What gets more FPS, VGA or HDMI

[Dr.Goodbytes]

I was wondering wondering if I could get a few more FPS if I switched from using HDMI to VGA to hook up my monitor. I know that the picture will no be a good compared to HDMI but I'm not really concerned with picture quality as I am with FPS at the moment.

Currently I get about 15-20 FPS at launch with a ~200 part rocket, so any improvement would be helpful.

My current specs are:

Windows 7 64bit

AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2 GHz

8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GT 610

[ZedNova]

It's more about CPU power than Graphics with KSP. I don't think you'll notice any difference between the two connections.

[Kryten]

The connection to the monitor won't have any effect at all, it's the actual graphics output that determines the fps. You need to change the game's settings or upgrade your computer in order to make any difference.

[Nuke]

if you have to choose between vga and hdmi, choose hdmi. there are stand alone transceiver chips that handle this interface on your graphics card without bothering the actual gpu. to do vga the same data that would go to the hdmi tranciever would go to a 3 channel dac (vga is analog). either way, no performance is lost. but the capabilities of the hdmi interface far exceed the vga interface.

[Dr.Goodbytes]

It's more about CPU power than Graphics with KSP. I don't think you'll notice any difference between the two connections.

Currently, my bottleneck is with the graphics. The GPU load during launch stays at 99% but the CPU usage stays around 20% and peaks at 25% during staging

The connection to the monitor won't have any effect at all, it's the actual graphics output that determines the fps. You need to change the game's settings or upgrade your computer in order to make any difference.

Well the graphics are set as low as possible, and my Proposed 2014 Gaming budget will only cover the cost of a VGA cable it it will help.

but the capabilities of the hdmi interface far exceed the vga interface.

Just out of curiosity, what are the benefits?

[Z-Man]

Just out of curiosity, what are the benefits? (of HDMI over VGA)

As you already know, image clarity. Also, less signal processing. Unless you have a CRT monitor, with VGA, the signal has to be converted from digital to analog and back by the monitor, and because the VGA signal does not clearly indicate where pixels begin and end, the monitor has to sync to the pixel clock. It's possible that this adds another frame or two to latency (what you usually call input lag).

[J.Random]

Currently, my bottleneck is with the graphics. The GPU load during launch stays at 99% but the CPU usage stays around 20% and peaks at 25% during staging

20% total or 20% of a single core?

[Streetwind]

With a Gerforce GT 610, that's hardly surprising. That is not so much a graphics card as it is a crude device barely capable of showing you MS Word without dropping frames at FullHD resolution. An Intel HD4000 processor graphics from 1.5 years ago outperforms it easily. Cards like these are aimed at office workers who need more than the one display connector usually offered by low-spec mainboards, not at gamers. Unfortunately that doesn't keep OEMs from trying to sell them to people in so-called "gamer PCs" anyway...

I'm impressed it actually manages 15-20 FPS, to be honest

You can multiply your graphics power by several times with just a small investment. A Geforce GT 640 for example is three times as fast, a Radeon 7750 four times, a GTX 650 close to five times. All of them run without needing dedicated power connectors (which your PC might not have) and should be available for two-digit sums of money (in US or European currencies at least).

@ J.Random: I'm fairly sure that's total CPU load, with one core under load from KSP and the other two idling/supporting.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Streetwind

[Nuke]

Just out of curiosity, what are the benefits?

i want to say that hdmi lets you use larger resolutions, and higher scan rates. but i do remember some old crt displace doing 1600x1200 @ 120hz (granted this was on a graphics workstation). but consider that most displays now are lcd, which are pure digital technology. it doesnt make much sense to go through a dac just to go through an adc at the other end when you can just use the high speed digital goodness that is hdmi.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Nuke

[Red Iron Crown]

VGA connectors support resolutions up to 2048x1536@85Hz. HDMI 1.2 (the most common implementation) maxes out at 1920x1200@60Hz, but keeping the signal all digital results in a "cleaner" display.

Shouldn't have any effect on frame rates, that's based on your CPU and GPU. I'm sorry to say that both your CPU and GPU are marginal for playing KSP, you should turn the graphics settings as low as possible and keep your part count reasonable for best performance.