rec.autos.simulators

I recently downloaded the GPL demo. When I set it up, I clicked for rendition.
I turned off all graphics. When I went to race at SPA I was getting 13 fps. I
then went to the graphics option screen, but then it said that I was running in
software mode. So I then reset it to rendition mode, and now I was getting 20
fps. I decided to play around and I put some graphics on and I was still
getting around 20 fps. Mind you this is in training mode with only my car on
the track, but something is definately wrong here. Why am I getting such good
results on such alow system?

Also, I was thinking of getting a cheap overdrive or my p-133. I could
overdrive it to a p-266 with mmx for $100. Has anyone tried these? Do they
work?
Thanx

Mathew Coplan
"Death"
TRUSRS #85
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

D Sport Racer #74
http://www2.scca.com/amateur/club_racing/runoffs/photogal/dsr-74.jpg

: I recently downloaded the GPL demo. When I set it up, I clicked for rendition.
: I turned off all graphics. When I went to race at SPA I was getting 13 fps. I
: then went to the graphics option screen, but then it said that I was running in
: software mode. So I then reset it to rendition mode, and now I was getting 20
: fps. I decided to play around and I put some graphics on and I was still
: getting around 20 fps. Mind you this is in training mode with only my car on
: the track, but something is definately wrong here. Why am I getting such good
: results on such alow system?

  Mainly because the demo only has one car (yours).  The main "slowdown"
occurs when you're actually racing.

--
Richard G. Clegg     Only the mind is waving
Dept. of Mathematics (Network Control group) Uni. of York.

www: http://manor.york.ac.uk/top.html

Are you kidding!! That's great for MY cpu.

Also I have found more strangeness, but in ICR2 rendition mode. I'm suddenly
geting framerates above 30 fps. I have now ventured into 40, 50, and even 60
fps!!! What is going on here!!! That's way too fast to even play the game!!

And for upgrading your PC, I'd think about getting a new motherboard and
CPU, either a Celeron or a K6-2.  With memory, CPU and mobo, you're probably
in the $300+ range, but you should be a lot faster than any kind of
overdrive CPU, that is probably at least $100.

--
Ken

"If I went 'round claiming I was Emperor because some
 moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away" - anonymous
peasant

Go #43 and #44!

volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com

If i were you, I'd save the $100 and save a little more and go whole hog and
pick up a faster system, $100 is an awful lot of money just for a band-aid

Here's my preliminary general theory of GPL speed:

- If you don't have a suitable 3D card, GPL frame speed is directly
linked to CPU speed and the number of graphics options checked. A P166
will yield framerates in the low to mid ***s with everything turned
off. As soon as you turn on graphics, the framerate will get worse.
Even a PII 450 won't give steady 36fps with every graphics option
turned on, unless you have a 3D card. (AMDs usually need about 33MHz
more than Intel chips to achieve the same performance in GPL. GPL
likes and uses Intel's CPU better.)

- As soon as you add a decent 3D graphics card (old Rendition 1000 or
Voodoo1 on the low end; Rendition 2x00, Voodoo2, Banshee, TNT on the
upper end), you can turn on most of the graphics options without
encountering a drop in framerate. There are some more "expensive"
options that will cost fps, but once you're beneath a certain
threshold, turning off graphics won't change a thing.

- The different 3D cards have different needs regarding the CPU for
higher resolutions. Generally, Rendition cards are not as dependent on
a fast CPU as 3dfx or nVidia (TNT) cards.

- Furthermore, Rendition cards are best when it comes to drawing
objects in mirrors.

- The minimum CPU requirement for a chance to more or less stable
36fps seems to be an iP233 (or AMD K6 266) coupled with a low end 3D
card.

- All this is true for solo training mode. Additional AI cars will
need additional CPU horsepower and/or a better 3D card. When the
computer has to draw 19 other cars at the start, the low end graphics
card won't be able to maintain its framerate. But even when they are
out of sight, the CPU (and FPU) has to calculate those cars.

Bottom line for your machine: it is apparently well tuned, and it has
the most suitable 3D card for that CPU class. You also have enough
RAM, which should also help to keep the game stable.

I haven't tried them, but I don't see why they shouldn't. You will
still be limited to the 66MHz bus speed of your old board, though,
which means that the L2 cache will also be running at that speed. L2
cache speed is important for GPL. Check your mainboard manual whether
you really need the "overdrive" version. If the board provides the
correct split voltage and multiplier (4), you can go for a cheaper
non-overdrive version.

If you don't have more money to spend than $100.-, this seems like a
worthwhile upgrade in your case. Your CPU is the limiting factor. If
you can afford a bit more, consider buying a super socket 7 board
which provides 100MHz bus speed and a new CPU. On some of these boards
(e.g. FIC VA 503+), you can keep using your old RAM. If you can invest
even a bit more, go for a nice BX slot 1 mainboard and a Celeron 300a.

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.