Optimal settings for ATI Catalyst drivers

bullion416

Senior member
Jun 17, 2001
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I have an ATI Radeon 64mb ddr vivo card. It is based off the Radepm 7200 chipset I think. What are the best settings for this card if I do a lot of gaming (as far as direct 3d and open gl settings). Also, I saw an option on there to enable fast write, but when I originally bought the card I was thinking it didn't support fast write and by default with the Catalyst drivers, it enables fast write..........should I disable it? Thanks
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
3,002
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The best settings are to turn up the texture and mipmap sliders on full, turn on 16x performance anisotropic, and disable vsync and truform. Under OpenGL enable the KTX buffer extension and force a 24 bit Z-buffer. Under Direct3D turn on alternate pixel centre if you have problems with text or checkerboard patterns in Direct3D games. As for fastwrites, let SmartGART take care of it - leave it on whatever setting it decides.

As far as resolutions go you'll probably need to run newer games games at 800 x 600 x 32 or lower to achieve decent performance.
 

Bovinicus

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2001
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I usually leave V-Sync on. When it is off, the frames go higher, but it looks less smooth somehow. Tearing is also really annoying.
 

KickItTwice

Member
Apr 28, 2002
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I agree with keeping V-sync enabled for better image quality. The only time I disable it is to run a benchmark or time demo. If you don't have any lock ups with the fast write enabled then it's the way to go. If it causes any instability, then you can disable it. My motherboard and video card both support fast writes, but I get lock ups if I have it enabled. With fast writes disabled it is solid as a rock.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
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Yep V-sync on is what I use,after seeing tearing with V-sync off in some games,I always leave it on now.
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
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Indeed. Vysnc Off is only for benchmarking... unless you have a monitor that does less than 60Hz. Like I said, Vsync On... definitely.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
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You're free to follow the advice of the others with respect to vsync of course but I'd advise against it.

In my experience vsync seriously degrades the framerate and the mouse responsiveness during gameplay.
 

DimZiE

Golden Member
Jun 26, 2001
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Originally posted by: BFG10K
You're free to follow the advice of the others with respect to vsync of course but I'd advise against it.

In my experience vsync seriously degrades the framerate and the mouse responsiveness during gameplay.

Well spoken BFG10K...

although on some OpenGL games i prefer V-Sync on but on most of the games i played V-Sync is always off..
i'm using a rad 9k pro and a Ti4600 and on both systems V-Sync is always off
 

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: Auric
Indeed. Vysnc Off is only for benchmarking... unless you have a monitor that does less than 60Hz. Like I said, Vsync On... definitely.

if you have a monitor that only does <60hz you had best just not look at the thing, as for v-sync, i think it is a good thing. also, if you have any framerate issues with the other settings BFG mentioned just turn down the anisotropy a little.