Tim,
It comes down to how you set up your Drivers.
Set your desktop resolution to 16Bit and remove any files you have on your desktop.
No need for you to keep rendering your desktop in the background while playing a game.
If you want to be able to have the hidden functions, create a file with notepad and put this in it.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak]
"Coolbits"=dword:ffffffff
"NvCplEnableHardwarePage"=dword:00000001
"NvCplEnableAGPSettingsPage"=dword:00000001
Save it as agpsetting.reg to your desktop or anywhere you like. Then run it and it will give you all the hidden options from nVidia which include extra Resolution settings for your desktop and overclocking for both the memory and core.
When after Max Performance I use these tweaks:
Performance & Quality Settings Performance - Aggressive
Antiailiacing - Off
Anisotropic Filters - Off
Direct3D Settings Enable Fog Table Emulation - On
Mipmap Detail Level - Best Performance
More Direct3D Vertical Sync Mode - Always Off
Render no more than - 5 Frames Ahead
OpenGL Settings Default Color Depth - Use Desktop Color Depth
Buffer-Flipping Mode - Auto-Select
Vertical Sync - Off by Default
When looking for Quality over Performance I use these tweaks:
Performance & Quality Settings Performance - Aggressive
Antiailiacing - Off
Anisotropic Filters - 8X
Texture Sharpening - On
Direct3D Settings Enable Fog Table Emulation - On
Mipmap Detail Level - Best Image Quality
More Direct3D Vertical Sync Mode - Always Off
Render no more than - 5 Frames Ahead
OpenGL Settings Default Color Depth - Use Desktop Color Depth
Buffer-Flipping Mode - Auto-Select
Vertical Sync - Off by Default
The Registry Hack above does open the overclocking section, you can use it at your own risk. (Note: They performance gains are greater overclocking the RAM vs the Core.)
Take Care,
Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.
Custom Computers of Naples, Inc.