Easy way to increase performance.

I currently own a Compaq X6000 with a 256mb X600 graphics card, and I found the easiest way to increase performance was to "expand while maintaining aspect ratio"

For example, while running Counter Strike Source using full widescreen, you will get about 40-50 fps on medium with my specs.

With an altered aspect ratio, running everything on high with 1024x768 resolution, I will average 60-70 fps!!

This is also great when playing older games, such as Diablo II or Starcraft, as your computer will no longer stretch the games and distort them to your widescreen, but will instead just center the image at that resolution and not use the rest. This is a beautiful thing.

 

That is a good option, especially if you have a widescreen display - about half the games I have don't support widescreen, everything looks stretched normally.

The downside is that a lot of people have smaller screens, so the display area that you are looking at is much smaller - I have a 15.4", I really like using the full space avaliable, even if it means stretching the image.

Thanks for posting.

 

I haven't yet played a single game that haven't supported widescreen.

I'm with you Chaz, I also like to use all the space available.

 

The best widescreen game in my opinion is Counter-Strike: Source/Half-Life 2. The Source engine has a special setting just for widescreen users, in 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios.

It looks fantastic!

 

Yup it does look great, but how do you run 1024x768 in 16:10? How do you change the pixel aspec ratio? Is that what you were referring to? I don't want to see the image stretched...

EDIT: Ok I think I see what you mean. I found the option. Basically w/ the "expand while maintaining aspect ratio" will scale/expand the 4:3 resolution to fill to the edge of the screen but it still has the 4:3 ratio. So you have black bars on the sides. Sure this will increase FPS and should be the same FPS as not scaling and just seeing a small 1024x768 box in the middle. 16:10 or 16:9 requires more area to be rendered...more pixels.

 

Is this a setting on the individual game or the ATI settings. (I have a x700 card)

 

It's in the ATi settings. Go to display properties, settings, advanced, displays, click on "panel" (your lcd) and then you should see 3 things you can change.

First one, "Scale image" will take away the other 2 options if you untick. Once you do tick scale image, there are 2 options of how to scale it, "expand to full panel size" (this will stretch if the game doesn't give out a 16:10 aspect ratio), or "Expand while maintaining aspect ratio" (this one will make the image as big as possible till it hits the top and bottom leaving black bars on the side if the ratio of theresolution is <16:10 and bars on top and bottom if ratio of resolution >16:10 (like 16:9)...)

If you untick "scale image" to begin w/, the lcd will simply display without scaling it up. So 640x480 will be displayed at native res, but will only take up a small portion in the middle of the screen.

 

Thanks Flav. I will try it when I get home.

 

No - in the options in HL2/CS:S, there will be an aspect ratio option - 16:9 and 16:10.

What is the resolution of your display?

Once you enable the widescreen aspect ratio [1280x800 is 16:10; 1280x768 is 16:9], you'll have widescreen resolutions avaliable to you.

 

I never had problems w/ getting the WS resolutions, it's just I thought from the original post that basically you could run a 4:3 as 16:10 by changing pixel aspect ratio...nm.