graphic cards faster in 16bit than in 32bit?

[Episodio1]

I'd like to know if I would get greater fps in a 3D game if I set the windows desktop at 16bit.

People tell me that it doesn't matter cause nowadays all graphic cards work at 32bit inside.


Thanks.

[Blue_MiSfit]

You wouldn't set 16 bit on the Windows desktop, you would have to set 16 bit in the game.

It doesn't matter anymore. It's impossible to set 16 bit on most video cards anyway. Even if you could, the image would be terrible, and it might not even be faster, as most graphics card render in 32 bit internally at any rate.

If you don't have enough performance in you game, either turn down the resolution, the settings, or get a new GPU :)

~MiSfit

[burfadel]

Or try a later driver :)

[Lazarus42]

Yes, 16bit is faster than 32bit.
I have yet to see a game or graphics card that does NOT have both 16bit and 32bit options.

Most games look fine in 16bit, you will get some dithering but its not that bad.

Only games that run in windowed mode are affected by your desktop bit depth setting.

[Shinigami-Sama]

in UT2k4 I get about 4fps more in 16bit mode, and I don't notice a huge difference in colour on my laptop
on my desktop I get about 5fps more, and the colour is noticeably worse, but still very playable
so unless you're already down to ~25fps its not really worth it

[foxyshadis]

My experience is that ATI cards get slightly slower in 16-bit mode, whereas Nvidia cards get slightly faster. But this was all prior to the latest generation, and wasn't always true, so it's probably heavily dependent on card, driver, and game.