VR expectations from upgrade

[BlackLion213]

Hello,

 

I have been using my Rift for just over a month now and have been amazed by how it transformed my DCS experience.

 

However, my current system is around the original minimum specs for the Rift (prior to lower the minimums with the release of ASW) - i5 4790 @3.6 GHz, GTX 970, 16 MB of RAM, and 1 TB SATA drive.

 

I figured that upgrade would be in my future, but have managed to really enjoy my Rift with this machine. I currently use the standard VR preset tab with adding MSAA 4X and Pixel Density of 1.2. I really like how things look at this setting (very nearly as good as my monitor with the res limits) and performance is quite decent for most missions. On the Spitfire NTTR instant action take-off, I'm running in the high 30s-low 40s with a few dips into the high 20s low over buildings. I thought the FPS was better before checking since my experience is decent at this level, but things look way better when FPS is at 45 (with ASW).

 

My plan is to upgrade all portions of the machine: i7 6700 vs 7700 @~4.4 GHz, GTX 1080, 32 MB RAM, and 512 MB SSD.

 

The question is will these upgrades give a noticeable improvement in performance? I have read some people comment that they saw negligible improvements upgrading from a 970 to 1080 (though most of those posts are from early 2016).

 

With the upgrades listed above, would I be able to maintain 45 FPS at my current settings in nearly all portions of the map (best guess - I understand that)? Would I be able do things like turn up the water to high or increase pixel density to ~1.7 while maintaining better performance?

 

Thank you for the inputs. I just want to make sure that my expectations are reasonable before taking the plunge.

 

-Nick

[Wolf8312]

Hello,

 

I have been using my Rift for just over a month now and have been amazed by how it transformed my DCS experience.

 

However, my current system is around the original minimum specs for the Rift (prior to lower the minimums with the release of ASW) - i5 4790 @3.6 GHz, GTX 970, 16 MB of RAM, and 1 TB SATA drive.

 

I figured that upgrade would be in my future, but have managed to really enjoy my Rift with this machine. I currently use the standard VR preset tab with adding MSAA 4X and Pixel Density of 1.2. I really like how things look at this setting (very nearly as good as my monitor with the res limits) and performance is quite decent for most missions. On the Spitfire NTTR instant action take-off, I'm running in the high 30s-low 40s with a few dips into the high 20s low over buildings. I thought the FPS was better before checking since my experience is decent at this level, but things look way better when FPS is at 45 (with ASW).

 

My plan is to upgrade all portions of the machine: i7 6700 vs 7700 @~4.4 GHz, GTX 1080, 32 MB RAM, and 512 MB SSD.

 

The question is will these upgrades give a noticeable improvement in performance? I have read some people comment that they saw negligible improvements upgrading from a 970 to 1080 (though most of those posts are from early 2016).

 

With the upgrades listed above, would I be able to maintain 45 FPS at my current settings in nearly all portions of the map (best guess - I understand that)? Would I be able do things like turn up the water to high or increase pixel density to ~1.7 while maintaining better performance?

 

Thank you for the inputs. I just want to make sure that my expectations are reasonable before taking the plunge.

 

-Nick

.

 

 

You still are not going to be able to max things out but I'm really not sure how long we are from a system that could play this game without even needing reprojection. I think it depends is the game you are playing now very noticeably underperforming?

 

It probably isn't that big of a jump because a 1080 rig still needs to use reprojection as does the 970, as the tech is improving but DCs 2's technology will stay relatively static for the foreseeable future waiting will probably pay off and you can future proof DCS 2.5 at least a lot better than you will be able to if you buy now. There's never a good time to buy computers though right?

 

How often do you buy new computers? Every 2 years maybe go for it. Every 5 then I would wait and get one that will basically be made for the game. But if I was playing DCS now and having a bad time I'd probably upgrade as it would be too frustrating and basically a waste of the VR tech that you already have. It's always frustrating to have minimum requirements even just psychologically!

 

Its hard to say where VR is heading. The devs themselves are improving DCS VR all the time, and a new better headset could come out before we even need to upgrade our rigs. A few months ago I couldn't even bear to play DCS myself on the vive cause it was so badly optimized now I'm loving it! This wasn't cause my computer got better but due to the software so who knows.

[BlackLion213]

.

You still are not going to be able to max things out but I'm really not sure how long we are from a system that could play this game without even needing reprojection. I think it depends is the game you are playing now very noticeably underperforming?

 

I'm not hoping to move away from reprojection since it looks fine to my eyes at the 45 FPS threshold. The game is not terribly underperforming, but when I fly near most populated ares the buildings stutter by a bit. When it looks smooth (on occasion) it looks amazing with the 3D effects, but most of the time its not too smooth (but not terrible).

 

My goal isn't to max things out at 90 - it's really just to get my current settings to a place where FPS is 45 where my current system is getting an FPS in the high 20s. If I get that level of performance improvement, I'd be happy. If I can also get the PD to 1.7 and turn the water up to "high", then I'd be really happy. :)

 

I agree than DCS seems to be running surprisingly well in VR even with my less than optimal system.

 

As for the frequency of buying new computers - I just returned to flight sims in December 2014 after a 12 year hiatus. So I haven't bought a computer for recreation in a really long time before getting my current one. That said, I expected it to last me about 2 years so I'm on target for my expectations at least.

 

I appreciate the input! :)

 

-Nick