How to Optimize the performance of my Radeon 9700 Pro

[jjj807]

I recently recieved my ATI radeon 9700 Pro from comp geeks for 130. I installed it and it runs fine, no artifacts or error messages. I am running catalyst 4.3 with it. I want to know how I can optimize the performance of my card without OCing or doing BIOS stuff. How much should i turn up AA or AF? Does anyone know how I can use the ATI control panel options to its fullest? If this is a stupid topic, delete it.

THanks in advance

 

[gururu]

i run 16x AF, no AA, high quality textures, no truform, no vsync.

good enough for ut2004

 

[Pete]

Try 16x Performance (rather than Quality) AF, and then dial up AA as far as your framerates will allow. Also, try the latest Catalysts (4.7 is supposed to offer some big speed-ups, IIRC, though it may not be officially released for a couple of weeks).

 

[jjj807]

Thanks a lot, but how do I know how far to dial up my framerates. I set it on 4x now and did all ur settings Pete for Direct 3d

 

[HardWarrior]

You turn up eye-candy to the point where the game sucks for you frame-rate wise. This is a choice only you can make.

 

[BFG10K]

Definitely use 16x performance AF - 95% of the time it looks as good as quality but the filtering workload is cut in half.

Also don't use AA, instead bump up the resolution as high as possible. If you reached your monitor's limit and it's still fast,then start using AA.

 

[Pete]

There are basically two ways to tell if your framerate is too low or just right. The first is to just by playing the game and feeling when things are smooth or choppy. The second is to use FRAPS(.com) or in-game framerate counters to show your framerates, and aim for at least 60fps in fast-paced games (and maybe 30fps in slower ones).

Bumping up your res before bumping your AA is probably your best bet, but don't sacrifice your refresh rate (and thus your eyes). I always aim for 85Hz or higher, so find the highest res that offers you that refresh rate, then fiddle with AA. Still, you may prefer a lower res with more AA. The only way to know for sure is just to try it out.

I'd probaby aim for 1280x960 or 1280x1024 with 16xAF and the most AA possible with a 9700P, judging by benchmarks. If your monitor limits you to 1024x768 or 1152x864 with a comfortable refresh rate, then try 4x or even 6x AA.

 

[jjj807]

Wow You know a lot of about this. THanks everyone, I'll ty it out