G200 Tweaking and Video Performance...

[Gunnar1979]

I got my MillG200(8MB SGRAM) about two months after it was introduced, and since then I have had absolutely no problems with it, even while overclocked (75 Mhz, LX chipset). But after seeing the MGATweak utility, I am enticed.

I was wondering if tweaking the settings might allow for better playback of video streams. For example, would increasing the clock allow for better multiple video stream playback?

I couldn't care less about gaming performance, but is it worth tweaking the settings for video editing performance? If so, what are the best settings that are stable (I want to push the envelope, but I don't know what combination of tweaks is best, and will keep my computer from crashing in the middle of a project).

[kjliew]

Hi.

I wonder what kind of video streams you're refering to. As of my experience, G200 video playback performance is extremely good. It's the first Matrox card that implements true DirectX overlay supports. I have no problem sustaining 30fps in 1024x768 using XingMPEG to playback VCDs without any overclock even with my AMD K6-2 266MHz (oc'@300) and MillG200 8MB SGRAM. Do take notes that Matrox video acceleration is only available in 16-bit and 32-bit color depth.

I have seen overclocking improve video performance in my old Matrox Mystique, which I would say has the poorest video performance compared to those from S3 and ATI. ATI has always been really good at video acceleration. But I doubt if you will see any improvement on G200.

If you're refering to DVD video stream, then you need more CPU power than overclocking can offer.

[Randy Simons]

Perhaps increasing the speed of the graphics core itself can improve it a bit. I don't think the memory speed has something do to with it, and the WARP engine is for 3D-stuff.

However, in 2D, the G200 is still one of the fastest card around. Only the G400 is faster, afaik.
But perhaps it has nothing to do with overlays at all