Graphics options

[Divot]

Hi all,

Just a quick question:

I have an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 128 MB card.

What are the best settings to select for F4:AF so that I can make the most out of the sim?

What I would like are both Sim settings and general Windows settings ...

Thanks heaps!

[Afterburner]

How much RAM and what Processor are you using sir.... :smile:

[Divot]

2.4 GHz & 512 MB

[Afterburner]

Ok first off, it is advisable to have the latest Patch and Drivers installed. Drivers can be gotten here (http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp) and as for the patch, utilise the updater for F4:AF. When thats taken care of, go to the Windows Display Options. Select Performance and Quality Settings and set the following - Antialiasing to 4x , Anisotropic to 16x , Image Setting to High Performance and click apply to save these changes. As for the SIM settings, set them to - Primary Display Driver , Direct3D T&L HAL , All sliders set to max , Anisotropic Filetering enabled. SIM Resolution will be your personal preferance. You are now good to go..... :thumb:

Note: To be honest, the Nvdia 5xxx cards are an extremely weak series. When compared to the same class by ATI, they trail by a significant amount as far as FPS is concerned. I suggest you change your card to a X850XT PE (has ATI's 3Dc Technology). This way you have the most powerful AGP card to date and you still get to keep your AGP system without a total ovehaul. Cheers.... :smile:

[Afterburner]

Oh and yea.....I highly recommend you increasing ur RAM to 1GB :smile:

[Speedo]

Select Performance and Quality Settings and set the following - Antialiasing to 4x , Anisotropic to 16x , Image Setting to High Performance and click apply to save these changes. As for the SIM settings, set them to - Primary Display Driver , Direct3D T&L HAL , All sliders set to max , Anisotropic Filetering enabled. SIM Resolution will be your personal preferance. You are now good to go.....

I would NOT do that if you want to have a playable game, framerate wise...

Leave your AA and Ansio settings off. In the sim, start at 1024*768 with all sliders maxed. If your FPS is good enough, then you can try adding some ansio or AA, or bumping the resolution to 1600*1200. If you don't get decent framerates, start bumping the sliders down until the FPS is good enough for your tastes.

Coming off of a very comperable rig (Athlon XP2100, 512mb, GF4 Ti4400), I had to run at 1024*768 with all gfx sliders bumped down one notch. I think you'll probably be fine with them all maxed, since F4 is more CPU bound.

[Afterburner]

The system requirements for F4:AF are pretty reasonable unlike the killer LockOn (am not referin to the requirements stated on the package). I had no probs runnin such settings on a spare 5200 a few months back. It all boils down to the user preferance at the end of the day. The best bet wud be play around with settings and stick with what ur comfortable with..... :thumb:

[Speedo]

The system requirements for F4:AF are pretty reasonable unlike the killer LockOn (am not referin to the requirements stated on the package). I had no probs runnin such settings on a spare 5200 a few months back. It all boils down to the user preferance at the end of the day. The best bet wud be play around with settings and stick with what ur comfortable with

GPU is mostly irrelevant with F4/ F4:AF. Remember we're talking about code originally written in the days of Voodoo2's and 3's. Those gfx options are nearly maxed out, and I know on my old comp it would have made the game nearly a slideshow. Heck, even my pretty darn high end dual core with 2Gb ram and a GF7800GTX only averages about 50fps with the options maxed.

F4 has always been a system killer, especially in the campaign.

[Afterburner]

Which is why setting a Graphics card to a high level wouldnt really matter.....the SIM is pretty much CPU dependant coz of aged coding. I notice however the GFX card makes a diff in diminishing jaggies, a definite welcome for us. The P4 2.4Ghz helps Divot pull through at the end...... :thumb:

[Brake6]

I'm going to by a PC just to be able to play Falcon 4:AF (and of course FO), so I have almost the same question to you people how knows how things should be:

Will a AMD64 3400+ with 1 GB RAM and a ATI Radeon X600/256MB be alright? As a Mac user, I'm most worried that the graphic card will not be sufficient…

//Brake6

[Nighthawk]

your right there its not sufficient by the time FO is released it will be worth $40

[Afterburner]

May I suggest a rig....

A64 3800+ X2
2GB of RAM
Nvidia 7800GT

The CPU will last you the next few years and the RAM will give you plenty of overhead as 1GB is becomin a norm. The card is not expensive yet will own Falcon 4 while lasting you a good year till Fighter OPS is out. By then it will be up to you to change the card to match FO requirements if required.

I recomend a Dual Core coz Falcon and Fighter OPS take/will take advantage of them for even better performance while the entry level 3800+ doesnt cost a bomb :smile:

[Nighthawk]

dont bother with X2 yet normal 64's are better for gaming and a 7800GTX rather thena 7800GT

[C3PO]

dont bother with X2 yet normal 64's are better for gaming

Not for AF ... which is optimised for dual core processors:

SC = Single Core Test (one core disabled on CPU)
DC = Dual Core Test

http://lead-pursuit.com/cpu.jpg

[Pacman]

As stated by our lead coder Fighterops will take advantage of the latest available technologies. Meaning dual cpu's will be supported.

Dirk

[Afterburner]

dont bother with X2 yet normal 64's are better for gaming and a 7800GTX rather thena 7800GT As I mentioned a couple of times before F4:AF and FOps supports/will support Dual Cores and will give you maximum investment worthiness. I was takin into the consideration the original specification of the mid-low end X600 and suggested a more effective yet affordable card e.g 7800GT. The GTX costs more and its performance lead doesnt justify a purchase over a 7800GT. Personally I would opt for the X1800XT as it has ATI's 3Dc technology, super video processing (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_catalyst_5.13_video_quality/) ability and also a free upgrade to Platinum Edition (XTPE) :smile:

[Brake6]

Thanks for all your advice :smile:

But since I am only going to use this PC for flying (still using my Mac for other things like work), I dont want to invest to much money. Therefor I bought a HP with X600. And when FO hit the shelves I can upgrade :bigsmile:

//Brake6

[C3PO]

Personally I would opt for the X1800XT as it has ATI's 3Dc technology, super video processing (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_catalyst_5.13_video_quality/) ability and also a free upgrade to Platinum Edition (XTPE) :smile:

I'm waiting for R580 -- that's going to be a highly impressive chip from ATI.

[Afterburner]

I'm waiting for R600 -- it's gona be da bomb but we wont see it so soon. This is why I only bought a 7800GT, there are bigger fishes in the sea :evils: