Testing your system's memory for SW3DG games.

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:11 pm

From post: 119776, Topic: tid=8149, author=Marvin wrote: The laptop passed two. The old desktop passed three. My son comes for Thanksgiving. He isn't leaving until the laptop matches the desktop in performance.

Then ask him to stop by Pinole,Ca on his way home:D. Will save some Turkey and dressing in exchange for his talent with computers:P!

Post by **Marvin** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:13 pm

One word: snow.

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:37 pm

My laptop passed two, but wouldn't pass three. So I shut down about 30 background programs that I have no clue what they are or what they do and got passed number 3...

My computer seems to run better without the background programs running, so they must have been un-needed and unwanted. lol Still couldn't pass the fourth test though... I'll work on it some more. See if I can shut down something that needs to be ran...

:P:P;)

Post by **Marvin** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:19 pm

There was a mini-program for XP which, when run, shut down all the unnecessary background stuff ... but I don't know of one for Win7.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:46 pm

I have 8GB of memory and 6.5 Free available Physical Memmory on Windows 7 64 bit Pro....
and the test will not pass no. 3. When I run the test with Resource monitor open I can see the memory being tested go up in to the free memmory but then it stops in the free memmory area at the 1765000 mark and does not continue past that mark eventhough there is nothing in memmory past that point and still about 5GB free memmory.........Something is not right here with my System. Memory checks run fine....Any one any Ideas?
I should be able to pass no. 4 with all the free memmory!......

mikeuk · Post by **mikeuk** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:18 pm

Oh so its more memory needed to land

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:34 am

LOL Mikeuk, I should have seen that one coming......

:P:P:P:P:P:P

Post by **Marvin** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:59 am

If I keep complaining about this, my son is threatening to reformat the HD and install only the necessary programs from scratch.

DennyMala · Post by **DennyMala** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:40 am

One question, Arvoch Alliance has the same resource requirement of EL?

Will it run smooth where EL runs smooth?

Dingo · Post by **Dingo** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:47 am

From post: 119850, Topic: tid=8149, author=DennyMala wrote:One question, Arvoch Alliance has the same resource requirement of EL?

Will it run smooth where EL runs smooth?

I think the requirements are just slightly higher, as AA makes my machine stutter a bit in nebulas and very high detailed places, and EM does not. That said, it is only a slight difference.

[Edited on 11-18-2011 by Dingo]

Malix · Post by **Malix** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:42 pm

So, I have 16GB of ram and test 4 failed (apparently crashed the app). I got into thinking (dangerous, I know), aren't win32 apps limited to 2GB of allocatable mem? So just for laughs I tried 4GB Patcher which I previously used to beef up my modded The Elder Scrolls Oblivion -game.

Lo and behold, 4GB test now runs without a hitch and says everything is OK!

Post by **DaveK** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:48 pm

From post: 119811, Topic: tid=8149, author=Maarschalk wrote:I have 8GB of memory and 6.5 Free available Physical Memmory on Windows 7 64 bit Pro....
and the test will not pass no. 3. When I run the test with Resource monitor open I can see the memory being tested go up in to the free memmory but then it stops in the free memmory area at the 1765000 mark and does not continue past that mark eventhough there is nothing in memmory past that point and still about 5GB free memmory.........Something is not right here with my System. Memory checks run fine....Any one any Ideas?
I should be able to pass no. 4 with all the free memmory!......

Same set up as you (except W7 Home) - same issue as you, but AA does run so that's the main thing at the moment. But it would be nice to sort it out!

I've has the occassional crash in EM with apparent memory issues. Vice say's they are to do with specific memory blocks not being available rather than a lack of memory in general. I suspect his program just stops as soon as it hits a required but blocked segment of memory

I get the problem even after a fresh reboot (hmmmm, are there any other types?

)

Post by **DaveK** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:51 pm

From post: 119874, Topic: tid=8149, author=Malix wrote:So, I have 16GB of ram and test 4 failed (apparently crashed the app). I got into thinking (dangerous, I know), aren't win32 apps limited to 2GB of allocatable mem? So just for laughs I tried 4GB Patcher which I previously used to beef up my modded The Elder Scrolls Oblivion -game.

Lo and behold, 4GB test now runs without a hitch and says everything is OK!

AA doesn't actually need it but it's a useful little app to have in the tool box - thanks for sharing it

Post by **Marvin** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:52 pm

From post: 119874, Topic: tid=8149, author=Malix wrote:So just for laughs I tried 4GB Patcher....

I have that little gem. How do I apply it to Vice's memory check program? P.S. Using Win7.

Post by **Vice** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:07 pm

One question, Arvoch Alliance has the same resource requirement of EL?

Will it run smooth where EL runs smooth?

Probably depends on the system. The games use very different graphics engines and one might right better on one system while the other doesn't. An old system might run EL better while a new system might run AA better than EL.

As for the test program, if your system can past tests 1 and 2, then it's in good shape for the games. Test 3 would generally only be helpful if you are using some memory hungry mods that require the additional memory. Test 4 is pretty much just there as a way to gauge how your system handles the 2 GB limit (so those who utilize CFF Explorer or other utilities to change the limit can test the results). Test 4 will likely close the program on most systems.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:35 am

From post: 119887, Topic: tid=8149, author=Marvin wrote:
From post: 119874, Topic: tid=8149, author=Malix wrote:So just for laughs I tried 4GB Patcher....
I have that little gem. How do I apply it to Vice's memory check program? P.S. Using Win7.

I just downloaded it and it works, I got no.4 to pass..

@Marv, you click on the 4GB Patcher and then you choose Vices Memmory test.exe browse to its location in the patcher and open the Memmory test.....and it will patch it. and then you can run the memmory test again. So patching your games .exe files should give them more available memmory to work with!....

Thanks Malix for the info to the Patcher!.....

:P

Malix · Post by **Malix** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:02 pm

From post: 119953, Topic: tid=8149, author=Maarschalk wrote:
From post: 119887, Topic: tid=8149, author=Marvin wrote:
From post: 119874, Topic: tid=8149, author=Malix wrote:So just for laughs I tried 4GB Patcher....
I have that little gem. How do I apply it to Vice's memory check program? P.S. Using Win7.
I just downloaded it and it works, I got no.4 to pass..

@Marv, you click on the 4GB Patcher and then you choose Vices Memmory test.exe browse to its location in the patcher and open the Memmory test.....and it will patch it. and then you can run the memmory test again. So patching your games .exe files should give them more available memmory to work with!.... Thanks Malix for the info to the Patcher!.....:P

np, happy to serve

btw, don't go overboard with the patcher, some games/apps don't seem to like it. For instance Dragon Age: Origins decided to die on me after patching. Lucky me that the patcher takes backups automatically

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:42 pm

Yes figured that last one out, tried it on IE.exe to get it to use more memory on my Windows XP Pro 32 bit.......LOL......

:P:P:P:P:P
Also my Windows XP Pro 32bit boot passes no.3 now.....

:P

[Edited on 11-19-2011 by Maarschalk]

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:06 pm

How do you UNDO a patch if it doesn't work on a program? I know it does a backup but how do I use that? Would it work on a Win7 Pro 64bit 4 core computer?

[Edited on 11-19-2011 by thetiebers]

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:23 pm

From post: 119967, Topic: tid=8149, author=thetiebers wrote:How do you UNDO a patch if it doesn't work on a program? I know it does a backup but how do I use that? Would it work on a Win7 Pro 64bit 4 core computer?

[Edited on 11-19-2011 by thetiebers]

Yes, it works on Windows 7 64bit Pro 2 core, that is what I use mainly. There are to ways that it did not work.

1. The patch will tell you it could not open the Executable then you do not have to do anything.
2. The patch is succesfull but when you run the Executable that you patched like the game executable the game can crash. If this happens you have to restore the games .exe file from the backup by renaming the backup form .exe backup to just .exe
The Patcher will for example create a backup in the Evochron Mercenary Folder called "Evochron Mercenary.exe Backup"
now to undo the patch delete the "Evochron Mercenary.exe" file and rename the "Evochron Mercenary.exe Backup" to "Evochron Mercenary.exe".....

:P

[Edited on 11-19-2011 by Maarschalk]

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:50 pm

Cool and thanks Maars!:)

Post by **Marvin** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:53 pm

Thanks for the info, Maars. I'll give it a try later today ... and I'm saving your tips as a ReadMe for the 4Gig patch.

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 4:01 pm

From post: 119971, Topic: tid=8149, author=Marvin wrote: Thanks for the info, Maars. I'll give it a try later today ... and I'm saving your tips as a ReadMe for the 4Gig patch.

Good idea on the save Marv.

The 4Gig worked and now machine passes all 4 tests! Now to try it on a game (he says with fingers crossed) and see.

Post by **Marvin** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:16 pm

From post: 119972, Topic: tid=8149, author=thetiebers wrote:The 4Gig worked and now machine passes all 4 tests!

Mine too ... 'though I'll hold off patching the game. It seems I've used the patch before, on Silent Hunter IV. IIRC, I somehow managed to patch the patch (I guess I ran it twice ... not having Maars' "FAQ for dummies" available to me at the time) and then (I guess) deleted the backup .exe ... so, while it works for the memory test, Murphy still lurks in the shadows.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:31 pm

Cool, glad I could help, thanks again to Malix!;):P