How can I force 16 or 24-bit color?

[ShawnD1]

Is there a way I can force OpenGL and D3D programs to use either 16-bit or 24-bit color instead of 32-bit? My card is a Radeon 9600XT, and I'm using Windows XP Home.

 

[Matthias99]

If the application doesn't support it explicitly, I don't know any way other than forcing your desktop to 16-bit mode (but even that won't help you with fullscreen apps). Most games *used* to offer the option to run in 16-bit mode... what are you trying to do?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Is there a way I can force OpenGL and D3D programs to use either 16-bit or 24-bit color instead of 32-bit? My card is a Radeon 9600XT, and I'm using Windows XP Home.

Vomit emoticon, stat.

Why the hell would you want to make a 9600XT run at 16 or 24bpp?

- M4H

 

[Viper96720]

yeah game option pick 16bit.

 

[VIAN]

get more performance.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Why the hell would you want to make a 9600XT run at 16 or 24bpp?

So my performance doesn't lick ass? There is absolutely no way to get smooth gaming with a 9600XT when using 32-bit color.

 

[BFG10K]

Modern cards are optimized for 32 bit performance so you might even lose performance if you switch to 16 bit colour.

To answer your original question you'll either have to do it in the game if it controls the depth, otherwise set your desktop to 16 bit mode for those that don't.

 

[vshah]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Why the hell would you want to make a 9600XT run at 16 or 24bpp?

So my performance doesn't lick ass? There is absolutely no way to get smooth gaming with a 9600XT when using 32-bit color.

i think thats a littl exaggeration. probably plays fine at 1024 with low/noAA , if the rest of your sys is up to snuff...

-Vivan

 

[imported_Nail]

24-bit is the same as 32. Your monitor can't display more than 24-bit.

For modern graphics cards, 16-bit color will likely reduce performance.

A 9600XT should be able to play any game on the market with good performance. Reduce texture detail.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: Nail
For modern graphics cards, 16-bit color will likely reduce performance.
A 9600XT should be able to play any game on the market with good performance. Reduce texture detail.

First of all, it will not reduce performance. I did some testing with GL Excess to find that when using 1024x768, using no AA and no AF with 32-bit color gives the same performance as 6x AA and 16x quality AF with 16-bit color.

In Neverwinter Nights, reducing texture detail doesn't help at all. 64MB textures (best) and 16MB (crappy) textures give the same performance (30-40 fps).

 

[imported_Nail]

In Neverwinter Nights, reducing texture detail doesn't help at all. 64MB textures (best) and 16MB (crappy) textures give the same performance (30-40 fps).

Then your graphics card isn't to blame.

I play Neverwinter Nights on a 9600 Pro at 1280x960.

 

[Gamingphreek]

There is no point in switching to 16 or 24 bitt color. Even if cards were optimized for it there is no point maybe one frame if it was optimized for it.

-Kevin

 

[rbV5]

There is absolutely no way to get smooth gaming with a 9600XT when using 32-bit color.

Sure there is, the 9600xt may not be high end but its absolutely capable of smooth framerates in every game. The color depth will have liitle to no effect on performance.