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m9700 Bioshock Performance

post #1 of 14
9/2/07 at 4:28am
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I'm currently running Vista on my m9700 and running Bioshock at my lappy's native resolution of 1920x1200 makes it virtually unplayable.

I suspect this is related to Vista (and the fact that I can't yet use SLI even with beta drivers) and not that my m9700 is beginning to show its age. How does it run for everyone else? XP users, can you max everything and run it reasonably well, or do you have to tone it down a bit? Is 1920x1200 just asking too much for such a new game on a 1 year old system?

I'm debating dual-booting XP or switching back completely, but before I do I just want to confirm that this is the issue.

Any comments appreciated!
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post #2 of 14
9/2/07 at 8:16am
I don't have it, but the general consensus from people is that the issue with Bioshock is due to the drivers. I believe Hammer has tried the demo with the new "Bioshock" drivers, version 163.44 (I think?). I would definitely run it on Windows XP instead, as screenshots of DX10 are probably negligible compared to the performance gain you would get using SLI. Even so, I doubt the game would run all too smoothly at 1920x1200.
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post #3 of 14
9/2/07 at 5:44pm
I'm using the new 163.44 drivers, I've got V-sync shut off, and I'm playing it at 1280 x 800 resolution. It's very playable at those settings though not silky smooth.

Vista apparently is crap at this point for gaming, so I don't really know what a difference it'll make to load XP...
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post #4 of 14
9/2/07 at 6:51pm
Hey how is bioshock by the way? I'm gonna buy it pretty soon :]
I'm using that driver too so I'm all prepared for it :]
i hope mine runs it well...
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post #5 of 14
9/3/07 at 12:04am
On my m9750, I'm running Bioshock at 1280x1024, although I'm still toying with the resolutions, as it is a little streched on my 1920x1200 screen. (There is no 1280 x 800 resolution available in my settings).

I'm running the stock drivers under XP, and Bioshock doesn't seem to like them. Running the game under SLI actually decreases performance.

It is unlikely that I'll be able to get it running smoothly at higher resolutions without some updated drivers from Alienware. It's troublesome under XP; I can only imagine how bad the performance would be under Vista.

I wouldn't recommend Vista for anyone who does any signficant amount of gaming at this point.
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post #6 of 14
9/3/07 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by einmitt View Post
On my m9750, I'm running Bioshock at 1280x1024, although I'm still toying with the resolutions, as it is a little streched on my 1920x1200 screen. (There is no 1280 x 800 resolution available in my settings). I'm running the stock drivers under XP, and Bioshock doesn't seem to like them. Running the game under SLI actually decreases performance. It is unlikely that I'll be able to get it running smoothly at higher resolutions without some updated drivers from Alienware. It's troublesome under XP; I can only imagine how bad the performance would be under Vista. I wouldn't recommend Vista for anyone who does any signficant amount of gaming at this point.
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/...howtopic=14560 Everyone says those drivers work very well for bioshock, I don't have the game yet but those drivers worked great on other games too, Don't forget the modded inf or it don't work :[
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post #7 of 14
9/4/07 at 10:03pm
From all the reports that I've read on the performance of bioshock on even high performance desktops is that Vista is CRAP!

Nvidia needs to flesh out their driver problems soon for SLI in Vista before the onslaught of DX10/ Vista (only) games comes upon us. Those people who have purchased top of the line dual 8800 Ultra systems will not be happy.


edit: I will however say that I've played the demo for the Xbox 360 version of Bioshock and the game is very good looking. The default controls are very responsive and quite easy to get used to. However I'm going to wait for UT3 to come out for PS3 before my next new game purchase. The bargain bin at GameStop is keeping me happy at the moment with sub $20 games.
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post #8 of 14
9/4/07 at 10:17pm
ok i was able to play Bioshock very smooth on my 7700
great graphic but i must stop all other program or my CPU will catch fire
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post #9 of 14
9/5/07 at 5:48am
Slightly off-topic, but i've been playing BioShock on my Aw5550 (2ghz c2d, nvidia 7600), and after a bit off tweaking with the settings, it's running a steady 25fps at 1280x768. The only real sacrifice i had to make is turning off the high-detail post processing (so losing HDR bloom effects).

Great game, very atmospheric
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post #10 of 14
9/10/07 at 9:51pm
I just purchased BioShock and I was trying to play it but it just crashed! For one the audio has a lot of cracks and pop noises throughout gameplay. Does anyone know what could be causing it?

I own a m9750 and I'm running Vista. The game recommends that you update your NVIDIA drivers but from what I know you should only uprgrade the drivers from the Alienware website.

I was running with a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Every now and then I would notice black squares that would pop up on random spots on the screen. Do you think lowering the resolution would help the game run smoother?
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post #11 of 14
9/10/07 at 10:07pm
well for one your running vista which doesnt help your gaming performance
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post #12 of 14
9/10/07 at 10:59pm
I think that you're having driver issues. Hopefully AW will put out a version of 163.44 for the m9750 soon.

You can try to lower the resolution and settings to see if it makes a difference, but if it's driver related it probably won't be much better...
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post #13 of 14
9/11/07 at 12:17am
I just got BioShock yesterday and it runs beautifully at 30-40 frames per second at 1440x900, with everything mostly on high and v-sink shut off. Without the distortion which makes no difference at all. :]
I'm very happy plus the game rocks.
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post #14 of 14
9/11/07 at 7:47pm
The Alienware website has a BETA driver for the m9750 available for download. It only updates the inability to use SLI with Vista so I'm not sure how effective it would be the black squares appearing on the screen.
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