Matrox Parhelia FS9 - Frame Rates

Hi Rick, doesn't sound promising considering the price of the card. I've
tried various settings on all adjustable parameters, even unlimited. I'm
thinking about trading the Parhelia for another 9800 pro and getting hold of
a third PCI card. I don't know how FS9 would support that scenario, but I'm
open to suggestions. I was admittedly concerned that the 4X AGP may be a
bottle neck irrespective of CPU power but heard nothing in NG's to the
contrary so went ahead with the purchase


"Rick" <rick RemoveThis @btnewserver.com> wrote in message
news:bnhbdm$h3m$1@titan.btinternet.com...
 > I use FS9 on my P4 1.7 through 2 monitors. Im getting fair rates,
10-30fps.
 > I have not yet tried it on triple head as I have heard it eats fps as you
 > say....
 >
 > Have you got the frame rate limiter turned off or set at a limit ?
 >
 > Rich
 >
 > "Mark" <nospam RemoveThis @noemail.com> wrote in message
 > news:bnh4bt$a7u$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
  > > Hi
  > >
  > > I was wondering if anybody has an improvement on my frame rates with the
  > > Parhelia. With Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9) I am getting 3 -
10
  > > fps driving 3 screens at 1280 x 1024. In particular when I have clouds
on
  > > the horizon.
  > >
  > > I am running a second system with a ATI Radeon 9800 pro, with just one
  > > monitor and have frame rates in excess of 70fps with all sliders on max!
  > > Surely the Parhelia should get at least 20 fps. I'm very dissapointed.
  > >
  > > It would appear the only way to increase frame rates to an acceptable
 > level
  > > with the Parhelia is to reduce res to 2400 x 600 and put up with very
 > jagged
  > > edges to scenery and low detail.
  > >
  > >
  > >
  > > Any thoughts welcome?.
  > >
  > >
  > > System 1
  > > XP Home - all hotfixes
  > > ASUS A7N8X Delux
  > > 1G Kingston DDR 400MHz
  > > XP2800+ Barton
  > > 4x AGP Parhelia 256M with 3 Analog TFT's
  > >
  > > System 2
  > > XP Home - all hotfixes
  > > ASUS A7N8X Delux
  > > 1G Kingston DDR 400MHz
  > > XP2600+ Thoroughbred
  > > 128M ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 1 Analog TFT
  > >
  > >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Matrox Parhelia FS9 - Frame Rates 

"Mark" <nospam DeleteThis @noemail.com> wrote in message
news:bnheki$mld$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
 > Hi Rick, doesn't sound promising considering the price of the card. I've
 > tried various settings on all adjustable parameters, even unlimited. I'm
 > thinking about trading the Parhelia for another 9800 pro and getting hold
of
 > a third PCI card. I don't know how FS9 would support that scenario, but
I'm
 > open to suggestions. I was admittedly concerned that the 4X AGP may be a
 > bottle neck irrespective of CPU power but heard nothing in NG's to the
 > contrary so went ahead with the purchase

AGP speed isn't a limiting factor here. At most, it may cut a second off
your loading time when sending textures to the card.
I don't think the ATI drivers allow you to use two ATI cards in the same
box, so make sure you've seen this working before you go on.

The best and most expensive solution is to use one PC for each monitor, and
use special software that syncs up different views for Flight Simulator
between the PCs. That way, people have been running a dozen(!) monitors to
get a "full" cockpit view.

Back to the Parhelia, it works pretty darn fine with FS9, but like many
other graphics cards, there's certain features in FS9 that slows it down
severely. Most noticeably the new weather effects. Turn them down a notch
or two, and you might see a world of difference in performance. Ground
shadows also tends to slow things down quite a bit. Use 16xFAA instead of
4xFSAA, and you'll also see a nice speed boost.

Regards,
--
*Art<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Matrox Parhelia FS9 - Frame Rates 

fwiw I have run ati9800 along side older nvidia tnt pci card. FS9 not to
friendly with it but 2002 worked well.
not an ati issue though.
"Arthur Hagen" <art RemoveThis @broomstick.com> wrote in message
news:14iv61-mth.ln1@kether.broomstick.com...
 >
 > "Mark" <nospam RemoveThis @noemail.com> wrote in message
 > news:bnheki$mld$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
  > > Hi Rick, doesn't sound promising considering the price of the card. I've
  > > tried various settings on all adjustable parameters, even unlimited. I'm
  > > thinking about trading the Parhelia for another 9800 pro and getting
hold
 > of
  > > a third PCI card. I don't know how FS9 would support that scenario, but
 > I'm
  > > open to suggestions. I was admittedly concerned that the 4X AGP may be
a
  > > bottle neck irrespective of CPU power but heard nothing in NG's to the
  > > contrary so went ahead with the purchase
 >
 > AGP speed isn't a limiting factor here. At most, it may cut a second off
 > your loading time when sending textures to the card.
 > I don't think the ATI drivers allow you to use two ATI cards in the same
 > box, so make sure you've seen this working before you go on.
 >
 > The best and most expensive solution is to use one PC for each monitor,
and
 > use special software that syncs up different views for Flight Simulator
 > between the PCs. That way, people have been running a dozen(!) monitors
to
 > get a "full" cockpit view.
 >
 > Back to the Parhelia, it works pretty darn fine with FS9, but like many
 > other graphics cards, there's certain features in FS9 that slows it down
 > severely. Most noticeably the new weather effects. Turn them down a
notch
 > or two, and you might see a world of difference in performance. Ground
 > shadows also tends to slow things down quite a bit. Use 16xFAA instead of
 > 4xFSAA, and you'll also see a nice speed boost.
 >
 > Regards,
 > --
 > *Art
 >




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.newsfeeds.com" target="_blank">http://www.newsfeeds.com</a> - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Matrox Parhelia FS9 - Frame Rates 

 > 4x AGP Parhelia 256M with 3 Analog TFT's

If I remember rightly, the 256mb Parhelia is underclocked to 90% of the speed of
the 128mb edition because of heat issues.
Should your research confirm this to be the case, then rectifying the
clock-speed upon the presence of appropriate cooling may be of benefit.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Matrox Parhelia FS9 - Frame Rates