windows 7 - gaming and aero theme

Hi guys,

I want to ask what people opinion is these days on "topic".

After service packs and new drivers and what not for windows7 do people still feel that the aero theme is stealing resources when gaming? are people still running windows standard theme or does it have no effects anymore?

Thanks

 

If you game in a window, then yes it will utilize extra resources. If it's full screen, then no.

 

Hmm yeah that's what I sense too.. but sometimes i just get the strange feeling that disabling is better overall for fullscreen as well.. I do how ever think that windows actually do disable it per auto when going fullscreen.

 

No processes are being used. If you turn off Aero manually, and run your game check your performance (fps, whatever) there will be no difference. When a game goes full screen any graphical enhancements are gone. Stuff will reside in system memory but nothing using GPU or CPU resources.

 

what service pack 1 for windows 7? I never got no service pack 1 for windows 7 "/

 

Service pack 1 for windows 7 is not officially released yet, but the RTM version is around.

 

Tom's hardware did some test on aero, they do affect the fps of the video playback performance on computer with weaker CPU

 

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

I don't understand why people don't bother to read. It's on all the forums people who don't read talking about SP1.

SP1 for Windows 7 is nothing more than a pack of all the hotfixes and patches that you've been installing this entire time. If your Windows 7 is up to date, YOU HAVE SP1.

All the enhancements of SP1 ARE NOT FOR WINDOWS 7. They are exclusive to Windows 2008 Server.

This is stated clearly by Microsoft. It takes 30 seconds to read.

 

And whats your point?

It was never a question whether it did anything major or not. And yes you "already have" service pack 1, but when its released, you still have to update to SP1, meaning.. you probably don't have everything anyway.

 

Not correct.
List of Hotfixes and release notes from Microsoft
While a majority of the cooler features (RemoteFX) are for Server R2, it's disengenuous to say there's no enhancements for seven. Improved HDMI audio support, support for third party federated search, support for advanced vector extentions.... just because 75-80% of the home user base won't notice a difference doesn't mean there aren't any enhancements for seven.

edit: just realized we're pretty much pointing at the same documents. You may want to read the word file about Notable Changes.

edit 2: more on-topic, I'm not sure if I can tell a difference between having aero on or off when gaming, but I have heard some games need to have aero on to run well, can't remember the source.....

 

Key word here. There's a difference between video and an executable binary.

 

if you have a verry weak gpu maybe it will afect you

but aero on with 25+ window open use less then 1% of the power of one of my gpus

so having it on does not change much to my FPS

 

Even if it is using any resources I was able to enable aero using a desktop onboard GeForce 6150, and that was barely taxed. In other words it's negligible.

I remember when USB came along and how people were reluctant to give up their PS/2 keyboard and mouse because the USB utilized resources. At that time it was an actual concern, belive it or not. I dunno. Just a random old fart fact.

 

windows 7 will give you better hit detection in BFBC2

 

just sayin