Warning this will be , how do you guys say it, "A Wall Of Post".

My handle is Shadow Boomer and this is my first post- so be gentle with me, I am an ancient Baby Boomer Gamer - and I only wish to share what has worked for my ATI Radeon 5770 GPU.

Based on all the post I have devoured since the launch of Rage I know I will get Flamed, criticized etc. So This I expect.

My goal is to share what has worked for my system in a constructive and informative way.

So here goes nothing...

First I will break down my computer - I build and upgrade computers and built this one 16 months ago for video production - system specifications for all the relevant components, sub-systems, and drivers.

At the end I will Detail the settings that have allowed me to play through twice now, for both the Steam applications:
1) On my C: drive and

2) Steam Online, including Launch Command Line Settings.

Computer System Specs:

Hard Drives:
Hitachi HD 250 GB: C Drive
Western Digital HD 1 Terabyte
Seagate HD 500 GB

Memory:
RAM:
2046 Mb Dual Channel Corsair DDR3/1666+
Virtual Memory (Paging File):
3069 MB

Motherboard:
Gigabyte M68MT-D3
AM3 Socket

Primary Bus Type:
NVIDIA GeForce 7025
NVIDIA nForce 630a

BIOS Revision 2.3
NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management
NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator
AM3/PCI-Ex 16/Micro ATX/USB 2

Processor Information:
Vendor: Authentic AMD
AMD Phenom II X4 965
Speed: 3400 Mhz (3.4 GHz)
4 logical processors
4 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported

Video Card:
Driver: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
DirectX Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.10.7230
DirectX Driver Version: 6.14.10.7230
Driver Date: 7 Oct 2011

DirectX Card: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x68b8
Primary VRAM: 1024 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Operating System Version:
Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3(32 bit)
NTFS: Supported

Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 75 Hz
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire

Primary Display Resolution: 1280 x 800
Desktop Resolution: 1280 x 800
Primary Display Size: 17.32" x 9.84" (19.92" diag)
44.0cm x 25.0cm (50.6cm diag)

Sound card:
Audio device: Realtek HD Audio output

Catalyst Control Center:
ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series [Sync Master]

Driver Packaging Version:
8.901.2-111006a-126549E-ATI

Catalyst? Version:
11.10 Preview 3

Provider:
AMD.

2D Driver Version:
6.14.10.7230

2D Driver File Path:
System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Video/{04C870B5-86F7-4A86-90CA-A3D7884F636F}/0000

Direct3D Version:
6.14.10.0867

OpenGL Version:
6.14.10.11298

Catalyst? Control Center Version:
2011.1006.2305.39554

AIW/VIVO WDM Driver Version:
6.14.10.6238

AIW/VIVO WDM SP Driver Version:
6.14.10.6238

Catalyst Control Center 3D All Settings:

• Anti-Aliasing

- Use application settings

• Anisotropic Filtering

- Use application settings

• Catalyst A.I.

- Set @ Quality w/ Enable Surface Format Optimization - Checked

• Mipmap Detail Level

- Far right to Quality
Wait for vertical refresh - Second tick (Off, unless application specifies)

• Anti-Aliasing Mode

- Middle tick (Adaptive Multi-Sample AA)

• OpenGL Settings

- Triple Buffering - Checked

AMD Overdrive -Checked by default & Locked:

• High Performance GPU clock settings:

850 MHz

• High Performance Memory clock settings:

1200 MHz
Game Settings On PC:

Steam Files Location:

C:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/common/rage

Removed video.cfg file (saved to a different hd)

No custom.cfg file

Changed Rage.exe compatibility to Windows 2000 (Right Click) this stops all the CTD/ game freezing on saves. I tried setting to 98/ME still had CTD on any type of save.

C:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/common/rage/base has AMD OpenGL driver atioglxx.dll 6.14.10.11298

Steam In Game Settings:

Rage Command Line: Right click on Rage in your Steam library/ Settings/Launch Options

• +jobs_numThreads -1

• +com_skipIntroVideo 1

• +vt_pageImageSizeUnique 4096

• +vt_pageImageSizeUniqueDiffuseOnly 4096

• +vt_pageImageSizeUniqueDiffuseOnly2 4096

• +vt_maxppf 16

• +set com_allowconsole 1

Explanation Of Command Line Entries

1) Tried 0 for +jobs_numThreads still had stutter/issues.

2) You need at least 1.5 GB VRAM on the GPU to run textures at 8192.

3) My 5770 only has 1 GB of VRAM so the 8192 pushed my GPU over its texture limit.

4) The 8192 sets the in game "Texture Cache" to"Large" and results in very large blue and black texture popping for my system.

5) Half of 8192 is 4096 and this is inline with the 1 GB VRAM on-board my 5770 GPU.

6) In game it sets the "Texture Cache" to "Small" and stops texture popping - except for sudden turns etc.

7) I have AMD Quad Core CPU's so the +vt_maxppf 16 allows better access to those cores - how much/how many the game actually uses in-game I don't know.

8) The +set com_allowconsole 1 is for when id re-initializes the console.

Rage Game Settings Screen:

1) Display Resolution:

1280X800 [16:10 Ratio] - Very Important if you only have 1 GB VRAM or less.

2) Display Mode:

Full Screen - your preference here.

3) Anti Aliasing:

4X - set as high as your GPU will allow the game to run.

4) VSYNC:

On - with my settings VSYNC stays on and does not revert back to off while the game is running.

5) Texture Cache:

Small - very important if your GPU has less then 1.5 GB VRAM - on "Large" I get texture popping/screen tearing etc.

6) Anisotropic Filter:

High - this works best for me.

I have taken the best of all the workarounds and ample advice found on all forums, net, collage books, programing friends etc. etc. and thrown out the rest that did nothing to improve the game and in most cases their "Fixes" made the game unplayable.

These settings - fixes - work for my system and have allowed me to play through twice now. Things are not "Perfect" yet, however this $60.00 game +$20.00 official guide + $30.00 360 controller is now playable and the opposite of wasted money.

I don't feel quite so violated now. Having said that I add the caveat that I should not have to work this hard to make a game only "Playable". I don't Mind this much work if it is mod related or to add to the quality of my game experience.

Remember be gentle with your criticisms, after all I am an ancient Baby Boomer. You might hurt my itty bitty feelings. LOL.

If this helps even one person, I will feel it has been time and effort to test and retest all of this well spent

"Cool Beans"
Shadow Boomer

great post shadowboomer.
Most of the things you wrote i agree with, and it's great you also got your out-of-the-box-NON-working-game to a solid working and tweaked game without patches or driver updates.

Concerning the 1,5 GB ram needed for 8K textures i have to disagree,I'm absolutely convinced you only need 1GB ram to do the 8K textures. i think it has to do with clockspeeds on the GFX card OR a tweaked used of the quad core rigs.
For me it worked perfectly on a 5870 ATI card with "only" 1GB ram, this at 60 fps with no lag. The 8K textures blow away the 4K textures and its really worth trying. (the difference is viewable immediately for example the detail in the weapons you're holding). The framerate never drops so the card can handle it. Let me know if you could get this to work.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1240971-bizarre-fix-2-how-i-got-rage-to-work/

Nice post! Thanks for taking the time to do that!