Feedback on video resolutions..

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bret Butcher
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Bret Butcher

I'm hoping to get some feedback from the group. I have a fairly
quick computer, it's a P4 3.8ghz with a nvidia 7000 GTX. I
primarily play FPS games. I find that frame rate drops really
spoil the gaming experience so I'm interested in what resolutions
are used for similiar system specs.

I'm torn between running at 1024x768x32 with AA/AF cranked
up or 1280x1024x32 with either no/or low AA/AF settings. I know
that at these lower resolutions my video board is probably CPU
contrained. I'm not planning to move to an SLI rig down the road
so I'm looking to make the most of my current system.

Thanks in advance!
 
Hmm... this is a tough question to answer because it depends on a lot of
factors. What FPS games are you playing? What settings are you using in
the games - for example: high detail world settings, persistent decals, soft
shadows, etc?

In regards to your general question, Ansiotropic Filtering and Anti-aliasing
generally result in a performance hit on FPS games. So, as a general rule,
I'd recommend running in 1280x1024x32 without filtering if you can stand it.

Really though, you should use the games build in FPS counter - usually a
developer debugging 'cheat code' - or a utility like FRAPS to see if your
FPS goes done when running AA and AF at a lower resolution. You may be
surprised to discover there's no performance hit at all on older titles like
Unreal Tournament 2004.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm currently running at 1280x1024x32 with
no AA/and no or minimal AF. I run the games with all of the eye candy
turned on. In some games I find no hit at all, for example unreal tournament,
half-life 2, far cry etc. In other games I can get faster framerates under the
same settings (with a bit of AA/AF) at 1024x768. What brought me to
the question was newer games. I'm finding that F.E.A.R pushes the system
pretty hard at 1280x1024x32 which causes some studders. I bought
Quake 4 but haven't tried it yet.

I usually like to stay with one resolution across all games but I'm thinking
that I'll just run at the best resolution/settings for the individual games...

Thanks again!
 
x-no-archive: yes

Bret said:
I'm torn between running at 1024x768x32 with AA/AF cranked
up or 1280x1024x32 with either no/or low AA/AF settings. I know
that at these lower resolutions my video board is probably CPU
contrained. I'm not planning to move to an SLI rig down the road
so I'm looking to make the most of my current system.
Click to expand...

There is usually at least one res setting between 1024 and 1280.
Namely, 1152. This is what I use, typically with 2x AA/AF settings.
 
Could be a good compromise..thanks!
null said:
x-no-archive: yes



There is usually at least one res setting between 1024 and 1280. Namely, 1152.
This is what I use, typically with 2x AA/AF settings.
Click to expand...
 
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