About to switch to Vista...and need info...

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Stiletto

Supreme [H]ardness
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So my IT company FINALLY got around to getting me a copy of Vista, which is sort of expected given that they want me to get an MCP in Vista and I don't ever use it at the moment at my outsourced site.

My question is thus: How much of a real hit am I going to take, performance wise, by simply upgrading as opposed to wiping and fresh installing? I really don't have the time this week to go through all that, and it's just a pain in the ass to do. Will upgrading suddenly present me with a major hit in Fallout 3 performance and other games? Will there be considerably longer load times for software?
 
That depends on your hardware.

Really if you can budget the time I found a clean 64 bit install really is fast. A lot fo work though.

The 32 bit upgrade had me happy for years though and will probly go a lot smoother now then when I first got vista.

Hows your cpu, memory, vid card, etc?
 
Intel E8400 C2D @3.6
2GB DDR2-1000 Memory
Vid Card EVGA 8800GT SSC
Just built it about six months ago. Once Vista is in I'm planning on picking up another 2GB to slam in.
 
I always do a fresh/clean install, never upgrade, too many potential problems.
 
I agree. While the Vista in place upgrade is better than XP's, I have ended up doing a fresh install anyway on any machine I did the upgrade for.
 
The debate about whether to upgrade or do a fresh install isn't about performance. It is about stability. Vista does a much better job than XP did, in terms of handling the upgrade properly without leaving as much junk behind, but it still doesn't compare to a fresh install. You get a chance to run the system clean, with a chance to load the latest drivers, and only the apps you need, including updated versions, etc. It doesn't take that much longer to do a fresh install anyway. Be sure to use some or all of the 30 days as well before activating, just to make sure it is stable.

Usually, when I try a new OS, such as Vista, I do one install with the basics to try it out, driving different apps and drivers. Then I wipe the drive clean and do it again, using only the best drivers and working software. I only do this the first time I install a new OS.
 
Adakos said:
Also, I was 'testing' vista for 10 days (on day 1/10) when i registered for a [H]ard Account, and now im on day 51 with no problems. Gotta say I dig it.
Click to expand...

Yep, I think i'm sitting on day 50 right now also. Registered for [H] when I had a problem with my LAN card not working and, go figure, whenever it's connected straight to the router it uninstalls itself from my system/ doesnt work, but when I use a switch or something, it works just fine.
 
Stiletto said:
Intel E8400 C2D @3.6
2GB DDR2-1000 Memory
Vid Card EVGA 8800GT SSC
Just built it about six months ago. Once Vista is in I'm planning on picking up another 2GB to slam in.
Click to expand...

I have used XP 32, XP 64, Vista 32 and Vista 64.. I found that Vista 64 was the most stable (all though it can be a little harder to initially setup). However, you nailed it with your LAST STATEMENT.. when I tried to run my copies of Vista Ultimate 64 on 2 gb's of ram, from time to time, it MOST DEFINATELY felt "sluggish". The "sweet spot" is definately 4gb's of ram (nothing wrong with 8gb's but for the average user, that's probably overkill).

I've included a few screen shots taken just a few minutes ago to help illustrate my point.. First couple of screen shots are just to show my setup (CPU, CPU SPEED, TEMPS, ETC). The next couple of screen shots show HOW MUCH MEMORY is being utilized in my Vista Ultimate x64 setup. Keep in mind this a simple show of memory utilization of 4 gb's.. If you are a modern day gamer or someone who uses memory intensive app's, you can see that 4 gb's should be the "sweet spot" especially when compared to 2 gb's of effective memory utilization..


CPU.jpg



TEMPS-1.jpg



Here is a baseline shot of my system, basically in it's natural IDLE state (look at the amount of memory being utilized by Vista x64). It's already in the 30% range. If you only had 2 gb's of memory, that number would be MUCH higher (and that's only in the IDLE state)!

Memory.jpg



Now look what happens to that number when I open a few app's (quicktime, WMP and WMM). That number begins to jump near 40%! Keep in mind those are simple programs and not very memory intensive.. You can imagine how high those number can get when you launch / use any type of memory intensive program!

MEMORY3.jpg
 
oops.. My last screen shot turned out kinda small.. I took a close up of the screen shot above (you should be able to read it now)..

MEMORY3a-1.jpg
 
On that advice, I just ordered a 2x2GB set of the same type of ram I already have. I've got a set of 2x1GB G.Skill DDR2 1000, which appears to be deactivated on Newegg, so I ordered the 2x2GB set. I figure since each set will be in dual channel, I can use both without any real noticeable slowdown, giving me 6GB.

Will that eliminate a lot of the potential memory eating problems?
 
There aren't any memory eating problems with Vista. It will use more of your memory than XP, but that is by design, and is for your benefit.
 
It caches closed apps in memory. So if you open them again they load faster. But if a new app needs more memory vista will free up cached memory.
 
Dont like memory usage turn off superfetch, DONE, the os was MADE to use your memory you paid for to make the OS faster by pre-loading commonly used items in ram

would you rather have your program start from a old slow harddrive, or ram?
 
Stiletto said:
On that advice, I just ordered a 2x2GB set of the same type of ram I already have. I've got a set of 2x1GB G.Skill DDR2 1000, which appears to be deactivated on Newegg, so I ordered the 2x2GB set. I figure since each set will be in dual channel, I can use both without any real noticeable slowdown, giving me 6GB.

Will that eliminate a lot of the potential memory eating problems?
Click to expand...

Awesome. You won't regret. I do agree, that Windows Vista is a memory happy operating system. 4 gigs will serve you well. Not to mention, memory is really really lowwwww $$$ at the moment!
 
mother of god with vista ultimate x64 with nothing running it uses up 1.5GB with crysis on its using fucking 3.5GB!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE SHIT!!!!!!! AND THIS IS A CLEAN INSTALL RAAAAAAAAGGGE
 
mista ting said:
mother of god with vista ultimate x64 with nothing running it uses up 1.5GB
Click to expand...
I'm hoping this is just a joke (the comment, not the numbers). I'm hoping there doesn't need to be yet another comment about how Vista uses the system's memory. Ah well, it let's me trot out one of my favorite quotes I've seen on here. Someone had this in their sig: "If you don't want your computer to use the memory you have in your computer, take it out and place it on your desk." Vista uses more memory, but it does so for your benefit.

'Nuff typed, as one would say.
 
mista ting said:
mother of god with vista ultimate x64 with nothing running it uses up 1.5GB with crysis on its using fucking 3.5GB!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE SHIT!!!!!!! AND THIS IS A CLEAN INSTALL RAAAAAAAAGGGE
Click to expand...

Are you an idiot? Vista caches your normally used apps in ram as per superfetch's design. Vista will never hold on to cached apps that are eating up more memory then you need to use, the instant you do something that needs more memory vista will drop the cached stuff and start loading your app.
 
MrGuvernment said:
Dont like memory usage turn off superfetch, DONE, the os was MADE to use your memory you paid for to make the OS faster by pre-loading commonly used items in ram

would you rather have your program start from a old slow harddrive, or ram?
Click to expand...

I turned off superfetch for testing once. It didn't seem to free up a lot of RAM, but it did make everything take twice as long.
 
mista ting said:
mother of god with vista ultimate x64 with nothing running it uses up 1.5GB with crysis on its using fucking 3.5GB!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE SHIT!!!!!!! AND THIS IS A CLEAN INSTALL RAAAAAAAAGGGE
Click to expand...

MY OS AND APPS ARE USING MY RAM - NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

:rolleyes:
 
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