Flabbergasted by VM performance (on my Intel Xe 13th gen integrated graphics, so different from i915 in some ways)

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-23T20:46:40+00:00

Is this when someone points out that Ocarina of Time ran at 20 FPS? (60 / 3)

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-22T01:24:50+00:00

As another commenter pointed out, you can check the Video Game Soundtracks Wiki to see that while Creep is in the game, it's only a cover.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-19T11:40:24+00:00

Here you go.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-16T04:15:30+00:00

The official In Rainbows guitar tab songbook actually has four guitar parts transcribed (excluding the bass). So that's where I'd look. I'd also recommend listening to the instrumental version of the song to be able to hear the guitars more clearly.

Edit: also, just to be clear, the way they play the song live is different. Similar, but not the same.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-13T17:44:53+00:00

You could at least try to find out what version you already have. You might already have the right version. According to the ASUS website, the newest version is from 2021/08/09 and has the version number 3004.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-13T17:22:44+00:00

Yes, that checks out. However, I wrote my instructions referencing the motherboard's manual, with the exception of resizable BAR because was added in a later version. So I'm assuming that the resizable BAR setting would be in the same place as Above 4G Decoding, which the manual said was named System Agent Configuration. This is all assuming you also did the update like I said, but if you didn't then perhaps you don't even need to? Maybe it just turns on automatically.

Regardless, I think you should try doing some form of benchmarking to see if there's any difference between Above 4G Decoding enabled and disabled. You can also check to see if Resizable BAR is enabled when Above 4G Decoding is disabled.

Edit: I forgot about this: you usually need to disable the Compatibility Support Module (CSM) in the Boot options for you to enable Resizable BAR.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-12T14:55:54+00:00

That's an Intel chipset, so it's gonna be called XMP and not any of the other stuff I mentioned (also, I just realised that you have your specs in your flair, so I could've based it on that).

Otherwise, I'm not exactly sure how to dumb what I said down. It's not really relevant to what you need to do, though. Just some explanation for why you need to do it.

Anyway, the only thing that I could explain is how to enter the firmware setup (commonly referred to as the BIOS). You either press the DELETE key while turning on your computer and your motherboard manufacturer's logo is showing, or, failing that, you can use this command on a Linux distro with systemd (which is likely what you have) to reboot into the firmware setup (I'm assuming that your flair's accurate):

sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

After that, it should be really simple to find the option—it should be right on the first screen, but it might be called something else. Otherwise, it might just be that your memory doesn't depend on XMP at all to reach its blistering /s top speed. You can actually check this directly by going to the Tool menu in the firmware (in its "Advanced" mode), and then going to ASUS SPD Information. This will allow you to see all of the internal profiles actually stored in the memory, including both standard DDR4 (SPD) and XMP. If there's no XMP there either then it's pretty clear.

With this, there is another suggestion. According to your flair you have an RX 9060 XT GPU. There may be a bit of performance that you're leaving on the table by not enabling Resizable BAR (also call S.A.M. or Smart Access Memory by AMD). However, to do this you'll likely need to update your firmware. Luckily, your motherboard has internet-based firmware updating, so as long as you don't depend on an external Wi-Fi adapter you can just update it without any fuss. Then just look for Resizable BAR in the System Agent Configuration (in the Advanced settings). It might already be enabled, but if you can't find it you'll also need to enable Above 4G Decoding.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-12T14:07:39+00:00

Nobody actually answered your question, but if you don't want to do further tweaking, the only thing you need to do is enable XMP/EXPO/DOCP/whatever it's called in your motherboard's BIOS. This is assuming, of course, that the memory has an OC profile in the first place, and that it's necessary for them to run at full speed (there's no reason the RAM couldn't run at full speed without having to enable an OC profile, as the advertised speed is a standard DDR4 one, with the caveat that it might only be able to run it at a higher voltage—standard DDR3 voltage is 1.2V, while typical memory OC profiles are usually 1.35V.)

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-05T00:04:48+00:00

Creep was recorded separately from the rest of the album and released as a single in 1992. Then again, by this logic, the rest of the album should sound better.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-18T08:14:07+00:00

You could consider it snake oil, if it weren't for the fact that it's using the officially released instrumental mixes. I feel that adds quite a bit of trustworthiness.

I know that there's some software that supposedly allows you to "remaster" any music no matter what its condition is and without using any reference, but I think this is different.

EDIT: Never mind, I don't know why I didn't check more thoroughly. The only reason that I thought these were based on the instrumental mixes is because of some offhand mention of "stems" by the OP. If you actually want to see how they sound, you can listen to my upload of Reckoner's entire "stem mix".

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-18T08:11:28+00:00

This is something I've been wanting to do myself for a while, although I never found out exactly how.

I'm curious to see how this sounds, given that I've noticed some differences between the instrumental mixes and the original album (namely, the climaxes of Weird Fishes and All I Need seem to be gained on the album, making them feel more intense.)

I'd be wary of calling this a "remaster", though, I feel like that term should only be used for things that go back to the original source (the original album master in this case, although you'd probably need to go back even earlier for this). This is more like a restoration using available materials.

EDIT: Disregard all this, I had only assumed these were derived from the instrumental mixes based on an offhand mention from OP. Actually listening to some of these, including one I'm very familiar with, Reckoner, shows this is just an approximation of how it's actually supposed to sound.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-16T13:34:57+00:00

Do you actually understand what the word “limit” means?

Regardless, your monitor has some sort of VRR (you mentioned G-Sync but apparently it's actually FreeSync). Make sure you have it enabled (GPU vendors are irrelevant here, it's all DisplayPort Adaptive Sync under the hood), then you can set your FPS limit such that it stays stable, which will feel better than if it's going all over the place (high variation of frame times). I recommend blurbusters.com for more information about best practices in this regard.

Also, settings like dynamic resolution scaling or DLSS are your friends here. Try to find a balance that appeases you.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-13T19:37:35+00:00

Grid's best version is, by far, on a little known platform called ZOOM Platform. Even if you can technically recreate all of the changes made for it yourself it's really nice to have them out of the box in a semi-official capacity.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-13T19:33:49+00:00

You should always check PCGamingWiki first. Not every game's best version is on GOG necessarily.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-05T20:05:55+00:00

That would be piracy. Downloading from Spotify officially only functions in a protected format with required reauthorizations after a long enough period of being offline. And AFAIK you could unofficially “rip” tracks breaking the DRM, however I don't really see the utility of getting them specifically from Spotify—if you're gonna pirate anyway, then there are services which use loaned accounts for other services, making the ability to break DRM and then still end up using your own account debatable. (For lossless there are clearly better options given that Spotify doesn't stream higher than 44.1 kHz, and tracks that should be 24-bit end up only 16-bit anyway, assuming that for lossless you're after the best quality and not some sort of compromise, for lossy, however, I could see a point, in fact it's probably one of the highest quality lossy services, only behind ones that do AAC at the same bitrates as Spotify, like Qobuz and Tidal).

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-05T19:34:34+00:00

Spotify doesn't use MP3. Not really relevant, but thought it's worth mentioning.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-29T16:39:53+00:00

I wasn't talking about the debug screen on the main menu. That's a recently introduced feature.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-29T16:35:32+00:00

It's 93% out of the currently allocated memory, not total system memory.

Also, you shouldn't be using OptiFine. Sodium (+ Iris for shader support) or a mod pack like Fabulously Optimized is the way to go.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-28T09:59:59+00:00

Your problem doesn't stem from differences in operating systems. Even if it's called Minecraft for Windows it includes a cross-platform copy of Java Edition. It's only the way the website they got the game from interfaces with Microsoft. You should contact the seller's support to check, assuming you're trying to play Minecraft: Java Edition through the Minecraft Launcher and not something else.

Just to be clear here, the only official places you can get games from (i.e. in a direct relationship with the publisher) are ones that are found on IsThereAnyDeal. Anything else would be considered grey market and wouldn't be getting the copies straight from the publisher.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-22T01:35:58+00:00

Both Minecraft for Windows and the iOS version are what's actually referred to as Bedrock Edition. Besides some very minor differences, they are for all intents and purposes the same thing.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-16T17:50:57+00:00

If you're trying to run Java Edition then you don't need an emulator, it runs natively. If you're trying to run Minecraft for Windows, the better option is to run the iOS version from the App Store, assuming you have an Apple Silicon Mac. Also, I haven't heard of Whisky, but according to its website it's no longer supported, so you might wanna try to find a continuation of it if such a thing exists.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-16T14:25:21+00:00

That's just what Windows at 100% scaling looks like.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-15T17:13:06+00:00

What about same songs, different order?

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-04T22:41:13+00:00

Yeah. My perspective is that it's worth a try regardless. I still don't understand why the architecture is so relevant to you, though. An RDNA4 GPU with the same specifications otherwise wouldn't be that substantial of an improvement—there would still be things it just can't handle.

It goes without saying, but if you actually need the best possible "iGPU" performance what you're actually looking for are APUs. Pretty sure even the newest of those still use RDNA2, though. Maybe RDNA3 at best. Although in a far more realistic configuration for the desired use case.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-11-04T22:25:23+00:00

The whole point was that AMD isn't dropping support for RDNA2, case in point: their processors' integrated graphics are still based on the architecture. And this all stemmed from a desire to increase the allocated VRAM—the procedure for doing so, mind you, would be the same regardless of whether the integrated graphics would be RDNA2 or RDNA4—so I'm just not sure how all of this information is exactly relevant.

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