ok I installed a radeon , now what to do to optimize it

[sugar18]

Card is installed with 4.12.3044 drivers. I did not install the multimedia center, didnt want to.
The only game I have tested is Swat 3 EE whic requires DX 7. I also have Mechwarrior 4 whixh needs DX 8, so which drivers would I need for this.

Questions

What is the latest stable drivers
What are the recommended settings for the best output of this card

Here are my specs

p3 600e
radeon 32 ddr
msi bxmaster
pc133 128mb corsair
vortex sq2500
win 98 se

Open GL sttings
check after - convert 32bit textures to 16bit, enable page flipping, enable full scene anti aliasing, enable ktx buffer extension, enable texture compression, sub pixel precision 4, anisotropic texture setting high setting


D3D settigs


wait for vertical sync, Ati aliasing - application preference, compressed texture format - enabled, z buffer bit depths - 16:24

 

[PeAK]

...go here for "distilled wisdom"

 

[BAMAVOO]

Do what I did..Replace it with a Hercules Prophet II 64meg Geforce 2 GTS

I really liket the Radeon 64meg Vivo I had. But all those tweaks he linked you to actually make the card worse not better...

I honestly think after having both cards that the Geforce 2 is better in 2d and most definitley better in 3d!!!!!!!!!! The graphics on both are superb but the speed is a no contest..If ATI could come up with some good drivers they may have a great card on their hands.. I am staying with this Prophet II until the next generation arrives..

No Flaming needed just my honest opinion..

 

[Spoooon]

I've found the 2D on my Radeon to be superior to my VisionTek GeForce 2 MX. Not dramatically so, but enough to notice. I didn't really do much by way of tweaking it. I just set it to how I wanted it. When I play Oni, I go ahead and enable 2 sample AA. If I'm Quaking, I turn it off. But I use 32 bit color throughout. No overclocking either. I don't really want to mess around with any 3rd party utilities.

 

[themadmonk]

Sugar check sites like rageunderground.com's messageboards, there are always a few hints hidden in there.

 

[miniMUNCH]

The 7014 drivers are WHQL certified (I believe) and seem to have the fewest conflicts with existing games, if any. MDK2 is a little problematic for me, but I haven't seen if there a patch available for the game that fixes this conflict.

I have DX7 installed and am doing just fine. I'm going to wait until ATI releases the unified drivers before I install DX8. Rumor has it that the new unified drivers will bump the performance on the Radeon significantly, and DX8 will bump the performance even more under these drivers...but we all know about rumors.

As for the image quality issue which always seems to come up, I think the only way someone can think that the image quality of the nVIDIA chips, is good is if they don't know what good looks like and/or have a crap monitor. I have a friend who does graphic design and layout stuff on pagemaker and photoshop all day...he couldn't work on a GF2 card the image quality bugged him so much. nVIDIA's cards have crappy image quality in 2D; even nVIDIA is quiet on this issue because they know its true.

Edit: Oh yes... settings...checkout Rage3d.

 

[Taz4158]

Be careful of which reg tweaks you add......

 

[Spoooon]

Minimunch Actually, the 2D on some nvidia cards are near Ati good. For instance, my VisionTek MX. Ati is noticeably better, but not so much better that it makes the 2D on the MX crap. Also, I think that VisionTek and Elsa are acknowledged for having superior 2D on their nvidia based products. It seems to me that someone posted something along those lines. At any rate, the 2D on the Ati is better. But the 2D on some MX cards is pretty darned close.