How I SOLVED / FIXED my Crashing, Lagging Campaign Map on Empire Total War.

[Andy]

TL;DR I used a program called GameBooster and all my campaign map issues were solved. FPS is good. Please tell me if this works for you! Or if you can explain how it has worked for me...

The Problem
During campaign mode, my screen gets very laggy, and eventually crashes to the desktop. Sometimes I get a Blue Screen mentioning a video driver error. Sometimes I just get a notification along the lines of my video driver failing. The symptoms are usually:

• Stalling;
  
• Shearing, with orange-hued bits obscuring the map;
  
• Flickering
  
• BSOD.

I can play any battle on full specs with no issues. But I cannot even zoom in on London without a crash. The symptoms only arose after a while (my PC hadn't changed) - I suppose it correspondes with increased 'stuff' on the campaign map, such as many more trade routes, armies and navies, etc.

My Specs

• Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit - but Windows 7 64-bit several months ago;
  
• Intel i7-860 (Lynnfield 45nm) @ 2.80 GHz
  
• 6 GB DDR3 RAM;
  
• NVIDIA GTX 260 with 1792MB (not the standard 896MB);
  
• Two 24" widescreen LCDs @ 1920 x 1080;
  
• The latest drivers for everything.

What I tried
As many combinations of the below "solutions" as I could, to no avail:

1. Lowered my settings to the lowest possible;
   
2. Deletion of the preferences script located in AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly;
   
3. Changing the video memory override bit in the preferences script to limit memory usage;
   
4. Using older NVIDIA drivers (I always had the latest stable drivers);
   
5. Disabling and disconnecting my second monitor;
   
6. Disabling Steam Overlay;
   
7. Darthmod v 8.1.

(My) Solution
I happened across a program called Razer Gamebooster (I have no affiliation with them or, indeed, any of their other products. It required registration which was a bit annoying, but it is entirely free. Link: http://www.razerzone.com/gamebooster), which I had been using on my Asus Ultrabook to prioritise games and monitor FPS. I disabled the screenshot and video features of Gamebooster, and allowed it to enable Game Desktop mode.

I tried ETW without Gamebooster - the game crashed and died as per usual. Then I tried the game with Gamebooster active and running. Here is the screenshot: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=266677623
Note the FPS in the top left corner.

I have subsequently installed Darthmod v 8.1 (8 plus the patch) and it works fine. I have since enabled Steam Overlay to enable easier screenshotting. I also have a multimonitor setup, and the second screen can still sit there active without any issues (i.e. I didn't have to disconnect it). My graphics settings are usually High or Ultra.