Ooof...Win 7 Gaming hit

[krazynutz]

I used my laptop to test Windows 7 because I didn't want to mess with my work/play desktop. That said, I've tried 3 different nvidia drivers for my 8600M GT in my lappy and have been horribly disappointed in at least my first of gaming benches. Granted, I'm using Aquamark3, but it's the fastest bench out there (<2min) and it shows the most performance gains from both CPU and GPU. Here are my scores under different OS's (rounded to nearest thousand):

XP: 91,000
Vista: 87,000
Win 7: 74,000 (ouch!)

Granted, I know everything's beta right now (or using vista drivers on win 7) but I'm not sure how people are claiming gaming performance gains over vista.

Anything I'm missing?

 

[50bmg]

My ATI system took a hit with the ATI beta drivers, but run better with ATI 8.11 vista 64 bit drivers.

 

[krazynutz]

Yeah it doesn't seem to matter what driver I use. 74K is my ceiling. Bummer.

 

[knotknut]

Have you used tried the beta driver from windows update?

 

[krazynutz]

It doesn't come up for me as an option - not even in the optional updates section. I think it's because it's a laptop maybe?

 

[knotknut]

Run update again.

 

[randomizer]

Aquamark is a depricated old program that isn't even multithreaded in the slightest. Play some GAMES and then compare!

 

[krazynutz]

Okay, after I installed yet another driver, the beta driver finally came up in my updates and.....it didn't make a difference. STILL topping out at 74K vs 87K in Vista.

As far as aquamark goes, it doesn't matter if it's old - especially if I'm using the same hardware between the three OS's (read my first post). Though it may not be multithreaded, it still gets a boost from dual and quad core chips because my score went up in my desktop when I went from a dual core to a quad.

Has anyone else run, say 3dMark 05 or 06 on Vista/XP and then on Win7? Scores?

 

[knotknut]

Download GPU-Z. Save to desktop. Double-Click GPU-Z icon.
What is the driver?

How does your game play? Who really cares about the benchmark if the game is good?

 

[krazynutz]

Don't need GPU-z. You can see the driver under the nvidia control panel. I've tried various 18x.xx drivers for Vista as well as the WDDM 1.1 beta driver (179.23). They all give me the same score, essentially.

 

[knotknut]

Wait......You can't keep installing drivers without removing the old ones
C O M P L E T L Y.
Start>Control Panel>add&remove programs.
Remove old drivers (unused or undesireable)
Run Driver Cleaner. http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745
Install new driver.

or whatever driver cleaner program you have

 

[krazynutz]

Thank you. I know that. I use Guru3D's driver sweeper already. Unfortunately, there's no way to stop Win7 from automatically installing nvidia drivers on bootup. How do you stop that?

 

[knotknut]

185.20?

 

[krazynutz]

Yep. Tried it. Actually tried it first. Downloaded from Laptopvideo2go.com

 

[knotknut]

There is only one option left.


http://www.gallaghersmash.com/fans/032.jpg


Sorry, humor always hakes things better.

 

[krazynutz]

HA HA....Awesome. Thanks!

I'm not sweating it too much. I don't use my laptop for gaming. I was just a little disappointed in the performance. I might try reinstalling it. When I initially installed 7, NOTHING came up on my desktop. I had to log off and back on for anything to show up. So maybe something got fowled up in the first place. We'll see. If I can achieve better scores, I'll keep ya posted!

 

[randomizer]

Though it may not be multithreaded, it still gets a boost from dual and quad core chips because my score went up in my desktop when I went from a dual core to a quad.

Did you go from a 1066FSB to 1333FSB chip? Aquamark loves high FSBs. Regardless, you should try something different, Aquamark works best on older OSs, especially XP. Run something like 3DMark 06, or better yet, something that is meaningful.

 

[krazynutz]

Nope. Same mobo. Different CPU's. Anyway, I'm just baffled how the score went down from Vista! Again, this is on my laptop. I'll ghost my win7 install, reinstall vista, and see what happens. And I'll do a 3dmark test as well. Thanks!

 

[randomizer]

Yes, but some CPUs use a 1066MHz FSB, and some a 1333MHz FSB on the same mobo (provided it has support for the higher speed).

I'm willing to bet it's drivers causing at least some of the problem. But as I said earlier, and just like 3DMark 2001 SE, Aquamark works better on older OSs. Compare the same machine running XP and Vista in 3DMark 2001 and you'll see a huge difference. That doesn't mean Vista will be 30% slower in games, it's just that benchmark. Benchmarks can give an indication of relative gaming performance differences, but only the games themselves will tell the full story.

 

[krazynutz]

I hear ya. Let ya know on my comparisons.

BTW: P5BDeluxe = 1066 board

 

[krazynutz]

UPDATE!

Okay. It seems my fears were for nothing. I can see it all clearly now. It appears that Vista SP1 and the way Win7 are written, it abandons "old" programs, such as Aquamark. After running 3dmark06 in Vista SP1 and Win7, I feel better.

I found a review of the Dell Inspiron 1520 from back when it came out. It posted Aquamark scores as well as 3dmark06 scores - pre-SP1. The reviewer's Aquamark score reflected my original scores I had with Aqumark when I bought my Inspy 1520. But Vista SP1 and Win7 must do something wacky. Ah well...

My scores:
Aquamark3: 74K
3dmark06: 3422

Review scores (pre SP1):
Aquamark3: 87K
3dmark06: 3284

So it must be in the programming of the newer OS's that causes such a drop in an old bench like Aquamark.

So there ya go. False alarm! Weird

 

[charles48864]

Make sure you update directx 9c

 

[krazynutz]

I didn't even think that could be a problem. I figured Win7 would have installed all versions of DirectX. Wouldn't it have to?

 

[Scotteq]

DirectX 9C does not run on Vista or 7. That's XP's version.

 

[charles48864]

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en#Requirements



That is not true. 9c will run on vista and most games only support 9c.