Windows 7 <> Rail Simulator

[nwallace]

Not sure if I woudl get an advantage from ReadyBoost, i'm hardly using the full 8Gb as it is.

32-Bit apps can only access 4GB of memory at anyone time, don't know enough about 64-bit OS to know if it is any 4GB in the system or if it is the first 4GB in the system.

Compared to RAM though USB memory won't exactly be quick, with a data rate of 480 mb per second, compared to SATA-II max speed of 3Gb/s a swap file could be faster, and windows manages one of them by default.

[overmarze]

Oh well lol.

[PaulH2]

32-Bit apps can only access 4GB of memory at anyone time, don't know enough about 64-bit OS to know if it is any 4GB in the system or if it is the first 4GB in the system.

It's any 4GB.

[mikesimpson]

So when you (Mike et al.) refer to USB sticks/keys, you talk about extending RAM via this Readyboost. Has anyone collected data on how having your KRS installation on a USB stick speeds up business? I don't know current comparisons between a decent (who you you define that) harddisk and a USB(2) stick. But my naive guess would be that the stick should "stutter" less, even if filesystem on it is fragmented.

Hi Andi,

I have not tried this, but as the sticks use the USB2 interface, their output will only be the same speed as a USB external drive and they are a lot slower than normal Sata drives. I have my RS on an external ESata drive and it works fine, have never had much stuttering in any case, not since Patch 2 came out for RS that is.

[AndiS]

Mike, thanks for the assessment. So we can file it under "naive guesses". You know, there are these people selling these external harddisks with USB2 interface, but my guts always said something negative about them. I should put recordings of my guts on the net, could save people a load of time browsing the latest hypes. Talking about hypes, I came across some USB 3.0 to be released later in 2009 boasting a much higher performance. Once they produce cheap sticks to that specification, we could unearth my naive guess. But by that time, eSATA drives could also be very cheap and some SATA 3.0 is also around the corner, so you could as well keep the naive guess where is belongs to -- in the file.

P.S.: But given the speed of USB sticks, my guts were right in their assessment of the idea to run Vista with such slow pseudo-RAM, I guess.

[nwallace]

SATA 3?

What's the best actual datathroughput from a 7200rpm disc? I looked at 10000rpm discs but the cost was astronomical.

[theokus]

SATA 3?

What's the best actual datathroughput from a 7200rpm disc? I looked at 10000rpm discs but the cost was astronomical.

€ 180.... > 150 GB.

[Squatch]

I struck lucky and found a 150gb WD velociraptor on ebay for £90 - took a gamble and so far, touch wood, it seems fine. Along with the release of the RC of W7, I took the plunge and did a complete re-install, using my 500gb F1 spinpoint as a backup drive. I also bought an 8gb USB drive from Tesco for £15 (a sandisk one) to use for data migration, so now I've finshed with that, it's in the rear USB ports as a readyboost device. No idea whether it's helping much, but at least I know where it is!

System spec now is q6600 quad core processor, 4gb DDR2-800 memory, 150gb WD Velociraptor, ATI 4850 1gb graphics card and a Creative x-fi fatality pro soundcard. Did all the re-installing of RS, copied back the assets and contents folders, and had a look. Paddington to Oxford was only 40fps. I was a bit disappointed. Until I remembered that RS sets the graphics defaults when you install it, so I checked them and everything was on high, including procedural flora!

So really, I've not got any complaints. Next time I have any money for an upgrade, I think I'll trade my 4850 for a 4870/90 depending on funds.

But overall with W7, no problems at all, I'd recommend it if you feel like having a dabble at rebuilding your PC!!

[theokus]

I struck lucky and found a 150gb WD velociraptor on ebay for £90 - took a gamble and so far, touch wood, it seems fine. Along with the release of the RC of W7, I took the plunge and did a complete re-install, using my 500gb F1 spinpoint as a backup drive. I also bought an 8gb USB drive from Tesco for £15 (a sandisk one) to use for data migration, so now I've finshed with that, it's in the rear USB ports as a readyboost device. No idea whether it's helping much, but at least I know where it is!

System spec now is q6000 quad core processor, 4gb DDR2-800 memory, 150gb WD Velociraptor, ATI 4850 1gb graphics card and a Creative x-fi fatality pro soundcard. Did all the re-installing of RS, copied back the assets and contents folders, and had a look. Paddington to Oxford was only 40fps. I was a bit disappointed. Until I remembered that RS sets the graphics defaults when you install it, so I checked them and everything was on high, including procedural flora!

So really, I've not got any complaints. Next time I have any money for an upgrade, I think I'll trade my 4850 for a 4870/90 depending on funds.

But overall with W7, no problems at all, I'd recommend it if you feel like having a dabble at rebuilding your PC!!

Lucky b... euh guy
> £90 > velociraptor.
(bdw. how is the noise?)

KRS does a better job with Win7 or Win7 is a better OS then XP of Vista.
And I am not sure if my 64 bit config. is a boost in performance.
It is a fact: KRS has much less stutters compared to XP Pro.

I use a Quad Core 6600 of 2.4GHz and 2.4 is too slow for my standards.
I bought this cpu because I was too curious.
Until today it' s no use, a dual core is more then enough. (3 GHz or more).
There are no games using the 4 cores... as far as I know.

Win7 is nice to me and my hardware
Case is we had to pay twice: ones fot Vista as a bad testcase and near Chrismas 2009 for Win7 a second time.

[Squatch]

Noise is fine, one of the cooling fans is still the noisiest thing in my case, but it's only a hum.

I know what you mean about the quad core processors - I bought mine for pretty much the same reason - in the end, a decent spec dual core would probably have sufficed. Still, live and learn!

[Blackpatch]

I've recently bought a new system with the best specs that I could afford. I keep my systems for about 3 or 4 years, then get another one.

My new system has completely illiminated any stutter whatsoever. Then again, if it hadn't I'd of been gutted.

Spec:
Intel i7 2.66 - overclocked to 3.40
Vista 64bit SP1
6gb DDR3 RAM Triple channel
Nvidia GeForce 295 1792mb GPU

Will probably install Win 7 in the coming weeks. Don't know enough about it yet.

BP

[Squatch]

Nice spec - I wouldn't have any worries about sticking W7 on there! What sort of fps do you get with that monster graphics card?

[strhinonater]

Hey Everyone

i've got a core duo imac and i run now windows 7 on bootcamp and when i reinstalled rail simulator it does not seem to run as smooth as it would on xp. It is because i've got the rail simulator for windows xp and it does not run as well on windows 7. Would it be wise to wait for railworks 2 for vista and install it then


cheers Everyone

Matt

[theokus]

Hey Everyone

i've got a core duo imac and i run now windows 7 on bootcamp and when i reinstalled rail simulator it does not seem to run as smooth as it would on xp. It is because i've got the rail simulator for windows xp and it does not run as well on windows 7. Would it be wise to wait for railworks 2 for vista and install it then


cheers Everyone

Matt

Dear Matt,

This is a work-arround.
KRS is a pure Windows game.

Mac or not, Bootcamp or not, you are losing some of the power needed.

I have a good performance with Windows 7 > 64 bit.

(only my humble opinion)

[overmarze]

I've recently bought a new system with the best specs that I could afford. I keep my systems for about 3 or 4 years, then get another one.

My new system has completely illiminated any stutter whatsoever. Then again, if it hadn't I'd of been gutted.

Spec:
Intel i7 2.66 - overclocked to 3.40
Vista 64bit SP1
6gb DDR3 RAM Triple channel
Nvidia GeForce 295 1792mb GPU

Will probably install Win 7 in the coming weeks. Don't know enough about it yet.

BP

Im going for one of them soon lol.
But theres no way im going to overclock it.