Which is faster?

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Which is faster?

Skitchy(Posted 2004) [#1]
1 1024x1024 texture or
4 512x512 textures?

I know surface count *should* be the deciding factor here, but when I merged (baked) all my textures into one big one, there *seemed* to be a slowdown :/

Could just be my imagination though - I haven't done any conclusive FPS tests - so I thought I'd ask before wasting my time ;)


Rottbott(Posted 2004) [#2]
What was the graphics card used?


fredborg(Posted 2004) [#3]
Smaller textures are probably the fastest, even if you get more surfaces. I had a situation once, where it was faster to use 16 256x256 textures than a single 1024x1024. That was faster on both a GeForce2-GTS and GeForce4-Ti4200.


Skitchy(Posted 2004) [#4]
I thought it might be, but I've been brainwashed into believing surface count is everything ;)

I'll have to go back and redo it all now :/


Warren(Posted 2004) [#5]
Well, before acting on "seemed" and gut feelings, do some measurements.


Ross C(Posted 2004) [#6]
I second (or third?) that. Often on older hardware, no even that old, big textures are a slowndown. And since if you wanna make something that will run on a fair number of computers, i shy away from using textures that size.


Rob(Posted 2004) [#7]
It's bandwidth and card memory. Please don't go over 512x512 for mainstream.