Turning off PS?

[Shogun]

I haven't got a great card, it does pixel shaders but doesn't do them very well. Some games let me turn them off but some don't. I was wondering if any third party program would let me force the program not to use them?

[Boogle]

You could download the DirectX Development runtime and play around with the DirectX settings, but you might have to run the debug runtime, meaning if there are any errors that halt execution, then you won't be able to run the game.

[Nomadd]

I would've thought that most modern games 'probe' the graphics driver for PS/VS version support, then dynamically adjust to it. In other words, wouldn't you have to do this 'underneath' the level at which DirectX operates - i.e. the card's driver? If I was going to look into such a thing - but my gut instinct is that it couldn't be done in such a general way - I'd look at: programs that let you tinker with the driver; reg settings that let you tinker with the driver; alternate drivers, that maybe are more tweakable than the standard ones. Ditto all those points for the graphics cards BIOS.

Nvidia drivers also let you set-up game-specific driver settings (called Application Profiles), and I'd assume ATI has something similar. These wouldn't go down to the level of changing PS/VS levels, however.

I still don't think it would be worth turning PS off completely, but at least if you could revert them back a level or so that might help. Even then, I still think you'd be better off adjusting each game manually from within it and then supplementing this with driver Profiles. It's also worth remembering that some games let you provide a 'rendering target' via command line parameters, and by tagetting an 'older' version of your card, this may force it to revert to a lower PS/VS level (i.e. force 'nv25', instead of a default of, say, nv40). Again, this would be game specific, but worth looking into if it's just one or two games that are giving you problems.

Nomadd

[Agent]

If you have a nvidia card, just install the coolbits registry tweak / enabler, and you can disable PS based on what version it is (its under "More Direct 3D")

[Nomadd]

Yep, just had a look. It's a bit rough - i.e. NO, 1 or 2 as a PS level check (at least that's how I read it.) Of course, no good for OpenGL games like Doom3, where I think you'd still have to resort to game specific tweaks - unless anyone knows different?..

Nomadd

[Agent]

Of course, no good for OpenGL games like Doom3, where I think you'd still have to resort to game specific tweaks - unless anyone knows different?..

Nomadd

Thats more due to the standard of shaders in the openGl language, version 2 should help things
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/10/opengl_2/