Screen tearing in Oblivion with HDR + AA enabled

[TheRealMrGrey]

This thread is related to TheVanMan's earlier post:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

I've forced AA in CCC (2xAA,4xAF) to use with HDR enabled in Oblivion, and I'm getting some odd results.

If I force AA, I get screen tearing in the game all over the place. However, occasionally Oblivion will load without AA on in the game, despite the fact I've set it to be forced in CCC. When this happens there is no screen tearing, since AA isn't working in the game. So it does appear to be directly related to AA, though I have no idea why it turns it on sometimes and sometimes it does not. What have I done wrong? Is there a mod that patches this screen tearing problem? I looked on the Oblivion mod site and did not find one.

(note, I'm not sure I know what screen tearing actually means, but I am getting artifacts where for example for a second or two the top half of the screen will "dislocate" from the bottom half of the screen. This can be seen expecially well if I walk sideways up a staircase...is this screen tearing?)

 

[TheRealMrGrey]

Never mind folks, you have to get a "Chuck Patch" for this to work, and it can be gotten here:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/defa...ID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=21960

I was not aware you needed a special patch.

 

[40sTheme]

Any Catalyst Drivers above 6.9 automatically have a "Chuck Patch" implemented in them for Oblivion.

 

[josh6079]

(note, I'm not sure I know what screen tearing actually means, but I am getting artifacts where for example for a second or two the top half of the screen will "dislocate" from the bottom half of the screen. This can be seen expecially well if I walk sideways up a staircase...is this screen tearing?)

Yes.

You need to enable Vsync to fix the tearing.

I'd also recommend enabling triple buffering as well if you're using Vsync. But it takes up more VRAM, so if you're running a lot of mods, you might want to leave it off.

 

[VanTheMan]

It's "VanTheMan" What you described is tearing. I experienced a bit of it, but nothing major. Vsync and triple buffering will take care of it, but you will take a performance hit as josh said. I left vsync and triple buffering off when I was playing before, but I might try turning them on after I get through with my OCing and installing mods.

 

[akshayt]

Even I have noticed that when the card is more stressed out like with AA, if you are getting any image tearing, it increases.

 

[TheRealMrGrey]

Ah, ok, I had Vsync disabled because you have to turn it off to get better performance in NWN2. Will try that and triple buffering.

Cheers.

 

[akshayt]

with VSync off you will get better performance in each game.

 

[josh6079]

Will try that and triple buffering.

If you're using the CCC, you can't enable Triple Buffering without a third-party utility.

I'd suggest scrapping the CCC and use ATi Tray Tools instead. It's a utility that replaces the functions of the CCC, isn't as bloated, can overclock your card past 690 / 1800 while giving voltage options and fan speed settings, allows D3D9 tweaks not present in the CCC such as Triple Buffering, etc. It really is a wonderful utility that most ATi card owners should try out.

Here's a link for it. If you try it and need help enabling Triple Buffering, let me know.

 

[TheRealMrGrey]

Originally posted by: josh6079

Will try that and triple buffering.

If you're using the CCC, you can't enable Triple Buffering without a third-party utility.

I'd suggest scrapping the CCC and use ATi Tray Tools instead. It's a utility that replaces the functions of the CCC, isn't as bloated, can overclock your card past 690 / 1800 while giving voltage options and fan speed settings, allows D3D9 tweaks not present in the CCC such as Triple Buffering, etc. It really is a wonderful utility that most ATi card owners should try out.

Here's a link for it. If you try it and need help enabling Triple Buffering, let me know.

Actually, I have both CCC and ATI Tray Tools installed, and am using them both. I'm not really savy enough with ATI's drivers to know what functions do exactly what (I am learning slowly), and there are various threads where people will say to turn on this or turn off that in both of the programs. So I am running both of them so I can tweak as I go.

However, if atiTT can do everything CCC can do and more, I could just use atiTT. If I want CCC not to run, is it as simple as unchecking it in the windows startup menu, or does it need to be fully unisntalled?

Also, I enabled vsync and tried to enable triple buffering (there is a box for it in CCC), and tested them with Oblivion. With vsync and triple buffering enabled the game simply loaded without AA turned on, even though it was forced in CCC. With triple buffering off (unchecked in CCC) but with vsync enabled the AA worked just fine without screen tearing. What does triple buffering gain you again? I'm willing to try it...

With AA enabled (2xAA/4xAF) I've noticed that my minimum fps is now 17, obtained in dense foliage areas. I'm planning on moding with OOO1.31 and Natural Environments, not sure if those cause a drop in fps or not. So I think I've begun to hit my minimum fps threshold: ie I don't want them to drop any more. One solution would be overclocking, I'll need to install my VF900 since my temps are already 78C under load. I'm a little worried about it because I've seen threads where people reported their temps going up after installing the VF900, eg:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vi...5&sid=a3aa4cfb01362b302672e6d7f7537f0e

So I want to make sure I really do want to overclock before I take that risk.