Vista - Help with Games (Many Qs looking for As)

Alrighty, from looking around here. Seems like a ton of smart computer people here. Maybe you can help me

Lets start with my Stats on my computer.

System Model: Dell DXP061
System Type: X86-based PC
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz 2394Mhz 4 Core(s)
Graphic Card: ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series
4 GB of RAM

Alright with many games that I'm playing with. There are a few things that are going on that I'm not liking.
Yes I know I play Gunz The Duel, and it seems like there is screen lag or something, maybe a delay, not sure what to call it. People were telling me about all the Services that Vista uses slows it down or such like that. Is that true? Or is there another way to fix it.

I also play Crysis, and problem with that game, is that it isn't using all of my RAM or memory? It only uses so much, and just leaves the rest alone. Anyway way to make it use more? Also the game supports Dual processors. I have Quad, is there a way to make it use all four of them?

Also just with any games, is there a way to just make the games run faster at all without killing the graphic, cause I know my PC can handle the graphics, it just seems like my PC isnt using everything that I put into it.

Thanks for your help

Not a PC guru but I have been around PC for a while so I may be able to give you a tip or 2 here.

4GB of Ram is overkill for a 32bit OS machine, more so when you are using the 4 Ram slots... this is from what I have read so far. Perhaps you will even gain performance if you do away with 1GB of ram?

Crysis is a ver High Demand Resource Hog type of game. I don't know anything about ATI card but I know that your card is comparable with the Nvidia 8800GT card and you'll be hard press playing that game Maxed out or even at 1024 x 768... this is going from memory when I had my 8800GT.

Heat is your enemy here and all the latest games require a lot of cool air to play decent. Your CPU may be adequate but you may be getting all the other components very hot and they tend to decrease performance when you're playing for a while... What kind of CPU and GPU Cooling do you have? How many fans does the case have? What Brand and how many Watts/Amps does your PSU have?

Perhaps more Qs than As but it needs to be asked!

Hi Pwn3d4lif3.....


firstly what GFX card is it..?? a 3870 or a 3850..??, even if its a 3870 that ranks slightly below an 8800GT (as AstaLaVista pointed out) what resolution are you playing at.??

secondly .....forget Crysis on that rig, Warhead would run much cleaner, the original Crysis was built as a bench & NEVER meant to be maxed.... in truth any machine struggles with that game even with the best cards money can buy..

grab a copy of Crysis Warhead, for the true ''sandbox'' experience at playable framerates.... your looking at ''med - high'' setting for the 3870, ''med - low'' settings on the 3850.... (on warhead @ 1280x1050 or less IMO)



SK

Alright.. Wondering about the Ram though, whats the point of taking away a gb of ram? I'm not sure how that would gain performance...?

And my cooling, umm I am not sure lol. Is there a way somewhere on my computer that I can check so I can tell ya?

Alright Ill give it a shot about the Crysis Warhead, and the Resolution... I believe it was like.. 1070x something lol.. i forget but its like... 2nd from the bottom.

Short answer: No. The vast majority of current games will rarely use over 2GB just for themselves. It's just how they're coded.

Crysis should automatically utilise all four cores.

For games that don't, you can alt-tab to the desktop, open task manager, right-click on the process, go to 'set affinity', deselect all but one core and OK it. Re-open affinity and re-select all four cores and then alt-tab back into the game. All 4 cores should now be used

lol, true Even with my machine specs I can play at 1920x1200 HIGH settings with about 30FPS avg but with HORRIBLE lag. To get smooth game play I have most settings at enthusiast, x4AA + vysnc running at 1280x720 - BIG difference from 1920x1200 In the original Crysis, shaders are the biggest framerate killer.



It depends on the game. Some games are heavily GPU dependant and your only option is to lower details etc. Other games are heavily CPU dependant and only overclocking will really help with that. With your machine specs, the only realistic way to improve your framerate is to lower details Detail vs performance is all trial and error.



Sorry Asta, but removing 1Gb will actually hurt performance. Your RAM would currently be in Dual Synchronous mode which yields a higher overall bandwidth. Removing 1GB would put it into Asynchronous mode which would give a lower overall bandwidth ie slower data transfer. But with a x32 OS, you'll still only be able utilise only 3.25Gb of the total 4GB.

However having all 4 slots filled can be a PITA when overclocking because of the extra strain on the motherboard and extra voltages needed.


Since it's a Dell job, check the model specs on thier website. Chances are it will be the stock intel HSF. In other words, not overclocking friendly. The same would also apply to the BIOS. Manufactuers 'lock down' the options in the BIOS leaving you unable to adjust all the settings needed to actually overclock...


Lastly, without knowing exactly what card you have, I'd suggest you put most of your game texture settings to medium.

Cards with 512mb ram = Medium
Cards with 512mb+ = High

When the texture sizes are higher than the amount of the cards VRAM, performance will suffer badly. My 4850's only have 512mb and in a lot games, HIGH texture settings really slow things down