smoother running SH3 (increase FPS)

[codmander]

maxmem also good



http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...tem/maxmem.htm

[matttm]

Try this trick if you have 1GB+ RAM.

Go into:

My Computer - Properties

Select Advanced tab

Select Settings in Performance group

Select Advanced tab

Select System Cache in Memory Usage group

Select Ok and exit out. Reboot

This speed up the loading in Oblivion massively and NYGM 2.4 loads sweetly as well.

Matt

Originally Posted by matttm

Try this trick if you have 1GB+ RAM.
Go into:
My Computer - Properties
Select Advanced tab
Select Settings in Performance group
Select Advanced tab
Select System Cache in Memory Usage group
Select Ok and exit out. Reboot
This speed up the loading in Oblivion massively and NYGM 2.4 loads sweetly as well.
Matt

Thanks for the tip. I've just set it to System Cache even though I don't really know what that does. Some technical insight would be nice.

[Zantham]

Originally Posted by von Zelda

Thanks for the tip. I've just set it to System Cache even though I don't really know what that does. Some technical insight would be nice.

Did someone say "technical"??

Adjusting the Memory Usage setting between Programs and System Cache is basically telling Windows how to prioritize its memory. Windows can do caching to hard drive, and it can do caching to RAM. Obviously RAM is much faster than hard drive. When set to Programs, XP sets aside 8MB of RAM for caching. Set it to System Cache allows XP to use all available RAM (minus 4MB) for caching. This caching is dynamic, so you wont run out of memory. This setting allows XP to load its entire kernel into RAM as well, which can really speed up how responsive XP reacts. This setting can provide boosts even with as little as 512MB or even 256MB RAM, but to really benefit you need 1GB+ as von Zelda says. You will really notice the biggest difference with the System Cache enabled if you have to exit Sh3 for some reason and later reload the game (without a reboot inbetween).

If you're REALLY geeky, you can do as I do and run part of SH3 off of a RAM drive. I load a GWX campaign savegame in less than 30 seconds on my laptop . I have 3GB of RAM, RAID0 hard drives, and use a 1GB RAM drive and no paging file to accomplish this.

[WOD]

Originally Posted by Zantham

Did someone say "technical"??

Adjusting the Memory Usage setting between Programs and System Cache is basically telling Windows how to prioritize its memory. Windows can do caching to hard drive, and it can do caching to RAM. Obviously RAM is much faster than hard drive. When set to Programs, XP sets aside 8MB of RAM for caching. Set it to System Cache allows XP to use all available RAM (minus 4MB) for caching. This caching is dynamic, so you wont run out of memory. This setting allows XP to load its entire kernel into RAM as well, which can really speed up how responsive XP reacts. This setting can provide boosts even with as little as 512MB or even 256MB RAM, but to really benefit you need 1GB+ as von Zelda says. You will really notice the biggest difference with the System Cache enabled if you have to exit Sh3 for some reason and later reload the game (without a reboot inbetween).

If you're REALLY geeky, you can do as I do and run part of SH3 off of a RAM drive. I load a GWX campaign savegame in less than 30 seconds on my laptop . I have 3GB of RAM, RAID0 hard drives, and use a 1GB RAM drive and no paging file to accomplish this.

Good explanation...better I couldn´t have written it

[She-Wolf]

When playing my resource-hungry space sim I shut down explorer.exe.
That will work for SH3 as well, provided you can get to Task Manager-Processes before the game intro fills the screen.

Click on SH3 to start it, then press Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up Task Manager
Open the Processes tab and find explorer.exe
Highlight it and then click on 'End Process'
come out of Task manager.

You will now have no desktop or taskbar or explorer running in the background, so resources are freed up.

When you have finished playing SH3 and come out, do the three keys again to bring up Task Manager,
click on Applications
then New Task,
write explorer.exe in the box ( after the first time it will already be there or in the drop down menu), and then click OK, and your desktop and taskbar will be returned

[Lightning61]

Here is my list of services settings running in W2K SP4 which still allows internet connection, but eliminates the vast majority of startup bloat.
I also use a little proggie called "Startup Mechanic", which is just a simple shortcut to the "run" keys in the registry.
It does a good job of keeping "rogue" startup entries cleared from installed programs that think they need to run at every boot.
It can also be set to monitor changes in startup while having a tiny footprint, (good for noobs).
It's been a very handy little tool on my rig for a few years now.
http://www.startupmechanic.com
I hope this helps someone!

Name Description Status Startup Type Log On As
.NET Runtime Optimization Service v2.0.50727_X86 Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN Manual LocalSystem
Alerter Notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts. Manual LocalSystem
Application Management Provides software installation services such as Assign, Publish, and Remove. Manual LocalSystem
ASP.NET State Service Provides support for out-of-process session states for ASP.NET. If this service is stopped, out-of-process requests will not be processed. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. Manual .\ASPNET
Ati HotKey Poller Manual LocalSystem
ATI Smart Automatic LocalSystem
Automatic Updates Enables the download and installation of Windows updates. If this service is disabled, this computer will not be able to use the Automatic Updates feature or the Windows Update Web site. Manual LocalSystem
Background Intelligent Transfer Service Transfers files in the background using idle network bandwidth. If the service is disabled, then any functions that depend on BITS, such as Windows Update or MSN Explorer will be unable to automatically download programs and other information. Manual LocalSystem
ClipBook Supports ClipBook Viewer, which allows pages to be seen by remote ClipBooks. Manual LocalSystem
COM+ Event System Provides automatic distribution of events to subscribing COM components. Started Manual LocalSystem
Computer Browser Maintains an up-to-date list of computers on your network and supplies the list to programs that request it. Manual LocalSystem
DHCP Client Manages network configuration by registering and updating IP addresses and DNS names. Started Automatic LocalSystem
Distributed Link Tracking Client Sends notifications of files moving between NTFS volumes in a network domain. Manual LocalSystem
Distributed Transaction Coordinator Coordinates transactions that are distributed across two or more databases, message queues, file systems, or other transaction protected resource managers. Manual LocalSystem
DNS Client Resolves and caches Domain Name System (DNS) names. Started Automatic LocalSystem
Event Log Logs event messages issued by programs and Windows. Event Log reports contain information that can be useful in diagnosing problems. Reports are viewed in Event Viewer. Manual LocalSystem
Fax Service Helps you send and receive faxes Manual LocalSystem
Indexing Service Disabled LocalSystem
Internet Connection Sharing Provides network address translation, addressing, and name resolution services for all computers on your home network through a dial-up connection. Manual LocalSystem
IPSEC Policy Agent Manages IP security policy and starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) and the IP security driver. Started Automatic LocalSystem
Logical Disk Manager Logical Disk Manager Watchdog Service Manual LocalSystem
Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service Administrative service for disk management requests Manual LocalSystem
Messenger Sends and receives messages transmitted by administrators or by the Alerter service. Manual LocalSystem
Net Logon Supports pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain. Manual LocalSystem
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Allows authorized people to remotely access your Windows desktop using NetMeeting. Manual LocalSystem
Network Connections Manages objects in the Network and Dial-Up Connections folder, in which you can view both local area network and remote connections. Started Manual LocalSystem
Network DDE Provides network transport and security for dynamic data exchange (DDE). Manual LocalSystem
Network DDE DSDM Manages shared dynamic data exchange and is used by Network DDE Manual LocalSystem
NT LM Security Support Provider Provides security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs that use transports other than named pipes. Manual LocalSystem
Performance Logs and Alerts Configures performance logs and alerts. Manual LocalSystem
Plug and Play Manages device installation and configuration and notifies programs of device changes. Started Automatic LocalSystem
Portable Media Serial Number Service Retrieves the serial number of any portable media player connected to this computer. If this service is stopped, protected content might not be down loaded to the device. Manual LocalSystem
Print Spooler Loads files to memory for later printing. Manual LocalSystem
Protected Storage Provides protected storage for sensitive data, such as private keys, to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users. Manual LocalSystem
QoS RSVP Provides network signaling and local traffic control setup functionality for QoS-aware programs and control applets. Manual LocalSystem
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address. Manual LocalSystem
Remote Access Connection Manager Creates a network connection. Manual LocalSystem
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Provides the endpoint mapper and other miscellaneous RPC services. Started Automatic LocalSystem
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator Manages the RPC name service database. Manual LocalSystem
Remote Registry Service Allows remote registry manipulation. Manual LocalSystem
Removable Storage Manages removable media, drives, and libraries. Manual LocalSystem
Routing and Remote Access Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments. Disabled LocalSystem
RunAs Service Enables starting processes under alternate credentials Manual LocalSystem
Security Accounts Manager Stores security information for local user accounts. Manual LocalSystem
Server Provides RPC support and file, print, and named pipe sharing. Manual LocalSystem
Smart Card Manages and controls access to a smart card inserted into a smart card reader attached to the computer. Manual LocalSystem
Smart Card Helper Provides support for legacy smart card readers attached to the computer. Manual LocalSystem
System Event Notification Tracks system events such as Windows logon, network, and power events. Notifies COM+ Event System subscribers of these events. Manual LocalSystem
Task Scheduler Enables a program to run at a designated time. Manual LocalSystem
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution. Manual LocalSystem
Telephony Provides Telephony API (TAPI) support for programs that control telephony devices and IP based voice connections on the local computer and, through the LAN, on servers that are also running the service. Manual LocalSystem
Telnet Allows a remote user to log on to the system and run console programs using the command line. Manual LocalSystem
Uninterruptible Power Supply Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer. Manual LocalSystem
Utility Manager Starts and configures accessibility tools from one window Manual LocalSystem
Windows Installer Installs, repairs and removes software according to instructions contained in .MSI files. Manual LocalSystem
Windows Management Instrumentation Provides system management information. Manual LocalSystem
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions Provides systems management information to and from drivers. Started Manual LocalSystem
Windows Time Sets the computer clock. Manual LocalSystem
Wireless Configuration Provides authenticated network access control using IEEE 802.1x for wired and wireless Ethernet networks. Manual LocalSystem
Workstation Provides network connections and communications. Manual LocalSystem

[scalelokt]

Originally Posted by matttm

Try this trick if you have 1GB+ RAM.

Go into:

My Computer - Properties

Select Advanced tab

Select Settings in Performance group

Select Advanced tab

Select System Cache in Memory Usage group

Select Ok and exit out. Reboot

This speed up the loading in Oblivion massively and NYGM 2.4 loads sweetly as well.

Matt

So just curious, should you only select system cache when playing games or can you leave it set there permanently? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

[Lightning61]

I personally wouldn't advise large system cache for a Windows system running games, since the cache for the system is resident in memory, and if the game tries to access those addresses you get the big crash.
I recently tested gaming on W2K server edition, (which has large system cache enabled by default), and with all the same tweaks I use in W2K Pro SH3 would not run well at all.
The main conflict was the sound card drivers trying to access memory already in use by the system cache.
This issue may be totally machine and/or sound card specific, but I don't feel it's worth the risk.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, this is just my opinion. :hmm:

[Zantham]

It's safe to leave it set to System Cache. System Cache will try to load programs that are running into memory and leave them there (even after you exit), so that the program runs more responsive. It is dynamic, meaning that as other programs require the memory XP will automatically shrink the cache so as to avoid memory conflicts. If you have poorly programmed drivers (in my experience SiS drivers cause the most problems) you can run into memory issues in which case you may not be able to use the System Cache. You will most notice the effects of System Cache if you run a program you have already used before, as long as you havent rebooted in the meantime. For example, you played SH3 for a while, exited the game to eat lunch, then went back in, it should load noticeably faster the 2nd time, especially if you have lots of RAM and havent run other programs in the meantime.

A program I use in troubleshooting many computers is Autoruns. It used to be by SysInternals which was bought out by Microsoft. It can display any startup program in pretty much all locations. It can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys.../autoruns.mspx
Also, here is a good reference for a whole lot of ways to maximise performance in XP.
http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx
Note that some of these are controvertial as to whether they really do much to help or not. Tweaking your system is mostly only useful to people with minimal system requirements. For example, when I first loaded Oblivion onto my laptop, my system achieved around 30fps in general. I had a ton of background stuff running (desktop enhancements, widgets, all kinds of junk, no antivirus tho). I then decided to tweak my XP, so I set up a dual-boot, shut off all unneeded services and startup items, applied most of the performance tweaks out there, etc etc and reloaded Oblivion. Guess what....I still only got about 30 fps walking the same test route as i had before in Oblivion using the same graphics settings as before.
So I tried the same thing on a friend's desktop...he could barely play the game on the lowest settings in Oblivion. So I optimized his system as I had mine, and reloaded the game....it turned out that the game ran a bit faster....except in parts where there was heavy graphics usage (ie: water, fog, lots of activity...), where it still slowed to a crawl.
So to make a really long story short.....how much performance you might gain by doing all these tweaks in this thread really depends a lot on your computer vs the requirements of the game. A computer that is min spec...is still going to be min spec no matter how you tweak the software

btw: sorry for the long post but this seems to be a fairly well-read topic with lots of good advice in it

edit for clarification

[scalelokt]

Excellent posts! Thanks everyone!