Just general stuff for new UT installers
First, use a custom renderer, either D3D9 or OpenGL:
http://www.cwdohnal.com/utglr/
Second, in your ini, these lines are most important:
[Engine.Engine]
GameRenderDevice=OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice
OR IF USING D3D9 IT SHOULD BE
GameRenderDevice=D3D9Drv.D3D9RenderDevice
[Engine.GameEngine]
CacheSizeMegs=4 OR GREATER (Doesn't make a difference for me as long as it's at least 4)
[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice] OR [D3D9Drv.D3D9RenderDevice] (whichever you're using)
UseAA=False THIS CAN CAUSE FRAMEDROPS ON SOME PCS IF TRUE, BUT YOU CAN SET IT TRUE FOR SMOOTHER EDGES IF YOU DONT GET DROPS
FrameRateLimit=125 SET THIS TO YOUR MONITOR REFRESHRATE OR GREATER (some people do +5, +10, or even double the refresh, it's preference)
SwapInterval=0 MOST IMPORTANT SETTING- PUT IT TO 0. IF YOUR FORCE VSYNC OFF IN YOUR VID CARD DRIVERS, THIS SETTING DOESNT REALLY MATTER THOUGH
RefreshRate=120 SET THIS TO YOUR REFRESHRATE OR TRY SETTING IT TO 0 (most people set it to match refresh exactly).
Input settings in UT:
DirectInput is optional, try it on and off. Sensitivity/instant rocket fire are pure preference ofc. Most important here is that mousesmoothing, autoslope, etc are turned off, unless you're serenity or someone into unusual mouse configs with accel etc.
ACE settings (found towards the bottom of user.ini):
[ACEv08h_C.ACENative] (or w/e version)
TimingMode=0
SleepMode=0
CheckPriority=0
bNonStrictCapping=False - Never found a reason to put this true, but some do. Leave it false unless you're having issues on only ACE servs and already have highperf set true.
bDisableSoundFix=False
bForceHighPerf=True - This is the main one that matters. Everyone with a processor made in the last few years should set this to true, and most other people should too.
DemoStatusMode=4
DemoStatusXOffset=0
DemoStatusYOffset=0
Power settings:
UnrealTournament.exe:
AVOID USING A DUAL CORE FIX. IT CAUSES FRAMEDROPS. Also, avoid using compatibility mode, cpuspeed tweaks, or other unrealtournament.exe changes in general. Laptop users may be exceptions, but I have UT running 100% perfectly on both my new, superpowered desktop and my old laptop with the original, unmodified unrealtournament.exe.
Some of chicken's UT versions came with a dualcore fix unrealtournament.exe by default, so replace it if you have that one.
Best way to resolve issues with UT speeding up/slowing down is usually by checking other settings first- power, speedstep, renderer, etc. All of that stuff is in this guide
Original ut.exe download: http://www.filedropper.com/unrealtournament
Intel EIST aka Intel speedstep:
Sometimes issues with how UT runs can be resolved by turning this off. Instructions for disabling it in BIOS vary depending on your motherboard, so google it. It came disabled by default with my mobo, but there's probably no reason to mess with it if you aren't having issues.
Mouse drivers:
I don't use them myself, but it's kinda preference. I've always found that they create more mouse/UT problems than they solve, so unless you need them for a certain dpi, polling rate, etc, I wouldn't keep them installed.
Nvidia driver settings (optional):
Only one of those that really made a difference for me was putting max pre-rendered frames to 1, but you can experiment here.
Turning off UAC - Optional, but useful if you run into win7 permission issues with ut files and stuff: