Windows Vista SP1 gaming performance - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 25th Mar 2008, 14:59

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2008/03..._performance/1

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was released to the public last week and as we will be moving all of our test systems to SP1 over time, we felt it was necessary to put the new Service Pack under the microscope. Today we look at gaming performance across a range of titles.

Digg if you love us

Kierax · 25th Mar 2008, 15:22

Interesting, I have just gone to 64bit SP1 Ultimate myself, and it seems amazing in Windows yet to load into Crysis and COD4.

Andune · 25th Mar 2008, 15:51

Nice article, i was waiting for someone to test the gaming performance of SP1, was hoping for a bigger performance gain though.
Are there any difference between 32 and 64bit?

TreeDude · 25th Mar 2008, 15:53

The biggest thing I noticed was file copying. My boot up and shutdown did decrease a bit too though. I still have a few minor issues in Vista though. Namely my official monitor drivers refuse to install and the security center tells me AVG is off when I boot up even though it is on when the message appears. It goes away within a few seconds though and then the security center sees it correctly. I also can't run the 64bit version of UT2k4. It crashes when I change to a higher resolution. And the built in DVD decoder will not play DVDs because it says a piece of my hardware is not compliant. It has to be the actual DVD drive because my monitor and video card support HTCP. I am using VLC for now. I tried a codec pack with a DVD decoder but it came up all garbled and now Vista thinks there is no DVD decoder there anymore.

Everything is pretty minor though. All in all I really like Vista. I just wish it had more to offer. Honestly all the useful features in Vista could have been added into XP. I just wish they hadn't scrapped the new file system, that would have made it worth it.

vaderag · 25th Mar 2008, 15:55

I'd love to actually get SP1 installed to see what the difference is for me, except every time i try i get error 80073712...
Seems a million other people are also getting this, except the trouble is, none of the solutions seem to work for me (or alot of other people for that matter)

Anyone know a way to fix this WITHOUT having to do a full re-install?!

Kurayamino · 25th Mar 2008, 16:00

SP1 Doesn't actually show in my windows update and I checked to see if it had been installed automatically yet it hasn't weird stuff!

plagio · 25th Mar 2008, 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurayamino

SP1 Doesn't actually show in my windows update and I checked to see if it had been installed automatically yet it hasn't weird stuff!

It doesn't show on mine either, but my vista is in Italian so I have to wait another month for the Italian SP localization to be complete.

Kierax · 25th Mar 2008, 16:55

I've found with Sp1 it's best to get the standalone and do a full reinstall. Just easier.

boe_d · 25th Mar 2008, 16:56

If articles like this want to be informative and helpful to the readers, they should include XP performance as well so readers know not to get Vista.

badders · 25th Mar 2008, 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by boe_d

If articles like this want to be informative and helpful to the readers, they should include XP performance as well so readers know not to get Vista.

Because that comment in itself was helpful and informative?

LeMaltor · 25th Mar 2008, 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by badders

Quote:

Originally Posted by boe_d

If articles like this want to be informative and helpful to the readers, they should include XP performance as well so readers know not to get Vista.

Because that comment in itself was helpful and informative?

I'm still finding XP performance is better than Vista.

Burnin' · 25th Mar 2008, 17:11

Hopefully they fixed the annoying Nvlddmkm error related to Nvida cards and the sound issues related to X-Fi cards

I would be nice to see a review based on a budget system (say 8800 GTS, Dual core 2Duo, 2gigs and Vista home Premium 32 bits) like the one I have.

Jonagon · 25th Mar 2008, 17:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by plagio

It doesn't show on mine either, but my vista is in Italian so I have to wait another month for the Italian SP localization to be complete.

It didn't show in mine either. But I think MS said that it wouldn't show up in some peoples windows update, so just download it seperatly.

wuyanxu · 25th Mar 2008, 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burnin'

Hopefully they fixed the annoying Nvlddmkm error related to Nvida cards and the sound issues related to X-Fi cards

I would be nice to see a review based on a budget system (say 8800 GTS, Dual core 2Duo, 2gigs and Vista home Premium 32 bits) like the one I have.

nope! i still had quite a few of those nvlddmkm.sys errors with 174.xx drivers on my 8800GTX........ it's nVidia who needs fixing. (well, i wasn't exactly using the right driver for the right card)

8800GTS is not budget, lol.
i'd say it's nice to see some top end performance figures for SP1, all those other are benchmarked using some crappy PentiumD or a laptop.

phuzz · 25th Mar 2008, 17:53

Move from my old machine running XP a few weeks ago to a brand new box with all new kit and Vista x64. Didn't notice much difference in performance between XP and Vista (but then I did upgrade the hardware - a lot), and I've not noticed any differences from installing SP1 last week either.

I was impressed that I could copy settings and applications over mearly by copying them from my old XP program files directory straight into vista with no problems. In fact, apart from the fact I can't get it to Sleep properly, I've had no problems with Vista yet, what y'all moaning about?

(frantically touches all wood within range)

neonplanet40 · 25th Mar 2008, 18:02

So basically xp is still the gamers choice hense why all my machines are running it. Cant wait for service pack 3 tbh for xp

Tim S · 25th Mar 2008, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by boe_d

If articles like this want to be informative and helpful to the readers, they should include XP performance as well so readers know not to get Vista.

Hello and welcome to the forums - thanks for signing up to comment on this article. We appreciate all feedback--both good and bad.

However, the problem with your statement is that, based on my own personal experiences, the only viable way to run an x86-64 operating system is Windows Vista. Having used XP-x64 myself for a long period of time on my home machine, the move to Vista 64 was a massive step forwards for compatibility and driver support. Of course, Vista 64 driver support is by no means perfect, but it is a damn sight better than XP-x64 ever was/ever will be.

Tim

TreeDude · 25th Mar 2008, 18:24

I tried XP-x64 a while back. I was still in collage at the time and had a Lexmark printer. I used it a lot so I could not go with out it. Needless to say no x64 drivers and I could not get any generic drivers to work properly. Nor did I have the cash for a new one. So I went back to x86. That was over 2 years ago though.

Bindibadgi · 25th Mar 2008, 18:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeMaltor

I'm still finding XP performance is better than Vista.

It is and it's been well documented as easily twice as fast

If you already know Vista is slower then you can easily extrapolate how much faster/slower SP1 is.

MrMonroe · 25th Mar 2008, 18:53

Always I am confused as to how reviewers sometimes get such disparate results from my experience. The test setup you guys used has 2gigs more ram, the same CPU but 600mhz faster than mine runs, a better mobo and a 9800GX2 instead of my 8800GT, and I get framerates in CoD4 that are only a tiny bit worse than what you get here. (I play at 1920x1200 with AA and AF maxed) I usually see 60FPS on most servers, sometimes as high as 85-90 and sometimes as low as 50-55. Was this just done testing SP possibly?

25th Mar 2008, 14:59	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Windows Vista SP1 gaming performance http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2008/03..._performance/1 Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was released to the public last week and as we will be moving all of our test systems to SP1 over time, we felt it was necessary to put the new Service Pack under the microscope. Today we look at gaming performance across a range of titles. Digg if you love us __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947) Last edited by CardJoe; 25th Mar 2008 at 15:28.

25th Mar 2008, 15:22	#2
Kierax That Demo is a bloody SPY! Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	Interesting, I have just gone to 64bit SP1 Ultimate myself, and it seems amazing in Windows yet to load into Crysis and COD4. __________________ due to death in the family i shall be back soon.

25th Mar 2008, 16:00	#6
Kurayamino As long as the Raven flies Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 537	SP1 Doesn't actually show in my windows update and I checked to see if it had been installed automatically yet it hasn't weird stuff! __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6700, Abit AW9D-MAX Intel 975X, GeIL 4GB PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency, BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2, Western Digital Raptor 150GB, Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music, Corsair HX 620W, CoolerMaster Stacker 830, 24" Dell 2407 Flat Panel, Logitech G11 Keyboard, Logitech G5 Mouse

25th Mar 2008, 16:55	#8
Kierax That Demo is a bloody SPY! Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	I've found with Sp1 it's best to get the standalone and do a full reinstall. Just easier. __________________ due to death in the family i shall be back soon.

25th Mar 2008, 18:02	#16
neonplanet40 Supermodder Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: UK Posts: 339	So basically xp is still the gamers choice hense why all my machines are running it. Cant wait for service pack 3 tbh for xp __________________ Home Entertainment =Sony Bravia 40V3000, Onkyo 605, Playstation 3 and Acoustic Energy EVO NEO 5.1 Speakers My System=Asus P5K Premium, Pentium Core 2 Quad @ 3200Mhz (everyday use), 4GB OCZ Goldlines, 74GB Rapter and 320GB WD, XFX 8800GTS Overclocked, Enermex Liberty 620W, Auzentech Prelude 7.1, Akasa Eclipse-32,Samsung 22" Widescreen LCD

25th Mar 2008, 15:51	#3
Andune Minimodder Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 29	Nice article, i was waiting for someone to test the gaming performance of SP1, was hoping for a bigger performance gain though. Are there any difference between 32 and 64bit?

25th Mar 2008, 15:53	#4
TreeDude Multimodder Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 239	The biggest thing I noticed was file copying. My boot up and shutdown did decrease a bit too though. I still have a few minor issues in Vista though. Namely my official monitor drivers refuse to install and the security center tells me AVG is off when I boot up even though it is on when the message appears. It goes away within a few seconds though and then the security center sees it correctly. I also can't run the 64bit version of UT2k4. It crashes when I change to a higher resolution. And the built in DVD decoder will not play DVDs because it says a piece of my hardware is not compliant. It has to be the actual DVD drive because my monitor and video card support HTCP. I am using VLC for now. I tried a codec pack with a DVD decoder but it came up all garbled and now Vista thinks there is no DVD decoder there anymore. Everything is pretty minor though. All in all I really like Vista. I just wish it had more to offer. Honestly all the useful features in Vista could have been added into XP. I just wish they hadn't scrapped the new file system, that would have made it worth it.

25th Mar 2008, 15:55	#5
vaderag I know what a Dremel is... Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 175	I'd love to actually get SP1 installed to see what the difference is for me, except every time i try i get error 80073712... Seems a million other people are also getting this, except the trouble is, none of the solutions seem to work for me (or alot of other people for that matter) Anyone know a way to fix this WITHOUT having to do a full re-install?!

25th Mar 2008, 16:56	#9
boe_d What's a Dremel? Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5	If articles like this want to be informative and helpful to the readers, they should include XP performance as well so readers know not to get Vista.

25th Mar 2008, 17:11	#12
Burnin' FPS gamer Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Costa Rica Posts: 40	Hopefully they fixed the annoying Nvlddmkm error related to Nvida cards and the sound issues related to X-Fi cards I would be nice to see a review based on a budget system (say 8800 GTS, Dual core 2Duo, 2gigs and Vista home Premium 32 bits) like the one I have.

25th Mar 2008, 17:53	#15
phuzz Hypermodder Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bristol, UK Posts: 955	Move from my old machine running XP a few weeks ago to a brand new box with all new kit and Vista x64. Didn't notice much difference in performance between XP and Vista (but then I did upgrade the hardware - a lot), and I've not noticed any differences from installing SP1 last week either. I was impressed that I could copy settings and applications over mearly by copying them from my old XP program files directory straight into vista with no problems. In fact, apart from the fact I can't get it to Sleep properly, I've had no problems with Vista yet, what y'all moaning about? (frantically touches all wood within range)

25th Mar 2008, 18:24	#18
TreeDude Multimodder Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 239	I tried XP-x64 a while back. I was still in collage at the time and had a Lexmark printer. I used it a lot so I could not go with out it. Needless to say no x64 drivers and I could not get any generic drivers to work properly. Nor did I have the cash for a new one. So I went back to x86. That was over 2 years ago though.

25th Mar 2008, 18:53	#20
MrMonroe Multimodder Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 195	Always I am confused as to how reviewers sometimes get such disparate results from my experience. The test setup you guys used has 2gigs more ram, the same CPU but 600mhz faster than mine runs, a better mobo and a 9800GX2 instead of my 8800GT, and I get framerates in CoD4 that are only a tiny bit worse than what you get here. (I play at 1920x1200 with AA and AF maxed) I usually see 60FPS on most servers, sometimes as high as 85-90 and sometimes as low as 50-55. Was this just done testing SP possibly?