X205-SLI1 Gaming performance (?)

I was wondering if there was any software modification, aside from those located in the WINDOWS VISTA area of this forum, that I could make to my new X205 to perform better with games like CRYSIS and Bioshock.

When running CRYSIS, i have to run at the lowest setting even when I have SLI enabled or else it'll crash on me. On Bioshock I can run at almost full graphics until I open the menu that I crash out.

I was able to run Timeshift at full graphics for some time after upgrading my drivers to 169.09 with the new inf and cat files from laptopvideo2go. However, I'm stuck wanting to get Crysis to run a little better and trying to keep Bioshock from dying on me.

Any suggestions aside from dropping a 2.4ghz processor?

I was thinking of just picking up a copy of XP Pro and jumping off VISTA, would this help? getting the T7700 is also on my list, however that'll set me back another 300$+ on top of the 2200$ I paid for this machine already.

 

You may want to try the latest drivers ver 169.09 for Vista 32Bit which I already modified and have on rapidshare located here: http://rapidshare.com/files/72985297/169.09.zip

 

my stock Sli1 runs crysis 1280x800 with a mixture of med/high settings. the only thing i did was install the 169.09 driver and the hotfix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940105 This hotfix is supposed to be very important. Try running it with DX9 instead of DX10. I also disable my antivirus (another tip from the makers of Crysis). Defrag. your hard drive, mine was 35% defragmented when brand new!

 

Thanks Jesse, I have that update and it works great! I also updating that file Snowsurfer, thanks!

However, I'm not quite sure how to run with DX9 instead of DX10. Could you guys let me know? I'll look for it in the mean time

EDIT: I found out how to do it. I just have to right-click on the icon in the Games Explorer.

 

SLi1's RULE!!!

 

I'm still wondering if I should just return this unit and upgrade to an Ibuypower build with the T7700 and a 512 single Go 8600M GT. What do you guys think? the price is 300$ less than my current machine at a clean $1700 rather than $2000.

Link to the ibuypower build: http://tinyurl.com/2ecwk5

 

I don't really recommend that as you will see a good loss in performance, I know cause I have the x205-9349 and it is quite significantly slower than my sli1 when playing games. My sli1 was $1899 plus tax at Best Buy and after taxes it came to around $2000 and that is a good price for what you get, anyway that is my opinion.

 

Quit thinking! I had second thoughts when I first bought it, but I'am loving it now. I think its the biggest bargain out there. 3Dmark scores are off the wall. Seems if you tweak it some it really shines.

 

I love mine too and would never think of returning it, heck you could pay up to $4k for an Alienware or XPS that would give you similar performance.

 

To run it in directX 9 right click on the desktop shortcut for crysis and select properties and in the target line make sure it says something like this depending were you installed the game: D:\Games\Crysis\Bin32\Crysis.exe -dx9, you are simply adding a space then -dx9 to run the game in directX 9.

 

thanks for the heads up you guys. I think the biggest drag is software installs. it takes me a good 30 mins to install a game that would normally take 5 mins tops. Is there something I might have going on this Vista OS that makes that happen? I'm installing CS3 Flash right now and it would normally take me 3 mins on my old tower... but this thing has been running for a good 15 and it's only half way.

thanks! I'll keep this machine if we can figure that one out

 

lol dude
I think since games went DVD and became big the installs take some time... my rig and SLI1 run about the same install times so I don't think there is anything that can be done.... unless it is Vista

 

I've just become very skeptical of this machines multi-tasking ability. I need to start running photoshop, flash and fireworks along with dreamweaver all at once now that I'm starting to use it for everday life. I'm worried that with this processor running at 2.0 I'm going to bog myself down.

the other build doesn't have SLI but it has the better processor. I have two options:

1) upgrade the processor on this machine (300$+) (2x 256)
2) switch to ibuypower machine (300$-) however I'd lose the SLI (1x 512)

Now the question is: Will a single 512 8600M GT out perform a dual 256 8600M GT with SLi?

 

My Sli1 posted Wprime scores of test1 40.96 test2 1099 very strong results, this tests the machines multitasking abilities. You shouldn't have any problems with those apps I'd say your laptop is in the top 80% interms of multitasking. I remember loading oblivion on my other laptop a xp machine and it took a long time.

 

Looks like the next step from this machine is just to upgrade the CPU. How hard is it to install a new T7700 on this particular model? I have experience with building PCs but i'm sure that's a lot different then a laptop.

Also, can someone let me know if there is a place to compare the 8600M GT 512 vs the dual 8600M GT 256?

 

Ok, just read through these posts.... that processor is not your problem... The 2.0 Duos are fine for just about anything, nothing I've thrown at it has had any problems. And with your crashes in Bioshock, there's something else going on that's wrong. My best suggestion would be to do a fresh clean install of Vista, and get the newest drivers, and only install the software you actually want.... they come with quite a bit of extra "stuff" on there that is really not needed, and you're problaby not ever gonna use it.

Crysis is tough on any system, i've been tweaking and am getting pretty good results, but it brings even the fastest desktop systems to their knees at the higher settings. But, you'll be able to play it well on med/high on your SLi1 when you get it set up properly.

As for the single 512MB 8600, or the SLI 8600 256's, without a doubt the SLI rig will stomp the single 8600 in anything that uses SLI, which is pretty much every game I've tried, as the SLI 8600's are faster than the single 8700's with 512, so will be EVEN faster than the single 8600. With the 128bit bus on the 8600 gpu's, it's very debateable how much better if at all it will even utilize the extra VRAM. Without SLI, which would be a single 8600 like you are wanting, I get half of the 3Dmark06 score i get with both enabled, and games run much smoother, and it only gets better with each driver release.

So, get the one you want, but just by upgrading the CPU, I don't think will fix what's wrong..... sounds like a driver issue or operating system problem, possibly bloatware related. Now don't get my wrong, upgrading the CPU won't hurt, and would be a decent upgrade, but the one you got is pretty dang powerful as is, and won't be noticably slower than the 2.4.

 

As a note as well, upgrading the CPU does require essentially dissassembling the entire laptop, it's burried in this thing! not a simple task by any means.... doable absolutely, but sure not quick and easy. I'm waiting to see what Intel releases next, and hopefully go that route if compatible

 

Thanks be77solo! I really appreciate the pointers. I'm going to get a clean install on this machine this week sometime, or just try to clean it out myself since I'm too lazy to re-install everything.

In regards to the CPU: I'll simply wait and see what happens with the computer industry before I drop another 350$ on this machine. As it is I can run anything I like, and i'm able to run Crysis at Med/High settings with DX9 so I'm happy.

I run Lost Planet on DX10 pretty well also so nothing is needed there. I've recommended this build out to a few of my colleagues already and one is planning on upgrading this christmas.

thanks for all the help!

 

no problem, a fresh reintall will give you the best results... I was amazed the difference between out of the box and an actual fresh install.... booted MUCH faster and ran much quicker, ESPECIALLY if you check out any of the Vista tweak guides.... some pretty good tips in there, and with them it's as fast as XP, and looks better with the Vista updates. I really don't think you'll be disappointed, it's a great machine, just gotta get it set up right!