Video & game performance

[yyyogev]

Hi,
how can I maximize my video performance when i play games?
and how can i check if my video performance is how it's suppose to be with my video card?
thanks.

[jango]

i can only advise the kinda thing i do from game to game (or from time to time) ..

- always keep your video drivers up-to-date
- often driver software comes as part of a mini-suite that you can use to check refresh rates and basic fps/performance - use that to check and tweak your card's basic settings
- check the in-game menu for the video options, and be reasonable what level you have them on, perhaps using a bit of trial and error if the recommended settings don't seem good enough
- check a game's official forum for technical support or user tips to maximise game performance .. often a lot of things can be achieved with console commands or tweaks in engine 'ini' files to improve performance (if available)

these are just some of the basics ofc, but might help you

[LiNuX]

Get a program like speedfan to make sure your GPU doesn't overheat...that's the best way to maximize graphics performance. Also cleaning the case helps once in a while (reminds me that I should do this too).

Also don't overclock, especially if you don't know how to do it properly.

- always keep your video drivers up-to-date

.

I've had that bite me in the behind more than once. The driver I'm on now is about a year old. The new ones won't let me play l4d2 for some reason. It just lags up and it enrages me...and you and I both know that we can't have that.

[Charlotte]

there is a software called game booster, mainly not about maximizing your video performance but make your game run faster.

another method is by adjusting your game option like the video option.

[yyyogev]

i downloaded the latest directx and the latest driver for my video card, but still i have one computer with geforce 8500GT that works better than my computer with the 9500GT.
how could it be?
thanks.

[jango]

what are the specs for each one? and, what is the game you're having trouble with?

[yyyogev]

they have pretty much the same specs except the video card.
i have trouble with a lot of games, but the one i see the biggest difference is Unreal Tournament 2004.

BTY, the one with the 8500GT was just formatted.

[LiNuX]

You probably have something else that's messing it up. But again...install a program like speedfan and look at the temperature. An uncomfortable temperature spike will cause you to have issues with any game, whether it's UT or Tetris.

[Gilgamesh]

The 9500gt was a direct replacement for the 8500gt. Smaller die, vc1 encoding, and hybrid power. Download GPUz and check to see if your GPU is idling in powersave mode and just throttling the core clocks in some games. My gt220 used to do that with certain games and I found a way to force full core/memory frequecies and that helped. Selling that card and buying a gts250 helped a lot more. Should be in the nvidia control panel.... "turn off power saving features" or somthing like that.