Viewport performance

[joemillson]

Im working on a model with around 250k polys but my viewport fps is horrendous - maybe 3 fps with textures, up to 8 just in wireframe. Ive tried everything in terms of playing the DX settings, switching between 9 and 10 and OpenGL but its still bad. I have read many times that Max 2010 is slower so should I revert back to an earlier version? Or is it my OS or various other things. Im not good with tech stuff so plain and simple if poss!

 

My spec:

 

i7 Core 920

6GB RAM

Radeon HD 5870 2GB from Sapphire

Max 2010

Windows 7 Pro

 

Many thanks

[branskyj]

That's strange. I run Max 2010 on my old Radeon 4850 at the moment and on a scene with 250 000 + polygons I don't get bellow 27fps with textures.

For starters check to see if your graphic card drivers are updated and if you have installed Service Pack 1 + the several patches for Max 2010.

Second- see if your graphic card is installed on the proper PCI-E lane on the motherboard. Most motherboards have several PCI-E lanes and not all of them provide the same speed (it has to be installed on the PCI Express 2.0 x16 lane, not the x8 lane).

 

Hope that helps.

[DanGrover]

I always find there's a lot more to it than poly-counts - certain things kill performance more than others. If you just have a teapot and ramp up the turbosmooths until it's a few million poly's, you'll find it's ok. If you have loads of splines, loads of separate objects (even if they're low-poly), lots of transparancy etc.

 

I find that turning ON shaded but OFF wireframe, turn off transparancy and keep it to default lights, and Max can withstand most things you can throw at it. It also really helps if you only have as many viewports as you need. I tried to only use 2 most of the time (and make sure, if you try this, that you set it to two screens, as opposed to just dragging the windows up - they're still being rendered, even if they're tiny).

[rossy007]

If using 2010, take a look a modifier called pro optimizer. I have used it many times and it can make a big difference on polycount, this in turn MAY speed up your viewport.