rec.autos.simulators

On Sat, 27 May 2000 17:14:02 GMT, "Victor Chan"

Ok, I'm lost.  (which is my usual state) :-)   I thought the "new"
coppermine chips required a different core voltage, or something.
I have an older P3 that isn't a coppermine.  (doesn't the coppermine
use .18 micron?) Mine is .25 I believe.  
So you are saying I can go buy any CPU as long as it is a coppermine
and just plug it in to my MB? (as long as Asus releases a bios update)
I also thought the coppermine chips ran on a 133 FSB?  
I know I can push my FSB that high, but I thought that would mess up
other things.  
Thanks for the info!  Off to check the Asus site for a bios upgrade.
:-)
Andy

On Sat, 27 May 2000 16:01:28 -0500, "Tracey A Miller"

So now you are saying FSAA is a good thing?  Make up your mind would
ya! :-)  I was just about ready to commit to a Geforce2 card, and now
you had to go and post this. <G>  (I do appreciate the feedback you
have been posting!)
What system are you running the V5 on?  ( I must have missed it on the
1st post)
Thanks,
Andy

Looks like I spoke too soon again, just had a lockup in GPL when I
went to check fps so I could answer your question. Not sure what the
deal is, but it only occurs in the one game I like best - GPL.
Figures.

On to your question; at 800x600 with 2x AA, the fps counter never
drops below 36 on an empty track. I haven't tried with AI, I never
race the AI other than to see their lap times. With 4x AA, the fps
dips down to 30 early on, but averages around 34, pegged at 36 on the
straight.

At 1024x768 with 2x AA, it looks pretty much the same as 800x600 4x,
but my monitor only runs 90hz refresh rate at that resolution so I
prefer 800x600 120hz. The Fps counter remains at 36 all the way around
the Glenn at that resolution also.

At 4x at that resolution it's about the same as 800x600, averaging
around 34 fps. 4X FSAA appears to be a much bigger hit than stepping
up the resolution.

everything turned on, details all the way up and only the mirror
setting turned down - to cars and track rather than full - and driving
from the in-car view. I did check arcade view, and there, even at 4X
FSAA, the framerate remained pegged at 36.

games.

Yeah, it's just my luck though that the problems are with the 2 sims I
care about most. They probably don't even know about the GPL lockups
yet, since no one outside of this newsgroup plays it.

I think I expected the V5 to make GPL look like GPL2, but its more
like going from GPL on a Playstation to GPL on a Dreamcast - same
game, same graphics, just better, clearer.

I guess you could say I'm still disappointed that FSAA wasn't
everything I hoped it would be, nirvana, but now that I have the
pausing problems solved there is no way I'm going to give up this card
and go back to non-FSAA.

Until they get this lockup problem with FSAA in GPL fixed though, I'll
just have to play NFS PU to pass the time.

Ok, now I really feel like a moron. I went back and ran Viper Racing
to get some before and after FSAA shots to show a friend what I was
talking about. Guess what? The buildings at the Dundas track do the
same thing with or without FSAA.

Can someone that has Viper run a lap at Dundas and pay attention to
the buildings on the right side of the track prior to the start finish
line? The windows seem to grow right before my eyes as I'm driving
past, but I never noticed this before the V5, and it does this with
FSAA on or off.

Assuming the V5 isn't causing this phenomenon, Viper Racing seems to
be the game where FSAA actually has the least effect on. There just
isn't much aliasing to fix, so switching between no FSAA, 2X FSAA, and
4X FSAA has little effect other than loss in framerate.

"Tracey A Miller" wrote

Phew, your last report is more in line with all the reviews I read.
I was worried for a moment. But problems with "some" games are to be
expected with "every" new 3D card. Hopefully 3dfx will be hard at work
(as with the V3) updating the drivers to work with most of the games.

--
l8er
ronny

Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted for the change
to take effect. Reboot now?
          |\      _,,,---,,_        I want to die like my Grandfather,
   ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_              in his sleep.
        |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'     Not like the people in his car,
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)            screaming their heads off!

spoke:

I have an MSI 6163pro. Highest clock cycle on that my mb is 8x. Look
in your bios and see what the highest clock cycle you can set it to
is. Should be higher than 6x, butyou may need to update the bios to
get them. I heard that you can put in a higher clock cycle than the
bios says anyway, but I also heard it can cause problems.
--
Nos

spoke:

The voltage is adjustable in the bios. If your cpu has an E
designation with 256k L2 cache it is coppermine running on a 100mhz
FSB. If it is 512K then it is the older .25 die. B designatess it as
133mhz FSB,you can buy both 133mhz FSB and 100mhz. 100mhz is much
better for overclocking. Pushing the FSB too high can cause problems
for the video card and/or the hard drive. I'm surprised he can run the
FSB at 150mhz.

--
Nos

  I know the experience that Tracey is talking about.  when the tracks
from ICR2 were converted to N2 and 3dfx, then all the textures would
get drawn just as you arrived.  It was very disconcerting, especially
when whole textures had been replaced,(billboards etc.)  Extremely tough
to keep you eye on the road when everything around it was looking like
it was being unrolled on both sides of you.
dave henrie

Nos,
Thanks for the info.  I was looking at some CPU's and notice they have
them rated for either 100 or 133 FSB, so I guess I can put any CPU in
that runs on the 100 FSB.  (assuming my bios will support the proper
voltage and clock rate)
I'll check and see what clock cycle my current bios supports next time
I reboot, but I think it goes up at 8 as well.    Also, checked the
Asus site, and saw there are a few new revisions out.   Flashing my MB
bios scares me a bit though. :-)
Thanks again for the info much appreciated!
Andy

On Sat, 27 May 2000 19:18:40 -0500, "Tracey A Miller"

I too am having high hopes for the FSAA feature.  I dunno, I guess I
was expecting major leaps in terms of graphics with this feature
alone.   At least I know what to expect now, so hopefully I won't be
real disappointed.  I'm going to hold off a bit and see how the
drivers come along, and how far CPU prices drop.  The two racing sims
I play the most are GPL, and N3, and lately some NSF PU.
I also enjoy flight sims as well, so I'll wait for some reviews from
the flight sim groups to see how it fairs with them.
Thanks for the info!
Andy

Yes, the P3B is coppermine ready.  When you have a coppermine installed, the voltage is
automatically detected.  About the FSB issue, you can use 133 MHz FSB but the AGP bus
speed would be at 89 MHz which my cause problems to your AGP card.  Boards supporting
"officially" 133 MHz FSB would have a 1/2 AGP clock divider which results in 66 MHz.  The
BX chipset only supports either 1/1 or 2/3 AGP clock divider.

You do know Murphy, don't you? ;^)

--
l8er
ronny

Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted for the change
to take effect. Reboot now?
          |\      _,,,---,,_        I want to die like my Grandfather,
   ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_              in his sleep.
        |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'     Not like the people in his car,
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)            screaming their heads off!

All the previews I read up to now consider it a major leap, at least
the tester ALL agreed on not being able to go back to no FSAA...

I read a FSAA test using Falcon4 and the tester just loved the result,
no texture swimming, enemy planes not being jumpy collections of pixels
anymore, etc. They loved it, I just hope they don't need glasses.

--
l8er
ronny

Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted for the change
to take effect. Reboot now?
          |\      _,,,---,,_        I want to die like my Grandfather,
   ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_              in his sleep.
        |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'     Not like the people in his car,
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)            screaming their heads off!