Vista x64 Very Slow

[Crucial]

Here's the situation...

Previous Setup:
Window Vista 32bit
4x1024MB Crucial Balistix DDR2-800mhz (4gig total)
Asus M2N32-SLI Mobo
AMD Phenom 9600 (BE) Quad core
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640mb Video card
2x Raptor 150gb HD (1 drive OS, 1 drive for 5xWOW with only the data/interface directories shared)
1920x1200 for main on 24", 1280x1024 split 4 ways on second lcd 19" for other characters (all in windowed mode)
FPS: 25-30 on main, 20 on the 4 others.

This was "OK" but not the greatest, so I upgraded a few parts...

Current Setup:
Windows Vista x64 (Completely clean install from scratch using all 64bit drivers for all components) w/Service Pack 1
4x2048MB Corsair Dominator DDR-1066Mhz (8 gig total)
Asus M3N-HT Deluxe Mobo
AMD Phenom 9600 (BE) Quad core
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640mb Video card
2x Raptor 150gb HD (same setup, but drives are now setup as RAID 0 striped)
FPS: 16-20 on main (windowed mode)... not even running any other toons.
FPS: 30-40 in full screen mode.

Conclusion
WTF? Faster memory, faster hard drive setup, better motherboard and extremely lower FPS due to Vista x64?

[Naysayer]

I doubt it's vista64, but I'll remind you to make sure you updated it to service pack 1, as sp1 fixed a ton of problems with vista. Are you sure you're running the correct driver for your graphics card? Have you tried finding some recent stable drivers for your card? Try running Direct x9. I'm semi-tech savvy, but I'm probably not on par with most people on this board so don't take my answer as final. Keep bumping for more help. I've always built my own pc's after the first one. I'm using vist64 sp1 and have no probs.

[Otlecs]

I went through a Vista64 upgrade recently on my monster system, and it made no difference whatsoever to frame rates. It did, however, give me more memory to play with (2GB more since I have 2GB video memory!).

"Gee, so what... that's not very helpful, is it?!". Well, no, but it does mean there's nothing inherently wrong with Vista64, for whatever that's worth :)

The one oddity for me was the drivers. Vista64 completely failed to recognise my pair of 3870 X2 graphics cards. Completely.

Instead, it installed a generic driver and THAT obviously gave me unplayable frame rates.

So... and please don't take offence at me perhaps Stating the Bloody Obvious(tm)... have you downloaded and installed the latest 64bit drivers for your 8800 GTS? Have you tried an older driver? Checked Google for any anecdotal evidence of problems with various drivers?

My money is firmly on the video driver being the problem.

[Crucial]

I doubt it's vista64, but I'll remind you to make sure you updated it to service pack 1, as sp1 fixed a ton of problems with vista. Are you sure you're running the correct driver for your graphics card? Have you tried finding some recent stable drivers for your card? Try running Direct x9. I'm semi-tech savvy, but I'm probably not on par with most people on this board so don't take my answer as final. Keep bumping for more help. I've always built my own pc's after the first one. I'm using vist64 sp1 and have no probs.Yep - SP1 is included as part of the original DVD installs. I also ran windows update and downloaded all the latest updates just to make sure. Other than some application compatibility updates (which I installed) there was nothing else relevant.

[Crucial]

I went through a Vista64 upgrade recently on my monster system, and it made no difference whatsoever to frame rates. It did, however, give me more memory to play with (2GB more since I have 2GB video memory!).

"Gee, so what... that's not very helpful, is it?!". Well, no, but it does mean there's nothing inherently wrong with Vista64, for whatever that's worth :)

The one oddity for me was the drivers. Vista64 completely failed to recognise my pair of 3870 X2 graphics cards. Completely.

Instead, it installed a generic driver and THAT obviously gave me unplayable frame rates.

So... and please don't take offence at me perhaps Stating the Bloody Obvious(tm)... have you downloaded and installed the latest 64bit drivers for your 8800 GTS? Have you tried an older driver? Checked Google for any anecdotal evidence of problems with various drivers?

My money is firmly on the video driver being the problem.

- Downloaded and installed the latest Nvidia 64 bit drivers directly from their website after Vista was installed, no other video drivers were present on the system prior to installing (other than the Vista standard VGA driver being used). Driver: GeForce Release 175 WHQL Version: 175.19 Release Date: June 23, 2008 Operating System: Windows Vista 64-bit. I've searched Nvidia forums and googled this regarding the low fps and nothing useful has come up yet. I haven't tried using older drivers however.

- Made sure that I had the latest motherboard chipset drivers, raid drivers, etc - they are all 64bit version too. The only thing I haven't updated yet was the BIOS.

[d0z3rr]

Weird....did you get the amd x64 cpu driver? I'm serious, there's a driver for quad core cpu's.

Did you try other games? Perhaps ones that are more gfx intensive? This will rule out alot of stuff. Try playing cod4, crysis, doom3, etc. Also try playing a cpu intensive game like gtr or supreme commander.

Flash the BIOS.

[Crucial]

Weird....did you get the amd x64 cpu driver? I'm serious, there's a driver for quad core cpu's.

Did you try other games? Perhaps ones that are more gfx intensive? This will rule out alot of stuff. Try playing cod4, crysis, doom3, etc. Also try playing a cpu intensive game like gtr or supreme commander.

Flash the BIOS.

If you mean the AMD processor driver it's only for XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Haven't tried or have any other games available atm, since wow is the only one I play.
Also I tried playing around with all combination of the processor affinity settings, and it made very little difference since at this point all I'm able to do is singlebox. I'll be flashing the BIOS tonight for sure.

[Crucial]

Unforunately being at work I can't try this right now but this might be the problem (I was not running SP1 before).

"The crux of the issue is this - Windows Vista Service Pack 1 always enables the Phenom TLB fix on relevant CPUs by default, which can impact performance quite severely in some cases in the name of guaranteed system stability. Regardless of whether you disable this fix at BIOS level, or using AMD's OverDrive tool, it will always be over-ridden by the OS. Thankfully, a member of the Xtreme Systems ('http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=180338') forum has created a way to ensure that the TLB fix is disabled with a little extra effort - If you're running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and an affected processor, be sure to check it out."

[Wilbur]

INTEL > AMD

/propoganda

[Crucial]

INTEL > AMD

/propogandaThese days that seems to be true. My next system will be intel... that's for sure.

[Catamer]

low FPS, that is very strange. I don't seem to have a problem getting 60 fps even with two of them running on my Nvidia 8800 machine or the the radion x1800 machine.
The machine that does get crippled is my Dell laptop with a Nvidia 7950 in it. multiple copies of wow seriously cuts the FPS on it.

were you running either of these under keyclone, I know the maximizer has a setting to limit the max fps, i set that number to 60 and I usually get 60 fps out of two copies of wow ( assuming i'm not in a busy major city like shat )

[Crucial]

low FPS, that is very strange. I don't seem to have a problem getting 60 fps even with two of them running on my Nvidia 8800 machine or the the radion x1800 machine.
The machine that does get crippled is my Dell laptop with a Nvidia 7950 in it. multiple copies of wow seriously cuts the FPS on it.

were you running either of these under keyclone, I know the maximizer has a setting to limit the max fps, i set that number to 60 and I usually get 60 fps out of two copies of wow ( assuming i'm not in a busy major city like shat )

I was using keyclone prior and had the fps capped using maximizer with 60 for foreground, 20 for background clones. I haven't used keyclone again yet since the system-id changed and I needed to have it swapped to a new license before I can run it again - but even getting 60 fps at this point would be a dream come true. The config.wtf file has settings in there for maxfps and maxfpsbk - I've tried everything from 20 to 999 for each. Only way I can get a decent framerate is if I point my guy at a wall or turn the camera facing into the ground and nobody is around the zone.

[Zerocool2024]

You know, this may come off as a stupid question, but did you check your BIOS or have a program that tells you your CPU TEMP? Mine was at 90 idle X(

Only reason I say this, is because I was playing WOW 4Boxing on my rig, and everything was running Fine (Friday) then come Saturday and all of a sudden, my rig is dipping in FPS randomly, sometimes not for a 10 minutes, others, it keeps dipping over and over for 20 minutes. Hell, I didn't even have to Load up the toons for my CPU to jump to 100%, just had them at the login screen and it would drop LAGGGGGG, then stop, then LAGGGGG.

What had happen? the CPU fan had come unhinged from one of the 4 holes, so the CPU was not getting the full power of the fan. (A note here, I had never put an INTEL comp together, so somethings where different, I was not used to the whole 4 "Screw like pins" that go around the CPU, I was used to the Clamp that holds the Fan down on top of the CPU, so I could have put it in wrong and after a few times of nudging the Case with my foot, it would have knocked it loose)

So after I took the fan off and "Attempted to put it back in" I plugged everything back up and booted it up, went to the BIOS and the CPU read 30 :thumbsup:

In the end, that was the problem.

BTW, I am running Vista 64, 8GIGS, 2-8800GTS (512) cards, Q6700 CPU and dual 500 GIG HD's set to raid 0

And here I thought it was Vista, though, it still may be in your case...

[Crucial]

You know, this may come off as a stupid question, but did you check your BIOS or have a program that tells you your CPU TEMP? Mine was at 90 idle X(
So after I took the fan off and "Attempted to put it back in" I plugged everything back up and booted it up, went to the BIOS and the CPU read 30 :thumbsup:

BTW, I am running Vista 64, 8GIGS, 2-8800GTS (512) cards, Q6700 CPU and dual 500 GIG HD's set to raid 0

And here I thought it was Vista, though, it still may be in your case...


I'm doubting its overheating, even when it's off for hours overnight and I boot up in the morning I've got the same issue. Temperatures in the range of 46'C- 57'C... are those acceptable limits?

So the options I've got so far: 1-Update BIOS, 2-Make sure this Phenom TLB fix is disabled, 3-Double check tempatures.

I notice you are also using an intel processor, so far everyone that has been running decently with Vista 64 has been on an intel machine (Q6600 or better).

BTW, I also disable the Vista Aero theme and just use the Vista Basic theme instead... gave a couple extra fps but thats it.

[Zerocool2024]

I see... well then crap, I have no idea, I've been routing around myself for different things that might help.

There was something I came across (Still looking for it) but it said something about right clicking the wow.exe and going to compatibility and checking the Disable Visual themes and such. That might help as well.


also, you play on Durotan? Cool, same here, got 4 63 Shamans and 70 Paladin on that server. Areines, Arneun, Aracht, Arsieben, Kaymeer

[Anozireth]

INTEL > AMD

/propogandaThese days that seems to be true. My next system will be intel... that's for sure.Always been the case IMO. After having two AMD chips die on me within six months of each other about 8 years ago, I've had nothing but Intel since and not one problem.

[Naysayer]

You should ask the question over at www.tomshardware.com. Hope you get it fixed!

[Thomas]

Window Vista 32bit
4x1024MB Crucial Balistix DDR2-800mhz (4gig total)
Asus M2N32-SLI Mobo
AMD Phenom 9600 (BE) Quad core
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640mb Video card
2x Raptor 150gb HD (1 drive OS, 1 drive for 5xWOW with only the data/interface directories shared)
1920x1200 for main on 24", 1280x1024 split 4 ways on second lcd 19" for other characters (all in windowed mode)
FPS: 25-30 on main, 20 on the 4 others.

This was "OK" but not the greatest, so I upgraded a few parts... Your old computer sounds like my computer FX7020.

I notice you say it's 4gig's of ram but mine only runs at 3.3 so I was wondering wtf I should do to get it to 4 /sigh.

[Naysayer]

Window Vista 32bit
4x1024MB Crucial Balistix DDR2-800mhz (4gig total)
Asus M2N32-SLI Mobo
AMD Phenom 9600 (BE) Quad core
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640mb Video card
2x Raptor 150gb HD (1 drive OS, 1 drive for 5xWOW with only the data/interface directories shared)
1920x1200 for main on 24", 1280x1024 split 4 ways on second lcd 19" for other characters (all in windowed mode)
FPS: 25-30 on main, 20 on the 4 others.

This was "OK" but not the greatest, so I upgraded a few parts... Your old computer sounds like my computer FX7020.

I notice you say it's 4gig's of ram but mine only runs at 3.3 so I was wondering wtf I should do to get it to 4 /sigh.vista64bit

[Crucial]

Ok here's an update...

Flashed to latest BIOS. Still same low fps however.
Disabled TLB fix in the BIOS. No change.
Installed the patch that overrides the built in Vista SP1 TLB fix... and low and behold I can now run 40+ fps on main, 20-25 on clones no problem in windowed mode. Full screen is even better of course.

Unfortunately now I have to run this program after booting up to disable the fix every time. Since Microsoft was so kind to automatically enable the fix despite being turned off in the BIOS...

Conclusion: Piece of !@# AMD