the 3 launch options

[red13seto]

so it says grim dawn is one then grim dawn x64 and grim dawn x86 i know what they mean but what is the difference between grim dawn and 64 is the just grim dawn one 32 or something else

[☠Ⓐ︎Ⓝ︎Ⓥ︎Ⓘ︎Ⓛ︎☠ ᚨᚾᚡᛁᛚ ®™]

i also don't know the difference between these.....

[Childe Roland]

x86 is the 32-bit version, x64 is the 64-bit version, and the other one should be the legacy version for systems with an older version of DirectX.

[Mochan]

Effectively there is zero difference between the three.

Normally we expect x64 to have better memory usage than x86, but Grim Dawn doesn't use enough memory to make a difference here. The game lets you use DX11 for better rendering performance, but effectively it doesn't matter, the engine is apparently too old to take advantage of advances in DX11.

Crate has mentioned that they use some tricks to make things render faster in DX11, but the game isn't really taxing graphically. I think it's more CPU-limited than anything. A suitably recent GPU that came out within the last five years can handle it just fine no matter what setting you put it on.

I have noticed zero difference in framerates, performance and overall smoothness between all three modes.

The biggest problems with Grim Dawn performance are the microstutters which have some tricks you can try to resolve, but in general a lot of users, even those with good systems, can't fix them. I certainly haven't across three different generations of computers.

[powbam]

- First option - is x86 (32-bit) DirectX 11

- Second option - is x64 DirectX 11

- Third option - is x86 (32-bit) DirectX 9

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If your computer is older it could potentially be x86 based (32-bit) - these computers MUST run x86 programs and cannot use x64 programs.

Generally, if your CPU architecture and OS is x64 you usually want to use that unless it somehow is causing problems. Most every modern computer out on the market today should be x64 based. If you have an x64 based CPU/OS (you most likely do) then you can use any of the listed options, at your discretion.

The last option (that uses DirectX 9) is for older compatibility reasons - Crate, long ago, decided that GD would support Windows XP and thus.. we have this option available so they can continue to honor that minimum requirement (as listed on the Store Page).

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As for "performance" none of these options are about performance as much as it is about compatibility reasons. x64 simply allows programs/games to use your hardwares fullest potential - in the majority of use cases for the average user most benefits in this regard are fairly negligible, especially if you have good modern hardware you are unlikely to notice much of a difference. The older your hardware, the more of a benefit you "might" notice. In the grand scheme of things tho you are unlikely to be able to discern much of a difference - and this is normal.

[Kweeb]

steam launch option to pick one by default??

[powbam]

Originally posted by Kweebster93:

steam launch option to pick one by default??

Unfortunately, Steam does not work that way - you cannot bypass this prompt when launching from the game library. You can, however set custom launch commands - like this...
https://i.imgur.com/ot0TvrM.png
..and when the prompt appears you can just press Play without selecting the option and it will still fire up the x64 version.

Alternatively you can make your own custom shortcuts by creating a shortcut of the steam.exe and then adding this to the end of the "Target" field in the shortcuts properties:

-applaunch 219990 /x64

https://i.imgur.com/WfaK4PY.png

"-applaunch 219990" tells Steam to launch 219990 - which is Grim Dawn's Steam ID number.

To launch in DX9 you would use this command: /d3d9

Multiple commands like this can be combined.

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Note: if you decide to create your own custom shortcuts do not have anything set in the "Launch Options" via the games properties field (as first shown above). Anything you have set here could conflict or override any custom shortcuts you make. So keep that field clear if you would rather use your own shortcuts.