Game Booster

[moranb]

I recently came across a program called Game Booster which shuts down unnecessary programs running in the background to increase the resources available to the CPU. I have always been doubtful about the utility of such programs, but I thought I would try this out to see if I could improve the performance of TS2012 on my PC. So I installed it and I have to say that I was impressed. My fps increased from an average of 15-18 fps with TSX turned on to 22 - 25 fps which actually makes a significant difference to the driving experience. It may be that many people are well aware of that program, but for those who did not know about it and are having fps problems with TS2012 or less powerful PCs, it might be worth installing to see if they get a similar improvement. The program is free and available from IOBit. The address is http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html.

BFM

[chrisiveson]

It has been mention on here before.
I tried it and it didn't make any difference even though it said it had shut down 6 processes.
A new graphics card is the order of the day for me when Santa comes.

Chris.

[mjoliver1]

It has been mention on here before.
I tried it and it didn't make any difference even though it said it had shut down 6 processes.
A new graphics card is the order of the day for me when Santa comes.

Chris.

I have quite a high-powered system, but still use Game Booster. It closes 10 processes, 24 unnecessary services, 11 non-windows services, and provides 6 additional tweaks including RAM optimization as well as lowering process priorities to enhance performance. I've not measured the benefits, but am sure that there is a positive effect given the savings in overhead it provides.

Mike

[styckx]

I was always curious what this thing would `suggest' to close.. It suggested I close 1 entire process. Chrome, because I was posting this. Uninstalled.

[ttjph]

I run GameBooster, on a system which is pretty marginal on CPU.

TBH I've occasionally forgotten to launch it, with little perceptible difference in performance, but I generally use it anyway on the basis that it shouldn't make things worse.

According to Task Manager, nVidia Inspector uses ~2% CPU so now that I've got the graphics card set up and happy I avoid using that on graphics-heavy routes - but the choice of route has the biggest influence, with 20-25 fps on Hedborough North or most bits of the Cajon Pass, but sitting on the 14 fps floor for large sections of Ox-Padd. Neither GB nor nVI make that amount of difference.

[moranb]

Just to clarify, there is a new version of GameBooster - Gamebooster 3. Its a much more intuitive version that a version that I saw several years ago. I use Windows 7 and it would seem that a lot of processes and services are running in the background which are temporarily stopped by Gamebooster. In the new version, once you exit the game, all the background programs are restored automatically. In my system, 28 processes and 25 services are stopped. According to the program, performance is enhanced by 46%. Perhaps the program is more effective with Windows 7 than Vista or XP.

BFM

[transadelaide]

Just to clarify, there is a new version of GameBooster - Gamebooster 3. Its a much more intuitive version that a version that I saw several years ago. I use Windows 7 and it would seem that a lot of processes and services are running in the background which are temporarily stopped by Gamebooster. In the new version, once you exit the game, all the background programs are restored automatically. In my system, 28 processes and 25 services are stopped. According to the program, performance is enhanced by 46%. Perhaps the program is more effective with Windows 7 than Vista or XP.

BFM

An improvement of 46% seems like a rather ambitious claim to me (especially for a free program that doesn't need to drum up sales) which would naturally make me a little suspicious of what it's really doing behind my back when it claims to be "improving performance." That would mean that all the stuff it has stopped was taking up about 32% of the computer's resources, which is a huge amount!

The only reason such a program would be more effective on Windows 7 is if your installation of Windows 7 has more unnecessary processes running than your old installation of XP or Vista did.

[chrisiveson]

Just to clarify, there is a new version of GameBooster - Gamebooster 3. Its a much more intuitive version that a version that I saw several years ago. I use Windows 7 and it would seem that a lot of processes and services are running in the background which are temporarily stopped by Gamebooster. In the new version, once you exit the game, all the background programs are restored automatically. In my system, 28 processes and 25 services are stopped. According to the program, performance is enhanced by 46%. Perhaps the program is more effective with Windows 7 than Vista or XP.

BFM

An improvement of 46% seems like a rather ambitious claim to me (especially for a free program that doesn't need to drum up sales) which would naturally make me a little suspicious of what it's really doing behind my back when it claims to be "improving performance." That would mean that all the stuff it has stopped was taking up about 32% of the computer's resources, which is a huge amount!

The only reason such a program would be more effective on Windows 7 is if your installation of Windows 7 has more unnecessary processes running than your old installation of XP or Vista did.

I tend to agree with that, and as I posted earlier, it didn't make any obvious improvement on my set-up.
And I'm running W7 and tried the latest download of "Game Booster".
Sorry, but the old saying, "you don't get owt for nowt" still sticks with me.
I'm still in the market for a new graphics card to improve my RailWorks.

Chris.

[faedundee2]

Just to clarify, there is a new version of GameBooster - Gamebooster 3. Its a much more intuitive version that a version that I saw several years ago. I use Windows 7 and it would seem that a lot of processes and services are running in the background which are temporarily stopped by Gamebooster. In the new version, once you exit the game, all the background programs are restored automatically. In my system, 28 processes and 25 services are stopped. According to the program, performance is enhanced by 46%. Perhaps the program is more effective with Windows 7 than Vista or XP.

BFM

An improvement of 46% seems like a rather ambitious claim to me (especially for a free program that doesn't need to drum up sales) which would naturally make me a little suspicious of what it's really doing behind my back when it claims to be "improving performance." That would mean that all the stuff it has stopped was taking up about 32% of the computer's resources, which is a huge amount!

The only reason such a program would be more effective on Windows 7 is if your installation of Windows 7 has more unnecessary processes running than your old installation of XP or Vista did.

I tend to agree with that, and as I posted earlier, it didn't make any obvious improvement on my set-up.
And I'm running W7 and tried the latest download of "Game Booster".
Sorry, but the old saying, "you don't get owt for nowt" still sticks with me.
I'm still in the market for a new graphics card to improve my RailWorks.

Chris.

I used it with XP(now using W7) I found it an alright program to use(not much increase but just enough to have slightly higher FPS) but nothing too major, also with it running RW still threw up SBHH errors(just not as often) however on other games,Call of Duty and GTA IV for me, it was noticeable as loading time between cut scenes was decreased. I think Game Booster was probably designed to work with more standard 'out there' games rather than niche ones like RW and Flight Simulators.

[chrisiveson]

That maybe makes more sense, I don't have any games on my PC, other than RailWorks.

Chris.

[MisterWho]

I assume that Game Booster tells you what processes and services it has stopped and re-started. As such, I would use a tool like this to tell me what it has done, review those actions, and finally make my own arrangements to shut down the things with which I agree while I'm running my game ...