DxDiag problem for games

"BTW I don't know if this is a factor, but I'm playing this on ultrawide (3840x1080)"

• Shouldn't be. The Wiki shows gold medal for ultra widescreen support.
• Try launching the game again with DX9 forced in Registry. Then set the graphics settings low, and resolution to 1920x1080

and close the game. Undo the Registry fix, and give it another whirl. If you make it into the setup screens you should be good to go.

• Long shot... Try renaming or deleting the games files from the Steam\UserData\ 203160 (Steam ID for TR) sub-folder. The saves may be holding graphics setup for DX9 ?
• Probably not... but is it possible that when you changed the RenderAPI key that other keys changed to fall in line and didn't revert back ?

eg- DX11AdapterID - DX11OutputID ?

• Grasping... Uninstall and reinstall the game.
• I reckon all games should be smooth sailing with your machine. Tomb Raider is not that old, and I have lots of games

going back to 2004, and a few earlier, running on Win10.

Pretty much any game downloaded from the major online retailers should work on Win10. Old disc's are more likely to

require tricks and tweaks.

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Why on earth did you force DX9 in the first place ? I was picturing something more along the line of you

trying to run the game on an older machine with Intel HD integrated graphics.

If I force DX9, I'm able to play the game. But, I can't set some of the graphics settings higher like Hair quality.

- Only the one game with this problem ?

So far, yes. I'm only playing this and Watch Dogs.

- Where is the file you changed or added the "RenderAPI" command ?  I can't find any user configuration files for the game

It's in the registry editor. SOFTWARE > Crystal Dynamics > Tomb Raider >Graphics then "RenderAPI".

- Have you run Steams Verify Integrity of Game Files tool ?

Yep.

• So, you were not able to run the game normally before changing the file ? Did you get a DirectX error that led you to doing this DX9 'fix' ?

There's no error prompt at all. I open the Launcher, I press "play", opens like a white window for a few seconds before closing. The only clue I get is from the TombRaider.log file in the Documents folder which shows this:

10:40:12:898 (12376) > D3D reports feature level 11 is supported.

10:40:12:899 (12376) > NVAPI Depth Bounds Test supported.

10:40:13:542 (21768) > Exception at: 15/02/2021 at 10:40:13

Exception code: Access violation (c0000005): (Write to address: 0x36001e8c)

Exception address: 0x36001e8c

If there was a DX error there is a possibility that .NET Framework is corrupted. There have been a number of people getting

bogus DX errors after installing a game from Steam, so repairing .NET may be worth a go.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/repair

I'll try this. So funny tho. I only have .NET framework troubles when I'm migrating .NET Framework projects to a newer version. (I'm a software engineer,  just not super knowledgeable with gaming stuff. LOL.)

• I don't reckon forcing DX9 was ever a good idea with a proper gpu. That fix was meant for low end gear, but I'm not sure

why is was ever needed. The games minimum system requirements only call for DX9, in which case using low settings

should normally invoke DX9 effects automatically.

(btw - The game is a heavy hitter for it's age. With all setting maxed @1440 I only get in the 40\50 fps range (i7 4790 w\GTX1080),

but it is still smooth. It is also one of only a couple of games that Nvidia 3D Vision is really effective with. )

I got the idea of forcing DX9 from this link https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Tomb\_Raider\_(2013)
Look at the section "Force DirectX 9 renderer on DirectX 11 systems ". BTW I don't know if this is a factor, but I'm playing this on ultrawide (3840x1080)

- Have you tried limiting the number of cores that bad boy Ryzen 9 3900XT is using ? Either disabling Hyper-threading (or AMD's

alternative term) or cutting back to quad or hex core ? I believe I've read about some games not responding well to more than

quad or hex core, and I know that some games in the past (don't recall the titles, but TR is fine with quad\HT ) didn't like it when

Hyper-threading was enabled.

Will also try this.

btw - I'm thinking of getting an RTX3070 myself because of the known unknown regarding 3080 supply issues.

Aside from the Tomb Raider problem, are you impressed with performance ? Tried any games using RTX lighting ?

If so, were you happy with the performance ?

I'm still downloading more games to test it out. Right now, Assassin's Creed Origins is on my download queue. I'll let you know how it goes but so far, I'm liking this 3070. Was supposed to get a 3080, but just like you said, supply issues. LOL. Anyways, It's not really a big deal for me now since I'm able to play. It's just that I wanna figure out why it doesn't want to start with DX11. The newer games would probably be smooth sailing for me. :D

Why on earth did you force DX9 in the first place ? I was picturing something more along the line of you

trying to run the game on an older machine with Intel HD integrated graphics.

I guess this means you were not able to run the game normally before changing the file ? Did you get a DirectX error that

led you to doing this DX9 'fix' ?

If there was a DX error there is a possibility that .NET Framework is corrupted. There have been a number of people getting

bogus DX errors after installing a game from Steam in the past few years, so repairing .NET may be worth a go.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/repair

Where is the file you changed or added the "RenderAPI" command ?  I can't find any user configuration files for the game

(I looked in the Steam\User Data sub-folder for the game, Documents, AppData and the games install folder).

• Have you run Steams Verify Integrity of Game Files tool ?
• Only the one game with this problem ?
• I don't reckon forcing DX9 was ever a good idea with a proper gpu. That fix is more suited to low end gear, but I'm not sure

why is was ever needed. The games minimum system requirements only call for DX9, in which case using low settings

should normally invoke DX9 effects automatically.

(btw - The game is a heavy hitter for it's age. With all setting maxed @1440 I only get in the 40\50 fps range (i7 4790 w\GTX1080),

but it is still smooth. It is also one of only a couple of games that Nvidia 3D Vision is really effective with. )

• Long shot...

Have you tried limiting the number of cores that bad boy Ryzen 9 3900XT is using ? Either disabling Hyper-threading (or AMD's

alternative term) or cutting back to quad or hex core ? I believe I've read about some games not responding well to more than

quad or hex core. It runs fine with quad core & HT though.

• Should there actually be a corrupted DX11 file that is used by the game reinstalling DirectX. There is a redist sub-folder in the

game main folder with a DXSETUP.exe you can use to reinstall DX.

btw - I'm thinking of getting an RTX3070 myself because of the known unknown regarding 3080 supply issues.

Aside from the Tomb Raider problem, are you impressed with performance ? Tried any games using RTX lighting ?

If so, were you happy with the performance ?

Cheers - BD

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Yes it's only with this game, Tomb Raider 2013. The launcher starts up, but when I press "Play", it would close without any error prompts.

Checked the logs, and this is what's written:

10:40:12:898 (12376) > D3D reports feature level 11 is supported.

10:40:12:899 (12376) > NVAPI Depth Bounds Test supported.

10:40:13:542 (21768) > Exception at: 15/02/2021 at 10:40:13

Exception code: Access violation (c0000005): (Write to address: 0x36001e8c)

Exception address: 0x36001e8c

What I did so I can play the game is I edited "RenderAPI" of the game to "9" to use DirectX9. When it's "0", it uses DirectX11. 

My GPU is a Gigabyte RTX 3070 gaming OC and my CPU is a Ryzen 9 3900XT.

The log mentions BEX error, and that can come from numerous sources. Other than that, the log is useless to humans.

• What may be helpful is if you post the brand and model cpu and graphics processor your machine uses.
• This is Tomb Raider 2013, yes ? Is the problem only with the one game ?
• Is it not possible to force DX9 effects in this game by just using all low graphics settings ?

I see there is a DX9 Registry hack. If you have used a Registry hack to force DX9 effects you would want to

revert that to default (or delete if the hack is a new key) if you want to use DX11 effects\graphics settings.

If your machine cannot run the game without using a DX9 Registry hack it's probably not powerful enough to use DX11 effects.

• What happens when the game 'does not work' after enabling DX11 effects in the games settings ?

Failing to launch, crashing (when), or... ?

• One cause of BEX errors is software conflicts, but if conflicts were the problem they would probably cause issues even

when using DX9 effects.

If your machine is up to the task of DX11 effects, you may still want to try running in Clean Boot to verify there are no conflicts anyway.

Clean Boot helps isolate conflicts from a Service, Startup program, but does not help with a program you launch

after booting into Windows, so keep any such programs\apps in mind.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

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