JimmyWA

You need a good motherboard, processor and GPU for VR - and check that DCS is using all cores: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=243170

Have been told by another member that the reason is: DCS is set to use all cores with most chipset, but not with x99, x299 etc... anything "bigger" than a i7 x700K (ex : 6800K - 7800k or all "x" processors like 5960x). In these cases you have the bug "1 core affinity" / "turbo boost".

Thank you for the clarification! I’ve been trying to nail down why some rigs only use one core and others default to ALL. For anyone reading this thread wanting an example of the issue and to see the fix, here is a YouTube vid:

The following YouTube clip provides an example of how to change settings to use more cores - whereas I found I could set my rig to use ALL to work best.

I had similar performance issues. Couldn’t work out why my cou usage sat at around 30% and gpu at 50%, yet VR performance was terrible. After a lot of research and testing, I discovered my dcs.exe was only using 1 core. I changed it to use 2, and had sound issues. I changed it to use All, and suddenly VR was fantastic. No more stutters. I have to set it up each time I fly, but it’s worth it. My CPU usage is now around 16% Check how many cores your DCS is using, and experiment - if it is only using 1, with it running on All, or 2. To do this (from memory - not at PC), start DCS, once at the main opening page, press on CTRL ALT DEL, Task Manager, go to processes. Select DCS, details, then click on DCS.EXE, right click, select Affinity. If only on core is selected, try select all. Once done, DCS will now use all cores. Put on your VR headset and load a mission. See how the performance is. If it isn’t any better, go back and set Affinity to 2 cores only. Closing DCS andcrestarting DCS will put it back to using it’s default cores.

I discovered DCS on my rig was only using 1 core and VR multiplayer was almost unplayable. I set it to 2 cores as suggested, but had sound issues. Set it to use all cores, and my VR issues disappeared. Can now fly VR multiplayer with no stutters. Performance is brilliant. Had a mate try the same, but he found on his PC, setting it to 2 cores worked for him. Other mates already had DCS using all cores by default. It seems to default to a number of cores based on the PC build and the Intel Turbo boost can interfere with the number of cores being utilised as well.

Yep, not sure why, but DCS.EXE sets it to all cores on some, and 1 core (like on mine) on others.

Hi, I was struggling for months, trying all settings, upgrading drivers, changing over to an m2 SSD C: drive, putting DCS on an SSD Drive, overclocking, but nothing helped with the stutters in multiplayer. Then I discovered that DCS was only running on one core. I changed it to run on two cores, but had sound issues (some had written DCS uses two cores, one for processing and one for sound). I set DCS to use all cores (Ctl alt del) Taskmanager, processes, DCS.exe, details, affinity, and Voila! DCS was suddenly flying (pardon my pun). From what I’ve read on this forum, and because of this change, my two year old PC is performing better than some of the newest PCs. I have no stutters, and VR in multiplayer is fantastic. I’ve spoken to other DCS owners, and DCS by default sets some PCs to use all cores by default. It also seems the motherboard turbo boost program can get in the way and limit the number of cores being used. But for some PCs, like mine, DCS only uses one core by default, and performance suffers. So it would appear that there are probably a large number of other flyers out there that have the same performance issues I had. Can you please post a sticky in the VR performance, and performance in general to make sure ppl check how many cores DCS is running on. If it is only running on one, they should experiment with two, and if that doesn’t work, try all.

VR performance is smooth for me - only after setting DCS to use all my cores. Are you just running on a single core?

As others have suggested, this should be a sticky! I discovered only one of my cores was being used, and my VR performance was terrible. I now use all cores, and the VR performance is brilliant!

Try setting auto login to off, in the misc menu, or edit the autoexec.luo I think it’s called - not at my PC at the moment. It’s in the saved games/open beta/config directory. Change the auto login from true to false. I had the same error and this fixed it for me. I’m also with iinet in WA, and apart from the unable to connect to the dcs website error, which this fixed, Ive had no other problems connecting.

Not sure why you are having problems - my rig is an older one than yours and my performance is fine. I have shadows on but set at the lowest level. Everything else is on high. Most importantly, I go into task manager and click on dcs.exe, details, affinity, and set it to use all cores. I do this every time I start DCS. If I don’t, it is unplayable. With it set, DCS is a smooth as.

Even though DCS looks like it is only using 8-12 GB of RAM, it is also using the page file - I did extensive testing, and with 32 GB installed it still uses the page file. I’ve just had my DCS SSD die, and found I had some minor stutters running on a HHD which I quickly replaced with a new SSD. The SSD reduces load times by half. And, DCS does access the SSD during missions. The biggest performance win I’ve had is from the CTL ALT DEL Task Manager, setting DCS.EXE to use all cpu cores. This changed my multiplayer VR experience from painful to magic.

You might want to check that your PC is using all your cores - your PC specs look good enough. DCS on my PC struggled in VR until I set Affinity to use all cores, and now it is brilliant. https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3517089#post3517089

Thank you! I have enabled shadows - at the lower settings - and again could fly in multiplayer no problem. The busiest server I could find had 8 players, and it was great to be able to fly with no stutters, online, and with shadows enabled (I even stopped overclocking my graphics card). Here is a link on this forum about the Affinity setting, including setting it up in DCS so you don't have to keep doing ctrl alt del, and use Task Manager: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=118535&highlight=multicore

This YouTube video pointed me in the right direction. ${1} But I set all my cores to use DCS.exe, as just setting two caused sound problems. I have my graphics settings on high for most things but have left shadows off . I’m still experimenting on how much load I can get away with.

Performance Fixed! You were right! I changed my C: drive to an NVME SSD, changed the DCS drive to SSD, and OCd my graphics card to the max, and still got stutters - even with graphics set to the lowest. Task manager showed my CPU usage at 33% I then discovered that DCS.exe was only using one core! I set it to use two others, but the sound stuttered. I set DCS.exe to use ALL cores, and voila. I suddenly had no stutters, perfect sound, and a very flyable multiplayer experience. I had also set the priority for SteamVR and DCS.exe to the highest priority in task manager. My CPU usage is now shown as around 16%! I would suggest that setting DCS.exe to use all cores should be a sticky note on the forum, as it has changed my multiplayer experience, and will probably help a lot of other people as well.

My DCS performance issues have been fixed! I was pulling my hair out trying to improve my PCs performance in DCS Multiplayer. I changed to an NVME system drive, an DCS SSD drive, OCd my graphics card, but nothing helped. Then I read this thread. I discovered through Task Manager that on my PC DCS.exe was only using one core, yet Steam VR was using all (I couldn't see the performance of one individual core, but was shown a CPU utilisation of around 33%). I set DCS to use two cores, and the sound stuttered. I set it to use all, and voila. Suddenly I had amazing performance. Before, I was averaging around 20fps (VR) or less, and now I'm averaging around 35fps, with it sitting on 40fps once I'm in the air. Suddenly flying in VR in MP was doable! I hope this helps someone else solve their PCs performance issues.

I overclocked my cpu and gpu, and got the best performance hit from the cpu OC.

That's one mean system. Even though you have disabled the page file, it would seem your system is still using virtual memory. I thought the same thing! It seems that Windows has to have physical memory to store the pagefile so that it can shuffle 'stuff' including a crash log onto it. I also think that DCS may store it's crash log/data into the pagefile, and maybe other data it doesn't need quickly - to reduce the amount of physical memory it uses? I went investigating faster SSDs and discovered that the latest and greatest NVME all seem to state that the biggest benefit is to gamers, to stop stutters and frame drops. Why - because they drastically increase the speed of access to the pagefile.

I've done exactly that. Whilst I have no problem using my HOTAS throttle and joystick in VR, because your/my head moves around, it is very hard to align the MFDs, and I found myself having to put my hand on the edge of the MFDs, then count the buttons inward - it was a pain. The physical MFDs are not the same size as those in the cockpit. Now I just use VR zoom and click on the MFD buttons on the screen using the mouse, which is a pain, but should improve once the new VR headsets with better resolution come out.

It's not something you normally need to worry about, and in Windows 10, it seems to be set on your system drive, and is automatically managed. I was just trying everything I could think of to maximise my performance, and that was how I stumbled across the fact that it could be a bottleneck, and shows the advantage of having a SSD for your system drive. If you still want to know about the pagefile, check out here: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/how-to-manage-virtual-memory-pagefile-windows-10,36929.html

That's what I used to think, until I saw DCS start to use the pagefile as soon as I started a mission. Maybe the reason the CPU and Graphics card aren't being maxed out, is because it is waiting on the slowest communications pipe to complete its work - which is reading and writing from the pagefile?

Yes - I agree, and would never run my PC without a Pagefile. That is really interesting to know that even with 32Gb of RAM, DCS still uses the Pagefile - thanks.

Good point - but my system is water cooled and also runs underneath an air conditioner. Under load my RAM never gets above 46c. The hottest my graphics card has got is 50c but on average sits at 45 c, and the CPU sits at around 35c