How to Improve the Gaming Performance of Your Graphics Card

The overall goal of increasing the performance of a graphics card is to increase the frames per second (fps) at which a game operates. This can be achieved multiple ways. Some suggestions are as follows:

1. Change the video settings in the game.
   Going into the video settings and lowering some of them can greatly increase the fps of the game. Settings to lower include:
   
   • Resolution
   • Texture Quality
   • Bit Depth
   • Shadowing
   • Effects
2. Remove background processes.
   Though the card may be operating at a high level, there may be programs slowing down Windows, which can decrease your fps. To remove background processes:
   
   
   • Check for icons in the Notification Area (by default this is located to the left of the clock in the bottom right corner of the screen). Just right-click on icons for programs not currently in use, and select the Exit or Close option.
3. Update your graphics card drivers.
   The graphics card manufacturer generally has the latest updates.
   

What is CrossFire?

CrossFire, also known as CrossFireX is a platform innovation that allows intelligent scaling graphics performance by combining multiple graphics cards in to a CrossFire specific motherboard. CrossFire only works with ATI based cards that are manufactured for CrossFire use.

CrossFire uses proprietary ATI software and a dedicated logic board in each graphics card to render the on-screen graphics or display using two cards with parallel processing, this can increase performance in games or video editing by a wide margin.

Current CrossFire configurations use a ribbon-like connector attached at the top of each graphics card inside the computer to allow communication and data transfer between the two cards.
To use CrossFireX, you need a CrossFireX certified motherboard and CrossFireX Capable graphics cards. It is also necessary to have a power supply capable of supporting the graphics cards.

Example of CrossFire compatible Video Card by Visiontek

Reference:
Visiontek. http://bit.ly/gCPnsO

Adjusting AA/AF Settings with an nVidia Graphics Card

Anti-aliasing or AA removes parts of the video signal that are at a higher frequency than the monitor is setup to show. It will take areas of the image that would cause artifacts to appear on the screen and slightly blurs them to create a smoother appearance.

Antistropic Filtering or AF enhances the quality of textures on viewed surfaces that are at an oblique angle to the camera. When rendering detail at these angles, Antistropic Filtering reduces blur and preserves detail. These settings can have a substantial impact on what you see on the screen especially in PC Games.

1. Open the nVidia control panel by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing nVidia Control Panel.
   
   
   
   
   Note: If this option is not available, visit www.nvidia.com and download the latest drivers for your graphics card.
2. Ensure that the nVidia Control Panel display mode is on Advanced Settings.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Once set to Advanced Settings, choose Manage 3D Settings on the left, under the 3D Settings category.
   
   
   
   
   
4. On the Manage 3D Settings screen, change the Antistropic Filtering to the desired setting.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Change the Anti-aliasing – Mode to Override Any Application Setting.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Change the Anti-aliasing – Setting to the desired setting.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Click the Apply button at the bottom to save the settings.

Graphics Cards FAQs

Q: Does my graphics card support ATI CrossFireX/nVidia SLI?
A: In general, most standalone graphics cards support CrossFireX or SLI. Detailed information on whether or not the card supports it will be located on the packaging for the video card.

Q: Will a graphics card with GDDR3/4/5 work with a DDR2 or DDR3 system?
A: Yes, the graphics memory on the card is independent of the system RAM and they do not have to match in any way.

Q: What is the difference between PCI and PCI-Express?
A: PCI or Peripheral Component Interconnect was developed originally in 1993 and has since been revised; it provides sufficient bandwidth for basic devices however, graphics cards require more bandwidth to perform at full capacity, which is the primary purpose of PCI-Express. The peak performance of PCI would be 533MB/s, whereas the peak performance of PCI-Express would be 16GB/s or almost 32 times as fast.

Q: Should the drivers always be kept up to date?
A: To maximize performance and reliability the latest drivers should be regularly downloaded from the ATI or nVidia website, depending on the manufacturer.

Q: What is the difference between AGP and PCI-Express?
A: AGP, or Accelerated Graphics Port was developed originally in 1997 and underwent several revisions. It reached its maximum throughput and needed to be replaced with a higher-bandwidth expansion port to allow for faster graphics card. AGP has a peak performance of about 2GB/s, whereas the current peak performance of PCI-Express is 16GB/s, or around 8 times as fast.

Q: What is the difference between PCI-Expres x1, x4, x8 and x16?
A: PCI-Express x1 is for low-bandwidth expansion cards and allows for a bandwidth of about 1GB/s. The bandwidth increases with the number and allows for cards requiring more and more bandwidth.

How to Buy the Right Graphics Card

If you have upgraded your display recently, you may have noticed that your graphics aren’t as clear as they should be. This may be due to the legacy video card in your computer. With a minor upgrade to your video card and a little time, you could improve your system’s video output dramatically. Before buying a new graphics card, here are some recommendations to follow when shopping for the right card:

System Specs
The first step is to evaluate the type of motherboard that you have in your current system.  You could either remove the case and physically look at what slots on your motherboard or check the system’s user manual or manufacturer’s website for specifications.  As outlined on our previous blog post on Graphics Cards, there are three basic types of video interfaces available: PCI, AGP or PCI-express. From this chart provided by Diamond Multimedia, you can see the difference in the configuration for each card type.

Illustration provided by Diamond Multimedia

Be sure to check what version of AGP or PCI-Express is compatible with your system.

Purpose
What will be the primary use of your display? Watching movies, gaming, photo editing? Depending on the function, you may need a higher-end graphics card to accommodate the demands on your computer’s video. If you are a gamer, you will need a performance video card that supports 3D rendering and HD. For photography or graphic arts, a video card with high resolution and better image quality is more important. The amount of video memory is also crucial to providing the best graphics output.

Connections
Video cards are built with a variety of ports to connect to your display. First, check the available ports on the back of your display. Does it have VGA, S-Video, DVI or HDMI? For high quality video, it is better to use DVI or HDMI, because they provide higher quality digital output. VGA and S-Video are older, analog interfaces that have lower resolution capabilities.  If you have an older PCI card with only DVI, but a display with an HDMI connection, there are adapters available to connect a HDMI cable to a DVI port.

Diamond Multimedia provides an excellent video on installing a graphics card.




Reference:
Diamond Multimedia. How to Buy a Video Card/Graphics Card.
http://bit.ly/gApxBE

Diamond Multimedia. Installing a Graphics Card, Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HH4_yn1Q_U

Graphics Cards: AGP, PCI and PCI-Express

There are three different interface standards for graphics cards: AGP, PCI or PCI-Express.  AGP or Accelerated Graphics Port is twice as fast as PCI and has direct access to the processor bypassing the PCI bus. It is also capable of utilizing system memory to read textures through a technology known as GART (Graphics Address Mapping Table). GART sets aside areas of the main system memory as needed for storing textures. The video card then has access to those textures directly from system memory.

Example of an AGP Graphics Card (172-pin)

PCI or Peripheral Component Interconnect is the original interface standard before AGP.  This method allows peripherals to be connected to the motherboard by using the computer bus. In addition to graphics cards, other connection cards can be added or removed using the PCI expansion slots.

Example of a PCI Card (120-pin)

Currently, PCI-Express or PCIe is the newest standard in graphics card technology and exceeds in performance beyond PCI or AGP.  PCI-Express cards are available in four types: x1, x4, x8 and x16. They provide superior bandwidth capabilities allowing increased graphics processing with higher resolution and better 3D graphics rendering. PCIe is being adopted as the default form factor for a number of other hardware types such as network cards, wireless cards, modems, and sound cards. AGP and PCIe are not interchangeable. The index notch is in a different location on each slot.

 Example of a PCI-Express Card (164-pin)

Reference:
Diamond Multimedia. Glossary.
http://bit.ly/bwoToz

MCTSOL.com. Tech Center. What is PCI Express?
http://bit.ly/g39AXG