... so I'm guessing that covers the 7970M?

You can tweet Andrew D and ask before trying to install. I would except I have no tweety account!

... OH WAIT.... someone already did and he replied... "Catalyst 12.6 Beta includes Full Mobility Radeon support in there too" ... sweet!

And 12.6 beta CAP...

"New profiles added to this release:
- Max Payne 3 (DirectX11 version): Improves CrossFire "

Good luck brother!

 

These look solid, but to be honest, the chances of it fixing the memory issue are slim to none, and the chances of it messing everything up in general, is probably very likely. I'm not sure if I should dive in and do it. Will need to get back to all of you on whether or not the commandline.txt fixes my issues. If it doesn't, I'll do the 12.6.

 

The only way to fix the memory issue is to turn off the iGP via modded bios of which there is none for the R4 at the moment.

The reason is that Max Payne 3 is detecting the shared iGP memory even though it is running on the 7970m so it's kind of like a hybrid software/hardware issue.

 

I've always wondered why you can't just disable it in the Device manager? I have a 120hz display so my iGP is not even connected - hopefully when my DL eventually finishes I won't have any problems

 

Hi
Just installed Max Payne 3. When I click on the icon to launch the game it brings up an auto-updater window, nothing happens and then nothing else happens, the game just won't launch, anyone any ideas? I've tried running as administrator, turning off anti-virus but the auto-updater just closes.
Thanks
Gerry

M17x r3
Nvidia 580m
Core i7 28600QM

 

Appears to be a very common problem with the game - many people are having variants of the same issue.

Just for one example of people working on it, check This thread. You'll find more on Steam Forums and other forums. Gonna take some reading and trying to find your personal fix.

 

Hard to believe they can release a game that just doesn't work out of the box...

Still looking for a fix, ideas welcome : )

thanks

 

I figured it had something to do with the iGP. It's a real sh*t sucker though, I wish it just saw what the 7970M had.

I fixed mine by downloading Games for Windows Live Marketplace (just google it), uninstalling it from add/remove in control panel (I left the redistributable), then reinstalling it. Then did a restart of my laptop. Worked ever since.

 

I fixed it by downloading the newest CAP for crossfire

 

Hello,

I had the same problem with the game either failing to launch or crashing at launch, but I found that by selecting run with integrated gpu seemed to fix that (at least for me).

So for me to run it I have to right click ->run with integrated or else it will crash or not load. The game does use my 580M however. So give that a try maybe it will help.

 

I got it to run and played for an hour or so.

Im playing on auto default settings and they range from very high to high, with fxaa and tessellation.

For reasons unknown my fraps refused to overlay with max payne 3 so I cant post qualitative results but it felt around 60fps.

 

What kinda performance are you seeing brother? Settings/fps?

Glad to hear it's finally working for you. Seems iGPU is being a butt for you guys with iGPUs!

If you manage to get fraps working, please report back with some numbers. Hmmm... numbers!

 

I am playing absolute maxed out with no MSAA but everything else to very high. I have HBAO enabled, Very High Tess, etc. Literally everything maxed except MSAA.

Played for 4 hours. FPS Varies but generally sits between 30 and 60. More enclosed or indoor environments sit at 60. Outdoor, especially with lots of grass and such, sit around 45. Keep in mind if I made a very few sacrifices (like HBAO and Tess) I might be able to keep 60 almost all the time. I also play with VSync, which may be dragging me down a few fps (for example I might be getting in the 50's, but it goes to 45 to keep vsync). In a few scenes I have had it drop a little lower. Lowest I have seen is 27 FPS, it did not last but a few seconds. Interestingly the most demanding sections of the game seems to be scenery scenes rather than actual battles, so I don't find the lower FPS to be annoying, the game feels extremely smooth during gameplay and I have no complaints.

Also, with everything cranked to max it looks absolutely incredible, and so far I am loving it. The writing and voice acting are second to none, and the pacing thus far is superb. It might be a good idea to play on easy your first time, the game is very difficult and not forgiving like most modern games (out of painkillers? to bad!).

 

I don't have the issue with the memory so the game recognize all the 2048Mb in my system. But I can't max the graphics settings out completely so I have only tested performance with FRAPS without MSAA.

For now I have also only played the game with DX11, with everything VERY HIGH and on 1920x1200 res and everything on just HIGH, with all features enabled except MSAA because the game can't use more memory.

So far the game has been running between 30-60 fps, but mostly the game gives me 50+ fps, and i really don't see a different between VERY HIGH settings and HIGH and the fps don't chance much either between the settings.

The game looks good but definitely not as good as I had hoped. Looks a lot like GTA 4 graphics with a decent texture mod, and I haven't really noticed the DX11 features at all such as tessellation. I suspect that the game looks just as good with DX10 and with much better performance.

Oh and I use the 12.6 Beta drivers and the latest CAP that improves X-fire performance.

 

Pretty much my experience Yoda. As I'm doing a little bit more reading now, and looking at a ton of videos and screen shots, I honestly can't tell the difference between DX11 and DX10/DX9. I'm getting a steady 60+ FPS with Vsync off so I'm a happy camper really.

I also did notice how hard the game is, brings me back to the first two games, which were extremely unforgiving. I always notice that when I'm out of Painkillers and the red's up to my neck, I tend to take a few puffs of air, then dodge jump out of cover like a lunatic spraying. Usually works.

 

What are your specs brother?

ALSO, regarding anti-aliasing, I almost always turn it off completely in game, and force it using this awesome SMAA INJECTOR.

>>> simply extract all 4 files into the same folder that contains the game executable (from the DX9 folder for a DX9 game or from the DX10 folder for DX10/11 games).

>>> when you launch the game, SMAA will be active as default and you can toggle it off/on using the PAUSE/BREAK key.

It gives really nice anti-aliasing for MINIMAL fps impact.

ALSO - if you find that your steam overlay is looking funny, simply open the injector.ini with notepad and change the line "weird_steam_hack = 0" to read "weird_steam_hack = 1", which has always fixed the issue for me.

See if that makes the game look nicer!

Sorry, to be clear, what kinda FPS difference in general between everything on HIGH and VERY HIGH?

Also, as I explained in my post here, if in-game MSAA is hurting FPS loads, try the awesome SMAA INJECTOR - I'd marry it if I could, that's how much I love it.

 

maybe between 5-10 fps depending on the level.

 

Thanks for the link, I downloaded it and will try it on some games. MP3 already has FXAA implemented (which I set to very high) so the lack of MSAA is really a non-issue since it looks fantastic with no aliasing. Do you think the SMAA is better than FXAA?

I am running an R3 2760, 16 gig ram, 256 gig 830 SSD, and 580m OCed to 740 core.

 

just for the record it doesnt matter what nvidia driver you are using. i have the latest driver installed and its still recognizing only 512 and dx9 only.

 

Hi guys,
I have box type of this game. Problem with star max payne i figured up as you wrote - rus with integrated graphic card. But another problem appeared, when i pres enter to start game, game freeze on inicializing table(i can move mouse, text with max payne 3 move, but nothing else happened).
I try run game in safe mode, i created commandline.txt and test all kind of directx modes, try to set graphics to highest/lowest option, try in windowed and fullscreen mode, running as admin, temporarily disabling antivirus/security, downloading the latest drivers.. I already wrote to rockstar, try everything what they suggested, but no result.
Iam really desperate.
Do you have a suggestion?
Sorry for my english.
Thank you very much.

My notebook:
I5 2430, Nvidia GT540m, 4GB RAM

 

mmmh nice pirated copy of the game Gerry.

Anyway, just install the game in C:\Maxpayne3 (exactly this folder) not in Program files. Then the game should start.

Enjoy!

 

Oh I'm sorry - I didn't realise MP3 implemented FXAA. In my experience, if a game has FXAA, then combining this with SMAA won't make things look much better. But, if you have the option to switch off FXAA, then you can use SMAA in it's place

>>> SMAA should give the better frame rate, but it's down to personal preference then which type of AA looks nicer to you - FXAA or SMAA.

The only game I've preferred FXAA to SMAA in is BF3, and I grew damn bored of that ages ago, so SMAA pretty much for me always!

ANYWAY - just mess about with it and see how it affects your visuals and frame rates. A bit of geeky fun!

Have you tried searching the Steam forums? There are loads of people there complaining of loads of different problems, and there are loads of possible solutions posted.

>>> in cases like this, sometimes all you can do is try a suggested method, see if it works, if not, try another

>>> I've done this in the past with a new release and eventually one of the methods work!

Sometimes even doing something which makes no sense fixes an issue.


Good luck brother!

 

Right clicking on the game icon and starting with the integrated graphics works but there is no option to use DX11 and it seems to default to DX9 and the game runs slowly...any ideas why that is?


I will try a re-install to C:|Maxpayne3 and see if that works, thanks

 

Hi All, first post here.

I recently bought the M17x R3 (i7 2720QM, 2GB 6970M, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD as primary). However 2 things happen that i can't change, the frame rate drops pretty bad, whenever it ' loads' the next parts of the map (as you're playing), and under display settings, it reads I've got 0MB of memory (how can that be!?), so i can't change anything (it's running on 'auto' i guess, but i can't find out how to change, and the computer wont accept any of my changes). I've got the latest bios, and tried to change the 'hybrid' status with the GPU (integrated graphics), but that didn't work.

the game runs, but i can't really enjoy it as the FPS keeps dropping to a stutter.
any help/suggestions would be welcome, oh and no avoid any confusion, I'm no guru, so if you have some help please 'speak english'

p.s all hardware and software is up to date.

 

I got Max Payne 3 running today.

But it only works with de intergrated Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000.

If I try to run it with my GTX 675m, it just won't startup.

Just like you first said Gerry

Its pretty annoying...

Does anyone know how to solve this problem jet? Thanks!

 

I tried valsouille's suggestion but it didn't work for me. I've sent a query to Rockstar support but not holding my breath...

Anyone else figure out how to use GTX580M?

I'm installing it on my m11x r1 just to see what happens

 

I am now trying to resolve the problem by following the instructions below:

Go to the Max Payne folder in your documents folder. Find the graphics xml file and place a 0 in the DirectX line. This will change the Directx to 9 instead of 11. For some reason DirectX 11,10,10.1 all run terribly slowly with lots of jitters and huge loading times for levels. Also set your resolution and other settings to whatever you want.

*Please take note that I am not the original poster of the solution above but instead, it is whitedragon101.

 

One thing in general guys, if you plug an HDMI cord in to the laptop it will force the 580m on. You can do this to run games like Sonic that have problems with Optimus. If you want to actually play on the laptop screen just set it as your primary screen, if HDMI is plugged in everything uses the 580m. I use an external display for gaming and have played all the way through MP3 with no issues.

 

yeah impossible bro, maybe 1% of laptop business have 580m installed, I wouldn't aim for such a small market if I want to profit..

 

That sounds like it might work.

In the meantime I loaded MP3 on my m11x r1 and it runs great with no problems! It is running in DX10.1 with all settings on high or very high, it looks very good and is smooth. These are the default settings, the only thing i changed is the screen resolution to native.

The problem is obviously that the game won't detect the GTX580m and I would be very grateful if someone could come up with a fix for this.

I've just downloaded the latest Nvidia drivers and am re-installing the game so we'll see if that helps.

Plugging in a hdmi cable and using an external monitor didn't work for me I'm afraid. Looks like I will have to use the trusty m11x until a proper fix comes along...

so more suggestions welcome!

Thanks

 

I got a problem with my M17x R3 6970M 2GB. I can't change any graphic settings and I got 0MB of video memory. It's very laggy even in 1024x768 resolution. I can play other games very smooth.
So any advice how to fix that problem.
Thanks.

P/s: sorry for my bad English

I have the same problem with this guy.. ATI 6970M can't change any graphic settings...

 

Guys try to white-list the game on the graphics card menu (i.e. nvidia control) but launch with integrated(right click method).

I did that and it seems to work with my 580m -> full recognition + dirx11. Im using the latest nvidia drivers.

My exact settings are this -> global settings to use nvidia gpu + white list to force nvidia gpu + launch with right click run integrated.

Hope this helps

EDITED FOR QUESTION:

When I am in graphics settings of the game it always tells me that my gpu is used X/2048mb, with X ranging between 700-800mb. Does this mean that I can push the game more without loosing performance or will performance drop if X approaches 2048mb?

 

What should the command line file look like? I'm using 7970m and having trouble getting a fix for the 500mb limit and setting dx11

This is what I am using with the commandline.txt seems to work pretty good.

-dx11
-frameLimit 2
-fxaa 3
-MSAA 5
-MSAAQuality
-reflectionquality 3
-shadowquality 3
-ssao 1
-tessellation 3
-texturefilterquality 4
-texturequality 2
-useHighQualityShaders 1
-waterquality 2

 

I run it with all settings set to full except msaa which is set to 2x.
Everything runs at full speed using dx11 with 3D vision on on my Alienware R4 using a 3820QM cpu and an nvidia geforce GTX 675M gpu.

I hope it helps

 

Where is commandline.txt so that I can try to edit it please?

and timurStas I can't seem to get your suggestion to work. I went into the nVidia control panel, added maxpayne.exe and adjusted the settings but when I right click and use the integrated processor that's all it uses and really bad and slow.

 

you have to make a text file and copy and paste exactly what I posted in it. save it to Steam\steamapps\common\max payne 3\Max Payne 3

 

I have a boxed version of the game (much cheaper than steam), can i add it to my steam account? or can I edit within the game folder?

 

There is a list of games that can be added to your steam account
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601

 

Well, I finally got to play it today and honestly, not that impressed. I didn't have any problems but I'm sure that is because I have the 120hz display so my iGpu is not wired in - only the 580 is used.

Anyway, yes it appears to have all the good stuff in the options and i max them all out. Game plays very smooth at around 40 - 60 fps and no real impact in 3D (plus points for in-game 3D options). But, i'm not actually seeing anything special, wall and floor textures are not that impressive - Batman AC and Assassins Creed are way better in quality. It could be that I have some problem as well but the game plays fine and I see DX11 in my OSD.

Card temps barely rise, stays around 62C, both games mentioned run around 68 - 70C

With all the problems starting up on the IGpu it's like the iGpu says 'I can handle this, you stay off' to the discrete card when the game fires up.

It would be good if game authors went back to a 'graphics card select' on startup as many used to do...

 

graphics card select won't solve it either. skyrim has that option and the current cards still make it to where the igpu is the only one seen.

 

Careful guys, I don't know if it's an isolated incident but pretty sure this game just broke my R2 system, granted I was running 12.3 ATI drivers.. but it fried it up...

 

This is what you need to do to run off your primary gpu and dx11:

-adapter 1

Put that in a txt called commandline and place it here:
Steam\steamapps\common\max payne 3\Max Payne 3

 

oh well bang goes that idea - does the FN-F7 hotkey to toggle the video work?

 

Where should you put this file if you didn't get the game off steam?

 

Here is the reply I got from Rockstar support:
"I am sorry that you are having issues with Max Payne 3. I have not seen many instances of this yet with Max Payne 3, but I have seen issues in the past with other games where Nvidia Optimus does not recognize that a game is loading, so it does not fire up the Nvidia card. Do you happen to know if the m17x is running Optimus?

Additionally, have you tried manually updating the most recent drivers? i have noticed that the more recent Nvidia drivers seem to have less of a chance of a game not initiating a switchover to the Nvidia card."

I have replied saying I am using up to date drivers etc. and will wait to hear what they have to say.

In the meantime does anyone know where the command line is in the Max Payne 3 folder as I didn't get it on Steam. I have looked in all the folders and can't find anything.

Thanks