Thanks to RainStryke for peaking my interest by stating he'd seen somewhere that someone saved 400MB vram by disabling Aero. I found it unreal based on my experience and it turned out to be on an 8000x1600 res; with this res on some apps, I bet one can save 400MB. I've heard before about disabling it for some performance, but I liked Aero looks and never got around to testing it and I never stumbled across someone giving the numbers. Being that I run a high res, I wanted to look into it.
 
I originally tested 5 games all having the same graphic settings with sig rig (gpu clocks 1123MHz/1110Mhz, 6008MHz), and only Aero was turned on or off (turn Aero off by selecting Windows 7 Basic in the Personalize window). I test BF3, Dirt 3 and Sniper Elite V2 Demo at 6010x1080 and 1920x1080. I also test Crysis 2 and Metro 2033 at 6010x1080. More games are being added as time goes on.
 
I scaled the images down for easier viewing and let the results speak. What they are telling you is ditch Aero, at least when gaming.
 
*The following has been tested on Post #44 and it is a)*   Crysis 2 (high res pack) seems to be the exception in my testbed of games, there was only a 4MB difference and they were both north of 1980MB. I haven't attempted any research for an explanation, but I'm thinking one of two reasons: a) Turning Aero off did free up some vram, but the game said “sweet, more vram, I'll use it!” or b) Crysis 2 game actually turns off Aero. I'm rooting for a) I suppose, because I'd rather think that someone made a game smart instead of the other 4 game coders being lazy and not turning off Aero for us when we go in 3D clocks since Crytek can (if they can).
 
My 6010x1080 desktop idles with 232MB Aero On, and 121MB Aero Off.
 
These pics are also good for showing you the triple screen DoF difference between 6010x1080 and 1920x1080 for those interested in triple screen. Also vram memory management by the apps.
 
Settings:
Nv Panel Settings: FXAA On / Quality AO / TSAA Off / Quality TF / Vsync Off / Rest App Controlled
 
Dirt 3 6010x1080 Aero On: 1589MB   Aero Off: 1468MB  Save: 121MB
Dirt 3 1920x1080 Aero On: 948MB     Aero Off: 743MB    Save: 205MB (touching on 1GB cards)
MAX Ultra and MAX 8xQCSAA

BF3 6010x1080 Aero On: 1781MB     Aero Off: 1571MB   Save: 210MB (may be able to reach higher AA)
BF3 1920x1080 Aero On: 1138MB     Aero Off: 1006MB   Save: 132MB (poss the difference between 1GB card playable)
Ultra 1-6 / 2xMSAA / High AA Post / Motion Blur Off / AFx16 / HBAO
 
Sniper Elite V2 Demo 6010x1080 Aero On: 1422MB    Aero Off: 1167MB   Save: 255MB
Spiner Elite V2 Demo 1920x1080 Aero On: 1027MB    Aero Off: 817MB   Save: 210MB (? 1GB card playable issue)
Ultra / Ultra / High / Ultra / AFx16 / Motion Blur On / Ambient Occlusion On / Compute Shaders On
 
Crysis 2 6010x1080 Aero On: 1988MB    Aero Off: 1984MB   Save: 4MB (odd man out, love to know exactly why)
Extreme All except High Post Processing / Low Motion Blur / High Res Textures / DX11 Enabled

Metro2033 6010x1080 Aero On: 1241MB    Aero Off: 1085MB   Save: 156MB 
Very High Quality / DX11 / AAA / AFx16 / Tessellation / DOF Off 
 
Methodology:
I tested all games with Aero On together. I would close the game out when changing resolutions. Rebooted the pc, then I repeated all of them with Aero Off. I did not switch Aero back and forth with each app as I didn't want to take any chance of mem bugaboo.
With the exception of Dirt 3 and BF3, each pic was taken at the same opening spot of a SP level. Dirt 3 was taken on the first jump of the benckmark run. BF3 was taken on that SP mission right after your character turns his head back to the right, ohh, about 15 seconds after the T-Rex doll.  

Thread Updates:
EDIT 6: Reran the 1920 BF3 Aero On and there was something up with the vsync. It now shows 1138MB used instead of 1377MB which is in line with everything else, but Crysis 2. I must have just fubared it somewhere. New image posted.
Also ran the extra AA test on BF3 since I saved some vram, so I tried out FXAA+4xMSAA which before would breach 2GB and play choppy despite the playable FPS. Sure enough, with Aero Off, I can now do it at 1869MB and fluid. Pics in Post #2 and I'm going to attempt to test in MP.
EDIT 7: After learning what BF3 does with vram management when hitting the limit, I wanted to check out why Crysis 2 is doing what it's doing. In short, SP VRAM Management Crysis 2 > BF3 (MP not tested yet, but I expect the same result). Details and pics in Post #44.
EDIT 9: Added Alan Wake results. Saves a good chunk with Aero Off, but it's another game that just doesn't get close to 2GB even at max settings. Post #65.
EDIT 10: 6/7/12 Added a SP vid with performance info of Max Payne 3 Post #68. @ 6010x1080 I can go Highest IQ w/ 2xMSAA and Aero Off. Aero On or higher MSAA exceeds my 2GB limit and handles like BF3.
 
First User to Suggest This. Thanks man.

teantonic
I am not too sure if this is of value to anyone, but here is what I tried, along with my results.
Before I loaded into Battlefield 3, I left-clicked on the shortcut (BF3.exe), then clicked properties, compatibility, then under settings click both 'disable visual themes,' and 'disable desktop composition.'
At first glance running the game, I noticed around 150MB available memory. I am not concluding anything, but it might advance the conversation.
Cheers!

I have heard you can actually lose performance from disabling Aero. I don't know. Interested in topic myself personally.

Yeah, Aero definitely uses more VRAM and can cause problems in games...I just keep Aero off full time and I never have any issues, and it really doesn't look bad or anything imo.

FattysGoneWild

Random quote from the net.

Aero is accelerated and on just about any proper DX9 level card (or higher) its faster and uses less CPU time than the old GDI type interface on XP. Disabling it doesnt improve performance at all, it anything it makes it worse. Gaming is unaffected by Aero.
There really is NO reason to remove it other than the simple fact that you might think its unattractive, which few do.

 
.....cmon man, "random quotes from the internet", are you seriously trying to put that over these results.
 

yapchagi

can't read anything there. Picture is too small.

 
......ya, that's why post 2. I'm seeing there aren't loading to the 2816x506 I resized them to. It's why I have the MB in text. I'll work on getting the upper left corners magnified later for the thread.
 

FattysGoneWild

I have heard you can actually lose performance from disabling Aero. I don't know. Interested in topic myself personally.

 
While I'll didn't do any FPS testing, I will on a few to see if that changes. However, clearly 4 out of 5 games tested show a good chunk of mem returned which could allow for another level of AA or so. Now there are numbers to put to it.

Sumazi

Yeah, Aero definitely uses more VRAM and can cause problems in games...I just keep Aero off full time and I never have any issues, and it really doesn't look bad or anything imo.

 
I agree. It doesn't look bad, my dektop pc spends more time in 3D mode than desktop anyway

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I understand people still love CRT's but they are terrible for videotaping........ ha
 
 

Yeah, I can pretty much confirm this...
 
Aero will eat in the vicinity of 150-220MB of VRAM. I just have a little shortcut in my Start menu to a couple of batch files...one that kills Aero before I play a VRAM-intensive game, and another that starts it back up as soon as I exit that game.
 
Pretty simple, and takes 2 seconds to rectify. This is especially helpful for those running under 2GB of VRAM.

I've never really encountered a problem with Aero when I've been using my surround setups. If anything, the only problem that's ever really cropped up for me is the "Would you like to disable Aero?" message that pops up randomly. The VRAM usage footprint is generally so small that it has no impact.
 
That said, I'm also using the 3GB versions of the 580 in SLI, and I have yet to see a game use up all that space, but I can see where it would become a problem on the current lineup of 600 Series cards and their use of 2GB of VRAM, especially on multi-monitor setups. I've seen BF3 get up to about 2.3GB usage on the Karkand maps when running at 6010x1080, and Shogun 2 will use as much RAM as it has access to, regardless of the resolution (I watched the on-screen counter get up to 2.5GB @ 1920x1080 with no AA).
 
I guess it really depends on the game you're playing and card you have whether or not to enable/disable Aero.

RainStryke

I bet you think your motherboard and processor is enough for your video cards too. LOL

This guy will show ya why...

 
Rainstryke , I get the impression that your feelings have been hurt and now you're trying to challenge me, sorry you feel the need. However, instead of pulling another "CUDA link" stunt now with Vega's vid (care to explain how a Quad SLi test affects a SLi rig ), do some research and find out that I was involved in that thread and in general with the whole PCIe 2.0 x8 vs x16 vs PCIe 3.0 x8 vs x16. It has been deemed that PCIe 2.0 x16/x16 has no serious disadvantage over SLi in PCIe 3.0 x8/x8 or x16/x16. The more vgas you have on your system in PCIe 2.0, the more x8 lanes you will be using (e.g. TRi SLi x16/x8/x8 or Vega's Quad SLi x16/x8/x8/8). PCIe 2.0 x8 is the bottleneck and if you can change any PCIe 2.0 x8 to either PCIe 2.0 x16 or any PCIe 3.0, then you will have free'd the beast. At this point, there essentially is no difference between PCIe 3.0 x8 and PCIe 2.0 x16, huge difference the more PCIe 2.0 x8s you can turn into PCIe 3.0.
If on my X58 I went Tri Sli, therefore changing my lanes from PCIe 2.0 x16/x16 to PCIe 2.0 x16/x8/x8 then yes, I would be loosing out on some of my gpu performance compared to X79 and you would be right. However, I'm not and neither are you
I hope you get over it all soon. I am already quite aware that if I'm going TRi SLi with GK110, I am going to upgrade my platform to X79, but for SLi 680, my X58 works well, and I'll pretend you meant to help me with that info, wanting me to have the best performing SLi rig I can

There is no need to disable Aero.
 
Look at your Crysis 2 comparrison.  There is little difference in memory usage between Aero on and off because the game actually needed more RAM, so it automatically took it from aero.
 
People need to stop underestimating automatic memory management.
 
Until someone can show me a test where performance is greater with Aero off then I will remain skeptical about the benefits of turning it off.

SirMaster
Until someone can show me a test where performance is greater with Aero off then I will remain skeptical about the benefits of turning it off.

I'm bored so here ya go.
 

 
Started with aero turned off, gpu usage is 90-99% (constant 99% on the second card), vram usage hovering around 1975-2000gb, fps 60-80. System is GPU limited.
 
ALT + tabbed out of the game and turned aero on, Vram usage is now around 2030mb+, you can see the dips in the FPS when it starts swapping the data in and out of vram, gpu usage drops because the system is no longer gpu limited but is now vram limited. FPS drops to 40-55 with dips down to 25, but feels much slower, very jerky almost unplayable.
 
I was on a roll so i played the rest of the round, I changed some settings to boost the fps so I've blacked out that portion of the graph.
 
This is only an issue on hires systems that can hit the vram limit, it will make no difference to the majority of people. Not all games will be the same, I only tested BF3.
 
 
 
 
 

could u upload that neat batch file??  would be appreciated!! :)
 
 
 

jcde7ago

Yeah, I can pretty much confirm this...

Aero will eat in the vicinity of 150-220MB of VRAM. I just have a little shortcut in my Start menu to a couple of batch files...one that kills Aero before I play a VRAM-intensive game, and another that starts it back up as soon as I exit that game.

Pretty simple, and takes 2 seconds to rectify. This is especially helpful for those running under 2GB of VRAM.

I sense a bit of confirmation bias here towards the Aero theme ^^ I mean it does look nice and it definitely won't be a problem with any modern system, but if you really want to squeeze every last frame out of your games, I recommend you guys at least try going to Windows Classic and performing some tests with an open mind :)

hakka69

I have sli 680s running at 5990x1200.
With aero on I cannot use MSAA in BF3 (every other setting maxed out) without hitting the vram wall and getting slowdowns.
With aero turned off I can run 2xMSAA with no problems at all.

 
This makes perfect sense to me given my results. Lowering the vram from 1781 to 1571MB with Aero Off seems to give me more room for higher settings. I'm going to test this and have no doubt I'll be right in line with your result, I know I have the gpu power for more.

 

hakka69

SirMaster
Until someone can show me a test where performance is greater with Aero off then I will remain skeptical about the benefits of turning it off.

I'm bored so here ya go. 

Started with aero turned off, gpu usage is 90-99% (constant 99% on the second card), vram usage hovering around 1975-2000gb, fps 60-80. System is GPU limited.

ALT + tabbed out of the game and turned aero on, Vram usage is now around 2030mb+, you can see the dips in the FPS when it starts swapping the data in and out of vram, gpu usage drops because the system is no longer gpu limited but is now vram limited. FPS drops to 40-55 with dips down to 25, but feels much slower, very jerky almost unplayable.

I was on a roll so i played the rest of the round, I changed some settings to boost the fps so I've blacked out that portion of the graph.

This is only an issue on hires systems that can hit the vram limit, it will make no difference to the majority of people. Not all games will be the same, I only tested BF3.

 
Tanks for the info. lol, bordem at worked started me on this quest and now I've spent half my day off on it

Quagmire LXIX
Dirt 3 6010x1080 Aero On: 1589MB Aero Off: 1468MB Save: 121MB 
Dirt 3 1920x1080 Aero On: 948MB Aero Off: 743MB Save: 205MB (touching on 1GB cards)
BF3 6010x1080 Aero On: 1781MB Aero Off: 1571MB Save: 210MB (may be able to reach higher AA)
BF3 1920x1080 Aero On: 1377MB Aero Off: 1006MB Save: 371MB (huge, difference between 1GB card playable)
Sniper Elite V2 Demo 6010x1080 Aero On: 1422MB Aero Off: 1167MB Save: 255MB
Spiner Elite V2 Demo 1920x1080 Aero On: 1027MB Aero Off: 817MB Save: 210MB (? 1GB card playable issue)
Crysis 2 6010x1080 Aero On: 1988MB Aero Off: 1984MB Save: 4MB (odd man out, love to know exactly why)
Metro2033 6010x1080 Aero On: 1241MB Aero Off: 1085MB Save: 156MB

 
A couple requests.
 
Can you edit the original post and toss in which games in your test are using DX9, DX10, DX11 (since I think you can run a couple games using an older or newer version of DX). The different versions of DirectX probably use different methods of memory management. Any PhysX going on? (I'm assuming PhysX uses vram as well?).
 
Also, can you put in a sentence or two on your testing methodology? As in, is this alt-tabbing and changing Aero; quitting, changing, restarting game; rebooting the PC in between; which setting you tested with first (Aero on or off); etc.
 
Thanks for the numbers and screenshots! They look amazing.

I am not too sure if this is of value to anyone, but here is what I tried, along with my results.
 
Before I loaded into Battlefield 3, I left-clicked on the shortcut (BF3.exe), then clicked properties, compatibility, then under settings click both 'disable visual themes,' and 'disable desktop composition.'
 
At first glance running the game, I noticed around 150MB available memory.  I am not concluding anything, but it might advance the conversation.
 
Cheers!