diff --git a/indra/newview/app_settings/cmd_line.xml b/indra/newview/app_settings/cmd_line.xml
index 7ab7787d77c874b1b3d075001e3e621023a45664..8ca33fbf54c639fc5d19a4f91ee8c4b221459af6 100755
--- a/indra/newview/app_settings/cmd_line.xml
+++ b/indra/newview/app_settings/cmd_line.xml
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@
 0 - low, 1 - medium, 2 - high, 3 - ultra</string>
       <key>count</key>
       <integer>1</integer>
+      <key>map-to</key>
+      <string>RenderQualityPerformance</string>
     </map>
 
     <key>grid</key>
diff --git a/indra/newview/llappviewer.cpp b/indra/newview/llappviewer.cpp
index f92274dbbd84d0ed7b80bab78b745b4355ef61ac..5b301c03a1d2bb7da21afa79a394c7e0a920664d 100755
--- a/indra/newview/llappviewer.cpp
+++ b/indra/newview/llappviewer.cpp
@@ -2311,13 +2311,6 @@ bool LLAppViewer::initConfiguration()
 {	
 	//Load settings files list
 	std::string settings_file_list = gDirUtilp->getExpandedFilename(LL_PATH_APP_SETTINGS, "settings_files.xml");
-	//LLControlGroup settings_control("SettingsFiles");
-	//llinfos << "Loading settings file list " << settings_file_list << llendl;
-	//if (0 == settings_control.loadFromFile(settings_file_list))
-	//{
- //       llerrs << "Cannot load default configuration file " << settings_file_list << llendl;
-	//}
-
 	LLXMLNodePtr root;
 	BOOL success  = LLXMLNode::parseFile(settings_file_list, root, NULL);
 	if (!success)
@@ -2376,9 +2369,7 @@ bool LLAppViewer::initConfiguration()
 	{
 		c->setValue(true, false);
 	}
-#endif
 
-#ifndef	LL_RELEASE_FOR_DOWNLOAD
 	gSavedSettings.setBOOL("QAMode", TRUE );
 	gSavedSettings.setS32("WatchdogEnabled", 0);
 #endif
@@ -2582,36 +2573,10 @@ bool LLAppViewer::initConfiguration()
 
 	if (clp.hasOption("graphicslevel"))
 	{
-		const LLCommandLineParser::token_vector_t& value = clp.getOption("graphicslevel");
-        if(value.size() != 1)
-        {
-			llwarns << "Usage: -graphicslevel <0-3>" << llendl;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-			std::string detail = value.front();
-			mForceGraphicsDetail = TRUE;
-			
-			switch (detail.c_str()[0])
-			{
-				case '0': 
-					gSavedSettings.setU32("RenderQualityPerformance", 0);		
-					break;
-				case '1': 
-					gSavedSettings.setU32("RenderQualityPerformance", 1);		
-					break;
-				case '2': 
-					gSavedSettings.setU32("RenderQualityPerformance", 2);		
-					break;
-				case '3': 
-					gSavedSettings.setU32("RenderQualityPerformance", 3);		
-					break;
-				default:
-					mForceGraphicsDetail = FALSE;
-					llwarns << "Usage: -graphicslevel <0-3>" << llendl;
-					break;
-			}
-        }
+		// User explicitly requested --graphicslevel on the command line.
+		// We expect this switch has already set RenderQualityPerformance.
+		mForceGraphicsDetail =
+			LLFeatureManager::instance().isValidGraphicsLevel(gSavedSettings.getU32("RenderQualityPerformance"));
 	}
 
 	if (clp.hasOption("analyzeperformance"))
diff --git a/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.cpp b/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.cpp
index ddb9d3bc4369ab4d03c2dcbd41884776158e5488..9d292ce7bb7a7f3fe6f66642715bcc0c4e9b3dad 100755
--- a/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.cpp
+++ b/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include <fstream>
 
 #include <boost/regex.hpp>
+#include <boost/assign/list_of.hpp>
 
 #include "llfeaturemanager.h"
 #include "lldir.h"
@@ -52,6 +53,8 @@
 #include "llboost.h"
 #include "llweb.h"
 #include "llviewershadermgr.h"
+#include "llstring.h"
+#include "stringize.h"
 
 #if LL_WINDOWS
 #include "lldxhardware.h"
@@ -187,6 +190,55 @@ void LLFeatureList::dump()
 	LL_DEBUGS("RenderInit") << LL_ENDL;
 }
 
+static const std::vector<std::string> sGraphicsLevelNames = boost::assign::list_of
+	("Low")
+	("LowMid")
+	("Mid")
+	("MidHigh")
+	("High")
+	("HighUltra")
+	("Ultra")
+;
+
+U32 LLFeatureManager::getMaxGraphicsLevel() const
+{
+	return sGraphicsLevelNames.size() - 1;
+}
+
+bool LLFeatureManager::isValidGraphicsLevel(U32 level) const
+{
+	return (level <= getMaxGraphicsLevel());
+}
+
+std::string LLFeatureManager::getNameForGraphicsLevel(U32 level) const
+{
+	if (isValidGraphicsLevel(level))
+	{
+		return sGraphicsLevelNames[level];
+	}
+	return STRINGIZE("Invalid graphics level " << level << ", valid are 0 .. "
+					 << getMaxGraphicsLevel());
+}
+
+S32 LLFeatureManager::getGraphicsLevelForName(const std::string& name) const
+{
+	const std::string FixedFunction("FixedFunction");
+	std::string rname(name);
+	if (LLStringUtil::endsWith(rname, FixedFunction))
+	{
+		// chop off any "FixedFunction" suffix
+		rname = rname.substr(0, rname.length() - FixedFunction.length());
+	}
+	for (S32 i(0), iend(getMaxGraphicsLevel()); i <= iend; ++i)
+	{
+		if (sGraphicsLevelNames[i] == rname)
+		{
+			return i;
+		}
+	}
+	return -1;
+}
+
 LLFeatureList *LLFeatureManager::findMask(const std::string& name)
 {
 	if (mMaskList.count(name))
@@ -620,7 +672,7 @@ void LLFeatureManager::applyRecommendedSettings()
 {
 	// apply saved settings
 	// cap the level at 2 (high)
-	S32 level = llmax(GPU_CLASS_0, llmin(mGPUClass, GPU_CLASS_5));
+	U32 level = llmax(GPU_CLASS_0, llmin(mGPUClass, GPU_CLASS_5));
 
 	llinfos << "Applying Recommended Features" << llendl;
 
@@ -696,62 +748,33 @@ void LLFeatureManager::applyFeatures(bool skipFeatures)
 	}
 }
 
-void LLFeatureManager::setGraphicsLevel(S32 level, bool skipFeatures)
+void LLFeatureManager::setGraphicsLevel(U32 level, bool skipFeatures)
 {
 	LLViewerShaderMgr::sSkipReload = true;
 
 	applyBaseMasks();
-	
-	switch (level)
+
+	// if we're passed an invalid level, default to "Low"
+	std::string features(isValidGraphicsLevel(level)? getNameForGraphicsLevel(level) : "Low");
+	if (features == "Low")
 	{
-		case 0:
 #if LL_DARWIN
-			// This Mac-specific change is to insure that we force 'Basic Shaders' for all Mac
-			// systems which support them instead of falling back to fixed-function unnecessarily
-			// MAINT-2157
-			//
-			if (gGLManager.mGLVersion < 2.1f)
-			{
-				maskFeatures("LowFixedFunction");			
-			}
-			else
-			{ //same as low, but with "Basic Shaders" enabled
-				maskFeatures("Low");
-			}
+		// This Mac-specific change is to insure that we force 'Basic Shaders' for all Mac
+		// systems which support them instead of falling back to fixed-function unnecessarily
+		// MAINT-2157
+		if (gGLManager.mGLVersion < 2.1f)
 #else
-			if (gGLManager.mGLVersion < 3.f || gGLManager.mIsIntel)
-			{ //only use fixed function by default if GL version < 3.0 or this is an intel graphics chip
-				maskFeatures("LowFixedFunction");			
-			}
-			else
-			{ //same as low, but with "Basic Shaders" enabled
-				maskFeatures("Low");
-			}
+		// only use fixed function by default if GL version < 3.0 or this is an intel graphics chip
+		if (gGLManager.mGLVersion < 3.f || gGLManager.mIsIntel)
 #endif
-			break;
-		case 1:
-			maskFeatures("LowMid");
-			break;
-		case 2:
-			maskFeatures("Mid");
-			break;
-		case 3:
-			maskFeatures("MidHigh");
-			break;
-		case 4:
-			maskFeatures("High");
-			break;
-		case 5:
-			maskFeatures("HighUltra");
-			break;
-		case 6:
-			maskFeatures("Ultra");
-			break;
-		default:
-			maskFeatures("Low");
-			break;
+		{
+            // same as Low, but with "Basic Shaders" disabled
+			features = "LowFixedFunction";
+		}
 	}
 
+	maskFeatures(features);
+
 	applyFeatures(skipFeatures);
 
 	LLViewerShaderMgr::sSkipReload = false;
diff --git a/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.h b/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.h
index ad72c167432e838d6adeb55ac0701efb5905e57d..3b8d2512362b298c8b4a57c3ee0a8a236b5cb598 100755
--- a/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.h
+++ b/indra/newview/llfeaturemanager.h
@@ -134,8 +134,18 @@ class LLFeatureManager : public LLFeatureList, public LLSingleton<LLFeatureManag
 	// skipFeatures forces skipping of mostly hardware settings
 	// that we don't want to change when we change graphics
 	// settings
-	void setGraphicsLevel(S32 level, bool skipFeatures);
-	
+	void setGraphicsLevel(U32 level, bool skipFeatures);
+
+	// What 'level' values are valid to pass to setGraphicsLevel()?
+	// 0 is the low end...
+	U32 getMaxGraphicsLevel() const;
+	bool isValidGraphicsLevel(U32 level) const;
+
+	// setGraphicsLevel() levels have names.
+	std::string getNameForGraphicsLevel(U32 level) const;
+	// returns -1 for unrecognized name (hence S32 rather than U32)
+	S32 getGraphicsLevelForName(const std::string& name) const;
+
 	void applyBaseMasks();
 	void applyRecommendedSettings();