GPL is interesting in that it tends to put a load on different
parts of different machines, primarily the CPU and video card. It
isn't strictly either a CPU-hog or video-hog.
Folks with a lower-powered CPU (like Marc Collin's K6 with lower
FPU performance) have trouble with added competitors. Folks with no
3D card find the video portion the big bottleneck.
I've just upgraded my P133 to a C300A, but I'm still using my
Intergraph Reactor/Intense 3D(V1000). With the P133, I found going
from 0 to 19 competitors (with my old P133 low-graphics settings)
reduced my frame rate about 50% (20 to 10). With the C300A, the drop
is only about 20% (34 to 27). So the CPU is now sufficient, but the
V1000 is probably holding things up.
I haven't gotten around to testing more graphics much yet, but I
did drop down to software mode just to see what the V1000 was doing
for me. Frame rate went down about 63% (34 to 13 and 27 to 10, for 0
and 19 competitors, respectively). So the Reactor is certainly doing
*some* work, just not as fast as a Thriller or Voodoo2 would. Well,
I've got the grunt work of the upgrade done; a new video card can be
added later for "fine tuning".
So you need both a good CPU and video card to get the results you
want. Skimping on either can leave you disappointed. Benchmark
results should be assessed with both parameters in mind. Interesting
results.
NAR Northeast Regional Contest Board site - points and more...
OK, I've done some video benchmarking, with more interesting
results. For these tests, the hardware is:
Abit BH6 mb
Celeron 300A/66 (also overclocked to 450/100)
64 meg PC100
Intergraph Reactor/Intense 3D (Rendition V1000, 4 meg)
I ran GPL both with all graphics and sound options on, as well a
"minimal" setup (all off except: 4 sounds, 25% detail bias,
anti-aliasing, smoke, track text., racing groove, car text., tire
text., and driver arms). These were done in "arcade" view. They were
done at Monza and the numbers were taken at two places: the minimum at
the start of a 19 opps race (from the back of the pack) and running
alone across the S/F line (although *all* tests were done with 19
opps, this is just with no one in view). Each test was run only once,
and the with the variation in frame rates, should be taken with a
grain of salt, although they show distinct trends.
The importance of these numbers is not their specific value, but
rather the inter-relationship between CPU speed and video speed and
the effect on GPL.
<a fixed-pitch font will help here>
GPL Frame Rates (higher is better :)
| 640 x 480 | 800 x 600 ---------------------------|----------|----------|----------|---------
Full sound & graphics | C300A | C450A | C300A | C450A
---------------------------|----------|----------|----------|---------
minimum at start | 10.3 | 11.4 | 8.3 | 8.4
S/F alone | 21 | 23 | 13.5 | 13
| 640 x 480 | 800 x 600 ---------------------------|----------|----------|----------|---------
"Minimum" sound & graphics | C300A | C450A | C300A | C450A
---------------------------|----------|----------|----------|---------
minimum at start | 21.6 | 21 | 13.7 | 13.3
S/F alone | 28 | 28 | 18 | 16
So, what do we see? As I was mentioning in my previous post, I
suspected that the V1000 was now the bottleneck in the system, which
seems to be true. Overclocking to 450, which should give you a big
boost (30-50%?), did very little. In fact, at 800x600 res, it
actually ran a touch slower on the 450?!? The difference is within
the margin of testing, but trend is significant. For overclocking to
be worthwhile on this system, you need a faster video card (Voodoo2 or
V2x00).
Also, for those suggesting that graphics adjustments have little
effect on frame rate, well, it depends. In this case, the video is
the bottleneck, and cutting back on eye candy gives you significantly
better fps (particularly at the graphics-intensive start). Also, for
my money (in this configuration), 640x480 is the highest drivable
resolution, 800x600 is out of the question (again, note that this is
with 19 opps, it is drivable with fewer/none competitors).
As I summed up before: make sure you have both a sufficient CPU and
video card for GPL: if you try to cut corners on either you will be
disappointed.
In general, a Pentium II (or Celeron) with a second generation 3D
video card (V2x00 or Voodoo2) is needed for taking full advantage of
the sim (and a 100MHz FSB is helpful). A high-end Pentium or AMD K6
with a first generation 3D card (V1000 or Voodoo1) can be used, albeit
with restrictions -- you have to sacrifice computer opponents, graphic
details, and/or frame rate, depending on your configuration. But we
knew that already. :)
NAR Northeast Regional Contest Board site - points and more...
