Win 7 Gaming Performance

[sprandel]

I have two computers that I regularly play games on. Both have just been upgraded recently from XP. One computer, we will call Kitchen, never preformed very well on any 3D games. Basement, the other computer, never had an trouble running 3D games that were a few years old.

Here are the specs and WEI scores for each computer:

Kitchen:
Base Score: 3.1
Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 240 Processor (6.1)
Memory (RAM): 4.00GB (6.1)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 7050 PV / NVIDIA nForce 630a (3.2)
Gaming Graphics: 527 MB Total Available graphics memory (3.1)
Primary Hard Disk: 55GB Free (149GB Total) (5.9)

Basement:
Base Score: 3.4
Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2700+ (3.4)
Memory (RAM): 1.50 GB (3.4)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS (4.1)
Gaming Graphics: 559 MB Total Available graphics memory (4.1)
Primary Hard Disk: 38GB Free (190GB Total) (5.9)

So that's that. I think there is no question that Kitchen should run games better than Basement, but that was never the case on XP. Now while running a game (WoW, for example) Kitchen gets 25fps while Basement stays in the neighborhood of 8fps at the same settings.

Basement has a better WEI base score than Kitchen, but Kitchen has more RAM and just onboard video, which is holding it back.

My question is, finally, why does Kitchen perform so much better than Basement? My instinct is to say CPU and RAM, obviously, but it was never like that before. What can I do to make Basement run faster, and at least get these games up to 25fps. My board can only take up to 2GB of RAM down there, and theprocessor will not be upgraded any time soon.

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

 

[DirtyElf]

i really cant make any sense of this, let me try to re-read it.. i apologize - been a long day

ok after rereading, the basement computer is trying to run win7 on 1.5g of ram, that really isint enough and could cause slow downs for sure

the cpu shouldnt matter that much for gaming, especially WOW. both of those will perform about the same gaming wise, but more is always better

i dont think there is much you can do to make the basement better other than downgrade back to XP, 1.5g is not enough for win7

 

[logicearth]

It is the processor. Windows 7 actually knows how to take advange of the mutlicore processors. And the RAM probably helps.

 

[sprandel]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The processor isn't going much higher than it already is. I think there is a XP 3200+ out there, but I just went up to the 2700+ not long ago. Do you think it would be worth investing in that extra half gig of ram? I'm not exactly sure I want to. I mean, of course I want to play games but the time for a new computer is coming up awfully soon.

 

[logicearth]

I would just swap computers and give the kitchen a better graphics card.
Or just wait it out and buy a modern system.

Just FYI, never buy a computer or processor in this day and age that only has one core.

 

[sprandel]

But the processor I bought is better than my old Thunderbird 1.3Ghz! Socket A, what can ya do? Problem with switching the computers is that...it isn't mine. It belongs to a family member, it really is overkill for her purposes but I wanted a second potential gamng pc. Thanks though. I think I'm gonna just get a new system.

 

[holo88]

Something seems off. Your 'Basement' machine is without a doubt, far less powerful than your 'Kitchen' machine. BUT! The GPU in the kitchen, is a very limited, underpowered unit. The 7050 is at best, is good for high def video decoding (watching movies). Definitely not a gaming unit. That would explain the low score, as Windows 7 utilizes the gpu for rendering the explorer effects (transparency and such), rather than just 3d applications. Windows XP does not have all of those fancy background effects. See what I'm getting at?

My advice would be:

Double check for driver updates (audio/video/etc.)

Disable some of the Visual effects. In 'Start' type the word 'visual' and select "adjust the appearance and performance of windows". Then check "adjust for performance". that will disable the transparent, and other shiny features.

Its OK to select custom settings, such as Font smoothing, and Menu/Mouse shadows, as they don't really impact performance that much.

Then Try re-running the WEI assessment. In some cases, I have had the graphics scores increase by a half a point or so (weird right?)

If you dont like the look of the bland Grey theme that doing the above leaves. You can always switch to the "Classic Theme" before playing a game. I find that helps out some, in the performance department. Then when you are done, just switch back to your theme of choice.

hope it helps, and doesnt make me sound like an idiot

 

[sprandel]

Kitchen should, no doubt, have performed better than Basement on XP. Especially because, as you said, the amount of visual effects and stuff. But now Kitchen is like 20fps better than it ever was on XP!

Anyway, I can try some of those tweaks. I know all my drivers are updated, that's one of the first things I checked. I might just go for the new computer for Christmas. I found one for $399 that is even a little better than Kitchen was for $425 last year.

 

[mlevy]

Memory bandwidth is a HUGE limiting factor. I used to run an A64 x2 4200+ with dual 7800GT cards, upgrading to a single GTX260 did very little to help gaming performance, my bottleneck was at the memory. The biggest boost came when I ditched the DDR memory for DDR3 when I did a whole-system upgrade, though the CPU upgrade helped as well. The 'Basement' system is running, at best, DDR memory, if it's a Socket A it could be regular SDRAM, the 'Kitchen' system is at least DDR2, if not DDR3.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The processor isn't going much higher than it already is. I think there is a XP 3200+ out there, but I just went up to the 2700+ not long ago. Do you think it would be worth investing in that extra half gig of ram? I'm not exactly sure I want to. I mean, of course I want to play games but the time for a new computer is coming up awfully soon.

If you look in the right places and know how to build or put together you're own unit you could possibly get away with spending 350.00 + dollars on a modern system that would run games

#1 you could get a cpu mobo combo for problally 100.00+ dollars 4 gigs of ddr2 or 3 depending on your board would run you from 89-120.00 + dollars video card you could grab a 512mb 5670 ati for about 80 bucks or even the 1 gig ddr5 hd5670 for 100.00+ dollars

basicly what i am saying use the old case use the psu if it has enough power for what you bought swap the parts and bam a good gaming rig for cheaper then the upgrade cost sad to say the old parts cost more then the new parts you would be doing better justice going that route and the long run be much happier

 

[WDAexodus]

Not enough Ram in basement. Windows 7 will not run games as smoothly it you are skipping around minimum specs.

 

[sprandel]

There is a DIY kit with a 2.8ghz phenom II x6 on newegg with 4gb ram and Radeon HD4290 on board for $442 I think I'll get.

 

[pparks1]

I'm not sure I would be excited about a Radeon HD4290. It's an onboard graphics unit, so make sure that you get a PCI-Express slot on the mobo so that you can replace this card with a gaming card.

Kitchen never scored well under XP because the video card (Nvidia 7050) is only a marginal improvement over an Nvidia 6150. Meaning...it's terrrible for gaming.

Now, Basement is struggling as your CPU and RAM is a bit low for the more powerful system.

 

[DirtyElf]

you if you want to game get a pci-e gfx card, you can have a radeon HD 4770 for a decent price now a days

 

[SlackerITGuy]

i really cant make any sense of this, let me try to re-read it.. i apologize - been a long day

ok after rereading, the basement computer is trying to run win7 on 1.5g of ram, that really isint enough and could cause slow downs for sure

the cpu shouldnt matter that much for gaming, especially WOW. both of those will perform about the same gaming wise, but more is always better

i dont think there is much you can do to make the basement better other than downgrade back to XP, 1.5g is not enough for win7

Ohh quite the contrary my friend.

WoW is known to be very CPU hungry.

 

[Solarstarshines]

I Never played WOW for some reason im not into never ending games i mean atleast one ending but those games are continous and i would like some sort of satisfaction from a ending

It never occured to me that the game is a cpu eatter after you meantioned it SlackerITGuy took me a minute to think about and i could agree it being online and always updating expansion packs

As for the benchmarks i never see results on that game

but would be interested on what it would do if it ran on my card if you know what i mean

do you have any benchmark scores on that game and settings that scored low and highs thanks in advanced

 

[Tang]

A great deal does depend on the games in question. Games like WoW and EQ2 are more CPU-bound then they are GPU and RAM bound. Both games will peg out a single core during play, and the other cores will only be lightly touched (could very well be by the other background things running). And I am not talking about pegging out a little 2GhZ - but pegging out a sincle core running at more than twice that speed.

So - it depends on the game. Some games out there are not so CPU intensive - and can rely on the GPU more- or will actually run on multi-cores and not just one. Civ5 I heard will use all the cores and all the RAM you've got, but really not push the actual GPU as much as one would expect.

 

[Tang]

I had a thought - just for fun - try running the "All CPU Meter" by AddGadget - and leave it on top tucked in a corner while you power up your games. This can tell you a lot about the CPU usage. Of course, if you have more than 1 core buzzing along, it will chart out the other cores performance. Just right click on the screen somewhere and click on Gadgets - it should be in the listing - or easy to find from there.
Mine is set up to show RAM usage, and core activity