Operating System Tweaks: Windows 2000/XP

Graphics Tweaks

The following graphics tweaks help to improve graphics performance.

Disable VSYNC For Frame Rate & Benchmark Boost

If you are looking to boost your frame rate in 3D games or benchmark programs and not concerned about image quality loss, try disabling the VSYNC or “wait for vertical synchronization” setting. This setting is found in your video card’s direct 3D and OpenGL settings. When enabled, this setting basically forces the video card to conform and display frames according to the frame rate of the monitor. It has to wait until an entire image frame has been displayed before displaying the next frame. Many newer video cards may be able to render frames considerably faster than the forced cap VSYNIC puts on FPS production. Note, however, that although disabling this feature may not produce any visual quality difference in some games, in other games your card may render images horribly. Either way, if disabling VSYNC produces desirable results, there is no reason not to leave it that way.

On ATi cards:
In the “Advanced” display settings, go to the “3D” tab and check “use custom settings” for both direct3D and OpenGL. Click the “Custom” button to access the controls for both modes. Turn the “wait for vertical sync” slider all the way to the left.

On nVidia cards:
In the “Advanced” display settings, go to the tab that identifies your video card model. The VSYNC settings are located in “more direct3D settings” and “OpenGL settings”. Disable the appropriate one.

Visual Effects

Both Windows 2000 and XP have all sorts of fade and other fancy effects turned on as default. All right, so they look pretty, however, they can really bog down systems.

Under XP, in the Control Panel, go to System >”Advanced” tab and under “Performance”, click “Settings”. The two I suggest to uncheck here are “Fade or slide menus into view” and “Fade menu items after clicking”. You can turn off and on any effects you want in order to find a good balance between visual effects and performance Hit Apply and OK after you’re done.

In 2000, Right click on the desktop, click “Properties” and go to the “Effects” tab.