Another Frame Rate Question

[DenD]

I have read a lot of the posts about frame rates but can't find anything that would tell me whether my frame rates would be considered acceptable or not. I assume that faster is better but what is "acceptable". My system:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 939 pin Venice Core
ASUS A8N-E NForce 4 Ultra Motherboard 2.0 ghz PCIE
Corsair Twinx2048-3200c2pt ram - 2 gigs, low latency
Seagate SATA 7200 rpm hard drive
ASUS EN7600GS pci NVidia video card with 512mb ram
Antec case with 350W SmartPower power supply
Viewsonic 17 in LCD monitor
MS XP Home Edition with sp2

Running GTL with video settings on full except shadows are medium, track draw is normal and headlights on high. Driver animations are on and trackside characters is off.

NVidia has video settings that I frankly don't fully understand but here they are:

Resolution: 1024X768

75 hertz (choices are 60, 70, 75, 85) - not sure what to use or how it affects things.

Color Quality on highest, 32 bit

Image Settings - NVidia gives me 3 choices:

1. Let 3D application decide
2 Use Advanced 3D setting - you can choose custom setting for specific games.
3. Use My Preference with a range from performance to quality - I have it set on quality and I am using this option.

With 16 cars on grid I get fps ranging from high 20's to 50's
With 32 cars on grid I get fps from low 20's t high 30's and a couple in low 40's.

So are these frame rates acceptable or too low given my system? Are there settings I should change to improve the fps?

What is considered an acceptable fps?

Thanks to Everyone

[snowy]

24fps is said to be the very lowest acceptable frame rate. Anything less than that and things start to get a bit s l o w e d d o w n. Your system sounds great apart from the graphics card which I think it is fair to say is your weakest link.

[Jay AK]

As snowy say's, 24+FPS is the minimum framerate, IIRC, it's because the human eye see's 24+FPS as more lifelike and realistic...

[Darran21]

indeed your video card is your weakest link, the overclocked XFX 7900gt is one of the great 'bang for your buck' cards out there at the moment, the 7900gtx is obviously better however the price isnt... but considering u already have to 7600gs i think u should really lean toward the 8800! well it is DirectX10 compatable! to the future i say!!!!!!!!

[Tibo]

Hi DenD, two questions, for the frame rates you posted (BTY, they sound nice) what was the driving view (in board, bumper cam...) also, how many sounds (ranging from 8 to 32 sounds, in your audio file in GTR2)?

Thanks'

[David Wright]

Headlights on high is a big fps killer at night. Medium or low is a better option.

[DenD]

In response to Tibo:

The frame rates I listed are with the view from in the cockpit. If I drive witht he hood view, the frame rates go way up.

I have sound effects set at 16.

I have been racing on line some and it doesn't seem like my frame rates are an issue so I guess I am OK.

Thanks All