Oblivion Max Settings. Help needed!

[Dark_Placebo]

unfortunately... im quite a noob in this since i havent upgraded for like 5 years...

but my system ryt now is..

Intel E 6600 (2.4 ghz)
8800 GTS 320 mb
2 gb ram

now my question would be.... whats the typical MAX SETTINGS for oblivion (1280 x 1024 res)...

and also... which is better : HDR or AA ? thx alot !

 

[Farhang]

You Should be able to play the game at all Max settings with no problem with that system.
Pauldh is the most experienced guy in the Oblivion benchmarks, he can help you much better!

and also... which is better : HDR or AA ?

Both, since you have a GeForce8 Series card, you can use both at the same time...Just enable HDR from the Games's video option & the enable AA from nVIDIA's Control Panel.

 

[senor_bob]

unfortunately... im quite a noob in this since i havent upgraded for like 5 years...

but my system ryt now is..

Intel E 6600 (2.4 ghz)
8800 GTS 320 mb
2 gb ram

now my question would be.... whats the typical MAX SETTINGS for oblivion (1280 x 1024 res)...

and also... which is better : HDR or AA ? thx alot !

AA and HDR are different types of things. I dunno why Oblivion wants to make them exclusive (other than that they both tax the GPU). HDR is a lighting effect (High Dynamic Range - read more here). AA is Anti-Aliasing which smooths out edges and removes the "jaggy" lines. You can read more about AA here.You should be able to use the nVidia control panel to force antialising anyway even if you pick HDR. I haven't tried that in Obv yet (because I find HDR annoying, I just don't use it) but using the nV panel to override works in other games. At 1280 x 1024 an 8800GTS-320 should run fine with all in-game options maxed.

PS there's also Anisotropic Filtering (AF) to learn about which I'll assume you can figure out how to Google that now that you know the right term to search for.

 

[Arrowyx]

I can run at 1280x1024 with 2xAA and HDR with all settings max in game. I typically get 30-35fps outdoors but it will drop to 20ish in areas of heavy foliage (low poly grass mod helps with that some, and for the most part it looks just as good). Your card is more powerful and would have no problems at all.

 

[prozac26]

and also... which is better : HDR or AA ? thx alot !

Both are great things. You can run both.

Run HDR from Oblivion's options, and AA, probably 2x or 4x from nVidia's control panel.

 

[pauldh]

Tweakguides can help you figure out what to enable/disable, as well as offer some useful mods to make the game look better.

As everyone is telling you, with that card, and at 1280x1024, you can run HDR and FSAA at the same time. This is not possible with the GF7 series like the 7900GTX. Enable HDR within the game, and force FSAA in the NV drivers. You will also want to enable AF in the drivers as there is no AF setting within Oblivion and to me that makes a big difference to the IQ of this game.

My suggesttion for starters is set everything to max within the game except turn off self shadows. Personally I also turn off shadows on grass and set shadow filtering to low and if you need a bit more performance, that's where I would start. Exit the game and then force 4XAA and 16XAF in the NV drivers before starting the game again. I'd expect your card to handle those settings as that is what I am using with mine at 1680x1050 but I had to turn down FSAA to 2X. You have to judge smoothness vs IQ and tweak accordingly to your taste.

Anyway, from within the game you can enable the console by hittin the ~ key and typing TDT then hit enter. It will bring up the framerates in the top right of the screen. If you are new to Oblivion, then it will take a while before you hit the demanding areas of the game that stress you 8800GTS. So keep that in mind that 100 fps underground could end up being 20 fps outside in dense foliage. Seeing the framerates can distract from the game, but it's a good way to check or get an understanding of why the game may feel slow. Too low fps while in a battle and you will feel it.

Enjoy the game; you have a nice rig for it. I am new to the ES series, but have totally been enjoying both benching and playing Oblivion.

 

[Dark_Placebo]

wow!! nice !! no wonder if i run HDR at oblivion it looks much better since i have AA already on the control panel !!

now i get it... turn everything on nvidia control panel at max... (AA)

then HDR at obvi..

ill check that later after work,... thx alot !