Video Stress Test and suggestions Created 18 years ago2005-07-10 19:32:25 UTC by rowleybob

Please list your specs and test results, as well as any helpful suggestions to your TWHL brethren, to increase performance.

Couple things I tried that I found on some optimization site was to set all your GPU settings towards performance, and disable the ATI poller, under Administrative services, but to no avail. I'm now experimenting with CVARs, to try for an fps boost.

Specs
------
2 GHz Pentium M 760
1 GB 400 MHz Ram
533 MHz FSB
256 MB ATI X600 Radeon Mobility
OS: XP Home SP2

Settings
---------
Screen Resolution:-1280?768
Aspect Ratio:------Widescreen 16:10

Model detail:---High
Texture detail:-High
Water detail:---Simple Refections
Shadow detail:--High
AA:-------------None
Af:-------------Trilinear
Shader detail:--High
Vertical sync:--Disabled

Video Stress Test Results
--------------------------
Average fps:---50.71

I was hoping for better performance for these
specs, but I guess it's ok for a notebook...
or is it?
:

lower model and texture detail to medium and forcing the game to DX8

I remember i got 88fps last time i ran the stress test

2.4Ghz Pentium4
HIS Excalibur 9800Pro (Ice-Q)
512Mb 2700 DDR
WinXP Sp1

Resolution: 1024 x whatever it is
Models: Med
Textures: Med
Shaders: High
Shadows: High
Water: Reflect World
AA: 0x
AF: 4X
Vsync: Disabled
And i run in DX8 mode for better fps

Source is very CPU dependent, to ensure better fps, invest in a new CPU. I think that's what's holding you back

Specs

---

3 GHz Pentium 4
1.5 GB Dual Channel Corsair 433mhz
Some FSB :<
128MB nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT - eVGA (This is overclocked somewhat)
XP

Settings

---

Screen Resolution:-1280?1024
Aspect Ratio:------Standard

Model detail:---High
Texture detail:-High
Water detail:---Reflect All
Shadow detail:--High
AA:-------------8x Multisample
Af:-------------16x AF
Shader detail:--High
Vertical sync:--Enabled

Video Stress Test Results

---

Average fps:--- 45.12

50.71 is decent. IMO at least.

I run with my CS:S options slightly tweaked for that extra edge and to compensate for server lag but haven't noticed any FPS lag in Singleplayer.

I get a cross-test average of about 47.5fps with:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (OC 16.5%) at 166MHz FSB (OC 25%)
2x512MB Generic DDR2700 (unmatched)
Sapphire ATI RADEON 9800 (stock speeds :()

Resolution: 1280x1024 (this makes astonishingly little difference)
Models: High
Textures: Med (only because of the nasty 9800 bugs still in Source)
Shaders: High
Shadows: High
Water: Reflect World
AA: 2xT2
AF: 4X
Vsync: Disabled

CPU speed/FSB (memory-processor interface in most systems) makes a huge difference to in-game performance. Not so much in the stress test, but where I was getting 16fps in assault with some bots and a mate, I was later getting 35-odd from clocking my old AMD Athlon XP 2400+ from the stock 2.00GHz (15x133MHz FSB) to 2.32GHz (14*166MHz FSB). Then again, upping the FSB meant that my RAM and the bus were running in syncronisation, so I probably got a considerable extra benefit there.

Then again, that might well not be too much of an option in a notebook. Also, I'm lucky in that I've got a multiplier-unlocked CPU straight from the factory.

I'll post a comparison on my 64-bit laptop with a 9700 later today if I remember :).

Specs

---

3 GHz Pentium 4
2 GB
Radeon 9800
XP
Settings

---

Screen Resolution:-1280?1024
Aspect Ratio:------Standard

Model detail:---High*
Texture detail:-High*
Water detail:---Reflect All*
Shadow detail:--High*
AA:-------------8x Multisample
Af:-------------16x AF
Shader detail:--High*
Vertical sync:--Enabled*

Video Stress Test Results

---

Average fps:--- I vary from 28 to 40

I never lag and have not experienced any problems so far.

You can't do 8xAA on ATI cards :|.

Specs

---

2 Ghz Pentium 4
1 (512x2 Matched) GB Samsung dual channel 3200 running at 2700
Nvidia 6600GT - Evga 128mb running in VGA not PCI-E
Windows XP

Settings

---

Screen Resolution: 1280x1024
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 aka standard

Model detail:Medium
Texture Detail:High*
Water Detail:Reflect World*
Shadow Detail:High*
AA:4x
AF:Trilinear*
Shader Detail:High*
Vertical Sync:Disabled*

Video Stress Test Results

---

Average FPS: 67.46

I would turn some more stuff up, but my 2ghz cant handle it, im getting a 3 ghz in the fall/early winter though I dont lag too bad when I turn some of that stuff higher but when I get too many people on the screen (7 or 8) it chuggs some, and physics explosions damage my fps too (bad cpu : example a grenade goes off and barrels fly everywhere I usually chug at 10fps till the explosion is over

Snpbond, you should turn AA off, that would improve fps quite a bit, you really don't have time to see those jagged egdes anyway

Can't say I agree with you at all, Sari. AA is a must for me.

Nvidia 6600GT - Evga 128mb running in VGA not PCI-E

You mean AGP ;]?

Good card.

You can always reduce to 2x AA and toss in a bit of AF.

AA/AF brings my fps down to the 20-30's. My friend mark said he boosted his fps from 50-100 range by disabling certain CVARs.

After I try it personally, I'll post my findings.

Sari: Yeah, I really should have ordered a gaming notebook with a faster clock speed, but this one was at the store--Patience is not one of my strongpoints .

Thanks to all who took the time to pimp...err, share their system performance information!

Specs

---

1.84 GHz
1 GB Ram
AMD Athlon Xp 2500+
OS: XP Proffesional SP2

Settings

---

Screen Resolution:-1024 x 768
Aspect Ratio:------Normal (4:3)

Model detail:---High
Texture detail:-High
Water detail:---Simple Refections
Shadow detail:--High
AA:-------------None
Af:-------------Trilinear
Shader detail:--High
Vertical sync:--Disabled

Video Stress Test Results

---

Average fps:---88.94 fps.

thanks guys, yeah, i mean AGP. I run AA cause on my LCD without it the game looks like crap, I turned it to 2 AA and didnt notice a difference in quality and the fps went up

What? You said that you put it on because of a noticable increase in quality... then that it made no difference quality-wise :|.

Oh, took it again with AA and reflect water all.

Specs

---

1.84 GHz
1 GB Ram
AMD Athlon Xp 2500+
OS: XP Proffesional SP2

Settings

---

Screen Resolution:-1024 x 768
Aspect Ratio:------Normal (4:3)

Model detail:---High
Texture detail:-High
Water detail:---Reflect all
Shadow detail:--High
AA:-------------x6
Af:-------------Trilinear
Shader detail:--High
Vertical sync:--Disabled

Video Stress Test Results

---

Average fps:---88.87 fps.

What kind of gfx card are you using G_Kid?

Can't say I agree with you at all, Sari. AA is a must for me.

You're such a snob 7th
I bet you get killed a lot in CS because you stand there looking at the smooth egdes.

"oh my, what a jolly good edge i've got here. I'm sure to discuss this with my snob friends over tea and scones"
BANG!

Dude, it looks 'orrible :P.

G_KID has a DirectX 8 card. It doesn't appear to support FSAA :).

no, I said that I turned it on 4 AA cause it made the quality better, from nothing to 4. Then I stated that I turned it from 4 to 2 and it looked the same but ran better so I left it at 2.

so: 2>0 but 4=2

No it doesn't!

I wonder what m0p gets in the stress test..

[b]Results from playing with console variables

[/b]

Video stress test: No noticable fps increase for the ones I tried.

Multiplayer: Hard to say, but probably a little boost. For those who don't know, you can disable how long bulletholes, dead bodies stick around, as well as a whole bunch of other stuff.

The ones i'm using currently:
alias on "
cl_showfps 2;
cl_phys_props_enable 0;
cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0;
cl_show_splashes 0;
cl_smooth 0;
fog_enable 0;
fog_enable_water_fog 0;
mp_decals 0;
r_decals 0
"

If anybody knows some good ones to definitely use, please tell.

Isn't disabling fog a cheat in MP? I know in CS it is. Had to use h4x to remove it.

Enabling phys/ragdoll props is one as well innit :?

Specs

---

1 GHz Pentium
768 MB 133 MHz Ram
100 MHz FSB
128 MB GeForce fX5200
OS: XP PRO SP2

Settings

---

Screen Resolution:-800?600
Aspect Ratio:------4:3 standard

Model detail:---High
Texture detail:-High
Water detail:---Simple Refections
Shadow detail:--High
AA:-------------None
Af:-------------Trilinear
Shader detail:--High
Vertical sync:--Disabled

Video Stress Test Results

---

Average fps:---40.40

everything runs smooth, except for HL2 deathmatch. that laggs "like a bat out of hell!"

Laptop

AMD Athlon64 3000+ (1.8GHz)
512MB DDR SDRAM
ATI Mobility 9700
Windows XP Pro Corp SP2

(Low)
[L, L, Simple, Low, 0x, Bilinear, Low, 0, DX7]
156fps at 1280x800
179fps at 640x480

(Medium)
[M, M, World, High, 2x, 2x, High, 0, DX9]

39fps at 1280x800
112fps at 640x480

(High)
[H, H, All, High, 2x, 4x, High, 0, DX9]

26fps at 1280x800
~60fps at 640x480

Basically I run everything on full is what I meant to say and it runs smoothly...

I'll post my fps soon, but I have a question. The only widescreen resolution I can use in source is 1440x900, but this runs much slower than a 1024x768, which I don't want to use because it's stretched. Is there a way I can enable a lower widescreen resolution? I've got a mobility radeon 9700.

Isn't disabling fog a cheat in MP? I know in CS it is. Had to use h4x to remove it.

Enabling phys/ragdoll props is one as well innit :?

Ooh, I don't really know! I'm pretty sure I've been on VAC servers mostly, and haven't been banned yet.

I'll have to do more resarch to make sure. I really don't want to by HL2 again!

Seventh: Wow that's quite a range! 179-26fps w00t!

Llama: I didn't notice much of a performance benefit between Regular and wider aspect ratio, unless I go down to 800?600, then there's a huge increase.

Seventh however is the guru, and will know for sure. Plus he has the same GPU as you

Don't worry about your config. There isn't anything config wise that can get you banned. If it's a cheat cvar you can have it in your config no matter what serverrs you play on, it just wont work.

VAC2 only bans people using hooks. So even commands that arn't cheats but can be abused arn't restricted by it.

Found this from a guy--daveh--on Steampowered formus. Found some other threads which echoed mostly the same thing, but I still haven't been able to find a concrete answer on the subject.

So I guess the message is: Tweak at your own risk

I don't think so, Llama, and running at resolutions other than an LCD's native always looks horrible. It's not really worth it; turn down other settings first is my advice.

Thanks for the advice on resolution. I don't want to put texture/mode ldetail from medium to low though!

Yeah, I can see that. I guess you'll have to put up with it.

I hate this guy i know.

His usual FPS is about 200.