Why had I never tried this before?

[Olham 164]

Unbelieveable!

I had never thought, that I might be able to run most sliders on 5; so I had them like this:

 

Aircraft: 5

Terrain Detail: 3

Scenery Detail: 4

Effects Quality: 5

Clouds: 2

 

But then I told a friend, who is more into computers and games, that I am getting white jaggies

at the screen sides, when I quickly move my head with the TrackIR clip.

 

He gave me the advice to set all on 5. He meant, that my graphic card, an 4870, would be more

than able to handle the sim; but that the processor might have additional work with deminishing

the visual qualities again.

 

Not sure, if that's true, but I tried it. Now, all on 5, I still had jaggies; but when I put "Terrain Detail"

on 4, they were gone! All others are still on 5 now!

 

If you have stutters or jaggies, you should give it a try, to set them higher instead of lower.

[Slartibartfast 153]

I will admit Olham that I run mine on those settings and I have the same video card as you... and its a pure visual treat... Sometimes its just pleasant to take a plane up and just stooge about...

[foreigndevil 0]

My settings are all on 5 except for terrain detail (4). It works just fine and makes OFF look great.

[Creaghorn 10]

i'll try it as soon as i can. though i have a gtx 260. not quite high end but not too bad either. is raising the settings lowering FPS, but running smoother overall?

how about airactivity. isn't it turning BHAH into a slideshow then?

[Olham 164]

No, Creaghorn, not at all. I now always saw 32 - 37 fraps, when I checked, and so it was running smooth.

And although I have also changed my TrackIR settings faster/less smooth, I am now getting an extremely

real overall view. As if I'm really there!

And the "Terrain Detail" on 4 instead of 3 looks superb, as you can see under "Screenshots".

Edited March 14, 2010 by Olham

[+matt milne 5]

i had this problem with fsx, constantly saying don't have the terrain on max. so i had everything set to minimum and i was getting 4-10 fps. when i set everything on maximum, i got between 20 and 50fps. if you've got a recent high end or hd card and a modern processor, it should run it on full or close to full settings no problem.

 

most modern computers send different types of task to different parts of the processor and graphics card. each bit is designed to process that type of information at an optimal speed.

But if you force everything through just one section, it's gonna overload that section with information it wasn't optimised to handle, whilst all the rest of it does nothing.

 

every game is different, every card is different, every computer is different, so a little experimentation to find optimal framerates is a very good idea.

[Olham 164]

Absolutely, Matt. I forgot to mention, what system details this worked with.

 

CPU: Core2 Duo E8300 (2.83 GHz)

Graphics: HD 4870 with 1 GB

RAM: 4 GB

 

System: Windows Vista 32 bit

 

Conrad has also posted a way to make things work faster/better here:

 

http://forum.combata...post__p__394964

 

Does anyone see objections for this method? Any problems with that?

Otherwise I will try that too.

 

Does anyone know, how to overclock the CPU? I know, that it can be safely overclocked

by 10 - 15 %, but don't know how to do it.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Olham

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Olham, I have discovered the same thing with my set-up, that moving the sliders up a bit actually improved OFF performance for me. My system, (before the recent HD failure), looks as follows:

 

 

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz Wolfdale 6mb 1333fsb 45nm with Arctic Cooler

Memory: 8gb DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz

Mobo: ASUS P5QL Pro

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 SATA II NCQ 500gb 32mb (soon to be replaced by two Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA HD's)

Opti Drive: LG 22X DVD+/RW Dual Layer SATA Rewrite

Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512mb

PS: 500w deluxe switching dual fan (soon to be replaced by a Diablotek RPM 900w ATX with additional 130mm case fan)

Tower: The largest Cooler Master they make

Windows XP Pro 64-bit OS

 

 

What I ultimately came to find was that, with my CPU overclocked to 3.80 and my memory overclocked to 890 at 2.1 volts, I could push OFF with the sliders at 5-4-4-5-5 and keep a solid 45 to 60 FPS with no white jaggies of any kind, no matter how quickly I looked around or how large the dogfight.

 

As to overclocking your CPU Olham, should be no problem going at least 10% to 15%, perhaps even a bit more, and to do so I recommend using the utilities that came with your mobo, or grabbing them from the product website. I use the ASUS OC utility/monitor and it is super easy and performs flawlessly. Keep in mind you will want a very good CPU cooler if you are going to OC. As mentioned above I run the Arctic Cooler along with three 130mm case fans, (soon to be four), not to mention the fans on the PS and graphics card.

 

.

[Olham 164]

Yep, have the same cooler, Lou. Will check, if I find that "Mobo setup utility".

[Von Paulus 8]

Look at this Olham.

But it is a little more technical. If you don't have any motherboard tools, I wouldn't advise to do it.

[Olham 164]

Thank you, von Paulus. I'll check, if I have MoBo tools.

[+matt milne 5]

watch with the overclocking, and read up on electron migration before you start it.

[Olham 164]

Yes, thank you, Matt!

A friend just told me the same. Seems, it has to be done "in tune" with other parts.

[+matt milne 5]

the p4 processor was on the table 10 years ago, and then it was predicted that they would get it to 10ghz. but it was discovered once they got it up to 3ghz, that electron migration started to happen over 3ghz and so the processor has never really gone much above that. the companies opting for more processors in one computer, rather than a single faster processor.

 

even though they say it can run at 70C i never allow it much above 50C

[Bandy 3]

Olham, not sure if you have a cooler on your 4870 (or is it on your CPU as mentioned by RAF Louvert) but that GPU runs pretty hot as stock. It is supposed to take it, but IMHO they lowered the fan speeds just to decrease the fan noise. For around $20 to 30 I also picked up an Artic Cooling dual fan set up with a monster heat sink designed for the 4870. It lowered my temps at load by 30 to 40 degrees, and I'm not boasting. It was worth every penny...

 

OC is a barrel of monkeys that can get out of hand...

 

Will have to try boosting the sliders as you say, but I'll be a "doubting Thomas" till then. What I've noticed is that I can fly with absolutely great graphics and fps in the early to mid war period, but as soon as I get into mid 1917+ it all goes for a burton, and OFF turns into a slide show. Could be too much going on, too many polys in the late AC, who knows...

Edited March 15, 2010 by Bandy

[Olham 164]

Thanks for the cooling tip, Bandy.

I am flying May 1917.

And I noticed, that the white jaggies did return, when I flew my Marne region pilot.

 

So it seems to be so, that the southern regions with many more wood / trees take

more graphic or CPU power.

For the southern regions, I need to set the "Scenery Detail" slider back to 4.

 

But a common opinion here seems to be wrong: clouds I can still run on 5, and when

I check fast head movements, whilst I look up (so no terrain is to be generated),

then I don't have jaggies or stutters.

[Hasse Wind 46]

The number of aircraft in the air has a major impact on the fps. I've noticed that when I fly earlier campaigns (1915-1916), I get higher framerates because there's less air activity. But in 1918, if I try to play with too high settings for my computer, those big dogfights turn into slideshows. I haven't noticed the sim plays any slower in Alsace with all its woods and hills though. The number of aircraft close to you seems to be the deciding factor.

 

One trick I've used to make the sim look nicer and also run a bit smoother is to increase the anti-aliasing.

[Creaghorn 10]

airactivity is probably the main factor for good fps.

stuttering might be caused by graphic sliders, but overall performance is more or less only dependant of activity. i also experienced that from mid to late 1917 on the frames suffer more.

unfortunately putting sliders up didn't work for me, olham.

 

one thing that helped my graphics is the suggestion louvert made some weeks ago.

before that on my rig BHAH was fine somewhat with frames between 20 and 60. nonetheless it looked like a graphic. on his advice i used "enhancer" and set my AA settings to "combined" supersampling and multisampling. suddenly the graphic and scenerie looks almost like in real. then i set max fps to 32 so it's not stuttering anymore that much (i'll try to raise it to 40 next time).

thank you lou.

 

sorry, back to topic

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

You are more than welcome Creaghorn. Glad to know the tip worked well for you Sir.

 

.

[jwrich 0]

I have been flying OFF for about a month and I really enjoy it. I am still working my way through the settings on the work shop page. When I read about adjusting the sliders, but I can't find them. They are not on the workshop page, I have tried to reconfigure the CF3 on the workshop page, it just does it thing then say settings reconfig. I would like to try different settings, to play with the frame rate. I am running the latest OFF BHAH.l Any advice.

 

Thanks Rich

[Von Paulus 8]

I have been flying OFF for about a month and I really enjoy it. I am still working my way through the settings on the work shop page. When I read about adjusting the sliders, but I can't find them. They are not on the workshop page, I have tried to reconfigure the CF3 on the workshop page, it just does it thing then say settings reconfig. I would like to try different settings, to play with the frame rate. I am running the latest OFF BHAH.l Any advice.

 

Thanks Rich

Two ways:

In the workshop you've an option called Graphics Config. The other way is running cfs3config.exe inside OFF installation folder.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Von Paulus

[Rickitycrate 10]

Hi Rich and welcome to OFF and our forum! What you need to do is go to Workshop and click the box in lower right corner the says "Graphics Config" the config box appears and then click File. Click custom settings then okay. The sliders then appear. The top slider "Overall graphics" has no effect. Play around with the slider settings, you will need to fly to see your results. Clouds can safely be set to 1 without losing much effect IMHO. Most important IMHO is to set Aircraft detail and Effects at 5 or as high as you can. Your anti-alias settings will have a big effect on your framerate of course. You can set your display options in that same Config box. When you select your AA it will not show in the selection box you just need to trust it.

In short order someone will come along with better advice. Best wishes in your OFFing

[BirdDogICT 3]

Thanks for the cooling tip, Bandy.

But a common opinion here seems to be wrong: clouds I can still run on 5, and when

I check fast head movements, whilst I look up (so no terrain is to be generated),

then I don't have jaggies or stutters.

Olham,

 

Since you have an ATI card, I'm assuming that you are using Catalyst Control Center. As you may have noticed, Vsync and Triple Buffering through CCC don't work with many older DirectX games. I got tired of the screen tearing and jaggies in BOBII, and was able to totally eliminate them with the D3DOverrider utility. I'm now using it with BHaH with good results. Just Google "D3DOverrrider" to find a download mirror. Might solve your problem.

[Von Paulus 8]

Olham,

 

Since you have an ATI card, I'm assuming that you are using Catalyst Control Center. As you may have noticed, Vsync and Triple Buffering through CCC don't work with many older DirectX games. I got tired of the screen tearing and jaggies in BOBII, and was able to totally eliminate them with the D3DOverrider utility. I'm now using it with BHaH with good results. Just Google "D3DOverrrider" to find a download mirror. Might solve your problem.

 

Actually if you use ATT tools instead CCC there is also the possibility to force Triple Buffering.

But with D3DOverrider at least your hear the a sound that is active when you launch a Direct3D application.

I use it always, I think it turns OFF slightly smoother. But that may vary.

[BirdDogICT 3]

Actually if you use ATT tools instead CCC there is also the possibility to force Triple Buffering.

But with D3DOverrider at least your hear the a sound that is active when you launch a Direct3D application.

I use it always, I think it turns OFF slightly smoother. But that may vary.

Von Paulus,

 

Was that ATITool http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/436/ATITool_0.26.html or ATI Tray Tools http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/ATI-Tray-Tools.shtml? Not sure which one you meant. They're both decent utilities.

 

D3DOverrider is part of RivaTuner, but I'm using the unbundled version found here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/ATI-Tray-Tools.shtml