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Benchmarking the Benchmarks

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It is time to put your money where your mouth is, or maybe where your keyboard is. HardOCP sets out to prove that real world video card testing is where it’s at. Beware, we may make you feel dirty every time your run a benchmark from here out! … HardOCP has been thoroughly mired in “real world” testing scenarios for years now, and there is no doubt that we have taken a lot of heat from various sources. Most of it is generated through ignorance and the human quality of being resistant to change. Some of it is generated by websites and forums that will proclaim that there is no need for tools beyond a timedemo or cutscene in order to understand graphics cards’ performance.

I jumped right on [H]ardOCP’s bandwagon when they began discussing the validity of canned benchmarks years ago. Their article is definitely worth the read.
[H]ardOCP – Benchmarking the Benchmarks

Final Vista Poll Results

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Total Votes: 613
1- I’m using it and like it. (35%, 217 Votes)
2- I went back to XP. (24%, 145 Votes)
3- I haven’t tried it. (23%, 139 Votes)
4- I’m using it and don’t like it. (10%, 63 Votes)
5- I’m waiting for SP1. (8%, 49 Votes)

That breaks down as:
217 Positive (answer #1)
208 Negative (answers # 2 & 4)
188 Neutral (depending on how you look at it, answers # 3 & 5)

View it in the Polls Archive.

My Experience With Vista SP1 RTM

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I’ll make this pretty short:
-2 machines
-Average install time 45 minutes.
-Problems / errors: Zero, zip, nada, none.
-Performance: No noticeable increase or decrease (see below). No benchmarks and none planned.

These were both upgrade installs. Both machines were already running a great many of the hotfixes beforehand. These machines are tweaked pretty good (and have UAC disabled).
I would like to hear the experiences of others who have installed Vista SP1 RTM.
(Please do not ask, or post where to get it. It is freely available all over the web. . If you can’t wait for MS to officially release it then hit up a forum or torrent.)

And as a side note, most of the versions I’ve seen available are in fact the real RTM.
These are the registry keys that you can look for to confirm it:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
“CurrentVersion”=”6.0”
“CurrentBuildNumber”=”6001”
“CurrentBuild”=”6001”
“SoftwareType”=”System”
“CurrentType”=”Multiprocessor Free”
“ProductName”=”Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate
“EditionID”=”Ultimate”
“BuildLab”=”6001.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840”
“BuildLabEx”=”6001.18000.x86fre.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840”
“CSDVersion”=”Service Pack 1”

***Hint:
File name: Windows6.0-KB936330-X86.exe

Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter!

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Phil’s official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler’s Knob:

Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler’s Knob on this fabolous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008
Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

“As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!”

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“There is no way this winter is ever going to end, as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don’t see any other way out. He’s got to be stopped. And I have to stop him.”
Phil (Bill Murray) – Groundhog Day