New laptop and would like advice

cbf36 · 03-03-2012, 12:47 PM

Hi! Posted this prob. at trhttp://www.trainsim.com and I've attached a link/vbts/showthread.php?307088-New-laptop-and-would-like-adviceainsim.com.

You can post replies here if you don't have a trainsim membership. Thanks; Chuck F

Suicide Perkies · 03-03-2012, 01:04 PM

Fixed the link:
http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthr...ld-like-advice

No idea what's wrong there, that's a fairly powerful machine.

cbf36 · 03-03-2012, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suicide Perkies

Fixed the link:
http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthr...ld-like-advice

No idea what's wrong there, that's a fairly powerful machine.

Hi! Thanks for doing the link! Is the Performance Rate on the HD at 5.9 normal? Are the newest drivers not necessarily the best drivers? Cheers; Chuck F

peterhayes · 03-03-2012, 01:54 PM

cbf36

Quote:

How can I find out how much RAM is actually being used?

I'm not really sure

why you want to know this or what use it will be to you but the easiest way is to open Task manager, choose Performance and look at available bytes this will tell you how much RAM out of the 8GB is still available to you. A 32-bit program like TS2012 can only address up to a maximum of 4GB Physical RAM at any one time so it would be unlikely that you have used all of the RAM. There are other more powerful tools that can give you a more complex view of how much RAM you are utilising. (eg Process Monitor or Performance Monitor from sysinternals). Your cpu is more likely to be a limiting factor wrt TS2012 rather than the physsical RAM unless it is faulty. With laptops ther are power saving options that might also interfere with performance, so you may need to change the power settings for TS 2102 if you play it connected to a power source.
Your laptop should run TS2012 reasonably well.
Regards
PeterH

zm4r · 03-03-2012, 03:28 PM

This article is outdated, but It's telling me what happened. (I think)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Turbo_Boost

When any of the electrical or thermal limits are reached, the operating frequency automatically decreases in decrements of 133 MHz/100 MHz until the processor is again operating within its design limits.[1]

Erik

zm4r · 03-03-2012, 04:51 PM

Sysinternals

Although I do not yet understand everything.

My favorites are WCL 405/406 - Mysteries of Memory Management Revealed, with Mark Russinovich.

!!+-2.3 GB high quality wmv's

Nana-chan · 03-03-2012, 04:58 PM

We really need more details on what detail settings and screen resolution you use in order to run TS2012. Which route and where do you get the dreaded 14fps? e.g. WCML-N at Motherwell. My suggestion to get immediate fps improvements is to turn the shadows down to "low".

My best guess is that your graphics card is limiting your performance. My laptop has 4GB RAM and usage is around 75% with TS2012. My graphics is slightly faster than your GT525M, being a 540M. I run at 1366x768 and get around 20-25fps in rural WCML-N and 15fps at Motherwell on high textures, but low shaders and shadows and FXAA. Hard Drive should only become a factor in loading times and when the game loads the next tile but even people with SSDs seem to get the fps dip.

peterhayes · 03-03-2012, 05:22 PM

Zm4r
Those videos by Mark Russinovich are outstanding!!

Regards
PeterH

zm4r · 03-04-2012, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterhayes

Zm4r
Those videos by Mark Russinovich are outstanding!!

Regards
PeterH

Thank you, but maybe we should thank Mark Russinovich for this. Personaly I think he's a hero. It's not only what he's talking about, but the way he does it. From time to time I had a realy good laugh. Personaly I think everyone should see them, even if we don't always understand what's going on now, it will be useful for later.

Grtz
Erik

cbf36 · 03-04-2012, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nana-chan

We really need more details on what detail settings and screen resolution you use in order to run TS2012. Which route and where do you get the dreaded 14fps? e.g. WCML-N at Motherwell. My suggestion to get immediate fps improvements is to turn the shadows down to "low".

My best guess is that your graphics card is limiting your performance. My laptop has 4GB RAM and usage is around 75% with TS2012. My graphics is slightly faster than your GT525M, being a 540M. I run at 1366x768 and get around 20-25fps in rural WCML-N and 15fps at Motherwell on high textures, but low shaders and shadows and FXAA. Hard Drive should only become a factor in loading times and when the game loads the next tile but even people with SSDs seem to get the fps dip.

Hi! The route I have the most trouble with is the NEC Corridor when running the GG1. I figure that if I can get this running properly, then everything else should run okay.

With TSX-On and a screen resolution of 1280/960, Windows mode,and Anti Aliasing at None, and with the Graphic Detail on Custom with Shadow Quality, Low Detail Shadows, Procedural Flora, Adaptive Bloom and Depth of Field - Off,and all other settings on High Detail (Not Highest Detail) the Game Clock runs at 40 sec in 60. Turbo Boost is not being accessed or is shutting off. The sim is marginally playable at 14 fps. My knowledge of Nvidia settings is minimal so have not tried to do anything with it.

Any advice as to what I should try next? Also, I will be talking to a Dell tech tomorrow to see if they can suggest something.

Thanks to all who have replied. Cheers; Chuck F

Nana-chan · 03-04-2012, 11:56 AM

I do not own the NEC but I have read that it is the most demanding route in Railworks, even more so than WCML-N. The next thing I would try is to run it with object textures on medium. If that still doesn't work, I'd turn TSX off.

peterhayes · 03-04-2012, 01:48 PM

Nana Chen
you have to be careful turning TSX off, my rig an E8600 (which has similar grunt to the OP's) runs much worse with TSX turned off than on. It could be one of those settings that is rig dependant.

Regards
PeterH

zm4r · 03-04-2012, 02:26 PM

Chuck, I really love to know what the Dell tech has to say, if possible?

Grtz
Erik

PS: I do own the NEC route, but I didn't buy the GG1 because I had the feeling this could happen to me too. In other words, I didn't want to take the risk.

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.07GHz 49 °C
Bloomfield 45nm Technology
RAM
6,00 GB Triple-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz (6-6-6-20)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. X58A-UD3R (Socket 1366) 31 °C
Graphics
SyncMaster (1680x1050@60Hz)
1024MB GeForce GTX 460 (MSI) 33 °C
Hard Drives
977GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device (SATA) 29 °C
733GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD753LJ ATA Device (SATA) 22 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA Device
Audio
Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM)

cbf36 · 03-06-2012, 02:45 PM

Hi!

I've been working with a Dell tech and tried a couple of work-around solutions, but only improved performance marginally. I'm now being offered a PC with i7, 2TB HD, 8GB RAM, and a Radeon HD6670 or 6850 video card. All my previous video cards have been Nvidea, and am not familiar with Radeon. How do these cards work with RW3? Cheers; Chuck F.

03-03-2012, 12:47 PM	#1
cbf36 Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 40 Posts: 233	New laptop and would like advice Hi! Posted this prob. at trhttp://www.trainsim.com and I've attached a link/vbts/showthread.php?307088-New-laptop-and-would-like-adviceainsim.com. You can post replies here if you don't have a trainsim membership. Thanks; Chuck F

03-04-2012, 02:26 PM	#13
zm4r Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 64 Posts: 1,047	Chuck, I really love to know what the Dell tech has to say, if possible? Grtz Erik PS: I do own the NEC route, but I didn't buy the GG1 because I had the feeling this could happen to me too. In other words, I didn't want to take the risk. Operating System MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1 CPU Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.07GHz 49 °C Bloomfield 45nm Technology RAM 6,00 GB Triple-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz (6-6-6-20) Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. X58A-UD3R (Socket 1366) 31 °C Graphics SyncMaster (1680x1050@60Hz) 1024MB GeForce GTX 460 (MSI) 33 °C Hard Drives 977GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device (SATA) 29 °C 733GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD753LJ ATA Device (SATA) 22 °C Optical Drives TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA Device Audio Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) Last edited by zm4r: 03-04-2012 at 02:39 PM.

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03-03-2012, 01:04 PM	#2
Suicide Perkies Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 35 Posts: 526	Fixed the link: http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthr...ld-like-advice No idea what's wrong there, that's a fairly powerful machine.

03-03-2012, 03:28 PM	#5
zm4r Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 64 Posts: 1,047	This article is outdated, but It's telling me what happened. (I think) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Turbo_Boost When any of the electrical or thermal limits are reached, the operating frequency automatically decreases in decrements of 133 MHz/100 MHz until the processor is again operating within its design limits.[1] Erik

03-03-2012, 04:51 PM	#6
zm4r Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 64 Posts: 1,047	Sysinternals Although I do not yet understand everything. My favorites are WCL 405/406 - Mysteries of Memory Management Revealed, with Mark Russinovich. !!+-2.3 GB high quality wmv's

03-03-2012, 04:58 PM	#7
Nana-chan Join Date: Oct 2010 Reputation: 58 Posts: 368	We really need more details on what detail settings and screen resolution you use in order to run TS2012. Which route and where do you get the dreaded 14fps? e.g. WCML-N at Motherwell. My suggestion to get immediate fps improvements is to turn the shadows down to "low". My best guess is that your graphics card is limiting your performance. My laptop has 4GB RAM and usage is around 75% with TS2012. My graphics is slightly faster than your GT525M, being a 540M. I run at 1366x768 and get around 20-25fps in rural WCML-N and 15fps at Motherwell on high textures, but low shaders and shadows and FXAA. Hard Drive should only become a factor in loading times and when the game loads the next tile but even people with SSDs seem to get the fps dip.

03-03-2012, 05:22 PM	#8
peterhayes Join Date: Aug 2011 Reputation: 78 Posts: 753	Zm4r Those videos by Mark Russinovich are outstanding!! Regards PeterH

03-04-2012, 11:56 AM	#11
Nana-chan Join Date: Oct 2010 Reputation: 58 Posts: 368	I do not own the NEC but I have read that it is the most demanding route in Railworks, even more so than WCML-N. The next thing I would try is to run it with object textures on medium. If that still doesn't work, I'd turn TSX off.

03-04-2012, 01:48 PM	#12
peterhayes Join Date: Aug 2011 Reputation: 78 Posts: 753	Nana Chen you have to be careful turning TSX off, my rig an E8600 (which has similar grunt to the OP's) runs much worse with TSX turned off than on. It could be one of those settings that is rig dependant. Regards PeterH

03-06-2012, 02:45 PM	#14
cbf36 Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 40 Posts: 233	Hi! I've been working with a Dell tech and tried a couple of work-around solutions, but only improved performance marginally. I'm now being offered a PC with i7, 2TB HD, 8GB RAM, and a Radeon HD6670 or 6850 video card. All my previous video cards have been Nvidea, and am not familiar with Radeon. How do these cards work with RW3? Cheers; Chuck F.