HDD Question --

[Daladfar]

<p>Im currently running this and any suggestions on tweaks or tips i will happily take --</p><p>I7-860 quad 2.8 (turbo disabled since with all cores enabled it does not affect speed at all)</p><p>G skill - 4gigs (2x2g) ddr3 1600 9-9-9-24 cmdR 2  running @1333 (bios defualts to this) @ 9-9-9-24 cmdR 1 -- and Windows only shows 3.49g usable</p><p>gigabye GA-P55A-UD4P v.2</p><p>120gig Raptor  -- eq2 OS and other programs installed here</p><p>250g 7200 WD for storage</p><p>I run in balanced with Shader 3.0 off shadows off and other settings tuned and get around 45-60 fps in some places (i expected to be doing better but i guess not) PQ's are almost non playable dropping down to 1-5 fps even in the lowest settings.</p><p>So my question would be this would 2 WD 7200 hd's in a raid set up improve anything for eq2 like fps or zoning  over the Raptor drive ?</p>

[Loxus]

<p>You may see an miniscule improvement in zoning, but doubtful on anything else</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>The performance increase you would be able to notice would still be fairly negligible but it would be there.</p>

[vochore]

<p><cite>Daladfar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Im currently running this and any suggestions on tweaks or tips i will happily take --</p><p>I7-860 quad 2.8 (turbo disabled since with all cores enabled it does not affect speed at all)</p><p>G skill - 4gigs (2x2g) ddr3 1600 9-9-9-24 cmdR 2  running @1333 (bios defualts to this) @ 9-9-9-24 cmdR 1 -- and Windows only shows 3.49g usable</p><p>gigabye GA-P55A-UD4P v.2</p><p>120gig Raptor  -- eq2 OS and other programs installed here</p><p>250g 7200 WD for storage</p><p>I run in balanced with Shader 3.0 off shadows off and other settings tuned and get around 45-60 fps in some places (i expected to be doing better but i guess not) PQ's are almost non playable dropping down to 1-5 fps even in the lowest settings.</p><p>So my question would be this would 2 WD 7200 hd's in a raid set up improve anything for eq2 like fps or zoning  over the Raptor drive ?</p></blockquote><p>i made the same mistake on memory that you prob did when picking 1600 memory"i also did this and learned that faster timings are the way to go"you might want to upgrade to something like what i have in my sig for memory.</p><p>you didnt state what operating system you use...if its 32 bit windows vista or 7 your system will never use all that memory,you need 64 bit to utilize all that memory.</p><p>pg,s,turn off all particle effects and that should help a lot on fps...even my system is brought to a stand still in rw and pg raids.</p><p>and to answer your question about the raptor or 7200 hd,s in raid...yes the raid would prob be faster in loading zones but do you want to go thru the hasle of setting up a raid and as with raid drive setups if 1 hd screws up there goes all your data,you would be better spending the money on a ssd for your operating system and games...thats going to be my next upgrade..."loading windows so fast at start up if you blink its done."</p>

[Daladfar]

<p>Yep sorry about that --  im running Windows 7 Home 64 bit -- 4 gigs Gskill ram and only showing 3.49 usable in the windows experience index and its only getting a score of 5.9 there also (i have run every Memtest and benchmark program also and came up with no errors) -- And i also forgot to put down my Vid. card its a EVGA GTX 460 1gig -- So im lost on the ram side of my system with the settings in the bios and timings</p><p>Ill definately try turning down the particle effects -- I use profit and in the PQ's i turn it down to raid settings and ive also read on other threads that turning off Soga has helped them tried those with no effect still horrible fps</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>Could you post your DXDIAG info here?  Top 3 sections, system/display/sound devices.  It is very odd that your 64bit system appears to be reserving hardware memory address space when it shouldn't need to.  It could be something entirely unrelated too but let's see what your info has to say.</p><p><p><a href="https://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=25765" target="_blank">[EQII] Video walkthrough: Generating dxdiag, msinfo32 and netinfo files</a></p></p>

[Daladfar]

<p>System Information------------------Time of this report: 3/23/2011, 14:00:52       Machine name: FERRET   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850)           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.       System Model: P55A-UD4P               BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz             Memory: 4096MB RAMAvailable OS Memory: 3576MB RAM          Page File: 1410MB used, 5738MB available        Windows Dir: C:Windows    DirectX Version: DirectX 11DX Setup Parameters: Not found   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode</p><p>------------DxDiag Notes------------      Display Tab 1: No problems found.      Display Tab 2: No problems found.        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.        Sound Tab 3: No problems found.        Sound Tab 4: No problems found.          Input Tab: No problems found.</p><p>--------------------DirectX Debug Levels--------------------Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)</p><p>---------------Display Devices---------------          Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460       Manufacturer: NVIDIA          Chip type: GeForce GTX 460           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC         Device Key: EnumPCIVEN_10DE&DEV_0E22&SUBSYS_13723842&REV_A1     Display Memory: 2525 MB   Dedicated Memory: 993 MB      Shared Memory: 1531 MB       Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor      Monitor Model: LE24H067         Monitor Id: AOC2410        Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz)        Output Type: DVI        Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,n vwgf2um,nvwgf2umDriver File Version: 8.17.0012.6658 (English)     Driver Version: 8.17.12.6658        DDI Version: 11       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1  Driver Attributes: Final Retail   Driver Date/Size: 1/7/2011 20:27:00, 12859496 bytes        WHQL Logo'd: Yes    WHQL Date Stamp:   Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4D62-11CF-F041-7E331FC2C535}          Vendor ID: 0x10DE          Device ID: 0x0E22          SubSys ID: 0x13723842        Revision ID: 0x00A1 Driver Strong Name: oem5.inf:NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6.1:Section00 5:8.17.12.6658:pciven_10de&dev_0e22     Rank Of Driver: 00E62001        Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_C ModeWMV9_C    Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive                      {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch                      {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive                      {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch                      {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive                      {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch                      {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive                      {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY                      {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch                      {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC1,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC1,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC1,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC1,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC2,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC2,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC2,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC2,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC3,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC3,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC3,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC3,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC4,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC4,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC4,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(IMC4,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(S340,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(S340,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(S340,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(S340,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(S342,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(S342,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(S342,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=                     {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(S342,UNKNOWN) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=       D3D9 Overlay: Supported            DXVA-HD: Supported       DDraw Status: Enabled         D3D Status: Enabled         AGP Status: Enabled</p>

[Daladfar]

<p>-------------Sound Devices-------------            Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio) Default Sound Playback: Yes Default Voice Playback: Yes            Hardware ID: HDAUDIOFUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0889&SUBSYS_1458A022&REV_1000        Manufacturer ID: 1             Product ID: 100                   Type: WDM            Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys         Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6235 (English)      Driver Attributes: Final Retail            WHQL Logo'd: Yes          Date and Size: 11/2/2010 04:33:10, 2536040 bytes            Other Files:         Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.         HW Accel Level: Basic              Cap Flags: 0xF1F    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0              HW Memory: 0       Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, NoSensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No</p><p>            Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio) Default Sound Playback: No Default Voice Playback: No            Hardware ID: HDAUDIOFUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0889&SUBSYS_1458A022&REV_1000        Manufacturer ID: 1             Product ID: 100                   Type: WDM            Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys         Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6235 (English)      Driver Attributes: Final Retail            WHQL Logo'd: Yes          Date and Size: 11/2/2010 04:33:10, 2536040 bytes            Other Files:         Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.         HW Accel Level: Basic              Cap Flags: 0xF1F    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0              HW Memory: 0       Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, NoSensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No</p><p>            Description: LE24H067-0 (NVIDIA High Definition Audio) Default Sound Playback: No Default Voice Playback: No            Hardware ID: HDAUDIOFUNC_01&VEN_10DE&DEV_0012&SUBSYS_10DE0101&REV_1001        Manufacturer ID: 1             Product ID: 100                   Type: WDM            Driver Name: nvhda64v.sys         Driver Version: 1.01.0013.0000 (English)      Driver Attributes: Final Retail            WHQL Logo'd: Yes          Date and Size: 11/11/2010 16:10:49, 155752 bytes            Other Files:         Driver Provider: NVIDIA Corporation         HW Accel Level: Basic              Cap Flags: 0xF1F    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0              HW Memory: 0       Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, NoSensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>Are there any BIOS updates available for your motherboard?</p>

[Daladfar]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Are there any BIOS updates available for your motherboard?</p></blockquote><p>No there is not i have the most current one installed as well as the latest drivers for everything in my system</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>I did a bit of research on your motherboard.  There seems to be a known issue with the RAM situation.  I can't really link you to any of the results I came across but you should be able to dig around and find information on it.  </p><p>Does your BIOS have any setting like memory mapping that may be disabled?</p>

[Daladfar]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I did a bit of research on your motherboard.  There seems to be a known issue with the RAM situation.  I can't really link you to any of the results I came across but you should be able to dig around and find information on it.  </p><p>Does your BIOS have any setting like memory mapping that may be disabled?</p></blockquote><p>Ive went through every menu list my bios has and couldnt  find anything related to "memory mapping" -- all ive been able to find researching my board is some ram gets reserved for other things like video or something but ive got a vid card so not sure why its getting reserved for that if thats the case</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>How about the bios setting hardware virtualization?</p>

[Daladfar]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>How about the bios setting hardware virtualization?</p></blockquote><p>I have a setting labeled Virtualization Technology and its enabled by default</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>I'm out of ideas on that particular issue, you might need to send the manufacturer an e-mail or contact support with them.  I don't have any experience with that specific motherboard <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[RaunII]

Hopefully you can get that mobo issue fixed. In case anyone else glances at this thread and wants a little bit of info on what a faster hard drive can gain you, I can help with a little more information. It isn't just the speed at which the hard drive moves, but also the buffer and other factors. There are also other factors that are overlooked as well, for example, you can gain zoning speed and slight FPS gain just by the way you install the OS and the game, ect. What I do is start with a clean install of the O/S and all the hardware and software drives. defragment and error check the drive, then go into safe mode, defrag, set up a dedicated page file, then reboot. defrag again, install EQ2 files from DVDs, defrag, and run the patcher. I then keep that hard drive only for basic gaming purposes and the O/S. The goal in all of this is to get the O/S and your main games on the outer rim of the hard drive, the part that spins the fastest, and to keep the files in readily accessed areas. How much will this help? Not a huge amount, but with a proper install you can gain a couple FPS and even with old 7200rpm hard drives I can beat the zone times of far better gaming computers with solid state drives <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Daladfar]

<p><cite>Riun@Everfrost wrote:</cite> </p><p>set up a dedicated page file</p><p>Ive read many a thread concerning this issue but never really understood them -- some say you dont need a page file if you have 4gigs or over others say let windows manage it others change it</p>

[vochore]

<p><cite>Daladfar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Riun@Everfrost wrote:</cite> </p><p>set up a dedicated page file</p><p>Ive read many a thread concerning this issue but never really understood them -- some say you dont need a page file if you have 4gigs or over others say let windows manage it others change it</p></blockquote><p>with windows vista and windows 7 i would still use a page file atleast till you get to 6 gigs or more of memory,i havnt used a page file for the last 2 years just due to the fact i use 8 gigs of ram,even with that much memory windows 7 with eq2 running will easly utilize over 4 gigs of ram.</p><p>hell windows 7 64 bit uses just over 2 gigs sitting idle lol.</p>