Optimizing Performance of your nVIDIA Card

Not all of these tips will work on all hardware but they are worth a try and are easily reversable if they cause problems.

1 : Use the nVIDIA AGP Driver (nvagp) instead of the Linux AGP Driver (agpgart.o). nVIDIA's driver is faster by far than the one in the Linux kernel.

* compile the Linux AGP module as a module (M) in your kernel.

* ensure that the Linux Kernel AGP module is not loaded on boot or the nVIDIA module will be unable to load.
to check for the Linux AGP module, use lsmod | grep agpgart; you should not have agpgart loaded.

* add the following line to your /etc/X11/XF86Config in the device section for your nVIDIA Card:

Option "NvAgp" "1"

* To check to make sure your system is using nvagp, cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status. If Driver says anything other than NVIDIA then it is using agpgart.o.

2 : Use the RenderAccel Option to improve 2D perormance.

* add the following line to your /etc/X11/XF86Config file in the device section for your nVIDIA Card:
Option "RenderAccel" "On"

3 : Use the IgnoreDisplayDevices and ConnectedMonitor Options to speed up loading of the nVIDIA driver by not checking for LCD Monitors and TVs.

* This will improve the load time fo your nVIDIA driver by a second or two. Add the following two options to your /etc/X11/XF86Config in the device section for your nVIDIA Card.

Option "IgnoreDisplayDevices" "DFP, TV"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT"

* If you have a LCD, then use DFP in the ConnectedMonitor Option and CRT in the IgnoreDisplayDevices option

4: Get rid of the annoying and ugly nVIDIA logo using the NoLogo Option.

* Add the following line to your /etc/X11/XF86Config in the device section for your nVIDIA Card:
Option "NoLogo" "On"

Here is a sample nVIDIA device section from /etc/X11/XF86Config:


Code:
Section
	"Device"

	Identifier	"NVIDIA GeForce 3"

	Driver	"nvidia"

	Option	"RenderAccel"	"On"

	Option	"NoLogo"	"On"

	Option	"nvAGP"	  "On"

	Option	"IgnoreDisplayDevices"	"DFP, TV"

	Option 	"ConnectedMonitor"	"CRT"
EndSection
NOTE: For more information and troubleshooting tips, check out the README available on the nVIDIA web site