3090 Impressions

After two days of testing my Gigabyte RTX 3090 Gaming OC in other games, I can give some impressions of how it performs with my Reverb in DCS. I used fpsVR to check frame times. I should state that I had ZERO stability issues with the card, even before the new drivers were launched that apparently fixed these.

Firstly, the 3090 is not a silver bullet which overcomes the CPU bottlenecks of DCS in VR. If you were getting CPU spikes before, you're still going to get them. So this means any scene which has shadows, buildings, heavy AI, etc, is still going to chug up. For this reason I'm sticking with 2D, as I personally can't stand async reprojection and the associated artefacts. The 3090 is stuttering and ghosting almost as much as with my 2080 Ti when playing in VR.

HOWEVER...

When the game isn't CPU bound, the 3090 gives a LOT of headroom over the 2080 Ti. You'll be able to run the Reverb at full resolution (ie all WMR settings at quality, not performance) without it bogging down the GPU when there's high MSAA, water, or particle effects. If you're using fpsVR and noticing that your GPU is the one causing high frametimes, not your CPU, the 3090 (and most likely the 3080) will solve that. If it can do it on the Reverb, it'll do it on lower resolution HMDs. So for those who don't mind async reprojection, the 3000 series will allow you to dial up the MSAA and resolution, giving you much better clarity.

I'm sticking with 2D for now, as I can now run with every setting maxed, as per the attached screenshot and get 60fps (the screenshot also doesn't show SSAA, which I can run at 1.5x and still hit 60fps). Note that my gfx options screenshot has SSLR enabled, but to hit 60fps I had to disable this. SSLR is still not feasible, even with a 3090 - it caused my fps in the attached scene to drop down to 37fps from 60. ED may as well abandon that setting entirely IMHO.

Now, to test some MSFS2020...

Thanks for the input. Did you install the shader mods ?

Thanks for the review but since this is VR section, I think people would be interested in some VR numbers.

For example, how much of graphic setting you can push on a map that doesn't have too much of CPU limit.

What is causing the wobbly text in your options page screenshot?

What is causing the wobbly text in your options page screenshot?

I'm guessing zoomed/up-scaled text on 4K screen?

Just get a 5900X for the cpu bound scenarios ;-)

The 3090 is stuttering and ghosting

Never had that wit my old vega56 card, thought about getting a 3080 but if this stuttering&ghosting is normal with these cards I better wait for Big Navi.

Never had that wit my old vega56 card, thought about getting a 3080 but if this stuttering&ghosting is normal with these cards I better wait for Big Navi.

We need to cool down the horses!

GunslingerAUS seems to be a lot more sensitive than the average VR-gamer. (No offence, Gunslinger? we have discussed this before). Gunslinger is sensitibe to the motion reprojection.

I am sensitive to normal gaming stutter and cant enjoy movies ahown in wrong fps( causes non smooth gaming).

I have no problem with the Reverb and RTX2080ti at all. I did use the Oculus Rift CV1 during three years before I got the Reverb and the Oculus ASW was not as good as Reverb Motion Reprojection, ASW caused qiute much ghosting/double pictures not in the correct place.

Reverb/Motion reprojection does very selldom produce any ghosting. Actually, for me I dont notice the difference between 90 fps and 45 fps with motion reprojection that easy. As long as 45 fps is kept without stutter.

I think I use slighly lower settings(Supersampling for example) than some others on this forum, I tune the settings to never( at 99.9% of time at least) not have any single stutter at all.

I did hang on the trigger for a Asus 3090 Strix OC, but not because I absolutely need it but because I can afford it and it will be a good extra VR-power when I get the Pimax 8KX.

So, Gunslinger is not wrong, but his experiences might not be shared by the most others.

I have followed Gunslingers case with a lot of efforts to be able to enjoy VR. Actually it feels a bit sad because I think Gunslinger has made such efforts that he had earned the right to finally enjoy VR, and if the 3090 didnt solve the issue, I guess it might be some time further without a solution :-/

And of course, thanks Gunslinger for the 3090 report! :-)

Thanks for the input. I'd have loved to see a few benchmarks between 2080ti and 3090 showing frametimes.

Thanks for the input. Did you install the shader mods ?

Nope - I found the image quality degrade associated with this not worth it. Sure, I can get the PC to maintain 60fps in a variety of ways, but it looks horrible in the process.

Thanks for the review but since this is VR section, I think people would be interested in some VR numbers.

 

For example, how much of graphic setting you can push on a map that doesn't have too much of CPU limit.

I ran three tests. First was the Tomcat dogfight instant action, second was the Tomcat carrier quals instant action, third was the complex mission referred to here:

I didn't record my fps, as I was looking for reprojection, the thing that ruins VR for me. Personally speaking, FPS doesn't matter if I'm still getting the issues associated with reprojection. It was present in all three. The one that had the least was obviously the 1v1 Tomcat dogfight, but even that chugged up when in close range to the bogey, or flying anywhere near a moderate amount of buildings or trees.

This was just an impressions post - my point is that if the scene is CPU limited, it's still going to be. However, if you're seeing high GPU frametimes, the 3090 will remove this entirely, provided you don't run at silly SSAA settings.

What is causing the wobbly text in your options page screenshot?

I'd assume it's a combo of 4xMSAA with the 4K resolution.

Just get a 5900X for the cpu bound scenarios ;-)

I'm keeping a very close eye on CPUs, as I skipped 10th gen with Intel, so the next round of processors will be worth an upgrade. Sadly I don't think either AMD or Intel's upcoming offerings will be fast enough to bring DCS fps up to the same as the HMD refresh rate. Not for a few years at least.

We need to cool down the horses!

 

GunslingerAUS seems to be a lot more sensitive than the average VR-gamer. (No offence, Gunslinger? we have discussed this before). Gunslinger is sensitibe to the motion reprojection.

 

I am sensitive to normal gaming stutter and cant enjoy movies ahown in wrong fps( causes non smooth gaming).

 

I have no problem with the Reverb and RTX2080ti at all. I did use the Oculus Rift CV1 during three years before I got the Reverb and the Oculus ASW was not as good as Reverb Motion Reprojection, ASW caused qiute much ghosting/double pictures not in the correct place.

Reverb/Motion reprojection does very selldom produce any ghosting. Actually, for me I dont notice the difference between 90 fps and 45 fps with motion reprojection that easy. As long as 45 fps is kept without stutter.

 

I think I use slighly lower settings(Supersampling for example) than some others on this forum, I tune the settings to never( at 99.9% of time at least) not have any single stutter at all.

 

I did hang on the trigger for a Asus 3090 Strix OC, but not because I absolutely need it but because I can afford it and it will be a good extra VR-power when I get the Pimax 8KX.

 

So, Gunslinger is not wrong, but his experiences might not be shared by the most others.

I have followed Gunslingers case with a lot of efforts to be able to enjoy VR. Actually it feels a bit sad because I think Gunslinger has made such efforts that he had earned the right to finally enjoy VR, and if the 3090 didnt solve the issue, I guess it might be some time further without a solution :-/

 

And of course, thanks Gunslinger for the 3090 report! :-)

No offence taken at all! Interesting that you are sensitive to motion artefacts in other display types, such as motion judder. Do you notice the rainbow effect with DLP projectors? I have a theory that some people are much more sensitive to these kinds of effects than others, which is why I hate reprojection with a passion, while others can't see it at all.

As I mentioned, if you're not susceptible to reprojection, the 3090 Ti will give you a LOT of headroom when it comes to GPU bound scenarios. Finally you'll be able to dial up all the GPU-beating settings, such a resolution, textures, and effects. I think mirrors might also be reliant on GPU, as the 3090 has made enabling them a non-issue.

So yeah, if you enjoy DCS VR already, you're going to really get a kick out of the increase in visual quality the 3090 allows. Just don't expect it to perform miracles, dragging fps up to match the native HMD refresh rate in CPU-bound scenarios.

We need to cool down the horses!

 

GunslingerAUS seems to be a lot more sensitive than the average VR-gamer. (No offence, Gunslinger? we have discussed this before). Gunslinger is sensitibe to the motion reprojection.

 

I am sensitive to normal gaming stutter and cant enjoy movies ahown in wrong fps( causes non smooth gaming).

 

I have no problem with the Reverb and RTX2080ti at all. I did use the Oculus Rift CV1 during three years before I got the Reverb and the Oculus ASW was not as good as Reverb Motion Reprojection, ASW caused qiute much ghosting/double pictures not in the correct place.

Reverb/Motion reprojection does very selldom produce any ghosting. Actually, for me I dont notice the difference between 90 fps and 45 fps with motion reprojection that easy. As long as 45 fps is kept without stutter.

 

I think I use slighly lower settings(Supersampling for example) than some others on this forum, I tune the settings to never( at 99.9% of time at least) not have any single stutter at all.

 

I did hang on the trigger for a Asus 3090 Strix OC, but not because I absolutely need it but because I can afford it and it will be a good extra VR-power when I get the Pimax 8KX.

 

So, Gunslinger is not wrong, but his experiences might not be shared by the most others.

I have followed Gunslingers case with a lot of efforts to be able to enjoy VR. Actually it feels a bit sad because I think Gunslinger has made such efforts that he had earned the right to finally enjoy VR, and if the 3090 didnt solve the issue, I guess it might be some time further without a solution :-/

 

And of course, thanks Gunslinger for the 3090 report! :-)

I’m with you on this. I have no issues with motion projection on the Reverb. Like you, I can see no difference between a smooth 45fps and 90. No ghosting, stutter, nothing.

I’m with you on this. I have no issues with motion projection on the Reverb. Like you, I can see no difference between a smooth 45fps and 90. No ghosting, stutter, nothing.

I look forward to seeing that with my G2 when I have it.

If it is even better than Oculus ASW, that will be great.

I'm currently running the 3090 with forced low latency on Ultra and prerendered VR frames at 1. This seems to minimize the side effects of Steam VR's motion smoothing a lot. The 3090 is extremely beefy compared to a 2080ti and seems to have a real advantage here. The strange thing is, i see 40 or 27 FPS in DCS internal FPS info, but the "27" FPS feel much much smoother on a 3090 than with a 2080ti.

For this reason I'm sticking with 2D, as I personally can't stand async reprojection and the associated artefacts. The 3090 is stuttering and ghosting almost as much as with my 2080 Ti when playing in VR.

Hi GunSlinger,

Probably a real stupid question, but when you say 2D - are you saying you're running your Reverb with the same image in both lenses - so you're doubling your GPU performance at the sacrifice of a 2D image (but still have headmovement, etc) - or are you talking about just going back to monitors?

If the former - can you advise how you switch the reverb to work in 2D only?

I'm just mentioning that running the S, like I do with a PD setting of 1.3 is a resolution of 2144x2304 this is actual a couple hundre pixels higher than the 1x render target of the Reverb and this is fine for me on a 1080ti.

I crank these settings cause we CPU bottleneck anyway, so getting native full fps in DCS is not going to happen anytime soon.

I got a G2 on order, and hoping to snag a 3080 soon.

I used to be sensitive to the ASW, but managed to get over it.

I just simply can't play DCS on a flat monitor, the fish eye lensing of the screen FOV there would make me sick to the point of needing a bucket.

I ran three tests. First was the Tomcat dogfight instant action, second was the Tomcat carrier quals instant action, third was the complex mission referred to here:

 

I didn't record my fps, as I was looking for reprojection, the thing that ruins VR for me. Personally speaking, FPS doesn't matter if I'm still getting the issues associated with reprojection. It was present in all three. The one that had the least was obviously the 1v1 Tomcat dogfight, but even that chugged up when in close range to the bogey, or flying anywhere near a moderate amount of buildings or trees.

 

This was just an impressions post - my point is that if the scene is CPU limited, it's still going to be. However, if you're seeing high GPU frametimes, the 3090 will remove this entirely, provided you don't run at silly SSAA settings.

I'm curious - have you experimented with simply disabling reprojection outright? I too was struggling with reprojection, including some strange screen tearing and flickering on my Valve Index. (Have an HPG2 on pre-order)

Disabling reprojection via the steam control panel solved this issue for me. (It's called motion smoothing in steams lingo)

-Mack

I'm just mentioning that running the S, like I do with a PD setting of 1.3 is a resolution of 2144x2304 this is actual a couple hundre pixels higher than the 1x render target of the Reverb and this is fine for me on a 1080ti.

 

I crank these settings cause we CPU bottleneck anyway, so getting native full fps in DCS is not going to happen anytime soon.

 

I got a G2 on order, and hoping to snag a 3080 soon.

 

I used to be sensitive to the ASW, but managed to get over it.

I just simply can't play DCS on a flat monitor, the fish eye lensing of the screen FOV there would make me sick to the point of needing a bucket.

Native resolution beats upscaling. I've had the rift, the Odyssey, the vive. And I ran them with PD of 1.5 or 1.8 depending on. Reverb at PD1.0 blows them all away.

As MRTV already reported, running Reverb at 50% resolution was better than RiftS at 100%