I upgraded my computer, and was it ever worth it

[ROC]

So, upon ending my brief break, I bought my new joystick, and then it was time, long past time to replace my primary computer.
So now I'm horsing around on a 6th generation i7,  GTX 960, 32gb ram, solid state hard drive.  Not the most powerful system, but  it's screaming.
Not sure how accurate this measurement is but my old system had the Windows Experience Index at 5.9 with the scale being 1.0 to 7.9, this new system is 7.8 base score with all but the Processor at the full 7.9.  Processor was the low score at 7.8.
Haven't gone into great detail with the card settings yet but I've never seen AH3, or even AH2 look this fantastic with everything cranked up to max.  No stutter, no choppiness, smooth and seamless flights. 

[JimmyC]

sounds awesome... fyi SSD might not be best for beta..
there was a post by skuzzy..
just saying so your new pc is all cool..
maybe stick a hd in for programs..
I aint no pc guru..someone please step forward..
I got a similar set up..BETA ROCKS

[ROC]

Good to know, It's also got a 2tb regular hard drive, so if I have issues I can install over there.  Thanks!

[JimmyC]

Skuzzys quote...
The only thing an SSD gets you is potentially faster load times, which is a small percentage of what your computer is doing.  I would NOT load AH3 on an SSD.


Use HD

[Pudgie]

So, upon ending my brief break, I bought my new joystick, and then it was time, long past time to replace my primary computer.
So now I'm horsing around on a 6th generation i7,  GTX 960, 32gb ram, solid state hard drive.  Not the most powerful system, but  it's screaming.
Not sure how accurate this measurement is but my old system had the Windows Experience Index at 5.9 with the scale being 1.0 to 7.9, this new system is 7.8 base score with all but the Processor at the full 7.9.  Processor was the low score at 7.8.
Haven't gone into great detail with the card settings yet but I've never seen AH3, or even AH2 look this fantastic with everything cranked up to max.  No stutter, no choppiness, smooth and seamless flights. 

Good for you, ROC and welcome back!

 

[mako04]

I have a new computer with a SSD and have updated the last couple of BETA versions with no problems. Maybe they fixed the issue?

[Skuzzy]

It is nothing we can fix. It is an inherent issue with how SSD's cannot update files.  Once data is written it cannot be directly altered.  It is a very clumsy thing the SSD's go through, when a file needs to be updated.

They actually have to make a copy of the original file into a RAM disk (yes, they take a chunk of your system RAM away for that), then when the file is updated, they copy the file to a temp name on the SSD, then remove the original file, then rename the temp file.  During this convoluted process, the file is locked which means no further updates can be done until it is complete.

So for each block of data changed in a file it has to go through this dance.  For any given file, a patch can do this hundreds of times.  There are firmware issues with some SSD's which cause the errors to happen.  There is also a timeout issue which can cause problems when patching large files.  None of this is in our control.

Well, actually, we can fix it and do what most other games do.  Not patch at all, just ship the entire file that needs to be updated.  It would make patches huge.  Matter of fact, in many patch cases, it would be the complete game.  So instead of a 100K patch, it would be 1.9GB.

[ROC]

Is this why in games like World of Warcraft, and Star Wars The Old Republic, they have dedicated patch days and it can be a rather large update?

[Skuzzy]

I could not tell you why other games do what they do.

For Aces High, there simply is no reason to load it on an SSD.  The only thing it will save is the initial load time of the game.  That is all.

[TequilaChaser]

It is nothing we can fix. It is an inherent issue with how SSD's cannot update files.  Once data is written it cannot be directly altered.  It is a very clumsy thing the SSD's go through, when a file needs to be updated.

They actually have to make a copy of the original file into a RAM disk (yes, they take a chunk of your system RAM away for that), then when the file is updated, they copy the file to a temp name on the SSD, then remove the original file, then rename the temp file.  During this convoluted process, the file is locked which means no further updates can be done until it is complete.

So for each block of data changed in a file it has to go through this dance.  For any given file, a patch can do this hundreds of times.  There are firmware issues with some SSD's which cause the errors to happen.  There is also a timeout issue which can cause problems when patching large files.  None of this is in our control.

Well, actually, we can fix it and do what most other games do.  Not patch at all, just ship the entire file that needs to be updated.  It would make patches huge.  Matter of fact, in many patch cases, it would be the complete game.  So instead of a 100K patch, it would be 1.9GB.

Thanks for posting this skuzzy!

although I have 2 systems , 1 AMD with AH2 on an SSD for just over 5 years now, no issues yet ( thank goodness)...and my Intel system is pushing the 5 yr old mark, this coming august....

both SSD's have run nearly flawless ( the Crucial m4 128GB in my intel system, did need a firmware update, to fix a timeout issue back in like 2012......but they are maintaining 98 to 100% optimum ability.... I do understand the reasons and all, why it's not good to put AH on the SSD because of all the massive writes....

thanks again...

TC

[ROC]

Hmm, well checking the system specs, it looks like both hard drives are SSD so, not sure how it's going to go in the future but working just fine now.