I'm soon not to be a Matrox User

[EvilDonnyboy]

agreed, bug. I mean, they don't gotta spill their guts on their new stuffs. They could just say somethings comming, maybe annouce a name (G800 sounds like a good name), then shut-up about it.

[Hong Kong]

<img border="0" src="file:///C:/CWIN98/Desktop/·s¸ê®Æ§¨/fs1.jpg" width="520" height="500"></p>

[CHHAS]

Joel:

I've admired your pic a few times now
Would you mind sharing your UT .ini settings ?

[Joel]

Not at all. Here's the part I think you are wanting. If you want a copy of the whole thing just e-mail me. Link to my e-mail can be found on the Soap Box Forum's thread page.

[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice]
RefreshRate=75
DetailTextures=1
UseTrilinear=1
UseS3TC=0
UseTNT=1
LODBias=0
UseMultiTexture=1
UsePalette=0
UseAlphaPalette=0
Translucency=0
VolumetricLighting=1
ShinySurfaces=1
Coronas=1
HighDetailActors=1
MaxAnisotropy=1
AlwaysMipmap=0
UsePrecache=1
SupportsLazyTextures=1

[D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=False
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
UseMipmapping=True
UseTrilinear=False
UseMultitexture=True
UsePageFlipping=True
UsePalettes=True
UseFullscreen=True
UseGammaCorrection=True
DetailTextures=False
Use3dfx=False
UseTripleBuffering=True
UsePrecache=True
Use32BitTextures=False
DescFlags=1
dwDeviceId=1317
dwVendorId=4139
UseAGPTextures=False
UseVideoMemoryVB=False
UseVSync=False
Description=Matrox Millennium G400 DualHead - English
Use32BitZBuffer=True
UseVertexFog=True

[Illusion[Spirit]]

Hi again,

Ive just got a few comments concerning thatconfig Joel. Im not sure how intersted every1 is in prettiness (is that a word? ), but I would HIGHLY recommend that you turn off coronas. This is the think that makes the lights glare, and turning it off massively helps you see opponents (for evidence look at the top of Gothic by the armour).

Also high detail actors hit performance a lot, though there are arguments for leaving them on....(ie u can see the sb instantly). But, bug, it sounds like there is something wrong m8 cos u should be getting more than 30 fps. I know I play at low res, but even at 800*600, I can get at least 50+ fps.

Try running this:

www.utclans.org/spirit/files/utbench.zip

and telling us what u get at various resolutions?

[Paulr]

Personally I'm only a 'Matrox User' because my second system has a G400 MAX in.
My primary rig needed an update and the G400 was choking everything else I'm afraid.

[CHHAS]

I've just run the UT bench demo, with Joel's settings, on my Duron 866, 512 mb CAS 3 PC 133, G400 16mb @180/180.

D3D 16 bit:

1024x768 - min 20,89 max 84,96 avg 41,17
800x600 - min 33,60 max 85,59 avg 58,91
640x480 - min 42,87 max 85,00 avg 69,57

D3D 32 bit:

640x480 - min 16,21 max 85,62 avg 37,02

After seeing the 640x480x32 bit result I decided that running at higher resolutions in 32 bit would be pointless, why the huge performance drop in D3D ?
It's not there in OpenGL.

[Joel]

Here's my little test.

D3D 1024x768x32bit
Min 11.56 Max 62.44 Avg 30.39

OpenGL 1024x768x32bit
Min 7.51 Max 49.34 Avg 21.09

In actual gameplay I would find these rates unacceptable but, as you can see from my screenshot above this is not what I get in actual gameplay.

Joel

[CHHAS]

Just ran the test in 1024x68x32 (D3D)

Min 5,94 Max 27,51 Avg 10,08

Something is definetely not right here ...

[bugblatt]

I ran that, using D3D, here's what I got:

800x600 16bit: Min 36 Max 76 Avg 53
800x600 32bit: Min 25 Max 68 Avg 41
1024x768 16bit: Min 29 Max 57 Avg 43
1024x768 32bit: Min 10 Max 23 Avg 15

That's better than I expected for 800 32bit, although a min FPS of 25 is borderline playable. 1024 16bit is playable, so I'll be using that from now on (I didn't get a playable min FPS before I O/Cd my CPU, I'm surprised it made that much difference). 1024 32bit is dire, I'm guessing that's the point at which the restricted memory bandwidth really starts to bite.

Now if Matrox had given the G450 DDR RAM and kept the memory buswidth the same, and allowed me to use my RRG with it, they just might have made another sale.

Well, 1024 16bit is playable so I'll use that for now and hope Matrox pull their fingers out.

[This message has been edited by bugblatt (edited 15 April 2001).]

[Joel]

I just realized that we could all be using a different benchmark. The scores above are using a demo named thunder. I found another one at www.3dcenter.de:8000/downloads/unreal-tournament-benchmark.php3 and this is what I get from it.

D3D 1024x768x32bit
Min 15.50 Max 57.27 Avg 34.65

OpenGL 1024x768x32bit
Min 5.71 Max 50.42 Avg 21.19

Joel

[bugblatt]

I was using the demo Illusion suggested, UTBench

[CHHAS]

That's still loads better than what I get, around 20 fps average at 800x600x32

[CactusJack]

Hiya Gents,
I DO agree that, like any other video card that has been out ~2 years, the G400 is nearing the end of its useful life. That said, It still has visual quality better than most of the new cards out there. My second comp is a Duron 700@900 with a GF2MX in it...but you know what? I run 16-bit on it because the amount of slowdown in firefights is too harsh in 32-bit. Also because I like to see the counter hit 160 fps when it quiet (okay, that's about double my monitor refresh rate..useless stat). My Pathetic old Celeron 300a@450 uses a vanilla g400 32MB, and I play at 1024X768X32 bit. Okay, the Peak FR are about 45 and drops to the low 20's(okay,high teens on some maps) in firefights, but I still find it playable, and I still take out more than I get taken out.
If Matrox comes out with a new card in the next 6 months that is gaming oriented, I"ll probably buy because getting 2 years out of a video card these days is phenomenal.

[Rags]

My UT numbers scale with processor speed.

Rags