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As others have pointed out, triple-buffering requires video memory to be used solely as a frame-buffer. Given today''s high PC resolutions, this is a big problem given the relatively small memory on current graphics cards. (800 x 600 @ 32 = 1.8Mb. That''s excluding Z-buffering data. And you could have used that memory for a lot of textures.)
But cards are coming out with 128MB of memory now. 1.8MB out of 128MB is only a small fraction. I have a 32MB card and I don''t mind turning triple buffering on.
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Triple buffering is still frame-limited: if your target platform refreshes at 60 Hz (and most consoles do), your game won''t display its images any faster than this. You can only achieve high speeds if your engine runs (a) faster than the refresh rate, and (b), you turn v-synch off. In which case, double-buffering is all you''ll need anyway.
Maybe I''m misinterpreting: Why would you want to get higher than 60Hz? The point isn''t high framerates, but good quality without reducing framerate. You can run at 500fps and still get horrible tearing. Yes, on a console where you can figure out what the framerate will be, you may not need it. But one PC may run at 500fps and another at 50fps. I''m sure the owner of the second PC would appreciate being able to get 50fps without tearing, as opposed to 30 with double-buffering. If the game would enable it without asking, maybe more people would use it. Enabling it in UT isn''t exactly something you find in the users manual.
I think your engine should get either the highest framerate it is capable of, or a framerate equal to your refresh rate. Image quality is also important, as tearing reminds the player that they are playing a game with flaws. Triple buffering solves these problems.
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(The XBox only has to render Halo at 640 x 480, so it''s no great surprise that it doesn''t drop frames. )
You''re joking, right? I can find NUMEROUS places in the game where Halo''s framerate is well below 60fps. There are many others where it drops to what appears to be about 15 or 20 fps.
I have to say this: now that I know that UT''s triple buffering works, I will never play with it turned off. This lets me run at high resolutions with high detail and no tearing WITHOUT being forced to play at 30 or 20fps. I say more games should have the OPTION to turn on triple buffering.
--TheMuuj