Vista 64 seems to lack a bit of speed

S

Sid

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 18, 2003
Messages
366
Good day all, Just stepped up and bought Vista 64 Ultimate (yeah I had to buy an operating system from MS this time, couldn't talk them into giving me one). I was installing on my laptop and the HD was less then snappy so I bought a 7200 rpm seagate to go along with Vista. Lappy has 1gb mem sharred with video(128mb).

So this thing is pretty damn slow, no tweaks yet. My question is how much performace would I gain by sticking more memory in it? Honestly I'm less than impressed, but, it's still new and I don't know my way around it, yet.
 
You neglected to mention most anything about the hardware you have... why is it people do that, don't provide enough information to actually start working with and expect answers, yet we have to ask for more information to get anywhere?

So, if you please, give us a breakdown of the system specs and maybe we can help.
 
Chances are more RAM will do you good, but as the poster above stated, we need to know more info. You also have to keep in mind that Vista is new, and does require more robust hardware. It is software so it will not increase preformance, that is hardware's job. I wouldn't take my fast awesomely running XP pro install, dump Vista on that computer, and expect it to be faster.
 
The other issue:

Vista takes about a week of "normal" usage to really start to shine. If you install it, mess with it for an hour, sure, it's going to be slower than XP is on any hardware you put it on, but give it a week for it to tune itself up and adjust itself to your "normal" usage patterns and behavior, then it really starts to fly.

Too many people get it, install it, sit there for an hour or two then come to the conclusion that "My god it's slow..."

It is, at first, but give it a week, then it'll impress the hell outta you for how big it is and how fast it can go.
 
Thanks gentlemen. It was a generic question as I have read the 64 doesn't shine till it's full of memory. Was wondering how true this was. The only spec I didn't post was the CPU, its a Turion 32 1800.
 
That's your weak spot, the CPU, guaranteed. More RAM will help, also using a 1-2GB USB thumbdrive for ReadyBoost will help out as well, but that CPU is weak, period. What onboard video does that machine have, probably SiS Mirage I bet.
 
bbz_Ghost said:
That's your weak spot, the CPU, guaranteed. More RAM will help, also using a 1-2GB USB thumbdrive for ReadyBoost will help out as well, but that CPU is weak, period. What onboard video does that machine have, probably SiS Mirage I bet.
Click to expand...

xpress 200m. It's a laptop, I'm not looking for a blazing system just comparable to XP.
 
Yah, I read it's a laptop, and the advice given is still valid: More RAM if possible, and a USB thumbdrive if you can manage it to help also (and it will, considerably once Vista has been up and running a week or so).

Obviously the latest drivers all around would help as well. The defaults in Vista were from way back in November and the ones put on Windows Update aren't necessarily the latest; the ATI drivers being a notable example.

Vista can use some manual tweaking but there are only a few guides out there right now for doing such things, one of the better ones is over at TweakHound.com if you're interested in checking it out.

Hope this helps...
 
Well I just bought 2 gig of ram and a 1gb thumb drive. Going to reinstall the ghost image then check it out.

BTW, yes, I agree, the advice is all valid. I was looking for people that did a memory upgrade because of this OS and the results. I really didn't have any plans to install this OS at all(I have issues with DRM), but clients are all ready asking me about it, and, well, if I want to retain them I have to know. I am like most of you a MS partner, go to the technet seminars when I can break away, and have a handfull of MCP's. Not my first rodeo. I come here and read what I can when needed because [H] is one of the best places to get honest, no BS info, with a group of great guys.
 
We've had enough DRM threads to last the lifetime of Vista and it's barely a month old already. :)

It's not that bad, really. But enough about DRM...

The 2GB will make a noticeable difference, and using the USB thumbdrive will help also in day-to-day usage, but even so: it's about a week of normal usage for someone before they start to notice Vista doing things almost as they request or attempt 'em. It really is the first OS of it's kind to do "self-healing" and self-tuning, always watching out for what's going on and looking for ways to improve performance, even notify you of things that you can do to help.

Good luck...
 
That damn new boot loader won't let me install the ghost image. It just blew up the XP install:rolleyes: Had to boot into recovery console to bring XP back to life. Hell I'm having a few beers, so I'm not going to figure out how to fix the loader tonight:D . Gonna reinstall because there was nothing on the vista install to speak of.

Be back shortly, well after the clean install.
 
The memory upgrade does make a dramatic difference!!!!! Way faster!

The 1gb USB thumb drive doesn't have the performance needed???? WTF it's USB 2.0.

Wow, Wow, Wow, the memory upgrade does make a HUGE difference in this OS, sorry, I have a buzz going.
 
May I ask what made you buy Vista? I like Vista. I had trouble initially installing it over XP but after doing it right (clean install), I've experienced little to no trouble (knock on pressed wood) :)

I ask because you're stuck with Dx9 right? XP should have been trouble free for the most part right? You purchased the most expensive OS out there and I'm not sure you'll be able to take advantage of all it's glory--maybe some. Was there something in Vista you needed? I'm just asking--though I know it sounds like I'm picking on you.

Lastly, why ulimtate and not home premium?

Lastly for real hehe, USB 2.0 isnt the difference with ready boost. Your device needs to be comperable to faster memory by being able to read/write at a certain value. If it doesn't, you can't use it. My Cruzer works well. Soon they'll make labels--MS ready boost certified.
 
Pkirk618 said:
May I ask what made you buy Vista? I like Vista. I had trouble initially installing it over XP but after doing it right (clean install), I've experienced little to no trouble (knock on pressed wood) :)
Click to expand...

The need to support my clients

I ask because you're stuck with Dx9 right? XP should have been trouble free for the most part right? You purchased the most expensive OS out there and I'm not sure you'll be able to take advantage of all it's glory--maybe some. Was there something in Vista you needed? I'm just asking--though I know it sounds like I'm picking on you.
Click to expand...

Nope dx10. I need to support my clients!!!!! Just like when that POS ME came out. You just have to bite the bullet and support it. I have been moving to Linux for most of my user base(servers) but I do have a fair base of home users I support and I have already been hammered. Profit makes the need to learn!

Lastly, why ulimtate and not home premium?
Click to expand...

Because you can't log into a domain with a home version.


Lastly for real hehe, USB 2.0 isnt the difference with ready boost. Your device needs to be comperable to faster memory by being able to read/write at a certain value. If it doesn't, you can't use it. My Cruzer works well. Soon they'll make labels--MS ready boost certified.
Click to expand...

For $6.50 after rebate I will keep this one and buy something faster. Thanks for the info on it. Nix isn't so picky:)
 
You might consider doing a clean fresh format of that USB drive with FAT32. I know it can come from the factory already formatted, or it might be one of those damned U3 devices (I really can't stand those myself but some people swear by 'em).

I've noticed across 9 different brands of USB 2.0 thumbdrives that when I find one that doesn't show as ReadyBoost compatible, if I do a clean format (open a Command Prompt, type format <drive letter> /fs:fat32 /q and press Enter) that sometimes, automagically, the device then becomes ReadyBoost capable.

Don't ask me why, don't ask me how, I'm just reporting my own experience. Of 9 brands, 4 didn't make the cut in the first round. I clean formatted each of them - and one was a U3 device where I promptly removed the U3 capability with a tool from the U3 website - they all then became ReadyBoost capable and passed the test.

I had no issues after that with any of them. Just thought I'd toss that out there. You can also choose NTFS (/fs:ntfs instead of /fs:fat32 in the command line above) so, I don't think it really matters that much.

Hope this helps...
 
Wait so vista automatically adjusts over a period of time? I don't get what you're saying bbz_Ghost
 
I know that indexing helps...and I think the OS remembers settings (cached?) in individual programs that are supposed to speed things abit.
 
I've been dual-booting Ultimate 64-bit and XP for about 3 weeks now and it's gotten to the point where I'm primarily using Vista. Only time I'm still booting into XP is when I want to play Oblivion or anything OpenGL. I agree with others here... Vista doesn't seem that quick at first but once it starts learning your habits it's very snappy. I think it must "learn" the boot process too, because Vista is definitely booting faster than my XP install now, and it wasn't at first.
 
Wendig0 said:
Oh that cool, but oblivion doesn't work with vista??
Click to expand...

It works, but there are several limitations compared to XP. Oblivion doesn't use OpenAL for sound, and Creative's drivers and "alchemy" software are both still in beta, so sound in Oblivion under Vista is software-driven. Also, nvidia's Vista drivers don't yet support using HDR and AA in Oblivion at the same time as they do in XP.

Neither of these are deal breakers, but I got used to having HDR+AA and now it bugs me when I have to turn off one or the other in Vista. I'm sure nvidia will fix this eventually, but for now I just boot into XP if I'm going to be playing Oblivion for any extended period.
 
Yeah I have an ati x1800xt and I'm sure I need modified drivers for oblivion to get both on... But it doesn't matter to me. It seems most people are having lower frame rates in vista then xp for their games... And will I still be able to access other computers while they're using xp on my network?

I think I might just stick with xp still.. But I'm not sure I'm still thinking about it because I'm going to reformat my pc sometime this week.
 
what exactly does this readydrive feature do? Let you boot off of a flash drive?
 
Vista 64 eats around 600 to 700MB of RAM in idle. Now add the 128MB shared memory and you will be out of memory...
 
evilmedic said:
Vista 64 eats around 600 to 700MB of RAM in idle. Now add the 128MB shared memory and you will be out of memory...
Click to expand...

I read that as:

"I don't know a god damned thing about Vista and how it caches data in RAM to make my system faster and gives up that cached data in case an application actually needs the RAM, and most importantly, my video card would rarely if ever actually require that much video RAM unless I had 250+ windows open at the same time onscreen thereby forcing the video card to request system RAM on top of the RAM it has onboard."

*ahem*

A little research and reading on Vista and how it works sure goes a long way, people...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top