Frequently Asked Questions

Question

My fps seem to be locked at 60 max. How can I reach 100fps?

Answer

Setting refresh rates through your video card menu ** Nvidia** Turn the Monitor on before you power up the tower. Right click on your Desktop. Left click on Display Properties -->Settings-->Advanced--> You should now see something that looks like this. Click on the Monitor tab. Does your Monitor appear as Plug and Play or by its actual name? If it appears as Plug and Play, Windows 2k/XP may force it to use 60 Hz refresh in OGL . Just reinstall the Monitor's drivers, usually an *.inf file. Under Monitor Settings, uncheck the box that says "Hide modes that this monitor cant display" and set refresh to 100 Hz. Apply. OK. Check under the Color Management tab. It should look something like this. You want it to show the actual name of your monitor and its associated color profile *.icm. Now go in game and see how it all looks. What is your fps? (use net_graph 3 command in the Console) You should be getting 90 - 100 fps. If you are getting 60 fps, it is likely due to XP setting this as a default for OpenGl. What is your in game Monitor's in game refresh rate? Most monitors have a display of refresh rate. (Check you monitor's manual.) If the in game refresh rate has dropped to 60HX, Windlows XP has reset it. To unlock WindowsXP control: 1) Look in Display Properties-->Settings-->Advanced-->Nvidia--> Performance & Quality-->Global Driver Settings Select Vsynch Off by Default
If you can reach 100 fps now in game and there is no shearing, you are all set. If you see shearing, then enable vsynch again and try the next step. 2) Game Launch Options Works with WindowsXP SP2 and latest Nvidia drivers, version 8x.xx Log onto DOD, HL, HL2DM and refresh rate drops to 60 Mhz. You can overcome the default 60 refresh by : Open Steam Right click on the game ( HL Engine 1 Only) Select Properties Launch Options Type in -freq XXX -w 1024 -h 768 Where XXX is the frequency you want For Source and OrangeBox Type in -refresh XXX -w 1024 -h 768 3) Refresh Force http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1847 "RefreshForce universally and permanently fixes the Windows 2000/XP refresh rate problem on ANY variation of graphics cards, monitors, or drivers." 4) Registry Edit - by hivemynd If you have an NVIDIA card, you can use this reg tweak to open up some new dialogs in the official drivers that will let you override refresh rates for supported resolutions. No extra programs required, it's built into the drivers. Ya just gotta "unlock" it: Create a new text file then paste this into it: --------------------- Code: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak] "NvCplExposeWin2kDualView"=dword:00000001 "NvCplTvLocaleAutoDetect"=dword:00000001 "NvCplAllowForceTVDetection"=dword:00000001 "NvCplEnableActiveApp"=dword:00000001 "NvCplFirstInstallInitDone"=dword:00000000 "DisableApplyColorsAtStartup"=dword:00000000 "NvCplXMLFileChecksum"=dword:4da0c3e9 "nViewShellIsRegistered"=dword:00000001 "NoMenus"=dword:00000080 "OverlayPageState"=dword:00000000 "CinematicPageState"=dword:000000ff "NvCplThermalSettings"=dword:00000022 "NvCplDisableRefreshRatePage"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\Defaults] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\Defaults\Overlay] "OverlayColorControlEnable"=dword:00000000 "OverlayBrightness"=dword:00000000 "OverlayContrast"=dword:0000005a "OverlayHue"=dword:00000000 "OverlaySaturation"=dword:00000072 "OverlayMode3"=dword:00000001 "OverlayMode2"=dword:00100050 "VideoBusMasterMode"=dword:00000000 "OverlayGamma"=dword:00000064 "VMGamma"=dword:00000064 "VMDVC"=dword:00000010 "OverscanFSVMLevel"=dword:00000000 "OverscanOverlayLevel"=dword:00000000 "Overscan720Level"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\Devices] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\Devices\VEN_10DE&DEV_0040&SUBSYS_81A81043&REV_A1&INST00] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\Devices\VEN_10DE&DEV_0040&SUBSYS_81A81043&REV_A1&INST00\DisplayModes] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\Devices\VEN_10DE&DEV_0040&SUBSYS_81A81043&REV_A1&INST00\DisplayModes\Schemes] "DEVICE00000100"=hex:00,01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,40,27,00,00,cd,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\NVDisplayPanelServer] "DisktopManagementServer"="{002B9E07-2E10-438F-AF1E-40E6A96F1EE4}" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\OemConfigurations] "MediaCenterLoadPolicy"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\RefreshOverrides] "EnableRefreshOverrides"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\RefreshOverrides\1024x768] "RefreshRate"=dword:00000064 "Flags"=dword:00000007 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\State] "GlobalStartupDefaults"=dword:00000001 "PageUpdateOrdinal"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\State\DTCFG] "LastCommandResult"=dword:00000009 "LastCommandLine"="detect 2" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak\State\DXVersion] "MSVersionFlag"="4.09.00.0904" "CurrentNvDXVersion"=dword:00000900 ------------------------- Look in Display Properties-->Settings-->Advanced-->Nvidia--> Refresh Rate Override Enable "Over Ride Refresh Rates". Scroll down to the resolution you run in game. Double CLick on the word Default to open menu of possible refresh rates. Click on 100 Hz. Save. Now go in game. What is your fps now? You should have broken the 60fps lock Go back to the Performance and Quality screen. Try increasing your Antialiasing and then Anisotopic Filtering as far as you can without dropping yopur fps. ** ATI ** 1) Turn the Monitor on before you power up the tower. Right click on your Desktop--->. Left click on Display Properties -->Settings-->Advanced--> You should now see something that looks like this. Click on the Monitor tab. Does your Monitor appear as Plug and Play or by its actual name? If it appears as Plug and Play, Windows 2k/XP may force it to use 60 Hz refresh in 3D applications . Just reinstall the Monitor's drivers, usually an *.inf file. Under Monitor Settings, uncheck the box that says "Hide modes that this monitor cant display" and set refresh to 100 Hz. Apply.OK. Check under the Color Management tab. It should look something like this. You want it to show the actual name of your monitor and its associated color profile *.icm. 2) Click on the 3D tab Click on the Custom tab for each of D3D and OpenGl and select Wait for Vertical Synch Always Off Now go in game and see how it all looks. What is your fps? (use net_graph 3 command in the Console) You should be getting 90 - 100 fps.
If you can reach 100 fps now in game and there is no shearing, you are all set. If you see shearing, then enable vsynch again and try the next step. Click on Displays tab. Click on the primary Monitor tab.
Select the refresh rate you want for your monitor. If DCC (Display Data Channel) is enabled you will only be able to select preset values suitable for your monitor. Click OK. You can try unchecking DCC to open up more resolution and refresh rate values if necessary but be careful to only select values your monitor will support. Click on 3D tab. Now click on the Custom tab for D3D. Uncheck the Application Preference box for FSAA and anisotropic filtering and set them to 2x for now. Set TRUFORM to Always Off. Now go in game and check your fps. You should now have successfully uinlocked the XP 60 hz lock. If your fps is 100, you can try upping the FSAA, anisotropic filtering to improve the graphics. Repeat for OpenGl. Smartgart. This is a program unique to ATI. It scans your system's capabilities and autosets the AGP Speeds. Some games have problems with it and Fast Write enabled but disabling it is complicated. Read more at ATI FAQS 3) Refresh Force http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1847 "RefreshForce universally and permanently fixes the Windows 2000/XP refresh rate problem on ANY variation of graphics cards, monitors, or drivers."