Windows 7 beta + ATi GPU improvements

[birchyboy]

Hi,

I am trying out Win7 beta and I have an ATi HD2600, P4 quad core 2.4 GHz, 2Mb RAM system (not overclocked).

Running TR Underworld with XP and exactly the same hardware (latest ATi Catalyst drivers), using Anti-Aliasing is pretty much a waste of time (I assume HD4800 series needed).

She runs like it was through glue on 2x AA, and 8xAA is unplayable.

With W7 and ATi 64-bit latest drivers, I can run it on 8x AA and it's still reasonably playable, with exactly the same hardware. No doubt those more skilled in hardware matters will be able to tell me why (presumably 64- bit helps), but I thought anyone with lower spec GPUs might like to try Win7 & see if they get the same improvements ....

:)

bb

[pleomax]

I'm using vista (which is slower than xp) is win 7 quicker ?

Haven't tried it yet, but the fact that it's a beta probably means you can expect problems trying to run other stuff !!

[Madenice]

I'm using vista (which is slower than xp) is win 7 quicker ?

Haven't tried it yet, but the fact that it's a beta probably means you can expect problems trying to run other stuff !!

It's quicker than Vista ;) I think it's as fast as XP.
It doesn't take so much memory like Vista. It's a great improvement.
It is more stable than Vista :)

[jaycw2309]

From what i've seen of it Windows 7 has been very stable and very compliant with things i've tried on it.

Altho when i loaded up just now it came up with this on my screen http://www.catagar.com/treasure/Note-0s1.png

[birchyboy]

I'm using vista (which is slower than xp) is win 7 quicker ?

Haven't tried it yet, but the fact that it's a beta probably means you can expect problems trying to run other stuff !!

Win 7 is built on Visa, but has a lot of deep changes. You can see a discussion on them with Mark Russinovich on Microsoft Technet (http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Going+Deep/Mark-Russinovich-Inside-Windows-7/)

Win 7 beta installed flawlessly on my PC (Linux, XP, Solaris and now W7). Unlike Vista, it detected and installed all my hardware. Unlike Vista, the networking is a treat and Homegroups or Workgroups are really easy to set up.

However, avoid Internet Explorer 8 like the plague. So buggy it's silly. I started this reply using IE8 and after it 'stopped responding' for the third time, I went back to Firefox.

I tried overclocking the PC by 25% and unlike XP or Vista, W7 handles it pretty well. Tomb Raider Underground runs, well, nearly properly. The graphics card locked up occasionally after a cinematic, so it's back to the standard clock, but that's OK.

Sadly, if you don't have W7 beta now, you won't get it for a while. No more evaluation copies are available, but the public release version (probably August) will be worth the upgrade from Vista, I think :thumb:

[Dragonranger]

I just installed the beta and had a go with TRU. The game would run fine if it wasn't for the stuttering caused by the 6/7 series problem. The beta is very stable and has even shown a very slight improvement in the stuttering. The actual game runs fine normal frame rate etc. I think they might actually have finally got it right with W7. I'm going to go test some other games though as TRU still unfortunately does not work!

[birchyboy]

I just installed the beta and had a go with TRU. The game would run fine if it wasn't for the stuttering caused by the 6/7 series problem. The beta is very stable and has even shown a very slight improvement in the stuttering. The actual game runs fine normal frame rate etc. I think they might actually have finally got it right with W7. I'm going to go test some other games though as TRU still unfortunately does not work!

Dragonranger, thanks for the confirmation that the video play is OK.

I take it that you have a Geforce 6 or 7 series video card - I know some users have said that there is a conflict with their audio card that causes screen problems. Some reported that swapping the card to another slot avoided BIOS conflicts & it ran OK, others said that the latest drivers had sorted out the problem. Trouble is the symptoms may have different causes :scratch:

It would be interesting if you post your W7 results running other games ....

[birchyboy]

Just an update for anyone with this card or similar.

I tried all the combinations of Settings in the Catalyst Control Centre 3D options. Here's what I found best in TRUg with my hardware (P4 quad core 2.4 Ghz, 2Gb RAM, ATi Radeon HD2600 Pro
*Smoothvision AA - Use application settings;
*Adaptive AA - enable;
*Anisotropic Filtering - Use application settings;
*Catalyst AI - disable, although it does work with - enable;
*Mipmap detail level - Performance;

Finally 'Enable ATi Overdrive' - enabled; GPU clock 650 (of 660 max), Memory clock 530 (of 550 max)
:whistle: