Starcraft II on M11x - General Discussion

To all R2 owners with problems:

1) What Antivirus program are you running?
2) Do you have Vsync turned on or off?
3) Did you change any settings in the nVidia Control Panel to try and force any graphical settings, or is everything set to Default?

 

I have also tried messing with it, with the same results as you. I just keep it at 1360x768.The screen still draws pixel-by-pixel, except you are simply "missing" 3 pixels from the left and right side.

Honestly, I cannot tell the difference in-game. It is just the perfectionist in the two of us that wants to be 1366x768. So I just learned to live with it.

 

1) MSSE. Microsoft Security Essentials.
2) Vsync turned off.
3) I change the settings down so I get a higher fps.

TweakGuides.com - Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide

Read that to see how changing a specific thing will affect your computer.

 

1) Avast
2) Off
3) Default

 

power mizer enabled or disabled.

 

No anti-virus here. Clean Install of OS, drivers, and SCII.

 

Powermizer doesn't matter. I used GPU-Z and had it create a txt file that proved the GPU was not throttling, even when the FPS were in the low teens. I am assuming no one has a similar program which i could use to test the CPU?

 

Is there a way to force Turbo Boost to start? (manually)

 

No cristo. Once its on it will auto enable when needed

 

it seems to not matter what graphics settings i put sc2 on.. once a certain amount of units is there, it will slow down, everything on high or low, doesnt matter.

Hopefully some stuff will be resolved around the i7 and sc2 which means a boost. hopefully...

 

Didn't you say that the game was running great on medium, a few pages back?

 

It was... thats the thing! some games it runs great, other games its like im lacking 15 fps mid game.

Like I said, I think there is some hardware / driver issues with starcraft II (as the bnet forums also seems to confirm from the many many people conplaining)

 

i'm pretty sure it probably has to do with Shadows

I always always always turn shadows to lowest/off in games since it's the biggest FPS eater (imo)

 

I'm running R2 and the game is running perfect for me. Averaging 45 FPS in a 2v2 and 30FPS in 3v3. Not getting any slow down in the game at all with the settings I posted.

 

this game runs great for me only issues i have is no AA and when i force AA on the video card it doesnt seem to make a difference and is there any particular reason i cant get 1366x768? because the max i can get is 1360x768 i mean its not a big issue im just wondering why

 

Yeah, seems to be the case. I still don't really get why there are other people with this machine that have no problem though. It's like you rolled the dice out of the box and some people can play it and some can't.

 

Yeah it really does seem so.

I tried disabling OC on Cpu and Gpu, low shaders and it was exactly the same, just worse due to the less overall power now.

I dont know what is going on, maybe its something as simple as updating or not updating intel chipset after a fresh install.

Can any of the ones that have it running great give an insight on what they have done system / driver wise? fresh install? dell drivers? which did you install? thanks

 

does anyone know how I can now transfer the "save game" from the m11x to a desktop installation? where do i find the saved game and where do i place?

 

Thomas, I looked at dells driver site for the m11x R2, and for most of the drivers, there is only 1 possible driver you could have.

You can tell there is only one driver, because if you look at the installation notes on the page, it will say initial release. So I am thinking it is not a driver issue. Maybe some games people are playing are ending too quickly for it to slow down? Maybe they arent checking the fps and just think its running "very nice?"

How about standard benchmark we can all run? I think we should pick a replay for each game size (1v1 / 2v2 / 3v3 / etc). That way we can sortof all see the same thing. In fact, if there is an option to follow specific player than perhaps we can all see EXACTLY the same thing. That way we can test the same settings with the same action and find what kind of variations really exist between m11x owners.

Just a thought, if you all are willing to do this let me know.

 

Just transfer the StarCraft II folder in My Documents to wherever you want it. It holds all the saved games and replays.

 

would anyof it carry over on battlenet? campagines?

 

I just played my first game of Starcraft2 on my M11x as I have been playing most exclusively on my M17x. Anyway I played 1V1 against the computer (hard mode) and the game lasted about an hour, I was somewhat distracted by TV and my wife but still defeated the puter. The point I wanna make is that I was on my M11x with the integrated graphics and on battery and the FPS was at about 17-40 in heated big battles and such, no lag at all

 

Any one daring to play without a mouse?

 

And that exactly leads me to think there is some issues with the i7 cpu and starcraft II.

@Crazy J

sounds like a great idea, if someone finds a replay and some settings, a way to get a benchmark score (a certain version of fraps or what ever).

there are actually a few different drivers you can have. The stock Dell (which fails for most since the optimus wont work), the dell beta drivers 257.30 and then there are at least three nvidia releases, 258.69 - 258.96 and 259.12

They all seem to do the same though. that's why im thinking maybe some people are updating chipset and some are not? or maybe some people just look at the first 2 minutes of the game and think thats how it goes all game long (my games run absolutely stunning the first 5 minutes but then.. as you get more units and buildings...)

 

I get no slowdowns on high 1v1 and 2v2 games, but campaigns and custom games with a million units on screen is another story. It's completely normal though, since everyone else you play with are also watching the same slideshow.

In the middle of custom games, it always notifies everyone that [someone] is slowing down the game, because they need to turn down the graphics, but it's rarely ever me.

 

Thomas - There are some multiple video drivers one could pick from, but I think the chipset only has one driver.

I will try to download fraps and check for some good replays for a benchmark. Ideally, a replay wont last super long, but long enough that multiple big battles/army counts take place.

If someone wants to also check for replays, replayers.com is a good site as is gosu gamers. Youll probably learn a thing or two watching the the pros as well.

 

thomaskc, I noticed you posted in that other thread about throttlestop. I gave it a try and noticed an improvement. I have a save file at the last part of the last mission where things get pretty crazy. Without throttlestop active I was getting approximately 9 to 12 FPS, but when I turned it on, I got a fairly stable 18-20.

 

Really? interesting !! very nice.

What settings did you use in throttlestop, did you just open it and press "on" or did you change any of the settings in there? thanks

 

I would appreciate your feedback on the throttlestop settings as the program makes little sense to me for some reason

 

ok guys i think this might help
StarCraft II
go to MSTRofNONE post and try it.
hope this works..

 

Dont ever use a mouse when im out of the house. Not that it wouldn't be nice, I just tend to forget...everytime. Usually end up playing Lost Viking because I get frustrated from sucking with no mouse

As far at SCII goes...I have medium to high settings (most medium) including shadows and phyics. Didn't adjust anything once the client detected my GPU. FPS:
HIGHEST:48
LOWEST:31
AVG: 40-45

I probably have an average of 80-90 processes running when I would startup SCII and I use an external 24" Ben-Q monitor at native. Running off of A/C on high perfomance settings. everything is default in the NV control panel.

Lets put it this way, I am bothered more by my crap internet/ISP than I am by any framerate problem...its just a non-issue. R2

 

So when you login to sc2, it will recognize your graphics card? or does it tell you it can't and then puts in some default?

 

Tried the solution i posted got 12 frames bost

 

So is it just people with the i5 who can't run Blizzard products? Is that the problem?

 

This thread really worries me as I just ordered my m11x. But doesn't the performance vary a lot from unit to unit? At least that was the case with other benchmarks, people getting somewhat under performing hardware.

 

What solution? throttlestop? and if what settings?

 

this solution
1. Go into the game and set all settings to Ultra... or whatever settings you'd like. (This is the MOST important step for this to work correctly. Every time you make graphical changes in the game be sure to carry out step 2 again just to be safe.)



2. Edit variables.txt as follows:



change "transparentshadows=1" to "transparentshadows=0"

 

thanks ill give it a go very soon.

 

Np found even more settings
check this 4 sites
How to give StarCraft II a graphics tweak

The Starcraft II Tweak Guide – Improve your graphics performance | Tech Spotlight

Google Übersetzer

StarCraft 2 Graphics and Performance Tweak Guide | SegmentNext

 

I do not know if its the "transperantshadows=0" or if its the right click on shortcut and choose nvidia gpu when starting starcraft II, but I did both and it has helped MASSIVELY in starcraft II, even with high shaders, medium lighting and high terrain I get a less fps drop mid / late game than i used to! the medium preset now runs pretty darn fine, there might still be a bit but far far better than before! and surely playable.

 

LOL, wow you never whitelisted starcraft or disabled shadows (which was very early in this thread.) BTW, what drivers are you using because you shouldn't even have to whitelist with the proper driver.

 

Nice find Spin. Rep. I will try to run a replay/benchmark with and without the tweaks to the variable file later today, and report back with the fps impact.

I would have liked to have tested it already, but I got into game that lasted forever, after my base/probes were destroyed. I killed the guys army and all his buildings except for his command center and starport. He flew them to the edge of the map where I coudlnt attack them! After 15 minutes I just had my guys potrolling the edge so he couldnt fly anywhere, and went and watched a movie. It took 2.5 hours before he quit. After that I couldn't deal with any more starcraft

 

Hehehe np Crazy J I know the feeling... Lol

 

Heres what i did for my starcraft 2 (on R1- OCed at 1.73mhz)

FPS at campaign : 50~55 FPS (Use Control+Alt+F to display FPS)

Texture Quality : High
Shaders : High (You can set this to medium if you wish)
Lighting : High (Set this to Low if you are looking to squeeze 1-2FPS)
Shadows : Disabled (see below)
Terrain : High
Reflections : Off
Effects : Low
Post Processing : Low
Physics : Off
Models : High
Unit Portraits : 3D
Movies : High


For shadows, go to My Documents\Starcraft 2, locate variables.text and set the following

shadows=0 (turns off shadows)
softshadows=0 (turns off soft shadows)

Although options may still reflect the above settings of shadow being enabled, load up a game and you'll notice the performance boostv with shadows being disabled. Remember, if you have change any settings from options, you'll need to re-edit the variables.txt file again)

Disabling shadows /soft shadows gave me a GREAT performance boost off 20FPS +

 

For some reason the game doesn't allow me to switch lighting to high - the only option on the list is low, which it's currently set to. Same thing for movie quality - there's only low, medium, and high on that one though.. isn't there an ultra setting for movie quality? And why does the game keep "greying out" my menu options?

 

you'll need to set shaders to med/high to get high lighting

 

Shaders are set to medium... here's my current settings:
View attachment 54100

 

May sound stupid but on 2 machines now (M11x and PC at home) but

whenever I set "Multi-Display/mixed-GPU acceleration" from "Multiple Display Performance Mode" to "Single Display Performance Mode" I always get a good FPS jump.

 

WOW! I can now play everything on ultra... shadows off at like 40-45 FPS!!
Thanks man

 

Where do you adjust this setting?