After a couple of years wrestling with NVidia graphics cards and games like Fallout 3 I have come up with the following data while on the path of trial and error.


The following information assumes several things:

01.) You're not a moron...
02.) You have an NVidia Graphics card (in case you're a moron).
03.) You are running the game in Windows Vista or 7 32 or 64 bit it doesn't matter.
04.) You can follow and adhere to direct instructions without deviation from the instruction.


Instructions:

1. - Make sure that your power supply is appropriate for the card that you have.
Many think that their PSU is appropriate, but fail to realize that power consumption is affected by connected USB devices, additional hard drives; etc. so...

2. - Make sure that your card's BIOS is updated to its current and most stable revision.

• ~ Always make a copy of your card's current BIOS using your card manufacturer's update utilities for your card's BIOS update then apply the new BIOS.
  
• ~ It might be wise to do incremental updates instead of jumping to the latest BIOS update so that everything that needs to be present is as this is the wrong place for a programmer's oversight to become known to us.

3. - Ensure that your motherboard is updated properly and I mean across the board to include the PCI Bus.

• ~ Many update the front and back/north and south sides of the board , but neglect to update things like the PCI Bridge and Bus controllers.
  
• ~ Unless you have forgotten -- your "PCI" Graphics Card needs the "PCI" Bridge and "PCI" Bus to speak to and operate with your hardware.
  
• ~ Unless you have some die-hard features in your board architecture that rely upon you updating your board's drivers and controllers from the manufacturer's web site then I suggest you update all drivers and controllers from the chip manufacturers like intel, AMD; etc.

4. - Download a tool similar to EVGA Precision or Precision itself and start you card off with a good step down under-clocking it by about 30 MHz.

• ~ Unless you're over-clocking trying to push the overhead envelop without snipping pins and crossing circuits then your only concern is playability and playing without interruption.
  
• ~ Set the fan speed of your card manually to be at a base of something like 70% and your card will heat up more gradually.
  
• ~ Using EVGA Precision you can customize the fan speed using what amounts to a drag and drop control using a line style chart that is quite intuitive -- I highly recommend getting this tool regardless of whether your card is EVGA or not -- they do make good stuff!
  
• ~ EVGA Precision has functionality to manage and supports SLI configurations where each card can be linked or managed individually -- pretty comprehensive and more so than most and it's free -- you decide.

5. - Edit the default Fallout 3 INI file offering the game more memory space and threading opportunities in a realistic fashion.

• ~ The Default INI file is aptly titled: Fallout_default.ini
  
• ~ Copy the original Default INI file to a safe place to act as the original so if you muck up the working Default INI file in the Fallout 3 game directory you aren't screwed.
  
• ~ Some have argued that most of the settings are hog wash or don't do anything and on those notes they are full of SH!T as I have crashed Fallout 3 messing around in the INI several times so, the game does use the file!
  
• ~ The main concern with edits in the INI file is actually telling Fallout 3 that it is allowed to use more memory if it wants or needs to as the "default" settings are really skinny and wouldn't hurt getting a little more beef to the bone.
  
• ~ Diffuse Merge Tool is an excellent text editor with full blown compare and diff highlighting, line numbering and it don't cost a damn cent so, no whining here get it or don't couldn't care less. DMT will help you track and compare edits in your INI files very easily.

6. - Manage Game Options and settings fairly.

• ~ We all want to play Fallout 3 at Ultra settings, but realistically speaking that may not be an option for some so be fair minded about the ordeal.
  
• ~ You can set the Game options to Ultra and back the settings for areas that interest you least to lessen the load on your card and this approach may yield favourable results for you if you are a quality junkie like myself.
  
• ~ Conversely, you could set the Game options to High and ramp up the settings that mean the most to you until you reach a level of definition that suits your tastes and doesn't bog the game down terribly or incite a card freeze or crash.
  
• ~ Consistent/persistent disappointment with performance and quality are indicators that it might be time to upgrade your graphics card as much as it may svck to admit it.

7. - Set up the NVidia Control Panel with some common sense.

• ~ The NVidia Control Panel has all kinds of neato features, but some of them may play poorly with games like Fallout 3 and you should stay away from them.
  
• ~ The perfect configuration starting point is "Let the 3D Application Decide" and from there we begin the customization and manicure operations for Fallout 3 specifically.
  
• ~ It's a bold recommendation, but try to go with Anisotropic and Antialiasing as Application-controlled
  
• ~ Set Texture Filtering - Quality to Performance where the card will run well and balance the higher settings for the game in High or Ultra quality a little more intuitively with better stability.
  
• ~ Awesome stuff like Ambient Occlusion might be used with Fallout 3, but it is advisable to use this functionality on a Performance setting level as it will get really demanding at times especially in areas of intensive lighting and shadow as well as watery areas with allot of refelection and high quality settings.
  
• I would make a recommendation that, if possible, use anisotropic and ambient occlusion to tweak in effects like depth of field instead of relying on antialiasing.

8. - Give it up for your game and ditch the un-necessary background processes and close those system tray groupies.

• ~ If it ain't a part of the game, a controller utility or something like FraPS then get rid of it.
  
• ~ Everything running in the background and in your system tray are eating clock cycles on your CPU and those are cycles that your game could be using as well as your NVidia Graphics card -- believe it or naught.
  
• ~ Auto Kill Any Process (AKAP) is a freeware utility that allows you to create custom profiles that enable you to click a button or icon and shut down all the background processes listed under said profile. Quick & easy!

It seems a bit thin and somewhat cliche the points that I've made so far, but so many lack the attention span required for actually getting involved with what they need to do now in order to avoid all the problems down the road. It could literally take a week to get all of this knocked out if you sincerely engage the event looking to achieve a state of grace while entertaining yourself where this week yields a consistently reliable operation level that allows you to play the game without any headaches full term or close to it. The little work and effort you put in now will pay off over the long term which is what you want in this case and it will turn into a dialect where you are more versed in the future setting up environments and getting the most out of your future when gaming or anything graphically intensive.


I'll be back shortly, with instructions on every step mentioned above along with direct instruction on how to use the tools I mentioned already in getting them configured and running as a quick reference. I will also be supplying links to external resources that I have found to be accurate and sociably acceptable for anyone of any age.