GeforceFX 5600

Hi all,
where can i find fine-tuning parameters for this card, and which Detonator
driver is better ?

TIA
Paolo Zambrini

The best drivers are the current WHQL 61.77 ForceWare drivers from
nVidia.com.  If installed properly with no conflicting hardware/software,
they're super stable and very fast.  These drivers let me play Doom3 at
960x600 on medium quality on my FX5600 Go based notebook. :)   These are
probably the best all-around drivers nVidia has ever released with the WHQL
stamp.

If you're into tweaking, there's not much you can do other than install
coolbits and overclock your video card a bit.  The most realistic overclock
settings are adding 50MHz to both your GPU and your RAM clock.  Much more
than that and you will usually start seeing artifacting or other problems as
the card won't be able to draw enough power and/or meet it's cooling needs.
There aren't really any other settings you can (or would want to tweak)
other than the usual performance vs. quality settings.

I would recommend avoiding the hacked drivers you can get from places like
reactorcritical or guru3d.  These are usually beta releases and/or
mismatched driver sets that are optimized for performance in a specific game
or style of game.  And almost always give only a 1 to 5 % increase in
performance and a severe hit in stability.  If you're adventurous, nVidia
does make their beta sets available, but these current 61.77 are running so
well for most everyone that I have a hard time recommending anything else.

Jeff

Thank you a lot; i also wonder if there's something specific to put into OGL
configuration menu into video settings. I remember some time ago a config
for LW which gave better performances just modifying these.

TIA
Paolo Zambrini

In the settings, you can create different profiles for all your
applications.  The drivers come with some profiles for a few popular games
and you can take a look at those for some reference.  For LW, you will
probably want to leave AA off or set on a low setting.  Most everything
you'll want to leave to "Application Controlled".  I prefer to activate the
vertical sync option for layout as it helps cut down on screen "tearing"
effects.  On my systems that run off LCD monitors, I always turn on the
vertical sync option in the global settings since these displays operate at
a steady 60Hz in most situations, so the tearing is a good bit more
noticeable than on a CRT at 85Hz.  As for other performance options, just be
sure your AGP rate and other settings match up with your hardware and on the
performance slider, you can pick a setting from fastest performance to best
quality and that is entirely subjective.  I have usually found a setting
right in the middle or a little closer to the performance end of the slider
does better for me.  The big thing with Lightwave is that its OpenGL is a
very poor implementation and still very much CPU dependent.  There's not a
lot you can change in your video drivers that will affect how Lightwave
performs.  ...Sad, but that's the way it is.






OGL

Thanks a lot.

Paolo Zambrini