Just one more framerate question..

[Morton]

I thought i'd give it a new try with a better Video card on my XP. It's only equipped with an AGP slot, so i installed a GeForce 7600GS AGP 512Mb RAM card.
The funny thing is I i dont see any better FRs. Ok, so the bottle neck maybe somwhere else, but nevertheless i thought i should see some improvements.

When flying "2D" the FR settle around 20! In other views it's from 50 and upwards. Some more wingmen or enemies in the air doesn't matter much. Still FR of 20!
I have tried all kinds of videocard setup combinations, but the ONLY thing that affects the FR is the Anti_Alising. Disabling this triple the FR. Setting it to X4 makes it impractical to fly combat.

Of course i can combat in VC view, but i prefer mostly the 2D mode. Does anyone have any suggestion for better FR in 2D? Or is a new PC with a PCI video card the only solution?

PC:
Pentium4 3.0 Ghz
2 Gb RAM



Morton

[trucker]

You know i had a similar issue a while ago with a specific panel i forgot which but do a search in this forum on panel resolution and you might come up with something. Sorry i can't be more specific...
trucker out.

[bearcat241]

Morton,

Do a little research on the effects of PCI latency timing and then download and install this---> http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/PCI-Latency-Tool-31-build-2.shtml

Set your Host Bridge and IDE interfaces to about 132, your PCI Bridges to about 132 and your VGA Controller (AGP slot) to about 72. What you're likely experiencing is resource hogging in the AGP card itself that is limiting the data flow capabilities of the host and PCI bridges and IDE controllers. You need maximum throughput from these to the card. The bridges involve interfacing between your CPU, physical memory and other motherboard circuitry. The IDE interfacing mainly involves transfers between the hard drives (including virtual memory caching) and the graphics card. That's why the bridges and IDE bus need a higher timing than the card. The timing is how long in nanoseconds (i think this is nano's) that the item holds priority in resources and data flow.

Regarding 2D viewing in CFS2, its not much more than a static texture, with dynamic, constantly-moving gauges on it, superimposed over a moving 3D environmental picture. This is why it takes more resources to draw and maintain throughout a flight session. In 3D view, you're in a more basic element with less graphics loading, so you get higher frames. Take CFS3 which is all VC and no 2D for example. If it did have 2D viewing with all of its advanced environmental scenery and XML damage effects, it would be nothing more than a stuttering slide show for almost any rig, even high-end machines, no matter how much tweaking you do. That's how heavy 2D viewing with active gauges can be on a system.

I have an almost identical card to yours, except its PCI-X, so it doesn't have PCI timing. But i still allocate a higher latency to the bridges and the IDE interfacing with positive results in CFS2, as well as overall system performance.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Just curious, what kind of FR do you get in the HUD (no cockpit) view?

[Morton]

Your suggestions sounds very plausible Bearcat. Since it seems you already have some experience with this utility, can you point out the items i should change in the attachment?

Shadow Wolf, i get around 60.

[bearcat241]

PCI Bridge--------132
LPC interface-----132
IDE ATA----------132
I/O Controller-----132
AGP Controller-----72

************************************************** ***************

PS----make sure you save your settings and set the proggy to load at system startup with the same settings before exiting.

[bearcat241]

Think of the vcard as just a signal receiver. The main game is played out in the data transmissions in the bridges and IDE bus transferring. The size of your transfer pipes is physically fixed by the system hardware specs, but by giving the data sources more time to work with the transfer pipes than the receiver, they get more data to the receiver and quicker.

[Morton]

Tried it, but could't see any changes at all to my FR.

BUT, changing my CFS2 screen setup from 1680x1050x32 to 1680x100x16 makes a lot of difference! And i dont see any visual quality change of the game. :jump:

But then when leaving the game in this setup the screen turns black. Trying to start CFS2 in this setting also results in a total night flight. There must be possible to start CFS2 in this mode? :frown: Always resetting CFS2 to 32bit colors before leaving it seems as stupid method.

Mort

[kelticheart]

Very interesting thread, Morton and BC!

Where can I find the "PCI Latency Tool" util you are using? Can it be downoladed?

Cheers!
KH :ernae:

[Morton]

Where can I find the "PCI Latency Tool" util you are using? Can it be downoladed?


Here:
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/PCI-Latency-Tool-31-build-2.shtml


Mort

[Shessi]

Morton,
I noticed on a previous thread you were talking about getting a new LCD screen. (What did you get btw?)

This 'blacking out' prob could be two things, using a different screen res from the native one (1680x1050?) or vid card driver needs changing to a newer OR later one.
Generally speaking ATi cards handle CFS2 better than Nvidia (not speeds but graphic specs/settings are fussier).

(I've got a vested interest in all this as my pc's just packed up and am speccing a new one with LCD! :d)

Shessi

[rich12545]

I looked at the site and apparantly this doesn't work for pcie cards, is that correct?

[Morton]

Shessi,
I bought a Samsung Syncmaster T220.(2mSec) Not the cheapest, but you dont buy a monitor every year..
I tried the logical approach. I set the monitor to the same as CFS2. 1680x1050x16. This is for shure a valid setting for this screen. But when starting CFS2 i just get a black sceeen with a "big" mouse pointer. Beats me. Havn't found a workaround yet, but i will..


rich12545,
Yes, i understand latency dont apply to PCI graphic cards. Only AGP.


Morton

[bearcat241]

I looked at the site and apparently this doesn't work for pcie cards, is that correct?

That's correct Rich, but read my posts several times again and get the bigger picture. This latency timing thing is about more than just a little singular graphics card. It has a total system effect. And its not a killer mod that just blows you away with results. Its a "sleeper" mod, like taking a multi-vitamin everyday starting now, where you didn't before. In the long run your body's physiology will be much better, even if the vitamins don't power you up one side of Mount Everest and down the other...or like pouring carb cleaner into your car that only gives a marginal HP increase. Its what you don't see or feel it doing that really counts and increases the life and maintainability of your engine.

This concern that latency timing doesn't affect PCI cards is raised by many at first (this isn't the only place i hang out ;)), but as you learn more about it, you can see that this is actually a benefit. No timing allocation for a PCI card means you can allocate more time to the other vital components i've mentioned above. That's a good thing....

[kelticheart]

Here:
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/PCI-Latency-Tool-31-build-2.shtml


Mort

Yeah, right!

I am getting senile, I was at work, so I quicly ran throught the thread and I missed BC had given you the link already. I saved the page and off I went.

When I got back home and went back reading the thread offline, I felt like a perfect ass.....

Thank you, Morton! :wiggle:

Now I only wonder if this tweak can be supported by my 5-year old pc, although I do have an ATI Radeon PCI card.

If I can add a little piece of my experience, since I am always looking for better framerates,

when I am in FF I:



select a video res of 1280x1024x32
take all ground image quality sliders to the max
fire all the scenery details to Extremely Dense

When I fly missions I:



decrease my video res to 1280x1024x16
reduce all ground image quality sliders to half
uncheck the ground shadows
reduce the scenery details to Normal
deactivate all exhaust effects in the aircrafts used by the missions I am going to fly

I usually gain a 50% fps increase for missions animation in this way.

In some cases, I had to give up splendid, yet fps-heavy, Usio's ships that I had used to replace stock ships.

One thing I am still fighting with is flak display. Over the years I replaced poor looking stock flack textures with replacement effects from various authors, but now, when the sky is full of flak bursts, my fps drop to almost nihil.

Does anyone know of a "lightweight" flak effect I can download?

Cheers!
KH :ernae: