Increase EeePC701SD's 3D performance by 100%
with the correct settings and a change to a config file
Model: EeePC701SD
OS: Puppeee version 1 (should work on later versions too)
Hi people, I would like to share with you the best way of increasing
the OpenGL 3D performance of your EeePC 701SD. With the default settings
the "GLX gears" score of 229fps is what you can expect with your little
EeePC on its tiny screen of 800x480 resolution.
You can try this yourself by opening a terminal and typing: glxgears
Some gears, cogs, whatever you like to call them should be turning
round and round and another screen should be outputting some performance
data. The seccond figure is the one we are taking notice of today, the
first number is frames per 5 seccond and the seccond is frames per seccond.
The point of this article is to help you increase the performance of your
3D video capabilities and this will result in a score of around 560fps.
First of all we need to run the desktop at different resolution, higher
infact. But higher requires more computing power doesnt it?
The Intel 915 chipset has been around for atleast 10 years now it was never
designed to be attached to a screen running a low resolution of 800x480,
nothing ten years ago had a small LCD screen like that. The resolutions
it is optimized for are more like 1024x768 or so. We will see a huge
performance increase once we go a little higher.
Next to the bottom left hand corner of the screen, to the right of the
Puppeee icon that is used for the start menu there is the icon for Eee-control.
Click on the Eee-control icon and then click on the "Screen" tab. Select
"Scale Screen" then 1x1:28 . Your screen will flicker a little then settle
in to a different resolution. You can try your glxgears program in the terminal
again and you will see a noticeable increase in performance. This change should
see a score of about 342fps.
Ok now we change the CPU speed to its maximum factory allowed setting. In
the same program we used to scale the screen resolution there should be a tab
upthe top labled CPU. Select Super Performance mode and also Enable FSB clocking.
Your screen will prob shine a bit brighter after selecting Super Performance mode,
its ok to use your fn + F3 key combo to reduce the screen brightness if its too
bright or you wanna save a little on battery power. If we go back and try the
glxgears program again you will see yet more improvement, a score that should be
in the region of about 530fps. This is already more than a 100% speed improvement
but we can push it just the little more with the next step.
Note: make sure that the 'FSB Mode: 0x300' is listed in the Eee-control program
next to the 'PowerTop' icon. This is the highest CPU setting. If its on 0x301 or
0x302 then select Powersave then Performance then Super Performance while making
sure that Enable FSB Clocking is checked. This should make the FSB setting cycle
though its various options till you get 0x300.
If we reduce the desktop to 16 bit colour instead of 24 bit we will see more
improvement. Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Down the bottom of the file you should
see 2 lines both of which set the colour depth to 24 bit. In both of them we just need
to change the number 24 to 16.
ie: change this line: DefaultDepth 24
to: DefaultDepth 16
and change this line: Depth 24
to: Depth 16
They should be both located under the: Section "Screen"
that is at the bottom of the xorg.conf file and ofcause you should save the file after
you make your changes.
Try out your glxgears program again and you should have a score of approx 560fps.
All of these changes are within its factory parameters and it shouldnt damage
your EeePC in any way. Now when you play 3D games that use OpenGL or even Google Earth and other applications that use your video chips hardware accelerated 3D features you should notice it running smoother. I personally noticed that at 250fps it was OK but on some of my favourite games (Assaultcube, OpenArena, Toribash, Runescape, etc) it was a little jittery sometimes but after running these modifications its smooth as silk.
Also when the 1x 1:28 screen scaling is selected, its a perfect emulation of the
800x 600 resolution, so you should change the resolution that you run your fullscreen
games to this and it will fit just nicely on your screen.
I hope this helps you squeeze some extra mileage out of your little EeePC.
sickgut
