multi core rendering

[The Fugitive]

How many processes do you have running when you are clean? Skuzzy always says 0%-1% is all you should see for the CPU usage on a clean system. If you have more something is robbing your CPU cycles and that will cause the lower FR and stutters in the game.

[badace]

   Got my cpu usage to 1-2 percent, page only down to 1283 though. The only things using my processor at idle are dwm.exe (desktop windows manager) which has always run in the background, and unsecapp.exe which is a normal windows program.  I have 69 processes running. That's how many there were before i ever had a problem.... I know it seems weird to remember how many processes I Had running but i do...

[The Fugitive]

69 is wayyyyy to high and I would remember that number as well

I consider my system in need of a cleaning and have 44 running. Thats why your page file is so big, to make room for all those processes. Vista is ca-ca, but even so you should be able to get it down into 30s with out much trouble. The more processes you have running to more things that can call on your CPU. You may have been running on the edge of an issue for a while, but the upgrade to the game may have just pushed it over the edge. Cleaning up the processes will most likely get you back on the other side of that edge.

[1701E]

Also the amount of processes running is kind of a personal thing.  A guide to Computer A won't work on Computer B; Due to a persons needs and configuration.  I run about 39 and that's with things open other people may not need/want such as, Logitech Keyboard/Mouse settings, Logitech Gaming Software, EVGA OCing/OSD software, and AV (never turn mine off even if gaming).

Obviously something is running that shouldn't be in this case, but just because someone says turn it off, don't take that as a Fact.  Test things for yourself.
If you can't find something that is out of the ordinary try posting a picture of what is running (Print Screen of the Task Manager), maybe someone will notice something.

[TequilaChaser]

here is a reference for you, although I know windows 7 64 bit & your Vista are 2 different OS's

my fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate with the task manager running & MS IE open is showing just 39 processes running, the only program I have installed outside of Win 7 and the MB drivers, video/sound drivers... is Aces High and AH High Res Pkg

I have yet to start any tweaking of the processes or services

69 processes seem a tad high to me also even if you have certain priority's of needing certain software/programs

as for the page file used size, I think if you get to around 900 to 1,000mb used you should be in the neighborhood of a decent range........  for WinXP you should be under 200MB for Vista/Win7 one should be 1,000mb or under preferably

in regards to your PSU , don't look at total wattage if your PSU is configured with multiple 12V rails.......... look at what each individual 12V rail actually can put out..... then only use 80% or 75% of what that total max number is to see where you really are....... ( someone correct me please if I am wrong about this )

hope this helps

TC

[badace]

   PSU says +12v 1  and +12v 2  combined output 408 watts.... is that bad? Got it down to 50 processes... maybe helped cant really tell. Here is the task manager, fit almost everything lol....

[gyrene81]

there are a good number of services you can either shutdown and disable permanently or shutdown and set to manual start...i'd start with the aero graphics, the widget manager, task scheduler, superfetch and windows update, then work your way through the list...there are several very good resources that can tell you what services are safe to shutdown in vista, some even have descriptions of what each service does...you should be able to get below 50 processes on a fresh boot fairly easily.

i had to hack the registry to get rid of some program autostart files, like punkbuster, acrotray, acrobat reader quickstart, etc...after a reboot and shutting down my anti-virus i have around 35 processes running before opening ah...tried to get it under 30 but,    it got ugly.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-aero-on-windows-vista/

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/how-to-disable-superfetch-on-windows-vista/


this is the list i started with, part of skuzzy's recommendations:

Base Filtering Engine
Certificate Propagation
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fax
Internet Connection Sharing (only safe if you are not sharing your Internet connection on your local computer)
IP Helper
Messenger Sharing Folders USN Journal Reader Service
Net.tcp Port Sharing Service
Offline Files
Parental Controls
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Server
SSDP Discovery
Telephony
Tablet PC Input Service
Themes (this is a huge resource hog)
UpnP Device Host
Windows Error Reporting Service
Windows Media Center Extender Service
Windows Media Center Receiver Service
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service
Windows Media Center Service Launcher
Windows Remote Management
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service (this is a nasty one. It causes all manner of pauses and stutters and will spontaneously reappear even when it is stopped)


optional:

Windows Defender (also be sure to disable it from starting in the Start->Run->msconfig startup tab)



this stuff can be set to "manual start"...that way they are still available to the system when needed:

Application Experience
Application Information
Application Layer Gateway Service
Application Management
Block Level Backup Engine Service
CNG Key Isolation
COM+ System Application
DFS Replication
Diagnostic Service Host
Diagnostic System Host
Distributed Transaction Coordinator
Extensible Authentication Protocol
Function Discovery Provider Host
IPSec Policy Agent
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN V2.0.50727_X86
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service
Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider
Peer Name Resolution Protocol
Peer Networking Grouping
Peer Networking Identity Manager
Performance Logs and Alerts
PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator
PNRP Machine Name Publication Service
Portable Device Enumerator Service
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support
Protected Storage
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience
Remote Access Auto-Connection Manager
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
SL UI Notification Service
Smart Card
Smart Card Removal Policy
SNMP Trap
Terminal Services Configuration
Terminal Services UserMode Port Redirector
Thread Ordering Server
TPM Base Services
Virtual Disk
Volume Shadow Copy
Windows Backup
Windows Cardspace
Windows Color System
Windows Connect Now – Config Registrar
Windows Driver Foundation – User-mode Driver Framework
Windows Event Collector
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Windows Module Installer
Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0
Wired AutoConfig
WLAN AutoConfig

[badace]

     I appreciate all the help but nothing seems to work... Its not so much how many people are around it seems to snag and shutter when graphics are rendering on the screen... or there is smoke on a field or ack firing.... I really dont think its my processor bottlenecking. Even games like css are shuttering... Plus i wasnt having a problem till I had to change graphics cards.... Maybe my 4870 wasnt dying maybe its my psu..... or maybe not. IDK what to do, but again thank you all for your help.

[badace]

        OK, heres an update. I did some research and found that my amd phenom 9850 2.5 ghz quad core IS NOT very good.... That being said i guess that 6770 just wasnt picking up the slack like the 4870 did (guess its time for a new cpu, ugh). I compared them online and the 6770 is def not close in performance to a 4870. SO, I returned the 6770 and got a 6850 for 40 more dollars which is slightly faster than the 4870 was and uses 23w less power. I am very happy to report that I can fly near a base now with 60 fps again!!!! Haven't had the chance to test around a mass of player yet but i have set my setting back to normal and every things good....except for a couple things. Like the clipboard map still drops my frames by 20 (which isnt a big deal, dont fight with clipboard open) and some strange graphics like some smoke over a hanger will flash randomly (not for all smoke) but i figure these small things might be ironed out in AH updates and driver updates in the future beings this chip is kinda new. Either way im very happy to have my system back to normal. I want to thank everyone who posted for taking the time to help, it was very much appreciated. <S> BAd

[badace]

    I would now like to disclose some very embarrassing facts... I have now found out why I have had this problem and have fully corrected it. In windows vista power settings there is a inconspicuous option called power saver. This option when clicked on shows monitor sleep settings and computer sleep settings. I casually selected power saver months ago. Today when I installed the 6850 I was happy with the increased performance but still baffled by the frame rate drop in some areas. As I looked in the amd overdrive section of catalyst control center I noticed the CPU power settings. Noticed the selected power setting to be power saver and the minimum and maximum sliders where at 1300mhz. The gears started turning...

I went to the vista power settings menu and opened the advanced power settings menu and scrolled to processor power settings... minimum was 5% aaaaaaaaaaand the maximum was 50% ... Yeah  . SO, I have now set the maximum back to 100% and the AMD overdrive now shows 2500mhz... I WAS VIRTUALLY USING A 1.3GHZ CPU.

Now back to 2.5ghz and Have solid fps no matter what. No more clipboard map problems, no more problems of any kind. Though i guess I didn't need the 6850 I'm glad i got it, it is sweeeeet! So once again thank you for your help and please be gentle, I am an idiot  . Though I hope this could be helpful to anyone as clueless as i am! That is unless i missed it in skuzzy's vista tips and in that case I have proven my self even more silly than previously thought.


                                                                                                                                                            BAd

[Krusty]

Vista never was very good with power settings apparently. I have all power saving schemes disabled on my desktops.

As for the 4670 vs the 6770, I just wanted to point out that the newer card has certain features more advanced (the GPU has newer design, it may support eyefinity, etc) however the actual performance specs show the 4870 as having more raw power. It has 30% more memory bandwidth

Memory bandwidth, GFLOPS (Gpu cycles), depending on what model you have the processor units and texture units, the 4870 comes out on top. Especially when the 6770 has 128-bit memory and the 4870 has 256-bit memory. The 6770 is faster in frequency and more modern, but the old 4870 is still more powerful. In some cases it's close enough to consider them equal, but in memory bandwidth the performance lead is significant.

Just a side-note to an already-resolved issue.