+1, is that a mobile GPU ?.
With Win10 (or 7 or 8) you can disable all the telemetry overhead with some googling.
Help in speeding up a slow PC please!
- Thread starter Bret Riverboat
- Start date
+1, is that a mobile GPU ?.
With Win10 (or 7 or 8) you can disable all the telemetry overhead with some googling.
You may need to download the graphics driver for your PC direct from Dell. Sometimes pre-built machines from Dell, Asus etc will only run using their specific
drivers as they are custom drivers to suit that machine.
I had a quick look and they only support the 64 bit version of windows. Hopefully you re-installed the 64 bit version.
You should head to their site and run their diagnostics scan on your machine, this might fix your problem?!
Good luck
drivers as they are custom drivers to suit that machine.
I had a quick look and they only support the 64 bit version of windows. Hopefully you re-installed the 64 bit version.
You should head to their site and run their diagnostics scan on your machine, this might fix your problem?!
Good luck
One idea to kick around is a refurb. I bought a HP Probook (W7) about a year ago or so ago, never intending to run a game on it, let alone ED. My son wanted a "space game" and we looked at several and went with ED. The specs for this were marginal at best but the website said it would run (not great, but it does). Here I am almost 6 months later with a very well used Logitech Extreme and a refurbed laptop with a big fan on it, close to getting Elite in combat and exploration. ~250 USD + 30 USD for the Logitech.
www.microcenter.com
I'm sure there's a ton of places that have refurbs, some desktops that will easily run ED can be real cheap. Just another option to ponder
Good luck.
BTW, other programs that can help a slow machine is CCLEANER, RKILL.EXE, and TCP Optimizer. These are all free, get them from a safe site like CNET. I don't know if there's W10 versions for them yet or if the W7s version will run on a W10 machine but they are worth looking into. I run CCLEANER daily and RKILL randomly just in case something slipped past Norton.
www.microcenter.com
I'm sure there's a ton of places that have refurbs, some desktops that will easily run ED can be real cheap. Just another option to ponder
Good luck.
BTW, other programs that can help a slow machine is CCLEANER, RKILL.EXE, and TCP Optimizer. These are all free, get them from a safe site like CNET. I don't know if there's W10 versions for them yet or if the W7s version will run on a W10 machine but they are worth looking into. I run CCLEANER daily and RKILL randomly just in case something slipped past Norton.
Last edited:
That will help with things like texture loading and booting the client into RAM, but the integrated GPU just doesn't have enough rendering cores to cope with the game in high resolution.
I can't speak for Defraggler, but Smart Defrag 4 from IOBit will defrag your page file and other "System" files during a "boot-time defrag". Some defrag program wont do that. Do this after you've set the pagefile to a fixed size. You should use CCleaner too and follow RM's advice about running a thorough disk cleanup.
However, before you do anything to your hard disk, run an error check to detect and correct any disk errors.
1) Error Check.
2) Run a windows Disk Cleanup, including old system files.
3) Run CCleaner or something similar. CCleaner deletes unnecessary files and can also scan for and fix Registry errors.
4) Run a defrag program on your normal files. Select "consolidate free space" if that is an option. Windows defrag will do this if you run it in an Admin Command Prompt (type: defrag /? for options).
5) Fix the size of the page file and, if possible, move it to a different drive. Only move it if it is moving to a physically different drive and not a different partition sharing the same physical drive.
6) Run a defrag program again, but this time run a boot-time defrag.
If there's a slot to fit a replacement graphics card on the motherboard you could ask at a "reputable" local computer repair shop to see if they can fit a faster graphics card for you (I say "reputable" because the other type will try to talk you into buying a new or reconditioned PC). It should only take an hour or so to fit one, so they shouldn't charge more than £50 to do it, on top of the cost of the new card.
I bought a Dell desktop some years ago and, after upgrading the graphics card a couple of years later, I was annoyed to find that Dell had fitted really slow (cheap) RAM chips. I upgraded the RAM to the fastest the motherboard could handle. That bought me a few more FPS. It's an expensive way to do it though, but I thought Crysis was worth it.
However, before you do anything to your hard disk, run an error check to detect and correct any disk errors.
1) Error Check.
2) Run a windows Disk Cleanup, including old system files.
3) Run CCleaner or something similar. CCleaner deletes unnecessary files and can also scan for and fix Registry errors.
4) Run a defrag program on your normal files. Select "consolidate free space" if that is an option. Windows defrag will do this if you run it in an Admin Command Prompt (type: defrag /? for options).
5) Fix the size of the page file and, if possible, move it to a different drive. Only move it if it is moving to a physically different drive and not a different partition sharing the same physical drive.
6) Run a defrag program again, but this time run a boot-time defrag.
If there's a slot to fit a replacement graphics card on the motherboard you could ask at a "reputable" local computer repair shop to see if they can fit a faster graphics card for you (I say "reputable" because the other type will try to talk you into buying a new or reconditioned PC). It should only take an hour or so to fit one, so they shouldn't charge more than £50 to do it, on top of the cost of the new card.
I bought a Dell desktop some years ago and, after upgrading the graphics card a couple of years later, I was annoyed to find that Dell had fitted really slow (cheap) RAM chips. I upgraded the RAM to the fastest the motherboard could handle. That bought me a few more FPS. It's an expensive way to do it though, but I thought Crysis was worth it.
Last edited:
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Indeed you should! I can't believe that I forgot to include that!!
I've used JetBoost to squeeze out quite a few extra frames, mainly for Planetside 2. JetBoost is just a handy tool that turns off a bunch of extra background processes, which you can customize to tell it to leave programs you still want on. I haven't had any issues with it other than it turning my fans on a bit early which I'm fine with. I seem to run cooler as well because of that.
That Dell is an all in one style (like an iMac) so you can't change the internal components. As others have said it's only the GPU that is holding it back. You could try as the100thmonkey says but send the output to your TV. Sitting back from the screen might make it look better. Might...
So, running with the idea of using the EXP GDC to bodge a full-fat GPU int the PCI-E lane (replacing the wireless card), I started looking for teardowns of the PC inquestion. I found one, and it's very interesting:
Straight away, I see two things:
I'd love to have a bash at something like that computer. Sadly, I live in Japan, so I suspect the shipping might be a bit steep!
Straight away, I see two things:
- That GPU isn't actually integrated into the mainboard (bottom right of the picture - the red PCB is the GPU.) There may be some mileage in replacing it - it looks like it connects to a full PCI-E x16 slot!
- There are actually two other PCI-E slots on the board. You could keep the wireless NIC and replace the thingamabob that's using the lower slot.
I'd love to have a bash at something like that computer. Sadly, I live in Japan, so I suspect the shipping might be a bit steep!
Last edited:
A fragmented pagefile will have very little effect whatsoever
No. Set it to system managed and let the OS look after it as it was designed to do.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
A pagefile with constantly varying size (as the system managed option will) means that any files added are scattered over the disk as the pagefile varies in size. This leads to fragmentation which leads to slowdown of the filesystem. As files are scattered, so the contiguous chunks of space on the disk are reduced in size - which affects the pagefile too.
Last edited:
More evidence that you might be able to replace the GPU:
The R9 Nano might fit, but a $600/£500 GPU might be a bit overkill.
The R9 Nano might fit, but a $600/£500 GPU might be a bit overkill.
Last edited:
A system managed pagefile is not "constantly varying" - it'll be set at an initial size and will only be allocated additional pages if/when the need arises.
If it's fragmented enough to start to have an impact then you'll be getting far more of an impact from the number of required page file hits and the fact that the system has needed to add so many additional pages.
I.e. It'll only be of any issue if your OS has need to be constantly making use of it (and getting higher seek times because of the potential fragmentation). If it's accessing the pagefile to that extent then you'll be suffering far more because of that fact, not a potential tiny overhead caused by fragmentation seek times.
And, since page faults will also result in .exe, .dll files etc. being accessed as well, then a fragmented page file is insignificant.
Set it at OS managed and forget about it. You can't manage it any better than the OS can.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
I feel that we may be talking at cross purposes to an extent - a fragmented pagefile is one thing. A pagefile of varying size will exacerbate fragmentation of the whole fileystem which will, in turn, slow the whole machine down.
The system managed pagefile will, as you say, be allocated additional pages as and when the need arises. Any files added to the partition will then be placed in a manner that will leave "gaps" when the pagefile shrinks again (i.e. on next boot if not earlier). The fragmentation of the filesystem as a whole is the main issue, exacerbated by the varying pagefile size.
Don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but make sure to set windows 10 visuals to best performance: System->Advanced system settings->Settings
Also disable all unnecessary autostart apps and stuff. It's quite some time since I used a Radeon, but I am sure there is a preset for best performance in the Catalyst Control Center, this could give you some additional FPS aswell.
Also disable all unnecessary autostart apps and stuff. It's quite some time since I used a Radeon, but I am sure there is a preset for best performance in the Catalyst Control Center, this could give you some additional FPS aswell.
It something like that one:
http://www.zentrica.com/product-category/embedded/tul/graphicscards/mxm/radeon-r9/
Maybe worth a try, only problem that I see it with cooling system.
Last edited:
Assuming Windows OS:
Click START > In the "Run" section type MSCONFIG, then the STARTUP tab. Uncheck programs to run at start-up. Turn off updaters from Adobe, Google, or any program you do not want booting when you start your PC.
This does not uninstall them. You can still run those programs, they just will not start automatically and eat up CPU and bandwidth.
Then click on the SERVICES Tab, click the "Hide all Microsoft services" and uncheck the same sort of programs.
Click OK then reboot. If you discover you turned off something you need, you can do the same thing and turn it back on again.
This saves a lot of bandwidth and CPU power on lower power systems.
Click START > In the "Run" section type MSCONFIG, then the STARTUP tab. Uncheck programs to run at start-up. Turn off updaters from Adobe, Google, or any program you do not want booting when you start your PC.
This does not uninstall them. You can still run those programs, they just will not start automatically and eat up CPU and bandwidth.
Then click on the SERVICES Tab, click the "Hide all Microsoft services" and uncheck the same sort of programs.
Click OK then reboot. If you discover you turned off something you need, you can do the same thing and turn it back on again.
This saves a lot of bandwidth and CPU power on lower power systems.
Last edited:
Pagefile is only used when you run out of RAM and Microsoft managed processes are among the most inefficient.
Set a fixed pagefile size (Set to the amount of RAM you have is my standard) as Windows uses a lot of resources to continually resize the pagefile. So if you have 4GB RAM, set a 4096 size pagefile. I have 32GB RAM so I have a 32768 pagefile set.
If you are using pagefile a lot, cut down on the number of programs in use or get more physical RAM. Also, if you have an SSD put the fixed pagefile on that drive. RAM access is in pico-seconds. pagefile access is in microseconds, much slower. Putting it on SSD will not slow your machine down as much if it is used.
If you use another drive, always have at least a 512MB size pagefile on your C: (or Windows drive) or you will have issues.
Also in the same area turn off all the graphics to gain roughly 5-7% more CPU power. This turns off fancy animations and shadows.
Last edited:
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
From a Microsoft article [here]:
The point I am trying to make is that a variable size pagefile (system controlled or custom with min < max) will exacerbate fragmentation on the drive.
While placing the pagefile on an SSD will make access to it faster it will also increase write cycles to the SSD reducing its lifespan. Whether that reduced lifespan is short enough to matter is another topic.