Don't Disable Aero For Increased Performance

[ShadowMajestic 91]

For some reason I can't edit my above post so adding another reply.

Well, actually it did change a couple things in the performance options that I don't mind. Windows 7 does run so sweet that memory isn't to much of an issue anymore, unless you have a total lack of it. I downloaded a third party theme that I liked on another computer of mine that enabled Aero also, so I've kind of gotten used to it now. I guess I'll just leave it alone. No hit either way anyway!

grab a window thats playing a video or just has heavy content and shake it around a little. on Basic this is slow as hell. huge FPS drop. and considering this is a dualcore 3ghz it should not be an issue about CPU power (or not having enough of it). in the applications itself the change is pretty much unnoticeable. as those arent renderd by Aero. But there is a very noticeable FPS increase in the desktop environment itself switching from basic to aero.

This is not true, it all depends on the calls being made through WDDM by the application which is running full screen whether windows decides to turn of transparency or not.

I don't have any proof, but run two monitors side-by-side, launch a full screen app and see what happens to an open window on the other screen. :shiftyninja:

Also in terms of performance, I recently had to build an image for a poor model of netbook, I left Aero enabled but turned off transparency, and removed all of the nifty little features like window animations (minimise/maximise etc). This helped immensely (also displaying windows search and other heavy services helped a lot)

its not only the calls through WDDM, but also Windows own judgement. if it thinks the application will use more then available, it'll disable Aero.

For some reason Aero barely gets turned off in newer games, while some of my games that are made years before Windows Vista or 7 where released, Aero is disabled, while its not even needed :/

but in fullscreen, aero is not being renderd, just DWM that keeps running in the background, its mostly CPU usage when fullscreen.. at least from what i noticed. Supreme Commander 2 wont run smoother when Aero is disabled (unless im keeping my 2nd screen on, but thats buggy in many games so i turn my 2nd screen of by default when gaming :s)

[Gerowen 1,243]

At least at work, my computer responds much faster with Aero turned off. Of course we're using Dell Latitude E6500s with Windows Vista, and sometimes I want to tape the Vista logo to a punching bag just so I can demolish it. Can't wait until we upgrade to 7, Linux, OSX, or ANYTHING but Vista...

[Udedenkz 51]

Aero = No Tearing during video.

[ajua 61]

AMD Fusion disables aero - they obviously think it reduces system load

And I don't know why they do that. I formatted a brand new laptop two days ago and the catalyst drivers disabled Aero.

I turned it on and check for a performance hit but it ran well with it enabled. AMD Fusion CPU's (at least the C-50 that laptop had was sluggish and left me disappointed. Its graphics were ran by a Radeon HD 62xx and the performance is great so the Aero disabling thing is beyond me.

My two year old HTPC with an Atom N330 (also dual core) and Nvidia ION runs much better and it is hooked to a 1080p screen.

[ShadowMajestic 91]

And I don't know why they do that. I formatted a brand new laptop two days ago and the catalyst drivers disabled Aero.

I turned it on and check for a performance hit but it ran well with it enabled. AMD Fusion CPU's (at least the C-50 that laptop had was sluggish and left me disappointed. Its graphics were ran by a Radeon HD 62xx and the performance is great so the Aero disabling thing is beyond me.

My two year old HTPC with an Atom N330 (also dual core) and Nvidia ION runs much better and it is hooked to a 1080p screen.

Huh, i got AMD Fusion running in the background and the CCC/drivers installed not to long ago(24-02).. it did not disable aero or anything.

is it specific to GPU's or something?

[ajua 61]

Huh, i got AMD Fusion running in the background and the CCC/drivers installed not to long ago(24-02).. it did not disable aero or anything.

is it specific to GPU's or something?

I really don't know, it was the first time I saw a Fusion system.

Perhaps it depends on which CPU do you have or something. I will certainly be checking other Fusion systems to see how they perform.

[soldier1st 40]

i have never made the mistake with Aero. if your gpu can handle it then of course keep it on but if u can't then either save up for a better gpu if u want Aero or just live with what you got if it works fine.

[amon91 41]

i have never made the mistake with Aero. if your gpu can handle it then of course keep it on but if u can't then either save up for a better gpu if u want Aero or just live with what you got if it works fine.

On my old computer (which is like 8 years old now), video would stutter whenever I had Aero on. So yeah, if you have a really old machine, turning off Aero could help. But as I said, it's irrelevant on any modern, even low-end, PC.