Second Life Forums Archive - tweeking a graphics card

Milla Alexandre

Join date: 22 Jan 2007

Posts: 1,759

10-22-2008 07:21

I was showing my fiance some of the cool places in SL where I take pics (he is so not into SL......but he's somewhat interested in why I AM into SL and is making an effort to be more open minded).......
Thus leading to his insistance that my graphics card can do way better with SL. I have an EVGA (nVidia) 8800GT card and I'm able to put all my SL graphics to Ultra settings and performance is great. When I showed my fiance.....he insisted it should be way better with the card I have. There was a large set of stairs and he pointed out how it looked like a jagged line where each stair begun and ended.....he said that's the video card.....those stairs should be straight.

He tweeked the card settings.....I went back in SL and didn't notice any huge difference at all in how things rezzed or looked over all. My settings are still Ultra and I'm not seeing that details are really effected that much by the changes he made in my G-card settings.

So.....my big techie question of the day is.........

Just exactly WHAT performance aspects can and cannot be improved by the video card. Given that internet connection and operating system also have a lot to do with performance in SL...... (and I have tons of memory and a very speedy connection) I was having a hard time making my fiance understand that SL is NOT like other PC games and the graphics are not a finite thing.....that ever changing textures and so on put a much bigger load on the vid card. He wasn't buying it.

So I need some help here, hehe.

Lindal Kidd

Dances With Noobs

Join date: 26 Jun 2007

Posts: 8,371

10-22-2008 07:30

There are times when I have to tell the Resident Geek to stop fiddling under the hood and just let me get on with my SL.

If your fiance likes to play with computers, give him one of his own so that he'll leave yours alone.

_____________________

It's still My World and My Imagination! So there.
Lindal Kidd

Void Singer

Int vSelf = Sing(void);

Join date: 24 Sep 2005

Posts: 6,973

10-22-2008 07:52

well I can't say there's any help on the VERY specific issue mentioned (antialiasing [making straight lines actually look straight] is all about the card)

that and anistropic filtering are the two major things that you card can do that you can't set completely in SL... (because your card supports higher settings than SL does, and can override SL)...

past that it's up to your SL settings, which can look pretty dull compared to many games out there (because it's much eaiser to design static environments, optimize, and forget, unlike SL which is largly hobbyist and on the fly)

_____________________

|
| . "Cat-Like Typing Detected"
| . This post may contain errors in logic, spelling, and
| . grammar known to the SL populace to cause confusion
|
| - Please Use PHP tags when posting scripts/code, Thanks.
| - Can't See PHP or URL Tags Correctly? Check Out This Link...
| -

Milla Alexandre

Join date: 22 Jan 2007

Posts: 1,759

10-22-2008 08:03

Yup....well you guys pretty much summed it up really. Thanks.

As for him getting his own computer.....LOL He bought mine as a christmas present to me in 06...... and the thing rocks. It's a refurbished Dell XPS410 with 2g memory and it gets along great with SL and all the other PC games we like.

Problem is.....since this puter is so good.... he is content to use his laptop for general web stuff.....and this one is 'our' gaming PC. I think since he bought this computer (even tho it was a gift) he feels relatively entitled to tinker under the hood at will.

But...no big deal.....we haven't got into an all out fist fight (yet) over computer usage LOL We did just get Gears of War.....and that game rocks on this PC..... but I think he makes the all too common mistake of assuming that SL graphics should be on a par with static game graphics like that. *sigh* Eventually he'll get it.

(you'd never guss we were 40 would ya lol)

Lee Ponzu

What Would Steve Do?

Join date: 28 Jun 2006

Posts: 1,770

10-22-2008 08:16

Are you in window mode, or full-screen mode? I think some of the tweeks only apply if you are in full-screen mode.

_____________________

So many monkeys, so little Shakespeare.

tweeking a graphics card
Milla Alexandre Milla Alexandre Join date: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 1,759	10-22-2008 07:21 I was showing my fiance some of the cool places in SL where I take pics (he is so not into SL......but he's somewhat interested in why I AM into SL and is making an effort to be more open minded)....... Thus leading to his insistance that my graphics card can do way better with SL. I have an EVGA (nVidia) 8800GT card and I'm able to put all my SL graphics to Ultra settings and performance is great. When I showed my fiance.....he insisted it should be way better with the card I have. There was a large set of stairs and he pointed out how it looked like a jagged line where each stair begun and ended.....he said that's the video card.....those stairs should be straight. He tweeked the card settings.....I went back in SL and didn't notice any huge difference at all in how things rezzed or looked over all. My settings are still Ultra and I'm not seeing that details are really effected that much by the changes he made in my G-card settings. So.....my big techie question of the day is......... Just exactly WHAT performance aspects can and cannot be improved by the video card. Given that internet connection and operating system also have a lot to do with performance in SL...... (and I have tons of memory and a very speedy connection) I was having a hard time making my fiance understand that SL is NOT like other PC games and the graphics are not a finite thing.....that ever changing textures and so on put a much bigger load on the vid card. He wasn't buying it. So I need some help here, hehe.
Lindal Kidd Dances With Noobs Join date: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 8,371	10-22-2008 07:30 There are times when I have to tell the Resident Geek to stop fiddling under the hood and just let me get on with my SL. If your fiance likes to play with computers, give him one of his own so that he'll leave yours alone. _____________________ It's still My World and My Imagination! So there. Lindal Kidd
Void Singer Int vSelf = Sing(void); Join date: 24 Sep 2005 Posts: 6,973	10-22-2008 07:52 well I can't say there's any help on the VERY specific issue mentioned (antialiasing [making straight lines actually look straight] is all about the card) that and anistropic filtering are the two major things that you card can do that you can't set completely in SL... (because your card supports higher settings than SL does, and can override SL)... past that it's up to your SL settings, which can look pretty dull compared to many games out there (because it's much eaiser to design static environments, optimize, and forget, unlike SL which is largly hobbyist and on the fly) _____________________ \| \| . "Cat-Like Typing Detected" \| . This post may contain errors in logic, spelling, and \| . grammar known to the SL populace to cause confusion \| \| - Please Use PHP tags when posting scripts/code, Thanks. \| - Can't See PHP or URL Tags Correctly? Check Out This Link... \| -
Milla Alexandre Milla Alexandre Join date: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 1,759	10-22-2008 08:03 Yup....well you guys pretty much summed it up really. Thanks. As for him getting his own computer.....LOL He bought mine as a christmas present to me in 06...... and the thing rocks. It's a refurbished Dell XPS410 with 2g memory and it gets along great with SL and all the other PC games we like. Problem is.....since this puter is so good.... he is content to use his laptop for general web stuff.....and this one is 'our' gaming PC. I think since he bought this computer (even tho it was a gift) he feels relatively entitled to tinker under the hood at will. But...no big deal.....we haven't got into an all out fist fight (yet) over computer usage LOL We did just get Gears of War.....and that game rocks on this PC..... but I think he makes the all too common mistake of assuming that SL graphics should be on a par with static game graphics like that. sigh Eventually he'll get it. (you'd never guss we were 40 would ya lol)
Lee Ponzu What Would Steve Do? Join date: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 1,770	10-22-2008 08:16 Are you in window mode, or full-screen mode? I think some of the tweeks only apply if you are in full-screen mode. _____________________ So many monkeys, so little Shakespeare.

Welcome to the Second Life Forums Archive

tweeking a graphics card