Nvidia 66.93 winXP

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

THESE REVIEWS ARE STRICTLY FOR EQ2 PERFORMANCE, I AM AWARE BUT DISINTERESTED IN, CITY OF HEROS, ISSUES

Here is yet another driver review, sorry I stoped doing these a while back, but I plan to continue now.

the Nvidia ForceWare 66.93
what can I say aside from "grats!" and "ding!" on my card NX5700LE, it seems a far improvement over then even recently beta driver 66.81 which everyone and their duck should be running since the install of EQ2 most likely.

The only downside I heard was from 4 of my friends who are running Nv5200 cards made by eVGA, they said the driver just kept crashing the game.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_66.93

http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/6...ease_Notes.pdf

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

But the question remains is, how good are they with GF4 Ti 4200? They claim its for my card, but everytime I use a new driver, something screwy ends up happening (i.e., tearing, graphics disappearing, etc). So then I have to go back to the 61.76 driver, where I know it works... Though I occassionally get tearing in EQII, but not that often (maybe once or twice during a game session) compared to the supposed newer WQHL drivers, which tear continuously...

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by Tarrax Ironwolf

But the question remains is, how good are they with GF4 Ti 4200? They claim its for my card, but everytime I use a new driver, something screwy ends up happening (i.e., tearing, graphics disappearing, etc). So then I have to go back to the 61.76 driver, where I know it works... Though I occassionally get tearing in EQII, but not that often (maybe once or twice during a game session) compared to the supposed newer WQHL drivers, which tear continuously...

Sorry Tarrax I only have 1 friend who still runs a TI series and his is the 4600.

Do you still tear even if you have cl_refresh_sync true set?

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

Are you referring to the eq2_recent.ini and eq2_default.ini files? If so, there is no listing of cl_refresh_sync true within those files...

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by Tarrax Ironwolf

Are you referring to the eq2_recent.ini and eq2_default.ini files? If so, there is no listing of cl_refresh_sync true within those files...

place that line somewhere in the eq2_recent.ini it will help with your tearing issues.

I found 2 people who still have TI4200 cards, one machine the driver worked just the same as 66.81 driver did, the other we clocked a slight improvement.

The machine that had a slight improvement had 32more MBs of system ram and was a AMD proc at 1.33Ghz

the machine that was just the same as the old driver was a Intell machine running at 1.4Ghz

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

Great many thanks for the help Tal! This will help most dramatically... I'll pop in later to post how it went... Now to find some time to play. *chuckle*

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

Well got to test the new addition into my txt file... The game works great! Thanks Tal!

Now to do something about the lag....

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by Tarrax Ironwolf

Well got to test the new addition into my txt file... The game works great! Thanks Tal!

Now to do something about the lag....

glad it works well, sorry I can't do much about the lagg, SOE has it set for PC objects ( players ) to broadcast accross the zones their locations, this is due to how the scout class tracking works. Hopefully they will change it around and clean up the code a bit.

though I would like to point out the avalibility of the beta driver 67.02 win2k/XP

This is my 5th day using it, and I am liking it so far, reports from other Nvidia card users I know are favorable, even those who had issues with the 66.93, but I have yet to hear word on the TI4200s

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

Observation... I noticed that the file change I did, was erased the next time I logged in.. I didn't know the recent.ini file is overwritten when you patch... Oh well I suppose to prevent the tearing I'm gonna have to keep adding that line after the patch everytime I play... *shrugs*

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by Tarrax Ironwolf

Observation... I noticed that the file change I did, was erased the next time I logged in.. I didn't know the recent.ini file is overwritten when you patch... Oh well I suppose to prevent the tearing I'm gonna have to keep adding that line after the patch everytime I play... *shrugs*

mine doesn't get overwritten :-/

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

Hmmmm strange.. On a whim, I thought I would check it tonight and lo' and behold that additional line was removed. I know I saved the file after I made the change, when it got erased is beyond me...

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by Tarrax Ironwolf

Hmmmm strange.. On a whim, I thought I would check it tonight and lo' and behold that additional line was removed. I know I saved the file after I made the change, when it got erased is beyond me...

ok it appears to me if you switch between windowed and full screen mode alot it will erase that line, I don't know why it would erase it, but it does. I'm looking for a more perminite solution at this time.

ohh and if some have been watching the beta-driver site, the 67.03 SUXXORS horribly I'd stick with the 66.93(released) or the 67.02(beta), at least till the next can be tested :-)

[VinDarkan]

What if you were to put cl_refresh_sync true into your eq2.ini file? Would that work?

That one doesnt get written to by the game as far as I know?

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by VinDarkan

What if you were to put cl_refresh_sync true into your eq2.ini file? Would that work?

That one doesnt get written to by the game as far as I know?

yes I've been useing that for two days.. I also have

cl_triple_buffer true

in the EQ2.ini , I think that is how to make the settings perminate but I was going to try a few other ones that seem to be resetting before I posted :-)

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

I don't see the EQ2.ini file you speak of... I only see EQ2_default.ini and EQ2_recent.ini.

What is the triple_buffer, and what does it do? If you don't mind me asking?

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by Tarrax Ironwolf

I don't see the EQ2.ini file you speak of... I only see EQ2_default.ini and EQ2_recent.ini.

What is the triple_buffer, and what does it do? If you don't mind me asking?

the EQ2.ini you have to make when you want to load a custom UI instead of default.

the Triple_buffer is a really nice command from SOE.

Normally a computer calls up two graphics buffers into memory ( a graphics buffer is a small section of system ram dedicated to holding graphics before they are either sent through the processor* or to the Garp table on your video card )

having three allows more of the graphics to be cahced which reduces lagg during game play because the game doesn't have to say render the mipmap table every 3 feet you walk. If this table and it's graphics are stored in these buffers.

*sometimes on Intel machines the GPU requests that the Processor stream the information to the garp table

some terms might be slightly off, I haven't gotten any sleep because SOE decided to revoke my EQ2 account, now I must call them up and /threaten

[Tarrax Ironwolf]

Ahhh excellent...

Question... Do I need to have a custom UI in order for the game to see the EQ2.ini file that I made? Or can I just make it and benefit from anything placed in there?

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

you can just make it with those two lines, however during game play tab out and see if the lines also appear in the EQ2_recent.ini

[macgregor420]

take a look at http://guru3d.com/

there are other vertions, though many are betas and such
the 66.93 drivers crach EQ flat out just as the engin starts to boot
im using the 70.90 atm and everything is fine other then if i try and go full screan it craches and i get this odd flickering sometimes if its in the background
ill post again on it as i use it more

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by macgregor420

take a look at http://guru3d.com/

there are other vertions, though many are betas and such
the 66.93 drivers crach EQ flat out just as the engin starts to boot
im using the 70.90 atm and everything is fine other then if i try and go full screan it craches and i get this odd flickering sometimes if its in the background
ill post again on it as i use it more

I'm aware macgregor420, some peoples machines crash using certin drivers. I only make these posts to help out those who don't have the time to test themselfs. so driver performance is my opinion as well as others i talk to with other setups

[macgregor420]

Originally Posted by Sir Taleisin The Seer

I'm aware macgregor420, some peoples machines crash using certin drivers. I only make these posts to help out those who don't have the time to test themselfs. so driver performance is my opinion as well as others i talk to with other setups

im sorry if you felt i was criticizing. didnt men to come off that way. i was just tossing that out there. the crasshes are just for me i sure its not happening to everyone, this thred is a great place to get a grip on what is out there, as i can see eq2 and the nvidia drivers are not maching up as well as we all would like
i loaded the 67.03 and no crashing=)seems to run great. but it was crashing on the 66.93 and the 70.90

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

Originally Posted by macgregor420

im sorry if you felt i was criticizing. didnt men to come off that way. i was just tossing that out there. the crasshes are just for me i sure its not happening to everyone, this thred is a great place to get a grip on what is out there, as i can see eq2 and the nvidia drivers are not maching up as well as we all would like
i loaded the 67.03 and no crashing=)seems to run great. but it was crashing on the 66.93 and the 70.90

sorry then, just frustrated because my XP debt does nothing but get higher when I try to solo.

glad the 67.03 works for you..

ohh and the 70.90 ( do a M3D test on your driver to see if it is ligit ) is for the GeForceX series card, and shouldn't support yours at all.

[Sir Taleisin The Seer]

I thought I would just post some basic tips for anyone running a Straight EQ2 machine.

And by Straight I mean it's the only program on your machine aside from maybe anti-spware anti-virus and the OS it'self.
BLUE = Normal Tips
RED = Overclockers Tips

optomization is as much External as it is Interal

1| Remove your computer's cover. Take a small, and fairly quiet house fan, no bigger than your computer tower case, and have it blowing directly on your computer internals.

2| Remove your computer's cover. Put on a Jacket. Aquire a Portable-AC Unit and position it to cool into your systems internals( the one I use is http://www.store.yahoo.com/air-n-wat...2btuairco.html )

3| Create a Nvidia Settings Profile for EQ2, Make sure to Enable Texture Clamp

4| Shutdown your Machine, Remove your video card, remove the heatsink and fan and replace with a large heat spreader. Crank up the Portable-AC Unit

DX Tweaks/Tips
Mipmapping: This will allow you to adjust the Level of Detail bias for mipmaps. The higher the detail levels the crisper mipmaps will appear at the cost of performance. It is recommended that you select the highest value for this as the performance impact is negligible.

PCI Texture Memory Size: This is extremely similar to the AGP setting, and will allow the video card to access a certain amount of system memory for texture storage. This feature is only needed if you are using a PCI-based video card.


MISC Tweaks/Tip

Clear Desktop Wallpaper at Game Launch: Checking this option will free the bit of video memory your desktop's wallpaper may have been using.

Disable Icons on Desktop: Disabling Icons will again clear up a tiny bit of video memory.

Kill The Big One: With the task manager open, RightClick and End Process Tree the explorer.exe, this will free up alot of resources, however leave you with a blank desktop.

BIOS

Video BIOS Shadowing: This allows for the BIOS to copy the BIOS of the video card to system RAM for faster access. While this sounds like it should be left on do not be fooled, today's systems will bypass the BIOS completely when accessing a video card so there is no need to waste precious memory.

AGP Master 1WS Write/Read: By default, the system is set wait two cycles before it will make a read/write transaction. Enabling 1 WS will allow the AGP card to wait only one cycle before a read or write transaction occurs, slightly increasing overall performance.

AGP Mode: As long as your motherboard and video card support it, you will always want to select the highest possible setting, either 2X, 4X, or 8X, the latter of which offers optimal performance.

AGP Fast Write Control: This is by far one of the most beneficial, and overlooked video card tweak one can perform in the BIOS. You will need to make sure that your video card supports this feature as it can cause major problems if you try enabling this feature without the proper support. AGP Fast Writes can increase video speed roughly 1-5% and is supported by most recent video cards. Fast Writes allows the computer to send video-based calls directly to the video card, thereby bypassing the system's main memory system.

Video Memory Cache Mode: When selecting this option, you are usually presented with two options, UC (UnCacheable) and UCWC (UnCacheable Speculative Write-combining). Here, you will want to select UCWC as it will enable the write cache of your video card's memory which will offer a slight increase in overall performance.

AGP Aperture Size/Graphics Window Size: This is a numerical number which represents the amount of memory your video card is allowed to access over the AGP bus. You are given choices such as 32, 64, 128, 256, 512-MB, and as a general rule you will want to select about 1/4 or less of your total available RAM. The default for this option is generally 64-MB, usually the size one will want to run.