rec.autos.simulators

AMD K6-2 400
Micronics C200 Motherboard
64 MB
V3 3000 AGP (latest beta driver and/or latest qualified driver)
Monster Sound M80
Win98 (se version)
DirectX 7a

gpl 1.2
using the glide2x patch
resolution of 1024 x 768
Microsoft FF Sidewinder Wheel

I just upgraded from a Creative 3d Blaster Banshee video card to
the Voodoo3 3000 card with the only reason being to get better
fps in gpl.

The specs on the two cards are:

V3 3000:
100 billion operations per second
350 mhz ramdec
7 million poly per second
16 meg ram

Banshee:
36 billion operations per second
250 mhz ramdec
3 million poly per second
16 meg ram

vsync off for both cards

I was expecting a minimum of, say 25% increase in frame rate
and got nothing.

I am comparing frame rate by sitting at the back of a standard
field of 12 cars at the start of a race at Monza and at Rouen.
I have tested with the details slider at 4 different positions
from - to + and again I get no improvement.

~ 16 fps at full details at monza
~ 30 fps at minimum details at monza
and about 2 fps less at rouen.

Both cards get up to the max of 36 fps once the field spreads out
and stay there for most of the laps. Front stright at monza
drops to ~ 32.

Again the banshee ran fine, I was just trying to get those extra
5 or 6 fps in gpl when the cars were packed close togeather.
Mid pack at the hairpin at Rouen is my worst spot. If I was faster,
through that complex, there wouldn't be a train in the mirrors, and
I wouldn't need a video upgrade, but I'm not, so I do!!

Any ideas??

<snipped tail of woe>

Tom,

The limiting factor on your systems is the k6-2 processor.  I know - I've
got the same one myself, and get very similar frane rates with a 12MB
Voodoo2.  The situations where you wanted a frame rate boost are the ones
where the k6-2 is having to work its hardest.  The extra speed of the V3 is
"wasted", becuase the k6-2 can't feed it data quickly enough to keep it
busy.

The only way you're goping to get extra speed is with a procerssor upgrade.
Going to a k6-2 550 will give you a little boost, but not a lot.  A k6-iii
450 would be better, if you can find one (no longer made).  Neither of these
options are going to be wonderful, though.

If you really want significantly better franme rates, you're going to have
to change the motherboard as well, and go to a celeron, Pentium II or III,
or Athlon processor.

Ian

Ian Riches
Bedford, UK

: I just upgraded from a Creative 3d Blaster Banshee video card to
: the Voodoo3 3000 card with the only reason being to get better
: fps in gpl.

: I was expecting a minimum of, say 25% increase in frame rate
: and got nothing.

: Any ideas??

  Nothing except to say that I had a similar experience with a Celeron
O/C'd to about 450 MHz.  There simply wasn't that much difference with
the voodoo3 - my guess is that the GPL graphics code simply isn't well
written to take advantage of optimisation features.  There are a few
BIOS things that you could fiddle with - for example I found that my AGP
clock was set to only run at a fraction of the normal bus clock.  This
helped marginally.  Overall, however, going from a Banshee to a Voodoo3
3000 did almost nothing for GPL though it did help a lot of other
games.  I was a little disappointed because I specifically asked about
the issue here and several people reported that the V3 really helped.

--
Richard G. Clegg       Only the mind is waving
    Networks and Non-Linear Dynamics Group
      Dept. of Mathematics, Uni. of York
     UPDATED WWW: http://manor.york.ac.uk/

NO Improvement with the Detail slider
adjustment..........???????????????

U maybe running into a brick wall otherwise knows as your CPU

also, u have no need of the glide2x patch with the V3, and u will see
better frame rates without it.  
All these frame rate problems are mute once u race online.  Your system
never has to draw anymore than 5 cars ahead of u.  Frame rates in GPL
are actually better online than offline.  And who wants to race drones
anyways.

Md

The max cpu my board can manage is a k6-2 550.  I've currently got a
k6-2 450, which is the current bottleneck, and was wondering what kind
of framerate improvements I would see with a k6-2 550 or a k6-3 450 over
my current cpu.  I need a cheapish upgrade for now you see, as opposed
to upgrading the whole shebang.  Mind you Ian, like you say, I'm not
sure how easy getting hold of k6-3s are at the mo.
--
Peter Ives - (AKA Ivington)

No person's opinions can be said to be
more correct than another's, because each is
the sole judge of his or her own experience.