Another ATI optimization tip to try

R

Redwolf

Guest
Got this tip from the IL-2 boards recently:

Turn off Catalyst AI in your ATI control panel and see if it helps you gain some fps. This has gained me a 2% increase in IL-2 and has certainly helped in BHH as well with perhaps a 2-5% gain. It's hard to definatively quantify the improvement in OFF vs. IL-2 (where I can benchmark a track), but the improvement is definately there (at least for me). You may want to experiment with this too.
 
My Catalyst 9.2 Settings
Redwolf,

I found the same thing...turning off Catalyst A.I. doesn't detract from the graphics quality and gives me 2-4 more FPS. We're both running OFF on older "obsolete" machines:

I'm currently running Catalyst 9.2 and getting 35-50 FPS running at 1600X1024 (the default on my LCD monitor) at 4-3-3-4-2. I've played around with the settings quite a bit to find the best combination that looks great without stuttering. I'm running an old socket 939 machine with a dual processor Opteron 185 overclocked to 3.0 GHz and 2MB of PC4400 DDR memory overclocked to 275 Hz with XP SP3.

My Catalyst settings are as follows (game graphics appear the same with either my 512MB ATI X1950XTX or 512MB HD 4870, but the frame rates are 40% higher with the 4870):

1. SMOOTHVision HD Antialiasing set to 4X (12 samples) using the "edge detect" filter. (AA is set to off in cfs3 config). This setting is a resource hog, but it reduces objectionable "edgies" in planes and reduces "shimmering" of the landscape when on the ground. 2X with a Box filter works fine, too. (Note: you can also check "Use Application Settings" and set AA to 2 or 4 samples in cfs3 config, but I found that I lose 3-5 FPS that way). IF low FPS is a problem for you, check "Use Application Settings" and set AA off in CFS3 config.

2. SMOOTHVision HD Anisotropic Filtering - check "Use Application Settings". AF doesn't appear to do anything to improve the graphics appearance, and blurred the cockpit instruments in some planes.

3. Check "Disable Catalyst A.I." Catalyst A.I. doesn't seem to improve appearance of the game.

4. Mipmap Detail Level set to "Performance"

5. Wait for Vertical Refresh set to "Off" (Note: Polovski recommends that this be "on" but IMHO that only applies to CRT dsplays. While I don't claim to be an expert on video, there is a distinct difference between the refresh rate (actually, "vertical refresh rate") of a CRT and the frame rate of an LCD. The flicker from a 60Hz refresh rate on a CRT would definitely be unacceptable, but a 60Hz frame rate with an LCD is fine.) Here's a good basic source for graphics tweaking that describes this... http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_8.html

6. Enable Adaptive Anti-Aliasing unchecked. Just another unnecessary resource hog.

7. OpenGL Settings "Triple Buffering" is unchecked. (Triple buffering is useful when used in conjunction with "Wait for Vertical Refresh, but has no impact on my LCD Monitor).

Hope this helps. Of course, your mileage may vary.

And BTW, the new Catalyst drivers cause artefacts in IL2 when Landscape Quality is set to "Perfect" unless Catalyst AI is set to off. At least that's true with my 4870 card.

BirdDogICT
 
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