Gaming Performance - OpenGL
Moving on to OpenGL and Quake 4, we'll be able to see how well NVIDIA and AMD have done in building their own OpenGL ICD (installable client driver) for the API. This is more taxing on hardware vendors, because Microsoft's implementation of OpenGL is just a wrapper around DirectX. By default, unless an ICD is used, OpenGL applications cannot talk directly to the hardware.
We did have some issues with Quake 4 as well. We were unable to get the application to run stable with multi-core support enabled, so we tested without this option. Even on Windows XP we see much higher numbers during CPU limited testing with this option enabled, but we will have to do without for a while. It isn't clear whether this is a problem with the game, with Vista, or with OpenGL, but hopefully it will be resolved (preferably sooner rather than later).
As expected, OpenGL performance is much worse both in CPU limited and GPU limited cases. The reason the low end AMD cards look better off here is that their performance is simply bad across the board. NVIDIA seems to perform closer to XP in general here, and both companies are saying that performance will improve over time. GPU limited performance does seem to improve over CPU limited performance, indicating that driver overhead on the CPU is a major factor contributing to the reduced frame rates.
Now let's take a look at how Vista x64 compares. This will actually serve as a good test of how well NVIDIA and AMD have implemented their x86 and x64 versions of their OpenGL ICD as well.
Again, the low end AMD cards just look like they are doing better because they perform poorly in general. In CPU limited cases, x64 actually seems to perform better than under 32-bit Vista, and even GPU limited performance is very close between the Vista versions. This could indicate that AMD and NVIDIA's OpenGL ICDs benefit from 64-bit processing, even if the game itself does not. However, unlike Oblivion, the performance of Quake 4 in Windows Vista is substantially slower than under XP, sometimes as much as 30% slower.
Last up for Quake 4 is resolution scaling.
While it's very clear that XP is a better option for OpenGL apps right now, there are no real scaling surprises. The CPU performance/driver overhead seems to be a bigger factor in reduced Vista scores than the actual GPUs, as the scores tend to get closer in GPU limited situations.
Gaming Performance - x64
Finally, we have Half-Life 2: Lost Coast with its native 64-bit application running under Vista x64. Is it worth it? We're only providing resolution scaling results for this game.
Clearly the 64-bit application runs slower than the 32-bit, especially at CPU limited resolutions. Even the games we tested running under WoW in 32-bit mode on Vista x64 showed better performance parity with Vista x86 and Windows XP. While the resources are there to offer better performance with more registers and better memory management (especially on systems with more than 4GB of RAM), there is clearly something that's lacking here. It is likely that Valve has more work to do on their 64-bit Source engine, but we can't rule out Vista x64 as a factor altogether.
We had hoped to see better performance from a native 64-bit game, but it looks like we'll have to wait longer until game developers figure out how to capitalize on the extra resources available under Vista x64 without adversely affecting performance.
Moving on to OpenGL and Quake 4, we'll be able to see how well NVIDIA and AMD have done in building their own OpenGL ICD (installable client driver) for the API. This is more taxing on hardware vendors, because Microsoft's implementation of OpenGL is just a wrapper around DirectX. By default, unless an ICD is used, OpenGL applications cannot talk directly to the hardware.
We did have some issues with Quake 4 as well. We were unable to get the application to run stable with multi-core support enabled, so we tested without this option. Even on Windows XP we see much higher numbers during CPU limited testing with this option enabled, but we will have to do without for a while. It isn't clear whether this is a problem with the game, with Vista, or with OpenGL, but hopefully it will be resolved (preferably sooner rather than later).
As expected, OpenGL performance is much worse both in CPU limited and GPU limited cases. The reason the low end AMD cards look better off here is that their performance is simply bad across the board. NVIDIA seems to perform closer to XP in general here, and both companies are saying that performance will improve over time. GPU limited performance does seem to improve over CPU limited performance, indicating that driver overhead on the CPU is a major factor contributing to the reduced frame rates.
Now let's take a look at how Vista x64 compares. This will actually serve as a good test of how well NVIDIA and AMD have implemented their x86 and x64 versions of their OpenGL ICD as well.
Again, the low end AMD cards just look like they are doing better because they perform poorly in general. In CPU limited cases, x64 actually seems to perform better than under 32-bit Vista, and even GPU limited performance is very close between the Vista versions. This could indicate that AMD and NVIDIA's OpenGL ICDs benefit from 64-bit processing, even if the game itself does not. However, unlike Oblivion, the performance of Quake 4 in Windows Vista is substantially slower than under XP, sometimes as much as 30% slower.
Last up for Quake 4 is resolution scaling.
While it's very clear that XP is a better option for OpenGL apps right now, there are no real scaling surprises. The CPU performance/driver overhead seems to be a bigger factor in reduced Vista scores than the actual GPUs, as the scores tend to get closer in GPU limited situations.
Gaming Performance - x64
Finally, we have Half-Life 2: Lost Coast with its native 64-bit application running under Vista x64. Is it worth it? We're only providing resolution scaling results for this game.
Clearly the 64-bit application runs slower than the 32-bit, especially at CPU limited resolutions. Even the games we tested running under WoW in 32-bit mode on Vista x64 showed better performance parity with Vista x86 and Windows XP. While the resources are there to offer better performance with more registers and better memory management (especially on systems with more than 4GB of RAM), there is clearly something that's lacking here. It is likely that Valve has more work to do on their 64-bit Source engine, but we can't rule out Vista x64 as a factor altogether.
We had hoped to see better performance from a native 64-bit game, but it looks like we'll have to wait longer until game developers figure out how to capitalize on the extra resources available under Vista x64 without adversely affecting performance.
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Zebo - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
I'm still on 2k pro which I think is faster and more power-user friendly than XP. Is this true in general? I've never noticed a security issue in the first place so these security features and especially those silly "do you really want to run this program" dialog boxes drove me crazy on XP when I tried it. Does vista have a lot of those? Stupid OS I wouldn't have clicked it if I didn't want to run/install/throw it away etc.Aikouka - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
Zebo, it sounds like if you run Vista and don't disable UAC (User Account Control), you will drive yourself crazy. UAC almost literally warns you about every executable opening (I believe certain ones are allowed automatically, like Windows Explorer. I can't remember since I turned it off :P).Other than that, I don't see anything really different from XP in terms of user warnings and such. There's still the balloons from the system tray and such.
One interesting change that I haven't seen anyone mention is how Windows Update is now an application instead of a website. It seems a bit nicer having it that way as the website with the ActiveX controls always felt so slow to figure out what needed to upgraded. This new WU also includes Ultimate Extras and direct program links to adjust your WU settings (which is handier I think).
Zebo - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
I guess thats a good idea if you use windows update. I don't update just for updates sake subscribing to the "if it aint broke don't fix it" axiom...probably why I still use w2k:)
Zebo - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
Oh that's maddening. I literally offered $100 to anyone in a forum thread who could turn those yellow balloons off completely when i tried XP. No one could do it. You can't turn certain ones off despite tens of registry tweaks we tired.
Zorba - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
The balloons are easy to get rid of. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/power...">TweakUI - FTWNot sure if it will be in Vista or not, but works great in XP, never seen a balloon except right after I install XP. PM me and I'll let you know where you can send me my check ;).
Zebo - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
BS doesn't work. Been there done that! Show me a SS with you holding mouse over Start button and it doesn't say "click here to begin" I'll gladly pay you $100 for the fix. You can't do it. BTW this drives me fusken crazy! I've been using MS start buttons for eight years like I don't WTF Start means and designates ..ArrrZorba - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
Ah I thought you were talking about the system tray balloons like that one that always pops up for no reason that always says "now connected to wireless network." That one drives me crazy when I use someone else's lappy.I never even notice the ones over the start button, I guess I never hold my mouse over it long enough. I could see how you would find them annoying though.
Zorba - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
BTW: I just checked and Win 98 has those boxes over if hold your mouse over the start button, etc too. So it isn't just an XP thing. (Yes I still have 98 on a box at home)stash - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
Not even close. UAC will prompt you for things that require elevated rights, which besides installing apps or making changes to the system, should be very infrequent.
Which is why I want to know specifically which common 3rd-party apps the author is referring to on the first page.
Aikouka - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
Well, I guess my statement may've been a bit zealous, but you can't forget that literally every application that I ran while UAC on was an install or a system executable to install software that I needed or change settings. The changing the settings may've seemed the worst, as trying to open the system menu from another menu required your authorization. It was a bit crazy sometimes...