Why does L4D2 run so much better on WinXP than on Win7?

Forums › Gaming › Why does L4D2 run so much better on WinXP than on Win7?

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#103042 29-May-2012 15:37

Hi,
I'm hoping someone might be able to comment on why Left4Dead2 runs smoothly on Windows XP Pro (32 bit) as compared to Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit). Under Win7 the game is often pausing/jerking, it seems to coincide with when a sound is played. Frame rate between these intermittent 'pauses' is perfectly smooth.

The game ran smoothly on XP with only 2GB RAM, but in attempt to fix Win7 I have increased the RAM to 6GB but it made only a slight difference (if any).

I did once have similar performance issues in XP with a certain version of Avast virus protection. Disabling the 'real time sheilds' solved the problem. At the moment I am using Microsoft's Windows Defender, disbling the real time protection makes no difference, and I had the same problem with no virus protection installed at all.

Google searches have so far been fruitless.

Do I just need even more RAM, is there some file checking process in Win7 that can be turned off, or is it something else altogether?

As I have mentioned, the frame rate is fine, it just keeps 'pausing' for a fraction of a second.
This game is the only reason I still have WinXP installed on my PC.

Cheers,
John

1 | 2 | 3

5816 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#632024 29-May-2012 15:39

Have you tried finding new drivers for your sound card?

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#632034 29-May-2012 15:56

Just sounds like driver issues so +1 the previous post :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#632045 29-May-2012 16:06

trig42: Have you tried finding new drivers for your sound card?

No, not specifically, but I have Win7 set to update drivers. I'll try checking the motherboard manufacturer's website or the chipset vendors website tonight.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#632063 29-May-2012 16:25

I can confirm it is not the game + OS. I run it on W7 x64 without issues. I would also suggest it is driver/hardware issue.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#632076 29-May-2012 16:51

Nety: I can confirm it is not the game + OS. I run it on W7 x64 without issues. I would also suggest it is driver/hardware issue.

Thanks, it may be that your system is much higher spec'ed than mine, so you don't notice the lesser performance. Mine is an AMD Althlon64 X2 6000+ (3GHz), DDR2 (6GB), Nvidia GeForce 8900GT.

The reason I didn't think it would be an audio driver issue is that it only seems to pause when a new sound is played (ie first loaded). After that the same sound does not cause the game to pause.

vexxxboy

4245 posts

Uber Geek

#632093 29-May-2012 17:20

have you tried running the game in XP compatibility mode to see if that makes a difference

Common sense is not as common as you think.

BioGhosty

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#632218 29-May-2012 20:30

It could be due to the fact that your RAM is causing a performance bottle neck. Specially if it's 600HZ DDR2. If it's possible try using a higher Hz rated RAM type like 800Hz or, if your MB allows it, DDR3. Here's my current rig:
Processor:AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 255 Processor (2 CPUs), ~3.1GHz
Memory:4096MB RAM OCZ Platinum 16666 DDR3
Hard Drive:500GB Seagate Barricuda SATA
Video Card:ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series
Monitor:Samsung SyncMaster 740B
Operation System:Windows 7 GAMER™ 2010 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Motherboard:Gigabyte UDM-3H
Computer Case:Aywun A1 Cooler Case
It's not the fastest in the world but can still manage 60FPS on L4D2 running on the highest settings

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#632301 29-May-2012 22:43

Hi, thanks for the comments.
I think I've ruled out the sound card driver. I switched from the USB wireless headset to the on-board sound card with no improvement.

I tried Win XP SP3 compatibility mode but it seems just the same.

The RAM (DDR2-800) probably isn't the bottleneck since it runs smoothly under Windows XP on the same computer (dual boot).

I think I may have been wrong about the lag being with a newly loaded sound, the sound is fairly choppy (with lots of mini pauses) when there is plenty of action.

My graphics card is a 9600GT, rather than a 8900GT as I stated earlier (not that I think it is relevant).

Looks like I'll be sticking with XP/Win7 dual boot for now. Will be interested to see how it runs when L4D2 for Linux is released.

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#632359 30-May-2012 03:06

It sounds like a driver issue to me, what make and model is the motherboard?

Do you have the latest nvidia geforce drivers installed for your 9600GT? Version 301.42 came out last tuesday:
http://www.geforce.com/drivers

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#632388 30-May-2012 08:05

I have the latest video drivers installed, as (to my surprise) Win7 notified me that they were available.
Motherboard is Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#632408 30-May-2012 08:49

My son uses my old PC it is a Intel core2duo with a GF 8800GT video card and on board sound. It used to run L4D2 under Vista x86 fine. I have recently switched it to W7 x64 and bumped the ram from 4 - 8 Gig. However he has not played L4D2 since. I will get him to try it tonight but I will be very surprised if it does not run well. IMHO it is not a demanding game as the recommended hardware requirements below show.

CPU: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz
RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
VGA: DirectX 9 compatible video card with Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better
DX: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
OS: Windows? 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP
HDD: At least 7.5 GB of free space

I still think it is a driver issue. Have you checked to make sure you have the correct/latest chipset drivers for your MOBO? Also SATA/Raid drivers. Both could cause the issues you see.

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#632474 30-May-2012 10:31

Skolink: I have the latest video drivers installed, as (to my surprise) Win7 notified me that they were available.
Motherboard is Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.

Nvidia are on to it with driver updates into Windows Update these days, AMD and Realtek not so much.

The Gigabyte support page for the board looks like it lists really old drivers.

Here's the link for the latest AMD chipset drivers direct from AMD, 12.4 is the latest (released last Thursday)
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/raid_windows.aspx

Here's the link for the latest Realtek audio drivers, direct from Realtek (released last month)
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#632695 30-May-2012 16:04

Ive run L4D2 on a P4 with Win7 and XP, no issues on either....

Defragged lately ? :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

trig42

5816 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#632705 30-May-2012 16:20

If you are getting stuttering, it does sound like an I/O issue, which can usually be traced back to drivers - particularly storage drivers. 6Gb RAM should be plenty.
Is there anything running in the background. What Antivirus have you got - does turning off 'auto-protect' or real-time monitoring to see if it makes a difference?

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#632752 30-May-2012 17:25

Nety: My son uses my old PC it is a Intel core2duo with a GF 8800GT video card and on board sound. It used to run L4D2 under Vista x86 fine. I have recently switched it to W7 x64 and bumped the ram from 4 - 8 Gig. However he has not played L4D2 since. I will get him to try it tonight but I will be very surprised if it does not run well. IMHO it is not a demanding game as the recommended hardware requirements below show.

CPU: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz
RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
VGA: DirectX 9 compatible video card with Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better
DX: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
OS: Windows? 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP
HDD: At least 7.5 GB of free space

I still think it is a driver issue. Have you checked to make sure you have the correct/latest chipset drivers for your MOBO? Also SATA/Raid drivers. Both could cause the issues you see.

OK can confirm that it runs fine on the boys PC. his core2duo is the E8400 which is better then yours by some, passmark 2222 vers yours at 1631. But yours is still better then a core2duo 2.4 recommended CPU which only gets 1388 (all from http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php)

1 | 2 | 3