QuinnEbert.NET

Greetings,

Finally had some chances of late to slow down just a bit, and relax a little…In-the-process, finally got my hands, albeit a good bit “late”, on a copy of “Halo 2″ for Windows Vista.  However, it seems that, for users (like me) of recent update-versions of Microsoft’s “Games for Windows LIVE” client programme, and owners (again, like me) of NVIDIA Graphics Cards with up-to-date drivers, that there is a BIG issue with the latest NVIDIA drivers causing sluggish (or “stuttery”/stuttering) performace in-the-game.  Well, I think I may have a workaround here — at least, this small set of changes (which you can make in the NVIDIA Control Panel software) seems to resolve these issues in my particular instance of this problem.

NOTE: I’m not going to tell you how to get to your NVIDIA Control Panel interface…There’s several ways to do it, nonetowhich are very complicated — If you’re really desperate, though, you can pay me to walk you through it — Contact me if you REALLY need me to hold your hand on that.  

Anyway, to get started, let’s bring up the NVIDIA Control Panel to the “Program Settings” Tab of the “Manage 3D Settings” page…See the following screenshot (you can click it to enlarge it, if you need to) if you need to know where it is…  Once you get there, I *highly* recommend you tick the “Show only programs found on this computer” checkbox so that you can much more easily find (and select) the “Halo 2 (startup.exe)” entry from the “Select a program to customize” dropdown menu.

And, in the “Specify the settings for this program” listview box, try setting your settings as-below:

Anisotropic Filtering = Off
Antialiasing - Gamma Correction = Off
Antialiasing - Mode = Override any application setting
Antialiasing - Setting = 2x
Antialiasing - Transparency = Off
Conformant Texture Clamp = Use hardware
Error Reporting = Off
Extension Limit = Off
Force Mipmaps = None
Maximum Pre-rendered Frames = 0 (Numerical Zero)
Multi-Display/Mixed-GPU Acceleration = Multiple-display Performance Mode
Texture Filtering - Anisotropic Sample Optimization = On
Texture Filtering - Negative LOD Bias = Allow
Texture Filtering - Quality = High performance
Texture Filtering - Trilinear Optimization = On
Threaded Optimization = Auto
Triple Buffering = Off
Vertical Sync = Force off

Now, my personal experience leads me to believe that the two MOST influential settings here are the ones for “Vertical Sync” and “Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames,” but, I’ve been wrong before (and, being a human being, expect that, if I’m wrong here, it wouldn’t be the last time)…  Also, PLEASE NOTE, if one of those settings shown above doesn’t show up for your NVCPL, or if you have other settings available to you, it’s VERY likely you have a newer or older GPU (mine’s an AsusTek 8600 GT) than I do, but, my best guess, again, is with the “Vertical Sync” and “Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames” options.

Also, be sure to “Apply” settings before closing NVCPL, and, be sure to comment on this article with your praise, complaints, or other experiences with this possible workaround.  

Thank you, and, Enjoy!
–Quinn

Greetings,

Today, I found a few moments to add a few identities to the “My Identities” sidebar here on my site, plus, while I’m notifying “you” of that, just figured I’d “ping” the page, and just let everyone interested know that I’m still alive, but still just *very* busy. Stay tuned to my site for further updates as “interesting” stuff happens…

Cheers!
–Quinn

Zephyr :: Book 1 – “Retalliation” :: Chapter 2 – “The Union” :: David Quinn “DragonFyre” Ebert

“Flesh is a design flaw.”
– “Gorge” (Participating Character)
– from Epic’s “Unreal Tournament 2003/2004″

“Daddy,” cried Christian, “is he dead?” Before Zephyr had a chance to muster a response, the seemingly-demised cyborg emitted a characteristic grunting-grumble, and responded “Not quite…but one might say I’d rather be, albeit certainly not the case.” “Oh, Thank God, Uriel,” responded the now-glowing Christian, who rushed to his side. “So,” inquired Zephyr, “Uriel, what’s the damage?” “Nothing fatal, but nothing easily mended, either,” Uriel replied begrudgingly. “How far in did it go,” asked the shocked father, who had never once flinched during 8 years of active military service. “About 50 millimeters. It can be pulled out manually without danger, but, any way you twist it…excuse the pun…it will almost certainly mean I can never guard Christian again, without extremely extravagant biomechanical re-engineering.” Zephyr, not surprisingly, would have to think about that…he had already spent over a year’s wages on acquiring Uriel’s unmatched services, but, he knew the repairs might be just as costly.

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Zephyr :: Book 1 – “Retalliation” :: Chapter 1 – “The Apocalypse” :: David Quinn “DragonFyre” Ebert

“There is limitless freedom in times of complete disorder.”
– David Quinn “Q-Man” Ebert (CEO, EbertSoft Technologies)
– from Aaron Sonders’ “(A) List Of Infamous Quotes” (2001, Unprinted)

“Shit,” gasped Zephyr, as he came to his senses, finding himself dusted in the rubble of the upper-story of his once majestic “Morrison Ranch” home. “Zephyr,” asked Regina, with obvious throat irritation, “are you okay?” “Yep, I’m fine,” replied Zephyr, “Christian, are you okay?” “Yep, I think so,” was the much hoped-for response, “just a little dusty, daddy,” she went on, with a chuckle.

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