Updating nVIDIA Drivers

[Rumley Benson]

I\'m running a G4 iMac with a nVIDIA  GeForce4 MX with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, and was wondering if there was a way to update my graphics card drivers.  There doesn\'t seem to be a download on the nVIDIA website for the GeForce 4, does that mean an update doesn\'t exist, or are driver updates only done on PCs?

P.s. Thanks for your time, sorry to ask what may sound like a stupid question (especially considering its not on their website, but I was just curious about the difference between Macs and PCs on this issue in general) to those who are developers and more advanced technologically , I\'m really an end user .  Thanks for PlaneShift and great support, keep up the good work!

[Alos]

Usually all the drivers for video-cards are included in the Apple Patches that u can dl from your Software Update.

[Cha0s]

Hrmm... I don\'t think this applies to PS, really. Might I suggest this forum?

[Rumley Benson]

Sorry to get into a topic that is seemingly unrelated to PS ,  I was trying to reduce lag, and this was the last suggestion.  I have searched the forums on lag and have found three easy suggestions as to how to improve performance (therefore reducing lag I guess):

1)Reduce color depth to 16 bit.
2)Turn off window fading.
3)Update your graphics card drivers.

Unfortunately:

1)The game seems to run slower in 16 bit than in 32 bit color depth :baby: .
2)I\'ve turned off window fading (I actually like it better that way

  ) but it doesn\'t seem to make a difference performance wise.
3)And, returning to the original question, I don\'t know if I can and how I can update my graphics card drivers (I\'m pretty sure that you don\'t do that for Mac like on Windows).

I have almost unplayable lag in certain parts of PS (nonetheless I keep on pluggin\' ), but pretty smooth response in others.  

Lower Hydlaa is awful.  The sewers are good.  The wilderness is very good.  Ojaveda has somewhat bad lag.

I\'ve always thought this is an internet lag issue, not a performance one, especially considering I have a solid DSL connection.  Here\'s my CPU\'s stats if it helps:

1GHz G4 iMac
768MB RAM
nVIDIA GeForce 4 MX with 64MB RAM

  Thanks.  Sorry for the loooooong post.

[Cha0s]

I know, but I\'m saying that I think that the people at that forum will be able to do a much better job helping you than we will.

[Alos]

As i said before all video-card driver upgrades are in the latest Apple patch. If your on Panther its 10.3.9 or if you are on Tiger its  10.4.1

If you don\'t believe me go take a look at this site






What?s New in this Version
Delivers overall improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.4 and is recommended for all users.

It includes improvements for:
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.
.
- core graphics including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers....
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.
.

[Rumley Benson]

Originally posted by Cha0s
I know, but I\'m saying that I think that the people at that forum will be able to do a much better job helping you than we will.

Thanks again Cha0s, cool forum too .

[Rumley Benson]

Originally posted by Alos
As i said before all video-card driver upgrades are in the latest Apple patch. If your on Panther its 10.3.9 or if you are on Tiger its  10.4.1

If you don\'t believe me go take a look at this site






What?s New in this Version
Delivers overall improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.4 and is recommended for all users.

It includes improvements for:
.
.
.
- core graphics including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers....
.
.
.

You\'re right Alos, I never new their drivers were updated like that on Mac, cool .  Thanks.

[Cha0s]

Yup, no problem. You\'re all set now?

By the way, another way to reduce lag is to use Adaptive Distancing. Set it up to be between 30 and 80 frames and you should be fine.

[Rumley Benson]

Originally posted by Cha0s
Yup, no problem. You\'re all set now?

By the way, another way to reduce lag is to use Adaptive Distancing. Set it up to be between 30 and 80 frames and you should be fine.

Yeah, I\'m testing PS in 16 Bit color, with certain sounds turned off, and with a lower detail distance.  It seems to have helped
  !  But I have a question concerning Adaptive Distance:
What\'s the diffeence between just setting the max distance at say 100, and checking the box under Adaptive Distance and putting it at the same level?  And what is a good way to determine a fitting min/max FPS for your system?

[Cha0s]

To your first question, I\'m not sure.

To your second, the min/max framerates are, for the most part, purely arbitrary: what do you want? However, if your system is slow enough and you set the minimum too high, you can effectively make the game unplayable (you\'ll be able to see 5 feet away ). In your case, anything from 20-30 should probably be fine for a minimum. The maximum doesn\'t really matter.

[Rumley Benson]

Originally posted by Cha0s
In your case, anything from 20-30 should probably be fine for a minimum. The maximum doesn\'t really matter.

Thanks again Cha0s . I think 30 will probably be an ideal minumum FPS considering my system specs:

1GHz G4 iMac
768MB RAM
nVIDIA GeForce 4 MX with 64MB RAM

Would like to get that extra 232MB RAM though...

By the way, what system are you running Cha0s?

[Cha0s]

Extra 256, actually. When people say 1GB of RAM, they really mean 1024 MB. That\'s binary for you.

My specs are... sucky.
667 mHz TiBook
1024 MB RAM
32 MB ATI Mobility

Yes, way low for PS. I set my minimum FPS to 10 and I end up not seeing much of the plaza. However, I think I\'m getting a nice new laptop this summer, so we\'ll see.