Extra Ram ??

[RRSignal]

As I mentioned before just like anyone who keeps their system properly maintained I periodically connect to Windows updates and then disconnect from the Internet so I wouldn't know or care. But then again who would.

For those who have been following this thread and are now worried or even terrified about that bad ol' Windows 7 periodic reauthorization (what ever that is right, lol), I've ventured where rrsignal was afraid to go, an actual forum where information can be found on the subject -

So, you've finally verified that you cannot run Windows 7 completely offline. Great, which, for most users, precludes its use offline and, therefore, precludes any of the performance and security benefits of same.

Now, technically, this isn't true. One can do what you do and keep your computer disconnected 99% of the time, only connecting to do some "windows updates" (haha) and allowing your copy to reauthorize. Great.

Problem is, this is a PITA for most users. Even though it only needs to be done every so often, most people aren't going to put up with it or remember. And there's the annoyance factor.

So, most of these folks will probably operate with an always-on internet connection and, of course, have to have A/V, A/S, firewalls, etc. hogging their resources. So this poses a real problem in the real world.

It doesn't to geeks like you who spend all day playing with their overpriced toys because it's a hobby for you. That's all well and good for you, I'm happy for you. Furthermore, I wish people would exercise a little more patience and tech-savvy. Win7's mandatory reauthentication scheme isn't completely a limitation of the OS and can be worked around with little difficulty.

It's just that most people won't tolerate the inconvenience. And why should they? For the 98% of the world that doesn't hang out in douchy hardware forums bragging how little your you-know-what is...oops, I mean how hot and modern and expensive your computers are, computers are a tool to accomplish a task. Most people really don't want to be bothered with workarounds and hassles like periodically connecting their computers to the net to make MS happy.

I know you can't understand that fact because, as you have stated in the past, computers are a hobby for you. But you have to grasp the fact that little things like this can pi$$ people off royally because people just want to do their thing with a minimum of hassle; things like reauthorization can be deal-breakers if they interfere with that.


For those following this discussion:

One poster djt had to run to claimed that reauthorization is only done on corporate editions of Win7, while Microsoft's own website suggests it may be used by all Windows 7 licenses. The phrase "which display periodic reminders such as whether there is a problem with your Windows license components" and the explanation of Update to Activation Technologies suggest this is an ongoing process as opposed to a one-time process, at least, if Win7 is left to its own devices.

 

[RRSignal]

No you checked your wallet and found Windows 7 wasn't for me.

I checked my wallet and found Windows 7 was a waste of money.

You've got it in your head that it won't benefit you because you'll never be able to use it to even know one way or another.

If you go back and read what I wrote, you'd have noted I made a couple statements in which Win7 could be useful. Neither of which apply to me or probably most people currently or in the near future. I never said it won't provide benefits, perhaps even substantial ones. I suspect those benefits are a few years away for most people besides some gamers, but the potential sure is there.

Anyone who desires excellent performance in CPU dependent games.

Hmm, I run TS2010 and FS2004 pretty well. FSX could stand some improvement. Perhaps if I feel the need to run TS2010 and FSX or 5 instances of a RAW-to-MPEG2 converter, the extra capacity of an i7 960 will be worth it. Personally, I only run one sim at a time. I only encode one home video at a time. I don't really need extra space right now.

Again you've made it irrelevant because it made recommendations that you don't want to hear.

It's irrelevant because there is no benefit for what I need to do. I'd wager most people as well.

Then how come there is a performance increase with the games I have that can use multi-core CPU's when run on Windows 7?

Detail what games and the level of increase and coding specifics. Modern games, more and more, are being designed to take advantage of multiple cores more efficiently than older ones. Similarly, games are coming out that take advantage of DX11 (I'd be interested to see some hard performance comparisons, especially versus DX9 on XP.) That's great. Again, this is an issue for very few people besides those playing certain, modern games.

It's kind of like how the 386 was out for years but it took many years for software to take advantages of many of it's capabilities. The 386 was already obsolete by the time compilers that spit out native 386 code hit the general market.

16 cores, not yet but soon.

See, for me, that's not worthwhile, especially if I were building a computer six months or a year ago. Even today it wouldn't be worth the money, though my next build will likely be one of the lower-end i7s in the next few months.

If you page down to the “4 October 2010” section of this “What’s new?” page on X-Plane 10 development there’s some interesting info on what can be accomplished by taking advantage of multi-core CPU’s (16 cores with Hyper-threading enabled to be exact) –

http://www.x-plane.com/pg_news.html

Interestingly, I came within a few clicks of buying X-Plane last month. I still may get it.

Could you give us some examples of the performance you are getting with that machine you built by thoroughly doing your homework?

Well, in TS2010, I get a low end of about 50 FPS in driver with a system not much above minimum spec and the sliders maxed out. Since the eye can't see faster than that, I don't think I'm missing anything.

Unless you are using a quality PCI-e RAID controller card the Raptors in RAID 0 on the motherboard RAID controller will nothing to help performance, especially with a CPU dependent game.

If I was serious about this I'd research this more though I have been giving thought to buying a single Raptor for the OS, Trains and FS.

 

[djt]

Problem is, this is a PITA for most users. Even though it only needs to be done every so often, most people aren't going to put up with it or remember. And there's the annoyance factor.

No annoyance fator at all just like the responses given in those forums (a non-issue), why, because it's no different then how I and many others run XP.


Grab the updates, right click on the “local area connection” and choose “disconnect” and it's all done, not that hard really and again no different from what I'm use to with XP.

But you have to grasp the fact that little things like this can pi$$ people off royally because people just want to do their thing with a minimum of hassle;

No what you don't grasp is that using a machine for work and gaming has always been an up hill battle and one that many of us don't bother with anymore. As a matter of fact I use something far better and more efficient for just general work purposes, Linux and it's free.


This goes back to what I mentioned earlier about deciding what your priorities are and choosing the right tool for the job. In this case the right hardware and OS for gaming and sufficient hardware and an OS for Internet, email and office programs.


If gaming isn't a priority to you and you don't have the money to spend on setting up a machine just for gaming then following the previous conversation was a waste of time.

One poster djt had to run to

Correction, I had to run to him because you were afraid to do the research yourself and risk someone else telling you what you don't want to hear.


Your forgetting I, like many others, could give a chit about the so-called Windows 7 issue you created in your head.

 

[djt]

I run TS2010 and FS2004 pretty well.

As I've said before what you consider good performance isn't what I consider good performance.

FSX could stand some improvement.

To be honest FSX is a waste of time and compared to other games/sims I have is a real POS.


With X-Plane 10 and Microsoft's “Flight” on the way I don't even really look at FSX anymore and this is after dumping almost a grand in add-ons for it.

Detail what games and the level of increase and coding specifics. Modern games, more and more, are being designed to take advantage of multiple cores more efficiently than older ones. Similarly, games are coming out that take advantage of DX11 (I'd be interested to see some hard performance comparisons, especially versus DX9 on XP.) That's great. Again, this is an issue for very few people besides those playing certain, modern games.


It's kind of like how the 386 was out for years but it took many years for software to take advantages of many of it's capabilities. The 386 was already obsolete by the time compilers that spit out native 386 code hit the general market.

Actually with what is happening with PC gaming (dying a slow death) the numbers of PC gamers is dwindling rapidly. It's all about the console.


It's looking like games (simulation) for the PC will become very specialized and far and few between and will probably require very high end hardware that the software is designed to fully take advantage of.


I'd like to see PC simulation turn to OpenGL and Linux as a gaming OS. A very trim and essential functions only for PC simulation gaming version of Linux would be the ideal OS for this.

Well, in TS2010, I get a low end of about 50 FPS in driver with a system not much above minimum spec and the sliders maxed out.

With me unless I can consistently maintain a frame rate that matches the refresh rate of the monitor (60fps) at high resolution with a heavy dose of AA I'm not happy.

If I was serious about this I'd research this more though I have been giving thought to buying a single Raptor for the OS, Trains and FS.

Unless your going for a PCI-e card ($400-$500) you are better off running the OS on one drive and putting your performance applications on another.