A(nother) way to reduce CPU clogging / smooth the experience

[lqdhorror]

Where is this options.txt be found? In the GD directory, there is none.

Editing the options.txt is nonsense/snake-oil.

Using the affinity.exe yields actual, noteworthy results.

[Dobster]

How did I not know about this?!?

I play in 4k using the Grimmest mod and at times I was under 10FPS on Grim Dawn. This is the only game that drops under 40FPS that I play.

Since doing the options.txt and running the program I’m not dipping under 30FPS.

Thanks so much for this and why can’t this simple little fix be patched into the game?

[GrimTheTank]

I see this is an older post but it fixed the issue I was having with my system so thanks!

[gregory_portman]

I see this is an older post but it fixed the issue I was having with my system so thanks!

Could you show us your specs? It will help the others with the same issues.

[Flix]

Thank you so much for this tool (and to those who kept the thread alive).

I’d lost almost 20fps in Grim Dawn moving from 1080p to a 2k monitor a few weeks ago. This tool helped me reclaim most of those fps and restored smoothness to the game.

[gpk]

Alternatives:
You guys might want to check out some handy utilities that many out there use for other games too:
ParkControl for CPU core parking https://bitsum.com/parkcontrol/ and high performance power modes

Also from BitSum, Process Lasso https://bitsum.com/ for setting CPU core affinity (and more), there are a number of similar utilities out there. You can also PowerShell it.

[RxJunkie]

Great thread - I’m pretty ticked off I didn’t see this before. I’ve had micro-stuttering forever with GD. Just disabling Core 0 works like magic and makes it smooth as silk.

Thumbs up from me!

[Farkenel]

You could also…upgrade your stuff more than every 8 years.

[Syrio]

I have a 1.5 year old pc with a gtx 1070ti, more than powerful enough. The microstuttering and “lag” spikes are constant. It’s definitely the code.

[zion563]

For me-while running in game every 4-5 seconds it would “hitch”. This was the fix. I did it 2 ways:

1. doing the “Set Affintiy” fix by disabling #0 and every other (0,2,4 etc) worked but so did…

2. Doing “set affinity” process, simply uncheck Core “0”

Both worked-just weird that we even have to do this.

[powbam]

Both worked-just weird that we even have to do this.

It can be common and searching actually reveals that…
https://www.google.com/search?q=games+that+you+need+to+set+cpu+affinity

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/433233-cpu-affinity-and-fps-in-games/

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GD’s engine (custom built for Titan Quest in the early 2000’s) has some inherent limitations in it yet even tho it has been heavily modified over the past decade for Grim Dawn. Thus, as a byproduct of its heritage, it still falls into the area of the “older” games as mentioned in the above link/screenshot.

[Draigo_Dragon]

Can somebody tell me exactly HOW to install this?

I had put this in startup folder but affinity didn’t change nor did it auto up when i started grim dawn.

[medea_fleecestealer]

Welcome to the forum.

You might want to look at this as well.

[Tool] Core Switcher - Force GD to use all cores equally!

Core Switcher Table of Contents (click the links below to “jump to” - click the ▲ symbols to return here) Manual Configuration/Testing Downloads How-to Use (Windows) How-to Use (Linux) What To Do If You Find This Method Doesn’t Work For You Note: You might have heard of restricting GD to certain cores prior to this. This isn’t that. Note2: If you test this out and decide to comment below please be sure to mention your CPU info - model and core count and how it performed before…

[Dave_D]

I run the vanilla 64 bit version of the game at 1600x900 resolution (lower than native res) and I’ve found that if I switch off half the cores (4 of 8) in windowed mode, and then switch them all back on again after a short spell, the load is spread better across the cores than if it were in full screen mode.

[Pannathrax]

I have this error when trying to use the program, not sure what is this error. Manually changing affinity in task manager, or use process lasso did not encounter any problem. I did not start process lasso when trying this program.

Putting the program in the startup folder doesn’t start it as well, still need to manually click it.

I have set it to run as administrator but still fail.

I am using win10 pro 18363, i7 6700HQ, nvidia gtx 970m, at the high performance power mode.

I am not sure what is an error 5, is there anyway to overcome this?

[powbam]

I have this error when trying to use the program, not sure what is this error.

I just tested it and the only way I could get it to throw this error was to have `/x64’ set in the launch options…

… and then launch the game and choosing the first (non-64bit) option…

In this scenario it would give the error every single time unless I chose the second option or instead simply removed my launch command.

–

Putting the program in the startup folder doesn’t start it as well, still need to manually click it.

I have set it to run as administrator but still fail.

Windows will not allow a program that requires elevated privilege’s (such as this program does) to launch automatically at startup. The easiest way to bypass this is to completely disable the UAC prompt. There are other more convoluted methods that don’t require disabling UAC tho.

[Pannathrax]

I tested and get the same result, by selecting manually grim dawn x64, the error did not pop up. I guess i have to stick with it since we can’t set it as default.

My UAC is off but the program still doesn’t start by startup folder even though the startup app detects it, task manager startup tab detects it and ccleaner startup tab detects it.

I tried the task scheduler, and it manage to call the program, it is running in the task manager process, but the icon is not shown in the notification area, and it actually doesn’t work since it doesn’t pop the error 5 if i start grim dawn without picking the x64.

If i start the program again by clicking it, the icon is then shown, and the error pop up as expected.

I wonder why the process can be called up by the task scheduler but is actually not functioning?

[powbam]

Did you set it to have highest priority in your tasks settings while creating the task? I did and it’s launching and working on boot fine.

[Pannathrax]

I did select the run with highest privilege.

I have set the run as administrator in program properties as well.

The task scheduler manage to call up the program and the status is running, the task manager displayed the process, but it just doesn’t show up in the notification area.

There is no antivirus detection false alarm so it is not blocked by the av.

Clicking end in task scheduler will end the process in task manager and clicking run afterwards call up the process again. But the manual clicked started icon in notification area is not affected by ending it in task scheduler windows and still stay on, i need to end it again by right clicking and exit. It feels like a different instance of the same program behaving independently.

If i manually click the program to start it, and clicking it again will call up another instance, and both of them are not affected by task scheduler’s end or run command.

[Ralara]

I’m not sure whether it has performance gains (less stuttering for me, though it can be other reasons, I made some changes), but my CPU0 definitely loves it. It is exactly like in the first post.

I don’t use tool, just doing it by hand every time when starting game. It is cumbersome but I like knowing that my cpus are comfy. Feels good and plays good.