Vista & games

[kimbo.ati]

is it just me or is vista crap at minimizing mid game?. im a person that needs to minimize frequently and ive noticed since the upgrade from xp to vista these speeds have declined very dismally.

is their anyway i can increase this speed ?
note* my resolution and refresh rates are the same for game and desktop.

 

[Xorior]

Well, Vista definately has its problems, but when it comes to minimizing graghically intense games, the game can, a lot of times, be causing the problem itself. I just wanted to let you know this, with a little proof: I have a XPS Gaming laptop, and depending on the game, it might crash when i try to alt-tab out or minimize it. Some game developers even manage to disable these default Windows shortcuts so you can't switch applications while gaming, I am assuming because they foresee the problems it might cause with stability. Also, games sometimes do not re-utilize the video card correctly, and will either lag badly when returning to the game, or crash.

Solution: Not all graphically intense games can be minimized, even on the most expensive and powerful gaming machines. You can do what I do, which is remember which games work fine with switching applications and which ones don't.

(I am refering to <ALT> + <TAB> out of full screen games here)

 

[kimbo.ati]

hrmm , is their anything i can do to speed it up ?

 

[Xorior]

To speed the games up? Well, if you are actually configuring your games to run in a window and not full screen, don't do that. Games will run better and faster full screen because it allows the video card to dedicate 100% of it's resources to the Game, and not to windows and other applications. If your graphic intense games are still slow while in full screen, i would recommend turning the graphics options down some. Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering (AA and AF) usually have the biggest impact on performance. Lower full screen resolutions also increase performance. If games are still slow, you might need a better video card. However, if you ran the games on the same machine with XP and they worked good before upgrading to Vista, then Vista would be the obvious problem and I would not buy new hardware.

Personal Note: My best friend has a fast dual core eMachines desktop that came with Vista. He has all sorts of stupid little problems with some of his games. He was pretty upset when he learned he can't play Doom 3 because of Vista compatibility issue with his video card, and even some supported cards have issues. Honestly, if you are a hard core gamer like me, i would stick to the most stable gaming setup, which right now is Windows XP (In my opinion). Vista has too many bugs that still needs fixed and worked out.

 

[kimbo.ati]

hmm yeah i think you have a good point iwanted vista mainly becuase the installer was sitting on my desk. i got a 7600gt and i only play wow occasionally cs-source and other fps games nothing like umm *insert graphic intensive game here* ill take it on board hopefully vista doesnt piss me off anymore hahaha btw if u looked into the whole 'ratings' system they run in vista, i scored a 4.0.thanks for you help

 

[Xorior]

No problem. 7600 GT is an awesome card. You should be able to play anything with that.

 

[kimbo.ati]

i guess its just vista cos the actual games run perfect its just the minimization driving me NUTS!!

 

[kchris gayle]

Windows Vista is really causing alot of problems but try checking your speed on network connections and also try optimizing your browser settings...

 

[kimbo.ati]

can you recommend any auto network utilitising software?


.....thats compatable with vista 64bit lol

 

[SNGX1275]

If you must minimize during the game, switch off Aero before doing so. I don't have any proof (and haven't tested this myself) but I imagine taking the system out of gaming and back to an Aero enabled desktop and then back into the game is pretty demanding. If you switch over to Classic before entering the game I think you'll have much better results.

 

[kimbo.ati]

Vista Classic seems to be doing justice i also disabled the crap over on the right side chokes around 15mb and does nothing useful tho ive heard some of the addons are great but meh im usually in game and cant make sure of them lol.

cheers thanks for you help