Software Optimization Tips (Intended for Windows 7 64-bit and Nvidia Users), Getting Ready For Rome II Total War

[Metallistic]

Hello everyone,

After having an open thread for discussions revolving around hardware, I would like to open a counterpart for software. My intentions are to share tips and tricks from my personal experience that may help when it comes to video-gaming or other hardware-demanding activities in general. Please consider the fact that the settings that I specify are the most optimal IN MY OPINION. I am simply sharing this in an attempt to raise awareness when it comes to getting the most out of your system. The provided information will be split into the following categories:

• General Windows Options
• Maintenance Programs
  
• Razer Game Booster
• CPU Tweaks and Options
• The NVIDIA Driver/s and Control Panel

Allow me to begin with begin with the first category according to the list. This is where I will summarize any information regarding the well known Windows options and the particular effects they may have on an application that you may happen to run.

DO THESE CHANGES ON YOUR OWN RISK!

General Windows Options

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. Power Options - Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Power Options and set it to High Performance.

2. Page File - It is also known as virtual memory. The Windows operating system reserves a certain amount of your storage device for the described feature. The topic whether or not you need Page File is a rather controversial topic and it has been beaten to death with no conclusive evidence. However, I do believe it is there for a reason and many argue that page file is used in various applications regardless of how much RAM memory you have at your disposal. Having said this, I will not advocate turning off the page file entirely. As you might have guessed, there is an option to change how much of your storage device is dedicated specifically for page file.

- How? - Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced -> Under the "Performance" category, click on "Settings" -> Advanced -> Under the "Virtual Memory" category, click on "Change". You will have to change it to "custom size" with the initial size and maximum size being the same and represented in megabytes. So when it comes to specifying page file size, it is advisable to be accurate in terms of megabytes per gigabyte as I will describe in my next paragraph.

- How much to change it to? - The general consensus is that the minimal ratio between virtual memory and RAM memory should be 1:1. This means that if you have 4GB of RAM memory, the logic is as follows:

1GB = 1024MB, thus 4GB = 4 * 1024MB = 4096MB; Taking into account the recommendation for minimal 1:1 ratio, this means that your page file will be 4096MB as well. Simply choose the "Custom size" option and enter the value of 4096 in both "initial" and "maximum" size categories.

Some folks recommend to have 1.5:1 (page file : RAM) or higher ratio, but in my experience, 1.5 seems to be the best option as the page file feature does not hog too much of your storage space and you don't have to worry about performance or any other potential complications. So with 1.5:1 ratio, how do we do the math? Let's use my machine as an example, which has 16GB of RAM.

1GB = 1024MB, thus 16GB = 16* 1024 = 16384MB; Taking into account the recommended ratio between virtual memory and RAM being 1.5:1, we simply multiply the total amount of RAM megabytes by 1.5:

16384 * 1.5 = 24576MB which is supposedly the recommended amount for my PC. Again, you type in the value in both the "initial" and "maximum" size categories as I mentioned previously.

- After making the necessary changes, you will be required to restart your computer.

3. I recommend turning off Windows Automatic Updates and doing it manually. Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Windows Update -> Change settings -> Set to "Never Check for Updates".

4. Always run the programs/applications that are on the top of your priority list as administrator. This can be done by either right-clicking on the software's .exe/shortcut/etc. and selecting the "Run as Administrator" option or clicking on the "Properties" option instead and going to "Compatibility" and check the "Run this program as an administrator" option under the "Privilege Level" category.

Maintenance Programs

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. CCleaner (Free) - An excellent piece of software that will help you deal with junk files, clean the registry, uninstall programs and even customize your list of "Startup" applications (those that start up as soon as the operating system boots up).

- To utilize the "Cleaner" function of the program, simply select it (located on the left side of the interface), hit the analyze option and then proceed to "Run Cleaner" when the scan has been completed. I suggest using this feature once every 2-3 days.

- To utilize the registry cleaning tool, simply select the "Registy" category (located on the left side of the interface), hit the analyze option and then proceed to "Run Cleaner" when the scan has been completed. I suggest using this feature once every 2-3 days.

- The uninstall and customize startup programs features can both be found when selecting the "Tools" category (located on the left side of the interface). I recommend disabling all unnecessary startup programs that you don't consider vital. Only disable applications that you know exactly what they are.

2. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free) - Great anti-malware software. I recommend running full scans once every week.

3. Auslogics Disk Defrag (Free) - Simple and efficient hard disk defragmenting tool. I recommend running the "Defrag & Optimize" feature once every 2 weeks or so.

4. Asulogics Registry Defrag (Free) - You can run this once every month or so, nothing to worry about after the initial scan and defrag.

Razer Game Booster

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Now before you dismiss my suggestion, let me explain why I consider this to be of value, at least for me. When I am playing a game, I am not looking for 100+ FPS, but consistent 60FPS in combination with a generally smoother gaming experience and NO screen-tearing. I also try to eliminate every possible scenario, which might generate the phenomenon known as "micro-stuttering" or skipping of frames. This is where the program shines the brightest as it makes sure that there are no background applications that might interrupt the video game being played. I have not seen any downside to using it, so why not?

There are also other features that are often overlooked by the majority. The program also offers "Tools", which consist of "Tweaks", "Defrag" and "Drivers". I have not used the last two, but I definitely think that applying the suggested tweaks by using the first one is a solid idea. Most of them deal with boosting priority of foreground applications, ending hung programs faster etc. All in all a great piece of software that automatically deals with potential background interruption, while boosting foreground application priority and disabling any automatic updates at the same time. Give it a shot at the very least as it is free and only a registration is required.

CPU Tweaks and Options

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Users of CPUs with hyperthreading should stay away from this tweak. I have had no experience with such chips.
1. Go to Start -> Run -> Type in "msconfig" -> Select the "Boot" tab -> Advanced Options -> Check "Number of processors" and select the number which corresponds to the number of your PHYSICAL CPU cores. After the change, restart your computer.

2. Disable Core Parking: This is only for users of CPUs with at least 2 physical cores.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It is a feature that makes windows not use a number of cores depending if it thinks that the workload can be handled by the rest of the cores. The problem is that this feature kicks in even when you are running certain applications and it takes time to move a core from unused, low-power state to an active state, ready to handle threads. This delay can cause micro-stuttering and sometimes it can take some time for the system to respond. Not only has my gaming experience been a lot smoother by disabling this, but overall the system is a lot more "snappier" and responsive, as ALL of the cores are in an active state, ready to process information.

- Go to Regedit

- Find this key:- " 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583 "

- Within this key, there is a value called: " ValueMax "

- This value represents the % number of cores the system will park - the default 100% ie: all Cores are potentially park-able

- Change the value from 64 to 0 so the " ValueMin " and " ValueMax " are both zero

- You will have to find the key a few times and repeat the process for each time it is found - the number of instances will depend on the number of power profiles in your system

- Do a full shutdown and power-off and cold-re-start
(instructions by TomG on the following forum: http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=1861804)

The NVIDIA Driver/s and Control Panel

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. Drivers

Updating your drivers is always a good idea, but do it with caution. If you care about having the best solution for your system, you will have to do the necessary research. Read various forums, look for benchmarks, read threads specifically for driver feedback, ask around etc. Make sure to select the most stable driver for your GPU. Sometimes, this can only be guaranteed through trial and error but this is just the nature of software products.

When it comes to installation of new drivers and uninstallation of old ones, make sure to utilize CCleaner, which I described previously. When I engage in the specified activity, this is the order in which I do it:

Uninstall Old Driver -> Restart -> Manually delete leftover folders (if you don't know what you are doing, just skip this part) -> Run CCleaner -> Restart -> Install New Drivers (Don't forget to check the "clean installation" option during the driver setup.) -> Restart - Done

2. NVIDIA Control Panel: These are what I consider to be the most optimal options when it comes to the "3D Settings" category. To access the Nvidia control panel, simply right-click on your screen and click the Nvidia logo. Then under the category "3D Settings", select "Manage 3D settings".

Ambient Occlusion : Off
Anisotropic filtering: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - FXAA: Off
Antialiasing - Gamma correction: On
Antialiasing - Mode: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - Setting: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - Transparency: Off
CUDA - GPUs: All
Maximum pre-rendered frames: 1
Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration: Single display performance mode (if you have a single monitor)
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance
Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: Off
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Allow
Texture filtering - Trilinear oprimization: On
Threaded optimization: On (if you have a CPU with multiple cores)
Tripple buffering: On
Vertical sync: On

Feel free to criticize and contribute.

[SamueleD]

Good job!

There are a couple of things that are not wholly convincing for me, but I think they are more a matter of opinion.
-The page file is indeed used, but, unless you have very little in the way of RAM, 1GB should be enough, however, if one has the room to do it, 1:1 is certainly not a bad thing to do. (On my laptop I have 4GB of RAM and without the page file it gets sometimes a bit too little, on Win 8, so I have enabled 1GB of page file and now it goes well, getting to 4GB wouldn't hurt, but the hard disk is a bit full)
-Disabling automatic updates should be done only if you remember to do them yourself, otherwise keep them on at least auto-download with notifications enabled. (I personally download and install them manually, but let the pc check for them)
-On CCleaner, if you want to keep your browser history, etc. I would recommend unchecking it from the cleaning process.
-I would rather use Adaptive Vsync, to avoid both tearing and lag (depending on the framerate), or no VSync at all in lower to mid range gpus.
-I would recommend FXAA for lower to mid range gpus, with standard anti aliasing completely disabled.

Addition:
-GeForce experience can be useful for less experienced users.

[Jimakos1966]

Great thread! I wish these forums were full of threads like this and not stupid complaining

What i wanted to ask though is about the Page File. I have 16GB of RAM and i was wondering if this tweak will affect my pc and in what way. Thanks in advance and +rep for your helpful thread

[Wicked Moose]

Good thread

Could you explain what the CPU tweaks do? (Both the number of physical cores in msconfig and the core parking.)

[Metallistic]

Good thread

Could you explain what the CPU tweaks do? (Both the number of physical cores in msconfig and the core parking.)

Changing the option in msconfig will speed up your boot times.

As for core parking, it is a feature that makes windows not use a number of cores depending if it thinks that the workload can be handled by the rest of the cores. The problem is that this feature kicks in even when you are running certain applications and it takes time to move a core from unused, low-power state to an active state, ready to handle threads. This delay can cause micro-stuttering and sometimes it can take some time for the system to respond. Not only has my gaming experience been a lot smoother by disabling this, but overall the system is a lot more "snappier" and responsive, as ALL of the cores are in an active state, ready to process information.

I cannot second your suggestions to change the power management features! Otherwise the cpu and other components will not dynamically slowed down (e.g. Intel Speedstep), or cores won't be disabled in Windows 7/8.
Your settings are only useful if you are benchmarking, but it does NOT affect your gaming and application performance. Same to CPU parking, it is not recommended it you want a silent and cool system and definitely an economic power management.

The CPU does slow down as intended. You would have to turn off Intel Speed Step and the rest of the power-saving features in BIOS in order to achieve what you described.

My i5 3570k is clocked @4.2GHz with 1.120v during full load. In idle, the speed is lowered to 1,6GHz and the voltage to ~0.936v.

Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Clamp
Vertical sync: Adaptive (This offers a brilliant mix of non tearing and performance, you do not need the Razor game booster in this case)

I very much agree about the rest of your suggestions, but I have had funky experiences with these two options.

Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Clamp - I've encountered an issue in Anno 2070, where the camera would be jittery when moving over a big city. This does not happen using the default setting.
Vertical sync: Adaptive - I do experience tearing when using the adaptive Vsync version. Any specific option that is necessary for it to run as you described?

[alQamar]

Very good thread Metallistic thanks for your work and idea, but there is a lot to optimize imho

I cannot second your suggestions to change the power management features! Otherwise the cpu and other components will not dynamically slowed down (e.g. Intel Speedstep), or cores won't be disabled in Windows 7/8.
Your settings are only useful if you are benchmarking, but it does NOT affect your gaming and application performance. Same to CPU parking, it is not recommended it you want a silent and cool system and definitely an economic power management.

I please you, even your tips are technically ok, to remove them as they disable all features of power saving in Windows. Especially on laptops this will not be productive.

Here are some suggestions for all NVIDIA cards (Desktop or Laptop).
Use the general settings panel, so you do not need to set this in all games seperately.
When setting this,

If you use this settings please obeye:
- DO NOT disable vsync in your game, as the driver settings will not override the settings if VSYNC is turned off (tested via fraps)
- DISABLE Antialiasing and Anisotropic filtering ingame settings.
- DO NOT use Nvidia Experience as he is overriding your manual settings, like turning off MSAA etc.

FXAA is the best filtering method at the moment. Cons: Screenshots are not filtered as this is an post processing effect, some game respond with a blurry text.
non standard settings are marked

Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Ambient Occlusion : Quality (leave standard setting on entry or laptop graphics)
Anisotropic filtering: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - FXAA: On (only set this on program related settings, as some Windows Applications will get blurry (Office 2013, Messenger, Firefox)
Antialiasing - Gamma correction: On
Antialiasing - Mode: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - Setting: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - Transparency: 4x / 8x Supersampling (leave it disabled if you have an entry card or laptop. Test this settings and lower or turn off if it causes low FPS. )
CUDA - GPUs: All
Maximum pre-rendered frames: leave standard settings
Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration: Single display performance mode (if you have a single monitor)
Power management mode: Adaptive
Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: Off
Texture Filtering Quality: high quality (leave standard setting on entry or laptop graphics)
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Clamp
Texture filtering - Trilinear oprimization: On
Threaded optimization: Auto
Tripple buffering: On
Vertical sync: Adaptive (This offers a brilliant mix of non tearing and performance, you do not need the Razor game booster in this case)


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2. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free) - Great anti-malware software. I recommend running full scans once every week.
If you have Microsoft Security Essentials you do not need this. Mostly this program only deletes tracking and ad cookies.

3. Auslogics Disk Defrag (Free) - Simple and efficient hard disk defragmenting tool. I recommend running the "Defrag & Optimize" feature once every 2 weeks or so.
I use same tool from Pirisoft: Defraggler
4. Asulogics Registry Defrag (Free) - You can run this once every month or so, nothing to worry about after the initial scan and defrag.
Used those tools many years and never got a real advantage. If you have still Windows XP the Microsoft Bootvis Tool can optimize your startup.


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Pagefile:
Usually if you have 8 GB or more RAM you can disable the pagefile safely. There is no reason for it, unless you do tasks that consume more RAM than you have installed. If your OS is on a classic HDD place the pagefile on a SSD if you have one. This boost performance a lot when you have less RAM (4 GB or below)

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please add the preferences.script.txt optimization for i3 and i7 users in Total War.

[ElvenKind]

Nice thread..

Maybe add an info for Users who have USB mouse or a USB keyboard to go to their Power Options, Advanced Settings, and in USB Settings to DISABLE ˝ USB selective suspend setting ˝.

Note: May shorten Battery Work time on Laptops.

[Totalheadache]

been using sweet fx to improve graphics. makes world of tanks look great.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265

[alQamar]

You need clamp and Vsync together referring to the description.

[Ellixhirion]

What does the power management actually do?Does this only means my computer will consume more energy than usual? Does this also have an impact on heat?

[alQamar]

Both of these. More energy consumption and heat

[simonsimons]

I want to overclock my i7 3770k 3.50GHz to about 3.9GHz. What voltage would you recommend as a guide and what heatsink would you reccommend?