Question
Answer
How can I raise my FPS?
First of all, for those of you that don't know, FPS stands for many things in gaming terminology. But in this tutorial, we are of course talking about, Frames Per Second. Which is the rate at which your game is running. The higher the FPS, the smoother your game will run. This tutorial is not for beginners. It involves some game tweaking, as well as some software tweaking.
Use this tutorial at your own risk. It is made with the intention to help, not hinder, but if you do the following steps incorrectly, it can result in your game running like chit.
Now, the most important factor in determining your FPS is what Video Card you have. The better your video card is the higher your FPS will be. If you already know what video card type you have, please skip to Step Two.
This is for 3DFX Based Video Card holders and for nVidia Based Video Card holders only. ATI, Hercules, and other's are not described in this tutorial.
Step One
------------------------------------------------
For Windows 95/98/ME -
Right Click "My Computer" and click on the Device Manager tab.
In Device manager find Display Adapters and click the [+] on the left of it. This will bring down your Video Card.
For Windows 2000/XP -
Right click "My Computer" and click on the Hardware tab. Next, under Device Manager, click the Device Manager tab.
In Device Manager, find Display Adapters and click the [+] on the left of it. This will bring down your Video Card.
Step Two - 3DFX Based Cards
------------------------------------------------
Now that we have determined what video Card you have, we will be able to figure out the best way to raise your FPS.
If you have a 3DFX video card, such as the Voodoo, Voodoo 2, Voodoo 3, Voodoo 4, or Voodoo 5. The best way to raise your FPS is to download and install Wicked3D's, WickedGL.
"WickedGL" is an enhanced miniGL support for boards based on 3dfx Voodoo2/3/4/5, and Voodoo Banshee chipsets"
You can download the Free Demo version of WickedGL, Here. You can also get the full registered version there for a fee.
At this point, that is all the help I can give for 3DFX based Video Cards.
Step Three - nVidia Based Cards
------------------------------------------------
If you have an nVidia based card, such as the GeForce series, I recommend running your games in OpenGL. It is much faster and more crisp than Direct3D as well it is more stable in most cases.
First of all, make sure you have the latest Drivers for your Operating System.
For the latest Official nVidia Drivers, please check Here .
Now, once you have the latest drivers installed, let's have some fun. Go to your Desktop, Right Click, and Choose properties.
Now click the Settings tab.
Now click the Advanced button at the bottom right.
Now click the Tab for your video card. Such as "GeForce3 Ti 200" or "GeForce4 Ti 4600".
Now click the Additional Properties... button at the bottom left.
Now click the OpenGL tab.
Here is where it get's tricky. You should have a few options. Here are the settings best used for OpenGL Gamers. It should raise your FPS quite a bit.
Default color depth for textures: Use desktop color depth
Buffer-flipping mode: Use block transfer
Vertical Sync: Off by default
Anisotropic filtering: Disabled
Click apply, then Ok. Click ok on the rest of your open windows. Now when running games in OpenGL you should see a noticeable difference in gameplay. It should be much smoother, and your FPS should be higher.
Step Four - If All Else Fails
------------------------------------------------
If all else has failed, and this tutorial has not helped you at all, please consult the following site(s).
Tweak3D.Net
3DSpotlight - GeForce 1,2,3,4 Tweak Guide
3DSpotlight - Voodoo 4/5 Tweak Guide
3DSpotlight - Voodoo 3 Tweak Guide
[ Back to Top ]
