The Ultimate guide to speeding up win 7 on low/mid range systems ready for TOR!

[renegadeimp]

Hi I would appreciate if you give us then a better one. In that one I found some of the problems with some of my game like whic my cpu or gpu or os are capable to play or if there is conflicts anyway all it does is compare your system with the required or minimum specs for a game. So really if there is a better page please advice, thanks.

 

There are no sites that do a good job of checking your system. It doesn't work like that with computers. You need to take into account hardware configuration, age of hardware, drivers, overclocking, os, software on the system etc. No website covers it.

[bloodygustav]

thank you so much!

[Trollzs]

Ever since I followed these tips, my built in camera will not turn on. It is always grey where my video should be. I believe I turned it off but I cannot for the life of me find out how to fix it. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad. Edited January 24, 2012 by Trollzs

[Zorvan]

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/

 

Go to that page it checks your system to see if you're to specs I checked all my games there, got a lot of surprises about my PC. Hope it helps!!

 

Yeah, that site is just all kinds of wrong.

 

For instance, it says my PC "fails" and could never run ToR because of it's name.

 

CPU

Minimum: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0 GHz or better

You Have: Pentium® Dual-Core CPU E6700 @ 3.20GHz

 

Unfortunately for that site, my CPU is faster than a Core 2 Duo. But because of the name of my CPU, it "fails".

 

So no, the site isn't worth spit.

[Tetsuigardm]

Aleternativlely, you COULD buy a pc that dosn't suck

 

But troll mode off, nice guide

[BenTokin]

Ok here goes. My current DX diag report. (Well, the relevant parts of it anyways.)

 

Machine name: YOGG-SAGGOTH

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz

Memory: 1920MB RAM

Page File: 395MB used, 103417MB available

Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4650

Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9498)

DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9498&SUBSYS_24511682&REV_00

Display Memory: 1024.0 MB

Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (85Hz)

 

 

What I'm curious about is whether or not it's really worth my budget upgrade of getting a mb that can handle and i7, and slapping a g620 in it (cuz I'm cheap), along with 8gb of ram @ 1333. along with a hd 6850.

 

Think I would get a definite fps increase? What about in WZ's?

[renegadeimp]

Ok here goes. My current DX diag report. (Well, the relevant parts of it anyways.)

 

Machine name: YOGG-SAGGOTH

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz

Memory: 1920MB RAM

Page File: 395MB used, 103417MB available

Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4650

Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9498)

DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9498&SUBSYS_24511682&REV_00

Display Memory: 1024.0 MB

Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (85Hz)

 

 

What I'm curious about is whether or not it's really worth my budget upgrade of getting a mb that can handle and i7, and slapping a g620 in it (cuz I'm cheap), along with 8gb of ram @ 1333. along with a hd 6850.

 

Think I would get a definite fps increase? What about in WZ's?

 

You need to post the FULL dxdiag log for help. Posting partial logs means nobody is able to help. Use the spoiler or code tags so it doesnt make the post and thread HUGE.

 

But looking at the info you provided, your system only just meets minimum specs. The main issue is that you have a low CPU, low GPU, and not even 2 GB of single channel ram.

 

Go for the upgrade you suggested. You'll see around a 100x performance increase.

Edited January 24, 2012 by renegadeimp

[captainmerkin]

really great thread here folks, make use of it!

 

I consider myself to be fairly up there with my PC maintenance but there are things here that will improve my pc's speed nicely even on what I consider a high end system.

[ElvinMistress]

This program will temprorarily shut off un-needed system services . No need to manually change anything . It does sit in the tray and use a very small amount of system resources . but well worth it for the ease of use .

 

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

 

Easy profiler for Nvidia cards , I get a better looking game then the in game setting , at the cost of a few less frame rates but still a nice balance.

 

http://downloads.guru3d.com/NVIDIA-Inspector-1.94-download-2612.html

 

Rather them turn on and off Windows Aero effects and such , I use a modified high contrast personalization for gaming .

 

http://www.mediafire.com/?nqeweeab1xurl4b

 

My System Specs are :

 

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.8 Ghz)

Video Card - MSI-N460GTX Hawk

Memory - Corsair Dominator 8 Gb of DDR2 running at 800 Mhz

Motherboard - XFX Nvidia Nforce 750I (rev A2)

Maybe this will help some people get the best looking game they can with a playable performance and also help people who are not sure where to begin with tweaking and how the game will look / perform on your systems , I apologize I have not had the time to test the setting playability on my other system It has a Pentium D930 3.0 Ghz , Radeon 4850 , 4 Ghz 1333 DDR3 ... I will post results on that machine when I can get away from playing so much SwTOR !!!

 

A few Screenshots showing end results and How to

 

Nvidia Inspector SS - http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3730/starwarsbestsettings.jpg

 

In Game Graphics settings - http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/8981/swtorgraph1.jpg

 

Windows 7 Basic Usage - http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/1258/windows7basicusage.jpg

 

Vid Card Idle - http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9235/vidcardidle.jpg

 

In Game Proc/Mem/Vid card usage - http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7375/swotoridlefpsopt.jpg

 

Detail SS - http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5689/aadetail1.jpg

 

Idle character selection screen FPS - http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2165/swtorfps1.jpg

Edited January 25, 2012 by ElvinMistress

[Neuromann]

[aname=anchor3]Disabling extra effects in win 7 to gain more free resources.[/aname]

 

So now you have turned off Aero, there will still be many unwanted visual effects that eat up your system memory, such as sliding menu effects, or sliding window effects.

 

 

[aname=anchor4]

Here comes the big one![/aname]

 

Disabling every extra service in Windows 7 that you do not need.

 

This part of the guide alone should free up a good majority of your tied system resources. One good side effect of this is it will speed up your system boot time, and thats always a good thing.

 

Many services that run in windows 7 are simply not needed by the average user. There are some exceptional cases, such as the Service called “Print Spooler”. It is only needed when you use a printer. If you use a printer occasionaly, or never at all, you can turn it off and turn it back on only when you need to print something.

 

Warning: Some of these services MIGHT have an adverse effect on your system. Disable at your own risk.

 

Lets do this!

 

 

• Right click the “My Computer” Icon on your desktop and select the option called "MANAGE"
  
• On the left hand side of the windows, you will see a pane titled “Computer Management”. Click the plus symbol next to “Services and applications” in this window.
  
• Now click on “Services” and wait for the new pane to load.
   
  

You will see a lot of services that windows uses in this new pane. Scroll through these services, until you come to each of the services listed below. As you did before with the “SIS” service, repeat what you did, and disable the following services.

 

 

 

• Application Experience
  
• Computer Browser*(If your PC does not connect to any network)
  
• Desktop*Window Manager Session Manager*(If you don’t want the aero effects)
  
• Diagnostic Policy Service
  
• Distributed Link Tracking Client
  
• IP Helper
  
• Offline Files
  
• Portable Device Enumerator Service
  
• Print*Spooler*(If you do not use a Printer)
  
• Protected Storage
  
• Remote Registry*(You can safely disable it for more Security)
  
• Secondary Logon
  
• Security Center
  
• Server*(If*your*computer*is not connect with any network)
  
• Tablet PC Input Service
  
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
  
• Themes
  
• Windows Error*Reporting*Service
  
• Windows Media Center Service Launcher
  
• Windows*Search*(If you rarely use Windows Search feature )
  
• Windows Time*(If you do not want to synchronize system time with*internet*time automatically. This is recommended to be disabled, as it is only useful if your system battery is dying or your country is about to switch to DST).
  

 

After you have disabled each of these, click apply/OK, then restart your computer.

 

Where is this apply/OK button in the services menu? I couldn't find this and when I restarted my computer everything was reset to turned on. Help? I literally see NO apply/OK button anywhere.

[Neuromann]

bump, read post right above this! help!

[ElvinMistress]

Seems it would be easier for you to use this program since you are having difficulties shutting of services .

 

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

 

But the other way would be this ( on Windows 7 ) :

 

1. Right Click Task Bar ( Select Task Manager )

 

2. Go to Services Tab and Click the services Box at the bottom

 

3. Right click the service you want to modify and choose "properties" from the Menu

 

4. Near the Bottom where it says service status click the STOP button ( if running )

 

5. in the Startup Type box Choose Disabled and then Apply ( at bottom )

 

This will make permanent changes to your system services , not wise in the long run unless you are experienced at troubleshooting your computer , as a lot of programs are written assuming the default system services are running .

 

Its a much more advisable thing to temporarily stop the services , that way you can reboot and all is back to normal .

Edited January 25, 2012 by ElvinMistress

[renegadeimp]

Seems it would be easier for you to use this program since you are having difficulties shutting of services .

 

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

 

But the other way would be this :

 

1. Right Click Task Bar ( Select Task Manager )

 

2. Go to Services Tab and Click the services Box at the bottom

 

3. Right click the service you want to modify and choose "properties" from the Menu

 

4. Near the Bottom where it says service status click the STOP button ( if running )

 

5. in the Startup Type box Choose Disabled and then Apply ( at bottom )

 

This will make permanent changes to your system services , not wise in the long run unless you are experienced at troubleshooting your computer , as a lot of programs are written assuming the default system services are running .

 

Its a much more advisable thing to temporarily stop the services , that way you can reboot and all is back to normal .

 

Yep. The only reason i say to disable them completely, is because they take up a LOT of resources on low end systems, and the majority of people rarely, if ever use the services at all in the lifetime of their machine. Disabling them completely frees up these resources for other software to use.

 

 

If you are unsure of what you need, just leave them enabled, or use a third party program to temporarily disable them.

[ElvinMistress]

Yep. The only reason i say to disable them completely, is because they take up a LOT of resources on low end systems, and the majority of people rarely, if ever use the services at all in the lifetime of their machine. Disabling them completely frees up these resources for other software to use.

 

Completely agree with you , this ( guide ) makes for a huge jump in system responsiveness and feeling like you have a more streamlined O/S on low end systems.

 

I would be curious to know what the actual RAM/CPU/VID card usages are on some low end systems .

Some posted data with SS including RAM/CPU/VID card performance in game and O/S's idle would be helpful in seeing what sort of "tweaks" are best on the average and which are best left to experienced users .

 

Maybe with the extra data collection you could add a few lines to the post stating the safest most impactful tweaks ( for the average user ) and leave the extended tweaking for the advanced users .

 

See my previous post with SS of the few things i used for the best Visual Quality /Performance balancing I did for my system ( along with basic System Specs )

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=1198&page=31

 

For example on my system SwTOR only uses about 1.6 GB of RAM and my tweaked Win7 Install only uses 1.5 GB of RAM . Disabling the extra services for me only frees up 500-600 MB of Ram no impact to Proc usage . Theory would say ( based on my system and tests ) SwTOR only need 4 GB of Ram for an optimal situation.

Thank you for all your hard work on this Thread renegadeimp , I hope you do not feel like I am Hijacking your thread . I am just trying to get more info out there to help the people of this community be able to play Tor with the best possible experience they can , It would be a shame NOT to be able to play this fantastic game after all

Edited January 26, 2012 by ElvinMistress

[renegadeimp]

Completely agree with you , this ( guide ) makes for a huge jump in system responsiveness and feeling like you have a more streamlined O/S on low end systems.

 

I would be curious to know what the actual RAM/CPU/VID card usages are on some low end systems .

Some posted data with SS including RAM/CPU/VID card performance in game and O/S's idle would be helpful in seeing what sort of "tweaks" are best on the average and which are best left to experienced users .

 

Maybe with the extra data collection you could add a few lines to the post stating the safest most impactful tweaks ( for the average user ) and leave the extended tweaking for the advanced users .

 

See my previous post with SS of the few things i used for the best Visual Quality /Performance balancing I did for my system ( along with basic System Specs )

 

For example on my system SwTOR only uses about 1.6 GB of RAM and my tweaked Win7 Install only uses 1.5 GB of RAM . Disabling the extra services for me only frees up 500-600 MB of Ram no impact to Proc usage . Theory would say ( based on my system and tests ) SwTOR only need 4 GB of Ram for an optimal situation.

Thank you for all your hard work on this Thread renegadeimp , I hope you do not feel like I am Hijacking your thread . I am just trying to get more info out there to help the people of this community be able to play Tor with the best possible experience they can , It would be a shame NOT to be able to play this fantastic game after all

 

I dont feel like you're hijacking it at all. The reason the thread exists and is recommended by the CS team is due to it containing good information, both in the guide and from players.

[jabalolwut]

Oh i liked this post alot better when it wasnt plagerized a posted over here in 2009

 

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?63273-*-Windows-7-Ultimate-Tweaks-amp-Utilities-*

[renegadeimp]

Oh i liked this post alot better when it wasnt plagerized a posted over here in 2009

 

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?63273-*-Windows-7-Ultimate-Tweaks-amp-Utilities-*

 

Read my disclaimer before you try trolling the thread. These types of guides have been posted many, MANY times. Hell, as people here have said, Gamebooster does most of it. I posted this guide with a few tweaks because many people don't know about them, and as you can see, it's helped a LOT of people to actually play the game.

[MarkusAtticus]

 

this might help some people

[PainfulOrpheus]

Read my disclaimer before you try trolling the thread. These types of guides have been posted many, MANY times. Hell, as people here have said, Gamebooster does most of it. I posted this guide with a few tweaks because many people don't know about them, and as you can see, it's helped a LOT of people to actually play the game.

 

I saw in another one of your posts that you know where to get modified drivers for amd cards. i have a 5450 1gb ddr3. Can you private message me with a link. THanks

[LifeOfMessiah]

Cool Story.

 

:edit:

 

Not claiming XP>7 for a moment here. But for those like myself with lower system memory, the lower OS overhead (which I really can't see how you can dispute) alone makes a lot of difference.

 

I don't think you are understanding. Win 7 has LESS overhead than XP, which is why it runs faster on any system that runs XP. I used to have a Pentium 4 3.2 HT with 2GB of RAM and a very good video card (can't recall brand/model ATM) with XP. Eventually, I tried 7 on the system. Hands down, 7 outperformed XP in EVERY category, despite the fact that I MORE than made up for minimum requirements of XP, yet barely met the system requirements for 7.

[LifeOfMessiah]

You have provided a great resource here. May I make a suggestion though? Remove the "Protected Storage" listing you have for services to turn off. I would not even recommend it to the average user, as the average user stores all kinds of highly sensitive data on their PCs.

 

A good resource for anyone wanting to tweak their system for better performance has always been Black Viper for me. http://www.blackviper.com He has always been very trustworthy when it comes to registry tweaks and always provides different options.

Edited January 29, 2012 by LifeOfMessiah

[renegadeimp]

You have provided a great resource here. May I make a suggestion though? Remove the "Protected Storage" listing you have for services to turn off. I would not even recommend it to the average user, as the average user stores all kinds of highly sensitive data on their PCs.

 

A good resource for anyone wanting to tweak their system for better performance has always been Black Viper for me. http://www.blackviper.com He has always been very trustworthy when it comes to registry tweaks and always provides different options.

 

Thats why i put a disclaimer on that part.

[renegadeimp]

I don't think you are understanding. Win 7 has LESS overhead than XP, which is why it runs faster on any system that runs XP. I used to have a Pentium 4 3.2 HT with 2GB of RAM and a very good video card (can't recall brand/model ATM) with XP. Eventually, I tried 7 on the system. Hands down, 7 outperformed XP in EVERY category, despite the fact that I MORE than made up for minimum requirements of XP, yet barely met the system requirements for 7.

 

It's also one of the big reasons that MS stopped supporting xp. Win 7 does it all and more.

[LifeOfMessiah]

Thats why i put a disclaimer on that part.

 

yeah...sad part...most people don't read disclaimers. Better safe than sorry I say. I work in the IT industry, and if I have to put a disclaimer about security risks, then I just don't do it, nor do I even say anything about it, as it might come back on me if something goes wrong. I'm looking out for you as much as I am the average user when I say to remove that listing.

 

EDIT: The only time I ever mention stuff like that is if a consumer brings it up by asking about it, then I flat out tell them NO, don't touch it, don't smell it, don't taste it, don't do anything to it.

 

I say that because in my industry, 99% of the people I deal with think the CD-ROM tray is a coffee cup holder, the monitor is the computer, and the computer is the modem.

Edited January 29, 2012 by LifeOfMessiah

[renegadeimp]

yeah...sad part...most people don't read disclaimers. Better safe than sorry I say. I work in the IT industry, and if I have to put a disclaimer about security risks, then I just don't do it, nor do I even say anything about it, as it might come back on me if something goes wrong. I'm looking out for you as much as I am the average user when I say to remove that listing.

 

EDIT: The only time I ever mention stuff like that is if a consumer brings it up by asking about it, then I flat out tell them NO, don't touch it, don't smell it, don't taste it, don't do anything to it.

 

I say that because in my industry, 99% of the people I deal with think the CD-ROM tray is a coffee cup holder, the monitor is the computer, and the computer is the modem.

 

Oh believe me. Everytime we send out mails, or telephone a client, or even remote into their systems we ALWAYS issue disclaimers. There are way too many people who dont actually know anything about their system, yet call us up and claim that they know more than we do.