CrossFire and SLI Performance Fix for Vista, Part Deux

Back in July, Microsoft rolled out a fix for a nasty bug in its Windows Vista SLI and CrossFire multi-GPU support: Windows Vista was using only one of the GPUs! However, the Inquirer.net website reported yesterday that a more subtle bug is still plaguing some multi-GPU setups: a problem with load-balancing between GPUs.

Load-Balancing Woes and System Slowdowns

If one of the GPUs in your system is very busy, and and other idle GPUs receive a new DMA packet, you may experience scheduling latency. In plain language, your system slows down until all GPUs are assigned work to do. If you like to juggle games and other applications at the same time on your SLI or CrossFire system, you're a prime candidate for this type of slowdown.

Meet LDA, a Way to Avoid Saying "SLI" or "CrossFire"

This update isn't going to show up in Windows Update, at least not for awhile. And, if you ran into it during a casual scan of recent downloads, you might not even recognize it. That's because Microsoft is now referring to multi-GPU configurations as Linked Display Adapter (LDA) setups. SLI and CrossFire fans, make a note of this: every time you see a reference to LDA at Microsoft, think SLI (nVIDIA) or CrossFire (ATI/AMD).

Learning More About the Update...and Getting It

Microsoft has information about the hotfix, available for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista, at Knowledge Base article 945149. You must request the hotfix from Microsoft, rather than download it directly from the KB article. Microsoft promises a download link within 8 business hours, as we discussed in our article Hotfixes by Email - Just What the Windows Doctor Ordered.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Help Windows Vista newbies learn how to use BitLocker to stop data theft, get organized with Windows Calendar, and back up data and systems the easy way: give Mark's new book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed. It's now available at Amazon.com and other fine bookstores.

December 2007's Patch Tuesday's Going to Be Big - Really Big

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, is the last 'Patch Tuesday' of the year, and Microsoft's getting ready to hand out significant security fixes for Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows Media Format runtime, Internet Explorer, and DirectX. Here's what to expect.

A Trio of Critical Patches

First up is a remote code execution patch for DirectX versions 7.0 (Windows 2000) through 10.0 (Windows Vista). Multimedia users will also need to get patching with a remote code execution patch for Windows Media Format runtime for all Windows versions from Windows 2000 and Windows XP to Windows Vista). Third on the list of "must squash now" bugs is yet another remote code execution patch for Internet Explorer versions for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista all the way back to the pre-Cambrian version IE 5.01 SP4 and all the way forward to IE7 for Windows XP and Vista.

As a security expert interviewed by InfoWorld points out, these fixes are designed to prevent attacks that take advantage of users' desires to view online multimedia content, which would be just about everyone that reads this page (and uses Windows).

A Quartet of Important Patches

Patch Tuesday will also roll out a quartet of so-called 'important' patches for Windows:

• Remote code execution fix for Windows Vista
• Remote code execution fix for Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP
• Elevation of privilege fix for Windows Vista
• Local elevation of privilege fixes for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003.

Critical, Important, What's the Difference?

A 'critical' patch blocks Internet worms that don't require you to click, open, or view an attachment or website to start. An 'important' patch blocks attacks that compromise local systems.

Details to Follow

Once 'Patch Tuesday' arrives, we'll have more details on these and other non-security updates for your Redmond-powered PC. In the meantime, think before you click.

------------------------------------------------------

Know a Windows Vista newbie? Help a new Vista user get up to speed with Mark's book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed. It's a great introduction to what's new and different in Windows Vista, and it's available from Amazon.com and other fine bookstores.

Vista SP1 By the Numbers - Performance Numbers, That Is

1, 18, 25, 45, 50

No, those aren't the numbers for today's "pick 5" lottery drawing, but Microsoft is hoping they'll add up to good luck for its controversial desktop operating system - Vista. Those numbers refer to performance and usability improvements reportedly coming in Vista SP1, whose release candidate (RC) is now being tested.

Although some recent user reports have suggested that Vista SP1's mainly about reliability, Mary Jo Foley's All About Microsoft blog at ZDNet is reporting that Microsoft is internally touting some impressive improvements in performance and usability with SP1:

• One UAC prompt, instead of four, when creating or renaming a folder in a protected location (such as the \Windows folder)
• 18% faster recovery from standby for some USB hubs
• 25% faster local file copying from location to location on the same disk
• 45% faster remote file copying from a non-Windows Vista system to an SP1 system
• 50% faster remote file copying from SP1 to SP1 systems
• 50% faster read time for large images
• fixes for common crash and hang problems caused by Windows Calendar, Windows Media Player, and drivers included with Vista
• better compatibility with third-party diagnostic tools
• a password hint during initial setup of SP1

Comparing SP1 to Vista? Which Vista?

It sounds good, but one big question - what are the performance comparisons being made to? As our own David Murphy reported in August, Vista has already received performance fixes for file copying in its 938979 'Performance and Reliability' update.

It's not clear whether Microsoft is comparing Vista SP1 (which will contain all publically-available fixes made to Vista since release plus additional improvements) to the original (and slow) early 2007 release of Vista, or whether SP1 will contain additional file copying zoom (call it "Vitamin Z") over the current state of Vista.

I'm hoping for the latter - but I'm prepared to be disappointed.

The Clock Ticks...

In any event, it won't be long until we can all try a near-final version of SP1. According to Foley, the release candidate (RC) for Vista SP1 will be an early Christmas present for Vista users, with public availability set for the second week of December.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Know a Windows Vista newbie? Help a new Vista user get up to speed with Mark's book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed. It's a great introduction to what's new and different in Windows Vista, and it's available from Amazon.com and other fine bookstores.

CrossFire and SLI Performance Fix for Vista, Part Deux

Back in July, Microsoft rolled out a fix for a nasty bug in its Windows Vista SLI and CrossFire multi-GPU support: Windows Vista was using only one of the GPUs! However, the Inquirer.net website reported yesterday that a more subtle bug is still plaguing some multi-GPU setups: a problem with load-balancing between GPUs.

Load-Balancing Woes and System Slowdowns

If one of the GPUs in your system is very busy, and and other idle GPUs receive a new DMA packet, you may experience scheduling latency. In plain language, your system slows down until all GPUs are assigned work to do. If you like to juggle games and other applications at the same time on your SLI or CrossFire system, you're a prime candidate for this type of slowdown.

Meet LDA, a Way to Avoid Saying "SLI" or "CrossFire"

This update isn't going to show up in Windows Update, at least not for awhile. And, if you ran into it during a casual scan of recent downloads, you might not even recognize it. That's because Microsoft is now referring to multi-GPU configurations as Linked Display Adapter (LDA) setups. SLI and CrossFire fans, make a note of this: every time you see a reference to LDA at Microsoft, think SLI (nVIDIA) or CrossFire (ATI/AMD).

Learning More About the Update...and Getting It

Microsoft has information about the hotfix, available for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista, at Knowledge Base article 945149. You must request the hotfix from Microsoft, rather than download it directly from the KB article. Microsoft promises a download link within 8 business hours, as we discussed in our article Hotfixes by Email - Just What the Windows Doctor Ordered.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Help Windows Vista newbies learn how to use BitLocker to stop data theft, get organized with Windows Calendar, and back up data and systems the easy way: give Mark's new book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed. It's now available at Amazon.com and other fine bookstores.