Couple of questions regarding Windows Vista and virtual swap files...

[Grocs]

Hey all,

I've been reading on the forums that 64 bit Vista is the way to go - I'm still running 32bit Vista and I have 4gb of RAM - what I'd like to try and make a little more efficient is the Virtual Swap file side of things.

I've currently got it to system managed on a 2nd physical drive (120gb sata) - could someone please tell me the recommendations for what sort of swap file I should be using with FSX and FTX.

I've also got a Q6600 Quad core which atm is running 9x333fsb - would it be better to run this at 8x400fsb?  At the moment it is running at about 3ghz, setting it to 8x400fsb brings it up to 3.2ghz.  Using 3dmark 06 it shows an improvement but I don't want to rely on benchmarks too much - would rather peoples recommendations.

Cheers.

Grocs.

[Grocs]

Sorry I forgot to ask another question regarding Vista - is Vista 64bit going to help with FSX / FTX?  Is it worth getting?

[Heiko Glatthorn]

Hi Grocs, i am running 64 bit Ultimate and i am very satisfied. No more OOM errors or what ever. The system is rock stable. With Vista you use Ready Boost devices (i got a 4GB stick), which is much faster with swapping then a HDD. However, when you have 4 GB RAM, it won't swap much anyways.

[tennyson]

I think the reason I swapped to Vista 64 but was the fact that it will recognize all of my RAM (8gb) whereas it only recognises 2 1/2gb in 32 bit.

I must say though, since reinstalling my 500gb drive to 64 bit, I have had no dramas with the operating system or any ancillary services.

Nhancer is a must and I defrag regularly with O&O 64 bit. I also use alacrity (as advised somewhere here on the forum but I have tweaked it too much and am having probs with it with certain payware, so at the moment I am not running it until I have time to srt the problem.

Hope this helps. mate,

Frank

[Butch]

Hey Grocs,

Mate, 32bit XP or Vista cannot address 4gigs of ram, if I remember right the maximum is ~3 or so gigs. It's a little complicated to explain but only 64bit OS's can address 4gigs and much, much more system ram. (into the terrabytes)

That's one of the main reason/s we went from 16bit (win95) to XP (32bit) to XP & Vista 64bit. Assuming you are running a 64bit native app it's also faster (marginally) as in each clock cycle you are moving 64bits for data as oppose to 32bits.

Cheers

Butch

[Grocs]

Wow - didn't know that about the RAM - so I'm not even using the full 4gb in 32bit Vista.

I haven't used Nhancer before - might have to have a look at that - and I have used O&O defrag before but not lately so might have to get the latest version of that too.

The problem of course is that I have to buy a whole new OS - I think it is a bit rich they want to charge you all over again just for going from 32bit to 64bit - still it may be the best way to go.

Cheers all for the advice.

[Grocs]

Thought I'd just add this for anyone who wants to know - doing a fair bit of research confirms what Butch was saying - only around 3gb of RAM can be used under a 32bit OS

This from a Microsoft Tech Forum...

"All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP) have a 4GB address space.

That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.

But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you

have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.

That's because some of that space is used by hardware and not

available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can

use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but is

usually around 3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual

RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no

address space to map it too.

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Please Reply to the Newsgroup "

So it looks like I'll be investing a few more $$$ in 64bit Vista...

[tennyson]

Buy it OEM if you can. You will save a bundle.

Frank

[Grocs]

Yeah buying it OEM won't be a problem - I'm going to go with a the Home Premium for about $140 (supports 16gb) - one thing I was reading is that the different versions of Vista support different amount of ram

Home Basic 64 bit - 8 Gb RAM

Home Premium 64 bit - 16 Gb RAM

Ultimate - 128 Gb RAM

Interesting - my mb only supports 8 but I wouldn't mind Media Center - hence the reason I'm going Home Premium.

[Matthew Webb]

Media Centre is great.   I bought a remote not long ago and am really enjoying it.  I also enjoy Windows Movie Maker (for chopping up your recordings) and Windows DVD maker (put those chops into a DVD).

Cheers,

Matt.

[Butch]

I haven't used Nhancer before - might have to have a look at that - and I have used O&O defrag before but not lately so might have to get the latest version of that too.

Hey Grocs,

There is a nice defrag util that I found, its called Disktrix. The great thing about it is you can choose to place individual files or apps on the fastest parts of your HD (which is the outer part of the physical disk) and then tell Disktrix not to move it. You can then 'layer' your apps (concentric circles) in order of preference on the succeeding slower parts of your HD.

I haven't bought it yet but I think I will...

You can find the Disktrix here: http://www.disktrix.com/

I have tried Nhancer, nice app. Its great for screen shot junkies because you can up the setting to beyond those available in FSX to get that perfect 'Quad Winning' shot. 

Cheers,

Butch

[NZ255]

But will more RAM really make FSX run faster/smoother? I mean theoretically it should but has anyone done any comparisons?

[skypilot]

I have win vista as a media centre and think it is a dog! the front panel display does not function properly -  the panel drivers causes a service to stop working and does not correctly display information; there is problems coming out sleep with the video - I would get either a black screen or a blue (not a BSOD) no signal screen on the TV; host service stops working; the extended IR receivers supplied with the machine do not work; the DVD player is locked to region 4 - we have bought many overseas DVDs; I get other pop-ups of  other services that have stopped working as well - I regret purchasing this large brand name media centre PC with win VISTA.

IMHO I would go for Linux Media centre or MYTHBUNTU for a media centre but you have to be careful of hardware compatibility. Or then again a even better choice maybe to get a PVR?

[Grocs]

Yeah I won't be getting Vista 64bit Home Premium specifically for media centre - more the fact it supports 16Gb of RAM (Home Basic only supports 8Gb).

I have an xbox 360 and I generally just use the direct video / music / photos method rather than Media Center.