Bad performance lies with Windows 7?

[bean5168]

And Vista?

Current PC: Q9450 @ 2.66GHz, HD6850 (930|1200), 4GB RAM.

Constant 90+ on all previous CoD games, even during very intense matches.

Since the release of BO I've been disappointed with the performance I was getting on my machine: constant dips down to 40... sometimes even to 30!

I saw this posted in a topic over on the Steam forums the other day: http://newtipsandtricks.com/black-ops-w ... -benchmark

Those constant dips in the framerate chart are exactly what I'm experiencing in Windows 7. I decided to get my XP disc and dual-boot it to see if I had the same results.

Windows 7 results on the left, XP on right.

Havana (looking from one end to the other): 40FPS -- 80FPS
First SP mission: Regular drops to 30-50 -- Stable 70+

That's more like it! My GPU usage sits around 50% on Windows 7 while it's constantly 90% or more on XP.

Try the same and post your results if you see an increase. Hopefully Treyarch will fix this.

[CoalM!NER-[IB]]

CoD:Bo is very CPU intensive, as well as more GPU intensive than CoD4 and MW2. Vista hogs RAM,

but 4-6Gb should be fine for a 64 bit os. My specs are as follows:

Quad Core i5-750 2.6Ghz (Oc'ed to 3.54Ghz)
Arctic Freezer Xtreme Rev2 CPU cooler
Gigabyte HD 5870 stock clocks
4Gb RAM
Vista

I had fps drops down to 50 fps when I first installed the game, though after overclocking my

CPU I never go under 95 fps. A quad core with clock speeds around 3Ghz+ is a must for games like

CoD:Bo, Bad Company 2 and Arma2. On top of that you will need a decent GPU with 1GB memory to run

resolutions @ 1680x1050 and higher. The 6850 is a mid range card, though I can just about

guarantee a 10-20fps jump if you raise the clock speed of your CPU. Just bear in mind that

the Core 2 Quad series run hot when overclocked so you may need an aftermarket cooler. 3Ghz would be an ideal sweet spot.

Try raising the CPU frequency in small increments, boot to windows and run Core Temp

to monitor temperatures and stress test with Prime 95 until you get the desired fps increase. If you do not feel confident,

DO NOT PLAY WITH CPU CLOCKS! Especially if the heatsink and fan are full of dust.

Also do some research on your motherboard, you may find that it limits how you overclock and how much.

For small overclocks like this you should not have to touch voltages, raising voltages can lower

temps and make it more stable when overclocking, but is usually the first thing to kill a CPU

or motherboard. Just raise the base clock speed, run Prime 95 for at least 20 mins and watch the temperatures.

As a general rule 80+ degrees C is bad, over 90 can kill CPU/Mobo. Aim for around 70-85 degrees C

maximum with the Core 2's. Although you may already be hitting that under load now so be careful.

Research is the key. Find the limitations of CPU and steer clear of it, monitor temps and grab an

aftermarket CPU cooler for under $100. Even Corsair offer water cooling for under $200 now.

Here are some links if you do decide to go down that road:

Prime 95: Stress tester. http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Core Temp: Temperature monitor. http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

EDIT Also to fully answe your question some users do have trouble with win7, but I run both in

separate partitions on my HDD and fps are around the same. I just don't like win7 lol. Desktop toolbar annoys me.

[bean5168]

A quad core with clock speeds around 3Ghz+ is a must for games like CoD:Bo, Bad Company 2 and Arma2.On top of that you will need a decent GPU with 1GB memory to run resolutions @ 1680x1050 and higher. The 6850 is a mid range card, though I can just about guarantee a 10-20fps jump if you raise the clock speed of your CPU.

I did overclock previously and while I gained a few more FPS it did not fix my GPU usage - it still dwindled around 50%. I've no plans to overclock my CPU anymore, I don't (and shouldn't) need to for the games I play.

Did you see my W7 vs XP benchmarks, and my note about the GPU usage? There's something up there, I should have the same (or very similar) GPU usage in both OS's. For some reason the game is not utilizing the GPU in W7, but it is in XP. Many people are reporting that it's working fine for them in W7, but there are quite a few who are having the same issue.

Thanks for the suggestions though, mate.

[CoalM!NER-[IB]]

The problem is that some are having trouble with Win7 and some aren't. The problems you are experiencing are not

limited to Win7, jump on callofduty.com and you will find similar posts from users with different OS's. The main

thing they have in common are Core 2 series CPU's. Even high-end i7 users experienced problems, but most were

resolved in the December patch, or, by changing seta r_multithreaded_device "0" to "1", turning off Steam Cloud Sync,

or overclocking your CPU.

The thing is that if you look at games like ArmaII and Bad Company 2, they love quad core CPU's with high clock speeds.

This is the way games are trending now. They are highly CPU dependent. Couple a mid range quad with a mid range GPU and

you will need to look at overclocking to run at high settings, especially with an older quad or dual core. It's up to

you whether you want to run XP, as you already dual boot and have Blackops installed I would just stick to that.

Remember that when you overclock, you must reach the "sweet spot" for the game/program you are running.

Take my i5-750 for example: At 3Ghz (Turbo) my minimum fps sat around 60-70. At 3.54ZGhz my minimum fps never dips under 95.

At 50% GPU usage on Win7 with a mid-range card I would look straight at the CPU for a bottleneck. Blackops should

flog that card with a stick, but it's not. So what's stopping it... At this point mate it's either overclock to 3Ghz+,

play Blackops from the XP partition, or tweak settings. I feel your pain, but my HD 5870 & i5-750 quad give miserable

performance without a heavy CPU overclock. BC2 and ArmaII are nearly unplayable without the same CPU OC, why should a

brand new CoD game be any different? Times are a changing.

Current game settings: All settings maxed, 8xAA, full AF, shadows on, min 95 fps @ 1920x1080

Pre overclock settings: All maxed except: 4xAA, low AF, shadows off, min fps 50-60 @ 1920x1080