Topic: Graphics card performance

[Tony]

Well you may have guessed by now I'm at that smuggly   I just built a new PC stage, where every thing is working fine in default mode. Now the question is : can the system be tweaked  [safely] for optimun performance.

So I ask the question, is it possible to improve performance by altering settings in AGP Timing Control under setup options.

For instance:

AGP Fast Write Enabled or Disabled ?

AGP Aperture Size 128 MB or 256 MB ?

AGP Master 1 W/S Write Enabled or Disabled ?

AGP Master 1 W/S Read Enabled or Disabled ?

AGP Read synchronization Enabled or Disabled ?

Any Graphics connasures in the building ?


catch

PS: excuse the spelling in any or all of my posts, all the words are correct, but some letters may be in the wrong order or missing or present when they should'nt be  

[Simon]

Bat is the expert in this field, Catch - hopefully he'll be around soon to help you out.  Well done so far!!  It's a nice feeling when it all works isn't it?  

[Tony]

Sure is Simon,

well I posted the same question on the Matrox Tech forum so maybe I'll get an answer there. They should know what the best set up is for their cards if they are worth their job discription  

My MSI Mobo has a default Bios setup and a High Performance default set up option. This will tighten up most timings to increase system performance The manual also says you should not enable the performance option, unless you have a high end system with high-quality VGA adapter,RAM and so on. As this can lead the system to hang or crash, and will mean having to clear the COMOS DATA.

Well I could not resist enabeling it, and you know what it worked perfectly, hence I'm to be known from now on as a builder of high end bespoke systems  

catch

[Sandra]

I saw something recently about aperture size Catch,seem to remember it was essential to at least match what was on the card.I have looked at a few sites and forums to try and confirm the optimum setting but havent found the site I want yet  

[Tony]

Jeez you went to bed before me Sandra  

Any way Louie the Matrox Graphics techie reckons it is disable in every mode, with suck it and see regards 128MB or 256MB. As it happens it was set at disable and 128MB when I looked at it, so I reckon I'll leave it like that.

catch

[Sandra]

No I am still around been downloading and got a broken connection so was off line briefly  
Sorry to have missed you  

[Sandra]

Came across this Catch if its any help :-

 
A general rule of thumb is to make it 64 megs if you only have 128 megs of ram, and 128 if you have 256 megs+. Since your actual performance will be difference for each setup he best thing to do is benchmark something (ie. 3DMark 2001) and try it at 64 and 128 or maybe even something else if the option is there and go with what gives you the best performance.
Either way you're not going to notice much difference. I find some games even though the frame rate is through the roof are "sluggish" in how the graphics move along with it only set at 64...
 
So since I have 512mb I should set it to 256mb since I have this option?
 
 Certainly doesn't hurt to try   But like I said you should benchmark your system at each level to find out what's the best performance. Most people tend to go with 128 even with absurd amounts of ram  

Hope this clarifies things  

See I never go to bed leaving something half done Catch  
 

[Tony]

Well that's reassuring to know, as being up on your is a waste really  

Anway thanks for the info Sandra, I too have 512MB of RAM  so maybe I should set it at 256MB, and like you say I should really bench mark it to see what the results are.

catch