Getting my video settings right for AH

[HomeBoy]

Since my machine is sort of the AH "standard" now (as appears to me), I would really like to know how close my graphics settings are from "ideal" for Aces High.  I especially would like to hear from Skuzzy on this.

I have the hi-res pack install and my system specs are in my signature.

Thanks much!

[Condor]

They must be right.  They are the same as mine

[HomeBoy]

I'm really surprised nobody is replying to this.  I can't believe of all of us with similar systems are not trying very hard to get the best performance out of our systems.  I actually thought this was such an important issue that there should be a sticky post about it.  Shows what I know!    I've seen Skuzzy chastise guys for saying that they just blindly max everything out as well as saying AH doesn't support this or that video setting.  I'd just like to get some facts on this subject.

So, I challenge you to criticize me on the settings I've chosen and tell me why they are bad choices and tell me which are better ones.  Come on guys, I know you can do this!   

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I'm really surprised nobody is replying to this.  I can't believe of all of us with similar systems are not trying very hard to get the best performance out of our systems.  I actually thought this was such an important issue that there should be a sticky post about it.  Shows what I know!    I've seen Skuzzy chastise guys for saying that they just blindly max everything out as well as saying AH doesn't support this or that video setting.  I'd just like to get some facts on this subject.

So, I challenge you to criticize me on the settings I've chosen and tell me why they are bad choices and tell me which are better ones.  Come on guys, I know you can do this!   

If it ain't broken don't try to fix it.

[BaldEagl]

I'm really surprised nobody is replying to this.  I can't believe of all of us with similar systems are not trying very hard to get the best performance out of our systems.  I actually thought this was such an important issue that there should be a sticky post about it.  Shows what I know!    I've seen Skuzzy chastise guys for saying that they just blindly max everything out as well as saying AH doesn't support this or that video setting.  I'd just like to get some facts on this subject.

So, I challenge you to criticize me on the settings I've chosen and tell me why they are bad choices and tell me which are better ones.  Come on guys, I know you can do this!   

Hmm... I thought in your first post you specifically said "I especially would like to hear from Skuzzy on this."

[1701E]

One thing i notice that could be a little better is your "max frame rate".  If you put Unlimited and select V-Sync in the NVidia control panel you can get a a little better, assuming you have a refresh rate higher than 60.

[HomeBoy]

Hmm... I thought in your first post you specifically said "I especially would like to hear from Skuzzy on this."

This is true.  I would like to hear from Skuzzy on this but I value your opinion too!  Especially YOU Baldeagl!   

1701e,
My monitor's refresh rate is 60 which is why I set my max FR at 60.  I thought that would be better than "Unlimited."  No?

[NHawk]

Same as yours with these 4 exceptions...

Anisotropic filtering - 2x
Antialiasing - Mode - Override any application setting
Antialiasing - Setting - 4x
Texture Filtering - Negative LOD bias - Allow

[1701E]

I was only suggesting it if your refresh rate was higher than 60, which most monitors support unless it's old. Didn't know what monitor you had and if it supported over 60, I have no other ideas so good luck .

[Brooke]

I try to get the most antialiasing in there as I can.  Over the years, the better the graphics card I get, the higher I can crank that up and still get decent frame rate.  Currently, with an nVidia GeForce 7950 GT, I use all default settings except for 8xS antialiasing at a resolution of 1280x960.  In the game, I max out the detail, etc. (highest quality, lowest framerate).  With all of this, I get a framerate of about 60 sitting in the ground in an A-20G offline on a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo machine (Dell 9200) with the acks and drones flying around.

[HomeBoy]

There is a similar thread going on in the tech support forum:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,234795.0.html

There, Chalenge is suggesting not running AA above 4X because "you won't be able to see dots as well."   Maybe that's NHawk's rationale as well?  Personally, when I tried bouncing between 16X and 4X I can't say I really notice that much difference.  This kind of goes to the motivation for creating this thread to begin with as I have changed so many settings so many times that I have just gotten lost in the details.

Just some random comments...

It seems I recall Skuzzy saying that AH doesn't use Anisotropic Filter so if that's true, I guess it doesn't matter what you do with that.  (I wish I could find the thread where he talked about that but my search skills are failing me.)   I have played with several settings and haven't noticed any big differences.

Frame rates are not a problem for me at all with AH.  Running VidSync is the only way to go (IMHO) and the larger monitors (e.g. 24" widescreen) seem to all run at 60Hz so limiting the frame rate to 60 in game seems logical.  With that said, I have read that more than a few people say you should set FR to "unlimited" in Flight Sim X (the other game I'm trying to tune) because you'll get better performance than when you limit it to your VidSync.  I don't really understand that but it does appear to be the case.  Perhaps the same is true with AH but because my FR doesn't drop below 60 very much in AH, I'm not sure I'd see the difference anyway.  Things are VERY different with FSX where my FRs are in the 30s and drop down in the low 20s and even high teens occasionally.  FSX is a real beast!

One minor anomaly I've been trying to improve is sort of a "tingle" or "sparkling" of the terrain.   Have you ever seen one of those shows on Discovery Channel where they show you the world through some kind of "enhanced video" where you see germs on everything and there is this kind of "tingle" effect on objects?  Well, this is a bit like what I'm trying to describe though not nearly that pronounced.   I'm going to try setting "Texture Filtering - Negative LOD bias" to "Allow" (as NHawk does) rather than "Clamped."  I haven't tried that yet I don't think.   I set it to Clamped because others have said (in a FSX forum) that was better.

One of the reasons this has been so difficult for me as I am trying to deal with FSX and AH at the same time.  The graphics of FSX is considerably better than AH but the performance demands of FSX over AH are significant.  This has been very challenging to say the least.

I appreciate everybody's responses.  I'm convinced that if we keep hammering this out, we can come up with a good "basic settings" for those of us with similar hardware.  That's really all I'm after here.

Keep it coming!   

-hb

[HomeBoy]

Ok, found the threads (there were several actually) where Skuzzy emphatically states that AH does not use Anisotropic Filtering at all.  That makes this setting a no-brainer:

Anisotropic Filtering  Off

I'm anxious to try:

Texture Filtering - Negative LOD bias - Allow

and see if it has any effect on the "tingling" terrain.

I see no reason to drop my AA from the 16x as I don't appear to experience any performance hit.

I have read the "Antialiasing - Mode" should be set to "Enhance the application setting" but I will try "Override Application" once I experiment with the other settings.

[DREDIOCK]

One minor anomaly I've been trying to improve is sort of a "tingle" or "sparkling" of the terrain.   Have you ever seen one of those shows on Discovery Channel where they show you the world through some kind of "enhanced video" where you see germs on everything and there is this kind of "tingle" effect on objects?

Those arent germs.
Those are Rooks 

eh...
Same difference

Looking at your gama.
You like the game BRIGHT doncha?

[1701E]

Wow 1.0 is bright? i must be really blind then...I have mine at 1.4-1.5.

[HomeBoy]

Success!!

The "tingling" terrain problem was being caused by my setting "Antialiasing-Mode" to "Enhance the Application."  NHawk's setting of "Override any application setting" was the right answer on that.  Thank you NHawk!

I noticed that when I look back through the six position of the P-51D, the vertical stab had some jaggies in it.  When I set the "Texture Filtering - Negative LOD bias" to "allow" (instead of "clamp"), that fixed that!  Once again, thanks NHawk!

After discovering that AH does not use Anisotropic Filtering, I set that to "off."

I figured since NHawk was two for two, I decided to set my AA to 4X although I have to say I can  see absolutely no difference in that and 16X.  I figure 4X might give the VC a little break.

So, thank you very much everyone who took the time to reply to this post.  I am confident now that I'm getting what I should out of this video card.

BTW, here are my final settings...