Windowed vs Fullscreen

Ok so...i have been playing GW in windowed more for ages now, but only because of the convenience to access other applications. But running the game in windowed mode gives me...rather sub-par framerates while playing, and switching to fullscreen causes them to skyrocket to what I wanted them to be.

Is there a reason why the framerates in Windowed mode are so much worse than fullscreen?

Because windowed is harder to maintain than full screen, surely causing some frame rate loss, it is the same for me, I get really solid FPS in full screen, but I still manage 60 in Windowed anyways.

My other computer gets more noticeably better performance while in Full Screen, because it's specs aren't really good enough to hold up high FPS in window, and even in full screen it does not always manage 60, more like 30 average, and in low population 45-60.

thats odd... i get more fps in windowed than fullscreen

Are you using Vista? Wonder if the 3D accelerated Aero would slow down a windowed game (XP user here, so I'm just speculating).

GW runs faster in full screen under winXP as well.

Windowed always uses more resources than full screen. I have no idea why this is - and I'm waiting eagerly for those-who-know to say why.

Mind you, I run 2 instances of GW with gwx2 which is usually windowed by necessity - and that is just fine and dandy. It would be nice to run 2 instances full screen on 2 monitors, but that sadly ain't possible. Well, not without two PCs, ofc.

I use windowed on Vista, and sadly my GW's performs better on Vista 64 bit than it does in Windows XP professional, but I'm sure some drivers would get my XP's up to par with Vista.

Now, isn't that a turn-around?

I do exactly that with my two PC's side by side, or browse on one while I play on the other, it's truly a luxury! Hehe.

If you have another application up using any sort of anti-alaising (such as desktopx) then in wondowed mode your framerate is greatly affected. (i get as low as 2fps at times).

A solution is to turn off AA in gw and set your graphics card tools to use their own AA settings. That way you get decent fps while still maintaining AA.

I run it windowed so I can access guru, wiki, winamp, see the time, and all the other apps I have up. my computer is good enough to not make a big difference in fps anyways so I don't really have any want to put it in full screen.

I run mine in full screen when actually playing, but windowed when doing other stuff - like right now.

As far as I know (but don't quote me ), the main cause of the slowdown in XP is that the XP desktop is 2D, so, as the video card creates the desktop (frame) it has to keep switching from 2D mode to 3D mode and back.

Also, as far as I know (& no quotes), the Vista Aero desktop is 3D so it can maintain a faster fps because it doesn't need to switch. Also, it may have better frame rates because you are essentially running the game at a lower rez.

Also, (no quotes), the main difference between the 2D and 3D modes is that the 2D mode is backward compatible with old CGA/VGA modes. So, I assume Aero won't work on a CGA monitor - dam!

I wonder if, when running fullscreen, the desktop isn't actually rendered at all?

It annoys me no end when AVG throws up a pop-up (usually "Update manager is active" - gee, thanks). When I'm running GW fullscreen, it still manages to pop up, yet causes a wierd flickering as if windows is trying to render the desktop and Guild Wars on alternate frames.

Whether that has anything to do with SLI, I haven't a clue. Another nail in AVG's coffin, that's for sure.

I use XP, and get the slower framerates in windowed mode, and am using Windows Blinds (may be an issue..not sure)

The only reason this seems strange Is that when I run CoD4 in windowed mode, I get better framerates in windowed mode than I do in full-screen :/

I run mine in Windowed using Vista OS..no problem whatsoever, and on my computer its faster than my XP comp ^^

The discrepancy is because in full screen mode the desktop and other bits are put into something similar to hibernation. In windowed mode this doesn't happen, thus system resources are diverted away from GW...

You assume way too much. 2D mode, 3D mode? That's the way 12 year olds speak about computers. By VGA do you mean the display standard as a whole or the resolution itself? It really doesn't sound like you know what you're talking about.

ps. Don't take this personaly, I'm just saying you're spreading a lot of "i think it's how it works" when you don't know and you should find out if you want to preach. For example there's no such thing as a 2D mode in the way you're using it. Monitors don't care what the data is that they're displaying, as long as it's in a resolution/rate they support. According to your logic, playing Quake in 640x480 is impossible. ("3d" game running in VGA mode.)

Hmm, I bow to your knowledge, but I seem to remember Quake needing an add-on, 3D card to run in hardware mode.

Back in the days when PCs had one graphics card for Windows (the "2D" stuff) and a Voodoo or two to handle the 3D.

Maybe the terminology isn't accurate, but then what's the difference between DirectDraw and Direct3D, eh?

I'm sorry if it's unclear to you. It breaks my heart.

I was in sort of a hurry. The 2D/3D mode thing has more to do with the video card than anything else. Older 2D cards don't have the display registers and components that newer 3D video cards do. However, to maintain compatibility with older 2D cards, Windows XP desktop is rendered using 2D graphics routines. (I have a WinXP server that works just fine with an old S3 Trio64 video card.
For whatever reason, going from the 2D graphics modes to 3D graphics modes involves some "switching" - I assume this involves switching registers and circuits in the GPU. (but don't quote me. )
I also assume that the Aero desktop would not be compatible with that Trio64 because the Trio64 doesn't have the 3D stuff.
And again, I gotta go, so I'm cutting this short.

P.S. I do take it personally, you twit.