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2.5 Settings Comparisons and GPU Impact


Sideslip

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I wasn't aware how resource hungry "default" terrain shadows are in 2.5 (they were not really in 1.5.8 ). Thanks Sideslip, if it wasn't for your investigation, i wouldn't tinker with them, as I always preferred to have them on "default".

 

It really depends how low you are flying. Down low all the closest trees are getting high quality shadows, and the further away they are the fewer get that treatment. Probably wasn't a problem in 1.5.8 because there were so few trees really. And I think the trees may have had flat shadows only regardless of setting.

 

You might find flat shadows sticking out of the hills during sunrise/sunset, but even on high that doesn't disappear until you have already been staring at it for 20 seconds, so default doesn't really bring any benefit except really really close up. Different considerations for the whirly birds though.

System specs: i7 3820 @4.75Ghz, Asus P9X79LE, EVGA GTX1080SC @2100mhz, 16GB Gskil DDR3 @ 2000mhz, 512GB 960EVO m.2, 2 X 512GB 860EVO SATA3 in RAID0, EVGA Supernova 850W G2, Phantek Entho Luxe White. CPU and GPU custom water-cooled with 420mm rad and lots of Noctua fans.

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They shouldn't really, my understanding is that once you're far enough from the ground you'd get flat shadows anyway.

 

You're right, but that's why I do all performance checks either while looking around on the airbase ramp, or taxying, or flying low, 'cause these are the most straining conditions and this is when the effin' microstutter is most likely to kick in.

 

As a prop-head I do all of my sim-flying low anyway :D.

i7 9700K @ stock speed, single GTX1070, 32 gigs of RAM, TH Warthog, MFG Crosswind, Win10.

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You're right, but that's why I do all performance checks either while looking around on the airbase ramp, or taxying, or flying low, 'cause these are the most straining conditions and this is when the effin' microstutter is most likely to kick in.

 

As a prop-head I do all of my sim-flying low anyway :D.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, you have 1070, i just ordered one for me. (my 1060 is not enough anymore)

 

 

Can you share your settings ? I use 99% oculus so VR settings thanks , will save my (Limited) free time to play :D :D

Oculus CV1, Odyssey, Pimax 5k+ (i5 8400, 24gb ddr4 3000mhz, 1080Ti OC )

 

 

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Is this also true with FXAA in VR?

 

None of the nVidia hardware settings in the NCP will effect VR. Only the software based settings from within DCS effect quality/performance. For more information, see full analysis in quote link:

 

VR PD = 1.2

MSAA = 2x

Anisotropic Filtering = 2x

Deferred Shading = ON

Terrain Shadows = FLAT

Cockpit Global Illumination = ON

 

 

[TABLE]

__PD__

|

_MSAA_

|

_Quality_

|Performance

1|

0

|

0

|

10



1.2

|

0

|

2

|

10



1.4

|

0

|

4

|

10



1.6

|

0

|

4

|

10



1.8

|

0

|

4

|

8



2.0

|

0

|

6

|

6



1

|

2

|

6

|

10



1.2

|

2

|

8

|

8



1.4

|

2

|

8

|

6



1.6

|

2

|

10

|

4



1.8

|

2

|

10

|

2



2.0

|

2

|

10

|

2



1

|

4

|

8

|

4



1.2

|

4

|

8

|

4



1.4

|

4

|

8

|

2



1.6

|

4

|

10

|

0



1.8

|

4

|

10

|

0



2.0

|

4

|

10

|

0



1

|

8

|

8

|

2



1.2+

|

8

|

10

|

0

[/TABLE]

 

It's a good thing that this is Early Access and we've all volunteered to help test and enhance this work in progress... despite the frustrations inherent in the task with even the simplest of software... otherwise people might not understand that this incredibly complex unfinished module is unfinished. /light-hearted sarcasm

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Can you share your settings ? I use 99% oculus so VR settings thanks , will save my (Limited) free time to play :D :D

 

I don't own VR, so won't be able to help. Looking at other people experiences with VR in 2.5, 1070 might not be good enough for you either, but you'll see.

i7 9700K @ stock speed, single GTX1070, 32 gigs of RAM, TH Warthog, MFG Crosswind, Win10.

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I don't own VR, so won't be able to help. Looking at other people experiences with VR in 2.5, 1070 might not be good enough for you either, but you'll see.

 

 

 

Well, my 1060 was good enough with 1.5.x and almoust good enough with 2.5 so im quite sure that 1070 is enough for me.

 

But Thanks anyway , and get Oculus asap :D

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oculus CV1, Odyssey, Pimax 5k+ (i5 8400, 24gb ddr4 3000mhz, 1080Ti OC )

 

 

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I don't own VR, so won't be able to help. Looking at other people experiences with VR in 2.5, 1070 might not be good enough for you either, but you'll see.

 

I've got a 1070 and I find it fully capable of running DCS. You have to set PD 1 - 1.2 maximum and AA 2x maximum, but with these settings you get solid 45 fps and the game is smooth. As far as I'm concerned, 2.5 is even smoother than 1.5.8. Beside that, be aware that to raise up PD results in a less aliased graphics but also a more difficult target spotting, so in my opinion raising too much PD is not worth, even with a more powerful VGA.


Edited by nessuno0505
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I've got a 1070 and I find it fully capable of running DCS. You have to set PD 1 - 1.2 maximum and AA 2x maximum, but with these settings you get solid 45 fps and the game is smooth. As far as I'm concerned, 2.5 is even smoother than 1.5.8. Beside that, be aware that to raise up PD results in a less aliased graphics but also a more difficult target spotting, so in my opinion raising too much PD is not worth, even with a more powerful VGA.

 

Spot on. In 2.5, with MSAA enabled, any PD setting over 1.2 has hugely diminishing returns. I use Rift CV1 with 1.2PD and 2xMSAA and never see lag, edge bleed, or blurry gauges.. plus the lighting and graphics look superb.

It's a good thing that this is Early Access and we've all volunteered to help test and enhance this work in progress... despite the frustrations inherent in the task with even the simplest of software... otherwise people might not understand that this incredibly complex unfinished module is unfinished. /light-hearted sarcasm

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I've got a 1070 and I find it fully capable of running DCS. You have to set PD 1 - 1.2 maximum and AA 2x maximum, but with these settings you get solid 45 fps and the game is smooth. As far as I'm concerned, 2.5 is even smoother than 1.5.8. Beside that, be aware that to raise up PD results in a less aliased graphics but also a more difficult target spotting, so in my opinion raising too much PD is not worth, even with a more powerful VGA.

 

 

 

What settings in use ? View distance etc..

 

And Thanks , now i just have to wait my 1070.. should be here in next week :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oculus CV1, Odyssey, Pimax 5k+ (i5 8400, 24gb ddr4 3000mhz, 1080Ti OC )

 

 

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I have a 980ti, and it is quite OK for 1.5.8 in virtual reality. I get good performance in 1.5.8, mostly 90fps, and when reprojection is active, a solid 45 fps, and very smooth. Aircraft textures and environment graphically actually look good for what they are.

 

Textures High,

Water Med,

Visibility Med,

All Shadows Off,

MSAAx2,

HDR On,

AF x8,

Grass 300m,

Trees 6000m

PD - 1.5

 

But, with these same setting in 2.5 it's mostly unplayable. Fps is 45 mostly, or less. There is a very annoying environmental lighting or shimmering effect, even with MSAA on, that induces VR sickness. The cities and buildings from a slight distance (about 700agl give or take) look like little white rectangular boxes without textures, and shinny shimmering rooftops, without adjoining city infrastructures such as streets, parking lots, etc,

Even on max, the trees, they never look like what I have seen in Wags and other videos (with deferred shading off, or even with DS on). They are unattractive, almost like green screen cutouts, and to be honest, the 1.5.8 trees look much better than what I'm seeing in the HMD. That is until I get close to them, then they change to a "Speedtree" as best as I can say. Now this could because I'm seeing the trees full life size, which is quite different than viewed on a monitor.

 

But I have noticed, with the last patch, the very dark cockpit vs. the outside glare on a noon summers day seems to have been addressed (with deferred shading on)

 

With all this said, a limitation is, for comparison screenshots, it's not really possible to capture what I am actually seeing in the HMD, as the mirror image on the monitor is not really the same as what I see in the HMD.

 

Even-so, is there a process in which, while I am in VR, and without exiting VR, or taking off the HMD, or changing the current view perspective, to take a snapshot of my current performance statistics such as Sideslip has done, CPU, VRAM, etc. for comparison, as Sideslip has done? What application would I use for this?

 

I feel bit sad that dcs VR gets so little work from ED: spotting is still bit hit and miss, no BOS style filters for VR (sharpen etc) , there is lot that can be made to get things looking more clear and nice in VR (even without PD rise)

 

But maybe in next patch or one after that :)

Oculus CV1, Odyssey, Pimax 5k+ (i5 8400, 24gb ddr4 3000mhz, 1080Ti OC )

 

 

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Spot on. In 2.5, with MSAA enabled, any PD setting over 1.2 has hugely diminishing returns. I use Rift CV1 with 1.2PD and 2xMSAA and never see lag, edge bleed, or blurry gauges.. plus the lighting and graphics look superb.

 

 

What settings in use ? View distance etc..

 

And Thanks , now i just have to wait my 1070.. should be here in next week :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I use quite high settings, textures high, tree to the right and visibility ultra, but with MSAA 2x and PD 1.2 I have some frame drops under 45 fps, sometimes even 30-35 fps (I believe StrongHarm got a 1080ti), but even with those occasional drops the game does not stutter and is fully playable; nevertheless I greatly prefer solid frame rate than visual candy: with MSAA 2x and PD 1 the game is only a little more aliased but graphics still look very good and the frame rate is 45 fps rock solid. Now I'm testing PD 1.1 to see if this can be a fair compromise. What I can say is that, in my opinion, it is not woth to lower graphic settings (distance, tree visibility, textures and so on) in order to raise the antialiasing options (MSAA and PD). The only advice, keep shadows medium or low and terrain shadows flat, because shadows greatly impact performances without adding too much to visuals.

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Thanks for the guide, I finally budged and went with no MSAA and FXAA instead: I hate how the menus look, but ingame you can't notice the added blurriness on the textures anyways. It'd be nice if ED added FXAA internally, as to not affect the GUI.

 

I managed to crank most stuff up, a lot more than I thought I could (60FPS @ 1080p running an FX8320 and a 1050Ti). The shadows analysis was especially great, since I can finally get nice and smooth shadows in the cockpit without losing frames (by setting "Terrain Object Shadows" to "Flat").

 

With that said, something that the pics don't show is a lot of shimmering on aliased objects going on, especially in the distance. Has anyone else noticed that?

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With that said, something that the pics don't show is a lot of shimmering on aliased objects going on, especially in the distance. Has anyone else noticed that?

 

Indeed, but that is a fact of life without using MSAA or SSAA (DSR also works but is even more costly). You won't see shimmering like that in Call of Duty 47 because there aren't as many thin lines. In DCS, you have such a long view distance that there are lots and lots of small lines being drawn with huge contrast (sunny apartment roof 5 miles away, low angle, against green background). Then the motion is very slow (because it's far away) which causes that shimmering as the color slowly alternates. There is nothing anyone, including ED, can do about that. The only way to address it is with higher resolution through MSAA (including MFAA), SSAA or DSR/Downscaling. FXAA can't fix it. The only other alternative is set view distance to low, but that's a terrible choice.

 

You wont notice the shimmering 90% of the time when you aren't looking for it. If you are trying to shake a SAM, the last thing you will be thinking is that it'd be nice to have MSAA turned on.

System specs: i7 3820 @4.75Ghz, Asus P9X79LE, EVGA GTX1080SC @2100mhz, 16GB Gskil DDR3 @ 2000mhz, 512GB 960EVO m.2, 2 X 512GB 860EVO SATA3 in RAID0, EVGA Supernova 850W G2, Phantek Entho Luxe White. CPU and GPU custom water-cooled with 420mm rad and lots of Noctua fans.

ASUS PG348Q. VKB Gladiator Pro w/MCG, X-55 throttle and MFG Crosswind.

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Here's a full analysis of 2.5 Video Settings - VR Quality/Performance Balance if you're interested.

It's a good thing that this is Early Access and we've all volunteered to help test and enhance this work in progress... despite the frustrations inherent in the task with even the simplest of software... otherwise people might not understand that this incredibly complex unfinished module is unfinished. /light-hearted sarcasm

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I use quite high settings, textures high, tree to the right and visibility ultra, but with MSAA 2x and PD 1.2 I have some frame drops under 45 fps, sometimes even 30-35 fps (I believe StrongHarm got a 1080ti), but even with those occasional drops the game does not stutter and is fully playable; nevertheless I greatly prefer solid frame rate than visual candy: with MSAA 2x and PD 1 the game is only a little more aliased but graphics still look very good and the frame rate is 45 fps rock solid. Now I'm testing PD 1.1 to see if this can be a fair compromise. What I can say is that, in my opinion, it is not woth to lower graphic settings (distance, tree visibility, textures and so on) in order to raise the antialiasing options (MSAA and PD). The only advice, keep shadows medium or low and terrain shadows flat, because shadows greatly impact performances without adding too much to visuals.

 

 

 

Thanks !

 

Will try soon as i get card.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oculus CV1, Odyssey, Pimax 5k+ (i5 8400, 24gb ddr4 3000mhz, 1080Ti OC )

 

 

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I feel bit sad that dcs VR gets so little work from ED: spotting is still bit hit and miss, no BOS style filters for VR (sharpen etc) , there is lot that can be made to get things looking more clear and nice in VR (even without PD rise)

 

But maybe in next patch or one after that :)

 

I can think of no other dev shop that's worked as hard on porting an existing app to VR as ED. There are lots of apps out there which were developed from ground up for VR that look and perform better, but not existing apps. I believe that even Elite Dangerous was developed with VR in mind, but DCS had to be completely altered. There are a few other shops out there that have attempted it but failed. Look at Fallout 4's VR, they basically had to turn it into a different game. A year ago you had to run DCS with 2.0 PD to get clear gauges, I'm now running PD at 1.2. ED is knocking VR out of the park, and they're doing it with one of the most complex apps ever written. I say we should consider giving credit where credit is due.

It's a good thing that this is Early Access and we've all volunteered to help test and enhance this work in progress... despite the frustrations inherent in the task with even the simplest of software... otherwise people might not understand that this incredibly complex unfinished module is unfinished. /light-hearted sarcasm

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I can think of no other dev shop that's worked as hard on porting an existing app to VR as ED. There are lots of apps out there which were developed from ground up for VR that look and perform better, but not existing apps. I believe that even Elite Dangerous was developed with VR in mind, but DCS had to be completely altered. There are a few other shops out there that have attempted it but failed. Look at Fallout 4's VR, they basically had to turn it into a different game. A year ago you had to run DCS with 2.0 PD to get clear gauges, I'm now running PD at 1.2. ED is knocking VR out of the park, and they're doing it with one of the most complex apps ever written. I say we should consider giving credit where credit is due.

 

Well said, I agree 100% :thumbup: Kudos to ED for their efforts to date, and I look forward to their continued efforts.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

I have read a lot of topics about performance issue with DCS and tried many setup without success.

 

My config : I7 6700k (HT deactivated), 16go drr4, GTX 1080 TI, SSD, 4*1080 display @50hz (resolution 7680*1080). Medium vid settings (eg no shadows)

 

I am almost happy regarding perf (50FPS 90% time) but I don't understand why the FPS drop below 50 FPS.

 

For tests purpose, I have deactivated the 50FPS framelock (nvidia inspector)

 

look at this :

https://tof.cx/image/TGmue

https://tof.cx/image/TG7vb

https://tof.cx/image/TG1fc

https://tof.cx/image/TGy6G

https://tof.cx/image/TGBxh

 

and specialy this one :

https://tof.cx/image/TGLND

 

why, for hell's sake I have 31FPS although my GPU is at 38% use and my CPU doesn't seem to be the bottleneck ?!?!?

 

Any guess ?

 

Edit : these tests were performed with DCS 1.5 (but I have the the same issue with the 2.5 beta)


Edited by Chafer

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I7 6700k (HT deactivated), 16go drr4, GTX 1080 TI, SSD, 4*1080 display @50hz (resolution 7680*1080), warping software

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Ok, I understand now where I was mistaken :

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=200737

 

Even if the CPU isn't at 100% that doesn't mean that it is not the bottleneck !

 

If you aren't already, when CPU bound like that a 10% CPU overclock will give you almost exactly 10% more FPS. I think you were at 4Ghz, so if you can get 4.8Ghz that would be 20% (takes 50fps to 60). I've had my 3820 (3.6/3.8 stock) over 4.5Ghz since the day I got it 5 years ago, currently running 4.75Ghz.

System specs: i7 3820 @4.75Ghz, Asus P9X79LE, EVGA GTX1080SC @2100mhz, 16GB Gskil DDR3 @ 2000mhz, 512GB 960EVO m.2, 2 X 512GB 860EVO SATA3 in RAID0, EVGA Supernova 850W G2, Phantek Entho Luxe White. CPU and GPU custom water-cooled with 420mm rad and lots of Noctua fans.

ASUS PG348Q. VKB Gladiator Pro w/MCG, X-55 throttle and MFG Crosswind.

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Once your GPU runs at less than 98-100% load you definitely have a bottleneck somewhere else.

 

Likely it is the CPU but it could be other things as well. It pays to have a CPU Core graph open so you can see every core's load at any given time. If your fps drop happens while your CPU load also drops then you have a clear indication of some "other" I/O bottleneck, HDD-SSD-SWAP-RAM are then the usual suspects. If your GPU is at 85% while one of your cores is at max, then you have a CPU bottleneck.

 

MSI Afterburner, TaskManager are all the tools you need to read that. ProcessLasso will make it easier to tie DCS to real cores vs. disabling HT in Bios. Set it to use real cores only/single threaded mode in PL.

 

4.5.4.7 is my lower threshold iirc, if I drop beoow that with my CPU ( which I never do practically ) then my GPU load drops. 4.7 and up is pretty much 100% GPU with a 1080Ti

and High settings WQHD. This relationship changes with resolution and LOD. More details and res make it more GPU bound where as low LOD and low res favour fast CPU's to produce highest fps, for the price of less quality.

 

If your GPU is not at 100% and your CPU is tilt, crank up the LOD somewhere where you like it until the GPU is 100% too = perfect balance / hard to achieve.

If your GPU is 100%, it's all good.

If your CPU is heavily underutilised while GPU at constant 100%..well, then your GPU is way too slow and you could fire a better GPU to higher fps, the CPU to do it was there.

 

That's roughly how it goes ;)

Gigabyte Aorus X570S Master - Ryzen 5900X - Gskill 64GB 3200/CL14@3600/CL14 - Asus 1080ti EK-waterblock - 4x Samsung 980Pro 1TB - 1x Samsung 870 Evo 1TB - 1x SanDisc 120GB SSD - Heatkiller IV - MoRa3-360LT@9x120mm Noctua F12 - Corsair AXi-1200 - TiR5-Pro - Warthog Hotas - Saitek Combat Pedals - Asus PG278Q 27" QHD Gsync 144Hz - Corsair K70 RGB Pro - Win11 Pro/Linux - Phanteks Evolv-X 

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Thanks a lot BitMaster and Sideslip,

 

Very instructive inputs ! I will try to overclock my rig.

 

Another question : regarding my screenshots (https://tof.cx/image/TGmue), 32Gb of ram seems unnecessary, do you agree ?

Dome display

I7 6700k (HT deactivated), 16go drr4, GTX 1080 TI, SSD, 4*1080 display @50hz (resolution 7680*1080), warping software

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no, i think 32gb is the new 16gb

Gigabyte Aorus X570S Master - Ryzen 5900X - Gskill 64GB 3200/CL14@3600/CL14 - Asus 1080ti EK-waterblock - 4x Samsung 980Pro 1TB - 1x Samsung 870 Evo 1TB - 1x SanDisc 120GB SSD - Heatkiller IV - MoRa3-360LT@9x120mm Noctua F12 - Corsair AXi-1200 - TiR5-Pro - Warthog Hotas - Saitek Combat Pedals - Asus PG278Q 27" QHD Gsync 144Hz - Corsair K70 RGB Pro - Win11 Pro/Linux - Phanteks Evolv-X 

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