6. NWN performance issues

NWN performance issues


  • Howdy team.

    Considering dusting off the old keyboard and playing CoA a little bit but running into a few troubles.

    My old computer has seen its last day and I have at my disposal two alternative PCs, don't ask regarding spec, they're fairly old themselves but sufficient to run the game, I hope.

    However in each computer I'm encountering a problem. Both have Windows 7, however on one of them when playing NWN, be it online or a campaign, even toolset occasionally, after fifteen minutes or so it will freeze. Control, alt, delete is unresponsive, mouse won't move and I'm forced to restart the computer. I understand this is a common trend with Windows 7 and NWN, have we any solutions?

    Secondly, the alternative PC doesn't freeze at all despite having Windows 7, and runs smoothly. However! The loading times for areas is painfully slow, though once I'm in them it's fine. Is there a solution to speed up my load times?

    Any assistance on either issue above would be appreciated.

    Good to see so many familiar names and strong numbers as well, look forward to getting involved soon! Thanks.


  • The first thing I'd do. ((I am not responsible for dying computers.)) Check NWN settings and stuff, you know the drill, I hope, minimal setting for everything, I guess? I hope you tried it.


  • Hey Selene, certainly have. Cranked those bad boys down to 0. No joy.


  • This sounds odd. Windows 7 has never given me issues like this.

    Have you tried checking CPU compatibility? In the sense multi-core CPUs don't play well with NWN, meaning you just need to set affinity to 1.

    Loading times are really only related to the module afaik, maybe SSD.


  • I'll trial that this evening, not something I've explored. Cheers Forte.


  • viewtopic.php?t=123221

    adelor's guide to speeding up NWN. Not sure if you have worked through this lot yet.


  • Ah! Brilliant. Thanks Cadiz. I'm sure something there will sort it.


  • If running an nVidia cideo card, make sure to go into the control panel and set NWNmain to Performance Mode.

    Shiny Water Off
    Environmental Shadows Off

    Both the above can cause some nasty CTDs.

    If your computer is a single core CPU, those CTDs generally will freeze the computer. If you can get CTRL ALT DEL to work, go to processes and see how much CPU nwnmain.exe is using. If it's maxing out an entire core it's stuck in a loop, likely from something the game engine doesn't quite like (Shiny water, Environmental Shadows usually)

    You're running Windows 7, how much RAM do you have on the computer that keeps freezing? Windows 7 eats about 3-4gb by itself, and you'll want at least 6+ to get it nice and stable. Go to Control Panel and then System to find out. Or you can open the start menu, and just search "System"

    As far as loading times go.. that's pretty much your HDD's fault. The older it is, the slower and more fragmented it is.


  • Thanks Locke, useful stuff. Appreciated!


  • @Locke:

    As far as loading times go.. that's pretty much your HDD's fault. The older it is, the slower and more fragmented it is.

    Age does not fragment hard drives, creating new files and deleting data do.
    This can be solved by periodically running the Disk Defragmenter in Win 7 by clicking the Start Button, and typing "Disk Defragmenter" in the search box, make sure you select the proper drive (typically C:) and Analyze it, then click the Defrag button.. the longer it has been and the more defragged your drive is the longer it will take to run.

    Hope this helps.

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