Contemplating an upgrade

[jameswiggin]

I've recently began looking into getting a SSD or Velociraptor HDD. My PC is only 1 year old and is home-built. It has ran great thusfar but I have the dreaded stuttering in trainz that comes and goes with no warning. Some stutters are short (1-2 seconds) and some are longer which seem to last upwards of 8-10 seconds at a time. Here are my current build specs and was wanting to ensure that the issue lies in the I/O rate of my HDD and not with the CPU/GPU or RAM.

Windows 7 64 bit with SP1
AMD FX-8120 8-core CPU@ 3.1ghz
AMD Radeon HD 7850 w/ 2GB memory
8gb RAM
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB 6Gb/s 64mb Cache HDD which scores a 118.0 Mb/s Read and 110.0 Mb/sec write using CrystalDiskMark.

I'm leaning towards the HDD being the problem since the way Trainz reads assets and accesses them.

 

[LNERlover5]

I would assume that those stutters are due to load times associated with loading route assets from the HDD. I'm probably not alone in recommending an SSD that is large enough for your trainz installation with space left over.

 

[lewisner]

I've recently began looking into getting a SSD or Velociraptor HDD. My PC is only 1 year old and is home-built. It has ran great thusfar but I have the dreaded stuttering in trainz that comes and goes with no warning. Some stutters are short (1-2 seconds) and some are longer which seem to last upwards of 8-10 seconds at a time. Here are my current build specs and was wanting to ensure that the issue lies in the I/O rate of my HDD and not with the CPU/GPU or RAM.

Windows 7 64 bit with SP1
AMD FX-8120 8-core CPU@ 3.1ghz
AMD Radeon HD 7850 w/ 2GB memory
8gb RAM
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB 6Gb/s 64mb Cache HDD which scores a 118.0 Mb/s Read and 110.0 Mb/sec write using CrystalDiskMark.

I'm leaning towards the HDD being the problem since the way Trainz reads assets and accesses them.

What results do you get in Windows Experience Index? Its not exact but gives us some idea. Presumably you have used the usual tricks to improve things such as cutting Startup items to the bare minimum and increasing the Page File Size to in your case 12GB? And used AMD Catalyst Control Centre to update the Drivers etc?
Your HDD only has a speed of 5900 RPM so an SSD will be a huge improvement.

 

[johnwhelan]

Looking at newegg a VelociRaptor would be about a quarter of the price of an SSD given you want to be thinking in terms of 500 gigs for Trainz. I don't think there is much to choose frames per second wise. The GPU seems fine, I assume you have tried DirectX and OpenGL just in case one is faster than the other directX is normally faster. The CPU is interesting, I think TS12 uses two cores of your eight available in driver.

I suggest you check your video card drivers.

Cheerio John

 

[fran1]

If your motherboard supports 6 gb per second data transfer rate (sata 3) a SSD is the way to go. If only sata 2 you will see no difference between a raptor and an SSD. I know I've a sata 2 board.

 

[lewisner]

If you do go down the SSD route I suggest looking for a used one on Ebay. This used one went for less than half its new price (note this is UK £ not dollars) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251318125132?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

 

[jameswiggin]

My motherboard is a AsRock 990 FX Extreme 4 and is Sata 3. My Pc scores are as follows:
PROCESSOR:7.6
MEMORY: 7.6
GRAPHICS 7.9
GAMING: 7.9
HARD DISK: 5.9

 

[fran1]

My motherboard is a AsRock 990 FX Extreme 4 and is Sata 3. My Pc scores are as follows:
PROCESSOR:7.6
MEMORY: 7.6
GRAPHICS 7.9
GAMING: 7.9
HARD DISK: 5.9

SSD will load game a lot faster and reduce seek time. For info an SSD on a sata 2 board rates at 7.1.

 

[jameswiggin]

Is some of the stuttering due to build 58414 and if so, are one of the older builds better? Is it possible to revert to an older version without losing assets and items downloaded?