Is my computer really giving me it's best performance?

[Golfer]

Is there a way to adjust the settings of how much system memory and video memory is being used? (as seen by the FrameRate/Info annunciator on the top of the screen in game)

Currently I am getting fair performance out of using a minority of what my computer is equipped in terms of video RAM and system RAM.  Is there a setting to adjust for it to use even 75% or 90% or 100% of the computers available resources for AH?

[Krusty]

In-game those indicators are not reflective of the actual memory being used. It's been that way for a while. You could be nearly using all of your memory and it might say you have a lot free, or vice versa.

[Golfer]

That doesn't answer the question.

[Krusty]

Long story short: If it's running fine on a fraction of what your computer can deliver, why would you want to bog down your system, using up 100%?

It takes up as much as it needs/wants. If you don't have enough you can run into problems. If you have a large surplus it's not doing any harm, and it's probably running smoother than if it were using all of your resources.

What texture resolution do you have? The higher that goes, the more memory it requires. Note that you need to download the hi-res pack to use 1024. Higher screen resolutions and FSAA and other goodies will use up more vid card resources. Downloading all the skins will use more memory. Pre-loading textures will as well. You need about 2GB of RAM (I think) to preload all skins (if you have all installed).

So in essence, you *can*, but if you're maxed out already, and feelin' no pain, you're good to go. Just enjoy it

[Roscoroo]

here ya go ... this was sorta my base for setting up w/ 512 ram and a 128 video card (nothing preloaded , skins enabled)



distance is maxed ... and performance slider was at about 3/4's to 1 inch from left  (full tilt)  move it to the right a touch if your getting stutters in the game

 notice the ram over head amount .. thats the secret ... if your getting up near 90-95 % of your total ram used in normal flight  your game should be stuttering in dogfights and even worse in high traffic (graphics) area's ...

You want to keep a 10-20% overhead of ram in the worst conditions . dont try to use  all avail ram as it wont work .

----- now for 1024 up and hires pack running ---

ram ussuage on some pc's  run in the 380-400 area ,  or runs at 700 area used

depends on preload and skins I think ..  and if your set at 2x 4x ect AA .

also when comparing frame rates the Clipboard snags 10-15 fps when its up .

hopefully this give you an idea of how to tune the game ... this really helps on the slower pc's  and can cure stutters/lag on the faster ones.

note some of the SEA terrains take a big bite outta your ram and the slider may need moved down alittle more to gain fps .

final note on stutters is sometimes the sound files when played will cause a freeze/stutter to ... to fix this turn off that sound in AH and it should go away .

[Golfer]

The single worst problem I had on my laptop which cause screen stutters and warps had nothing to do (at least in my mind) with my connection.

Changing the power setting from a notebook or desktop PC to "Always On" single handedly cured all my ailments.

I remembered a setting when tweaking my old computer for WWIIOL back in 2002 (with Win98) to adjust how much memory could/should be used but don't recall what it was.

At any rate...

My desktop is fine.

My laptop runs "okay" but I'd like to be able to get more performance out of a machine with 1GB of ram and a 256MB video card than 25 or so frames per second bogging down more in large furballs on default or lower settings.

I use 512 textures, preload in memory and don't use the animated water (not sure anyone does anyway)

[Roscoroo]

win 98 had to have sp1.5 on it or its memory management tweeked  to utilize 512 or more .

Have you tryed not preloading textures ???