Incredibly slow load time?

I wouldn't mind if the long load time maxed out a CPU and/or maxed out a disk.

However, it does neither.

For example, I start the game, stop it and re-start it.
Whilst watching resource monitor, No disk activity as Cache handles it all, only one core of 4 shows any reasonable usage, never exceeding 50%.

Even with NO disk activity, it still takes 51 seconds on my CPU does not exceed 25% with an Intel Core 2 Q9400 @ 2.66GHz

I wouldn't mind so much if one, or preferably all, cores maxed out in this scenario.

"

lyallp wrote:

I wouldn't mind if the long load time maxed out a CPU and/or maxed out a disk.

However, it does neither.

For example, I start the game, stop it and re-start it.
Whilst watching resource monitor, No disk activity as Cache handles it all, only one core of 4 shows any reasonable usage, never exceeding 50%.

Even with NO disk activity, it still takes 51 seconds on my CPU does not exceed 25% with an Intel Core 2 Q9400 @ 2.66GHz

I wouldn't mind so much if one, or preferably all, cores maxed out in this scenario.

I guess there's only so much the game itself can load at a time, The peak disk usage I have seen was 8-10mb/s, dropping to stable 4mb/s later. No matter if you are using an average pc or a NASA one, you will still wait for a while for the game to load.

Run the client with --nosound, it will start in like 5 seconds =)

Many of POEs issues come from sound. But then you cant hear the orb just dropped sound so I dont use it.

I'm also suffering from extremely long load times, which seems to only get worse as time goes on and more is added to the game.

My options seem to be:

1. Upgrade my laptop and get one with an SSD.
2. Put up with ~5-7 minutes to load initially and 2-3 minutes to load every time between zones or even go to town.
3. Put on --nopreload and put up with randomly being killed when resources are loaded mid-play.

First let me say, it's not my machine. I have plenty of RAM (8 GB) and processing power to handle this game and every other game I run, and my disk is not at all fragmented. What makes POE so different that its loading times must be 10+ times that of other games?

As a programmer, let me put this very simply: something is being done incorrectly
I don't know if it's a matter of coding or the storage of the resources, but there's nothing I as the user can do to have an optimal experience, even though I satisfy all stated game requirements.

If this game just requires an SSD, then list it as the requirements. Otherwise, please make it work without one.

Should I uninstall the steam version and try the standalone? is there any difference?

UPDATE:
There seems to be a fourth option. Lower the texture_quality in the production_Config.ini file to lowest setting. This reduces on-demand load times so I can keep using --nopreload.
This option was not made available in-game through the graphics settings.

I am also attempting to install the game on a high performance USB 3.0 drive as I saw that could also help.

I've come across a very odd sequence I can go through to make the game perform "normally".

1. Turn OFF --nopreload
2. Edit the production_config.ini file and set the texture_quality=4
3. Run the game, opening load time will be less than 1 minute.
4. Open the graphics settings and make a change and save it. This will bump up the texture quality.

The result is now, a fast startup as well as fast (10-15 second) load times between zones- shorter if you have recently visited them. Instead of 2-3 minutes to load zones regardless if you had just visited them. All this without risking random freeze-ups due to --nopreload.

This only works if you start the game with low texture quality and change it once you are ingame.

Any clues as to why this works?

EDIT: I also notice the game is using a small fraction of the memory it was using before, but is still functional with preloading on and with high texture quality.

Another update for those experiencing the same issues.

Installing on a USB 3.0 drive was very successful, no need for the workaround above.

Speeds are close to using an SSD!

"

MythicBendigo wrote:

Another update for those experiencing the same issues.

Installing on a USB 3.0 drive was very successful, no need for the workaround above.

Speeds are close to using an SSD!

Thanks for the suggestion. I might want to try that out.

I'm currently running on 4 year old laptop 500gb hdd, a i5 3rd Gen with 4gb of ram and a 2gb graphics card thats so old.

My graphics is set to texture quality 7, with anti aliasing, post processing, shadows and random stuff off. (Any other important things to switch off? I'm like playing minecraft)

My load time to get into the login screen is about 5-7min, so I'll usually open poe and make a cup of tea or so. And load time between newly opened instances is about a minute, old instances about 20-30seconds.

My question: what's the cost free/cheapest way to boost my poe performance and loading times. I only run poe and no other apps while playing.

-Technewb,please dumb it down for me