Graphics question

[HercMighty]

With the below spec's what type of framerates should I expect? If I run at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 I get 30FPS. No Antiliasing or Anistropic filtering, full screen mode, 24bit and Vertical Sync on. I do have the top to bars sent to 100 and had the bottom bar set to 75. I did get 60FPS but now no matter what I do I get 30FPS playing just the tutorials.


Time of this report: 10/3/2006, 17:46:19
Machine name: ADMIN-8EB3415BB
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 08/30/06 12:22:13 Ver: 08.00.12
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 339MB used, 3600MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 7900 GS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0292&SUBSYS_22181682&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9147 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/11/2006 23:42:52, 4496128 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys

[Ssnake]

It depends. Remember that while looking through scopes you will often see reduced frame rates. What you may want to do is adjust the sliders while looking through the scope and see if the frame rates go up again. Hit Alt+D anytime.

[ARM505]

You have vertical sync on. Turn it off for a magical frame rate increase. The evidence points that way (constant fps at different screen resolutions) It's a bit counterintuitive - you would expect that if your system can render 75 fps in a given situation, but your monitor is set to 60Hz, you would get 60 fps if you have Vsync on. Not so. If the frame is not completely ready by the time the screen is refreshed, it isn't displayed on that round, only on the next round. Hence, a shortfall in displayed fps, below the monitors refresh rate. Something like that.

There are some ways of fiddling this though. You can (for example) enable triple buffering in your gfx card drivers. But it's a bit of a fiddle, and at high res's triple buffering will only get you so far, since the gfx card is starting to take strain anyway and can't render as much in advance. The best bet is to disable Vsync unless you're getting terrible 'tearing' (displaying mismatched images, ie half of the preceding image with half a newer image) in the image as you make rapid, large changes. Try sitting in the TC view with not much going on, and looking around rapidly to see if it could be a bother.

P.S. Makes sure Vsync is actually off. Even if it's set to off in SB, your gfx card drivers may still be forcing it on. I force it off all the time, and I have almost never noticed bad tearing.

[HercMighty]

Thanks, V-Sync OFF does wonders. 62.5FPS pretty constant, lowest I saw was 31.5 in high forest. And that was with 4x antiliasing and anistropic filtering turned on.

I'll have to play with the tearing and see, but I didn't see anything to bad.

[Test_Monkey]

There is a registry setting for nvidia cards that you can set the number of frames that the CPU can prepare before they are processed by the GPU. This can reduce the tearing effect. The bad part is the setting is in hex and can be difficult to find in the registry. An easy option is to find a tweaker that will do it for you.

[HercMighty]

Yeah, I have coolbits enabled and the setting is set to 3 frames. Have a good recommendation, or is 3 fairly good?

[ARM505]

That (as I understand it) is triple (X3) buffering. That is the highest that most gfx drivers will allow you to set it, and as such, I don't think setting it higher will give you any benefits. So I'd say stick with 3, and that should allow you to run Vsync on at fps's approaching (depending on the image to be rendered) your monitor's refresh rate. Obviously, triple buffering places an extra load on the gfx card. To ensure MAX fps, turn it AND Vsync OFF. If you don't notice anything bad, then leave it that way. Vsync in combination with triple buffering can be used if you encounter bad tearing. And only some games do this in a bad way - I find that SB isn't one of them, at least on my PC.