Alt Tab Lag

[gf4200isdabest]

I was recently playing World of Warcraft on a friend's computer I was shocked at how smooth his alt tab was.

When I alt tab from the game I normally deal with 2-4 seconds of a black screen and then maybe another 1 second of the computer just being a little slow. Same with tabbing back into the game. On his computer it was nearly instantaneous.

I also got the impression that his framerates were smoother than mine. I have quite a bit of variance at 1280x1024, anywhere from 15 to 50 fps depending on how much is going on in front of me. His didn't seem to produce as significant downward spikes and he runs it at 1680x(something, can't remember, he plays on a widescreen)

His specs are something like AMD 3000+, nVidia 6800 GS, 2GB RAM (2x1GB generic)

My specs: AMD64 3200+, Radeon X1950XT, 1GB RAM (2x 512MB Corsair XMS)


Is the answer really just to upgrade RAM or is the performance gap indicative of other issues (I've had PSU problems in the past)?

 

[JustaGeek]

If you only have 1GB of RAM, the system must be using the paging file more than in a system with 2GB. That's your delay - HD vs RAM.

He might also be using a faster Hard Drive like a 10,000RPM Raptor, or a RAID setup.

Add RAM, it'll be faster.

 

[Markbnj]

RAM, for sure, and then a faster hard drive as JustaGeek said. WoW has a massive working set, so with 1 gig when it is the foreground app just about everything that can be paged to disk has been. Then when you alt-tab XP has to page some of that WoW data out, and page the selected app's data in. 2 gigs makes a big difference with modern games, and a 10k drive will definitely help as well.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

The hard drive I have:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 16mb cache

I'm pretty sure he's just using an old Western Digital 8mb cache ide drive, so I have every reason to believe that my HD is newer.

Would I notice a difference in MMOs (that's all I play) between 2gb and 4gb?

 

[JustaGeek]

Add the extra 1GB of RAM and you will see a difference.

BTW, he has a MUCH better Video Card, perhaps with 512MB of VRAM. That makes a HUGE difference.


EDIT: SORRY, just noticed that it was your card LOL.

RAM, RAM, RAM.

And make sure that you have enabled the "Data Caching" on your Hard Drive. It can be found in the IDE drivers in the Device Manager.

And remove the jumper from your HD to allow the 3 GB/s data transfer - unless you've done that already (If your MB supports Sata II).

 

[gf4200isdabest]

Originally posted by: JustaGeek

And remove the jumper from your HD to allow the 3 GB/s data transfer - unless you've done that already (If your MB supports Sata II).

I believe my MB doesn't support SATA2. I use a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong in that assumption?


I'm probably going to place an order for new RAM over the next couple of days, would it make sense to add 2 more 512MB so that I have 4x512 or just toss my old memory in the "random PC parts" box and get 2x1GB?

Is it a problem that my mobo can only support dual channel DDR up to 400 mhz?

Also, is there any other factor that could be contributing to slow alt tab times?

 

[yhr707]

Hmmm.

Are you sure that he wasn't playing WoW in full screen windowed mode???
Thats how i normally play and its instant when i alt-tab.

 

[JustaGeek]

You will have to investigate, because I do not have experience with AMD and their memory controller on the chip.

I've read some posts that would suggest the use of 2 DIMMs only, e.g. 2 x 1GB as a better alternative to the 4 DIMMs on the AMD platform.

With the memory prices nowadays, you are fine either way.

If your MB does not support SATA II, make sure that you have a "limiting" jumper in place. The 150 limit should be accomplished automatically, but it is better to do it directly on the drive IMHO.