Fast Writes?

[MALTBY D]

Just wanted to pass on something I've discovered about my PC, as it may help someone else.
My Nvidia card has an option for 'Fast Writes' which I have turned ON (not that I understand what it does).
Recently I had noticed sometimes it was OFF & would not go back on until a reboot set it back ON.

I now know what was turning it off - my PC was set to go into standby (power saving) & whenever it comes back 'Fast Writes' are OFF.
I can now also see how it makes a massive difference to my frame rates, as I'll get something like 16 fps (OFF) at a big airport instead of 24 (ON).
Ever had thoses days when FS seems to run like a dog? Fortunately I tend to reboot quite often, otherwise everyday would have been a bad day.

I have read that 'Fast Writes' can cause instability on some systems, but mine is ok with it & I wouldn't want to do without it.
I don't allow standby mode anymore & have it fully shut down instead after it's virus checking overnight.

Cheers
DM

[Techy111]

Cheers for the info Dave.......Do you know if fast writes work for ATI cards...... :roll:

Tony

[DaveB]

Techmeister..

Have a look in your ATI card properties page under the tab 'Smartgart'. There is an option there to turn it on or off (mine is on on this pc though like DM, I really don't know what the heck it does)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[RAF_Quantum]

Hi,

Just to add another bit of info, Smartgart is only applicable to AGP cards. I couldn't find fast writes or Smartgart anywhere so a quick google gave me a bit of info on it. My ATI card is PCIe.

rgds

John

[Techy111]

Me not smart then......



Tony

[DaveB]

That is indeed true John. As my pc's and I predate the wheel, I'm still very much in 'old school' mode and presume we're all using the same sort of kit which, having taken a moment to think about it, is total rot

Sri Tech if you're PCIe (and I guess you are as you couldn't find it) :roll:

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Techy111]

Yeah i got a new PCI E card (X1950 Pro)
Still not sure how to find the bandwidth on the bugger though ?

Tony

[nigelb]

Per the ATI Catalyst Tweak Guide by Korusg Ghazi at http://www.tweakguides.com/

"Fast Writes: This setting, whether in the BIOS or in the Catalyst Control Center, is meant to speed up AGP read performance. In practice however it is known in almost all cases to have no noticeable performance impact, and indeed often causes many problems such as crashes and general system instability, especially on overclocked graphics cards. My personal testing has shown it to have literally 0% impact on performance on several different setups. Therefore I strongly recommend disabling Fast Writes in the BIOS (if available) and also disabling it under SmartGart in the ATI Control Panel/ATI Control Center for optimal stability with little or no performance loss."

I suppose your mileage may vary but I thought I would post this view of Fast Writes for ATI AGP cards.

[tonymadge]

David is your card AGP? I can't find fastwrites on mine anywhere (PCI Express card) where is the option?
cheers Tony

[DanKH]

Yes it is a "AGP-thing"