Posted June 08, 2011
Well, using Win7 x64 with an e8400, 2Gb DDR2 (I had a dual channel kit from Corsair, but one stick died, have yet to hear back on an RMA of sorts), 1Gb Seagate Barracuda and a GTX 275.
I had been able to achieve fairly decent results using Win7 via tweaking my ini, killing services, setting my core affinities, etc... bothersome as a Jehovah (no offense, but in my experience, the phone calls and door surprises aren't really enjoyable). But some thought passed my mind to hitch back to XP since I lost a whole 2Gb (which is quite a difference, if you think about it).
So I dusted off my old disc: Windows XP Home Edition SP1, which still happens to be as holographic and shiny as ever... and stripped it bare with nLite.
Now as I copied over my saved user data from Win7, I considered whether this would really work.
IT DID. With flying colors. Alt tabbing no longer takes 5 minutes. Loading times shaved by at least 20-30%, and I see NO MORE DAMN STUTTERING! Regardless of the situation.
Now, I'm seeing at least 200Mb+ idle ram usage after using nLite, and I've seen it can be lower with other (and rather shady, I might add) versions... But it's damn better than 500-800Mb idle usage in Win7! Which is a godsend given I have only 2Gb!
So I'm inclined to crank up my settings through my user.ini and rendering.ini to see if I can really attain pure freedom. I'm seeing at least 60+ fps (and it feels like it).
Note: I've long since dropped using the configurator as it doesn't really have any flexibility. Some variables are set for one preset, others dropped for another. I like to set variables MY way. :D
I set my game to Uber (Or ultra as the configurator would call it) settings, (Ubersampling=2) and I'm at a solid 30 fps. It's not smooth, but there's no lag in sight.
I'm curious to see how this works out for the rest of you.
fyi: I used a separate HDD since I wanted my Win7 install to be intact for when I recieve my i7-2600k. Your results may vary, I'm verrrry nitpicky about my benchmarks. Especially since this game happens to be my offline all-time favorite.
I had been able to achieve fairly decent results using Win7 via tweaking my ini, killing services, setting my core affinities, etc... bothersome as a Jehovah (no offense, but in my experience, the phone calls and door surprises aren't really enjoyable). But some thought passed my mind to hitch back to XP since I lost a whole 2Gb (which is quite a difference, if you think about it).
So I dusted off my old disc: Windows XP Home Edition SP1, which still happens to be as holographic and shiny as ever... and stripped it bare with nLite.
Now as I copied over my saved user data from Win7, I considered whether this would really work.
IT DID. With flying colors. Alt tabbing no longer takes 5 minutes. Loading times shaved by at least 20-30%, and I see NO MORE DAMN STUTTERING! Regardless of the situation.
Now, I'm seeing at least 200Mb+ idle ram usage after using nLite, and I've seen it can be lower with other (and rather shady, I might add) versions... But it's damn better than 500-800Mb idle usage in Win7! Which is a godsend given I have only 2Gb!
So I'm inclined to crank up my settings through my user.ini and rendering.ini to see if I can really attain pure freedom. I'm seeing at least 60+ fps (and it feels like it).
Note: I've long since dropped using the configurator as it doesn't really have any flexibility. Some variables are set for one preset, others dropped for another. I like to set variables MY way. :D
I set my game to Uber (Or ultra as the configurator would call it) settings, (Ubersampling=2) and I'm at a solid 30 fps. It's not smooth, but there's no lag in sight.
I'm curious to see how this works out for the rest of you.
fyi: I used a separate HDD since I wanted my Win7 install to be intact for when I recieve my i7-2600k. Your results may vary, I'm verrrry nitpicky about my benchmarks. Especially since this game happens to be my offline all-time favorite.
Post edited June 09, 2011 by JDHusky