'Simple' 2.5 Setup Guide.. Starting point to improve your FPS+

[MadDog-IC]

DCS 2.5 - You getting over 60 FPS but DCS stuttering, check this

 

Having just updated to DCS 2.5 openbeta from DCS 1.5 I was meet with a very stuttery (micro pauses, call it what you will) game play, although the FPS was running at between 60-80fps.

 

Solution for me and something you might want to check:

 

1. Run GPU-Z to monitor all aspects of video card under load from running a test mission in DCS 2.5, especially GPU core and memory Clocks. Noticed that the GPU clock was alternating between the max for my card 1072mhz and a mediocre 600mhz (strange as I had locked the GPU to max voltage performance in Nvidia control panel profiler for all DCS versions.
   
2. Noticed that the "PerfCap Reasons line", was redlining and reporting that the GPU was exceeding max voltage and thus throttling the GPU back to 600mhz to compensate.
   
3. As I run MSI Afterburner for monitoring FPS, Fans, etc, I decided to have a look at something that might help me with this problem. As soon as I went to the Afterburner main page, it was obvious that some how by accident the POWER LIMIT=0% and TEMP LIMIT=0c had been set, changed them to the proper values of POWER LIMIT=100% and TEMP LIMIT=79c and DCS 2.5 now runs really well with all most options on High.
   

Regards, Ian.

[Snacko]

Yah, ReShade is a must have in DCS. It used to be that Sweet FX/Reshade had no effect on FPS. Since the last few updates, however, it now costs some frames. 5 to 15% depending on your settings.

Still well worth it.

BTW Snacko, Reshade is supposed to be run in "Performance" mode always. Only put it in "Configuration" mode when changing settings.

Yes, I didn't know that you were supposed to put Reshade in Performance mode. Version 3.0.6 was crashing DCS a few weeks ago, so I upgraded it to 3.1.1. This version keeps reminding me to put it in Performance mode. I like that.

 

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[DayGlow]

Are u guys experiencing a weird look with the A10C co -pit the center is normal but when u look sides look different..way different!!!!!

 

https://i.imgur.com/4xAOm62.jpg

 

How it should look. In RL the side windows tinted

[Peter22]

I'm no expert, but I did some simple things that I read about in different places on the forums.. I made a simple mission for each map and compared my fps. Here's what I found..

 

UnMod, Cleanup & Repair

Before to 2.5 Update I uninstalled all of my mods. After the update I ran the game a little, and then exited. I then ran "..\bin\dcs_updater.exe cleanup" from a command prompt in the game folder. Then I also ran "..\bin\dcs_updater.exe repair" the same way.

 

New Options.lua

I renamed my "Saved Games/DCS/Congfig/options.lua" to a backup and ran the game to create a new options.lua. Then I compared the two files with the Notepad++ Compare Plugin. There were new settings in the new 2.5 options.lua, so I wanted to keep that one. Looking through the compared old file I copied over some of the settings just to keep much of what I had before.

 

AA: Use DCS MSAA & Deferred Shading.

With Deferred Shading, your Video Card's FXAA is not used if you force it in the card's Control Panel.

 

So, it seems that for best quality you should stick with DCS MSAA.

 

With AA set in-Game to 8x, these are the FPS I was getting:

• Caucasus: ~63fps
  
• NTTR: ~65fps
  
• Normandy: ~55fps
  

 

AA: Or, try DCS MSAA, with MFAA on your Video Card together.

But there is another option for better FPS+. MFAA + MSAA?

 

I read a post that said to use DCS MSAA with your card's MFAA (Multi-Frame AA) at the same time. I found the graphics 'good' and acceptable and it added about 13-15 FPS+. So, compare the angular jaggies between the two options and see if you like the slightly lower quality to get the FPS increase. Set it up like this:

 

In game:

*Select 2x msaa

 

Nvidia Control Panel:

*Antialiasing-mode> enhance the application setting

*Antialiasing-setting>2x

*Multi-Frame Sampled (MFAA)>ON

 

I 'think' you are supposed to set them both the same (2x, 4x, 8x). I tried all three and found that 2x gave the best FPS boost. My results were:

• Caucasus: x2=~77 fps
  
• Caucasus: x4=~63 fps
  
• Caucasus: x8=~60 fps.
  

 

ReBuild Shader Cache

But I was still getting better FPS in NTTR 2.2, so I read that you should delete you Shader cache? I never heard that before, but I renamed my "..\Saved Games\DCS\metaShaders" folder as a backup and ran the game again. I loaded a mission for each map to build the Shaders again. And ran my nVidia AA testes again.

 

Not only did rebuilding the Shader Cache improve my FPS. But the game looks much more like Wags videos. :thumbup: I wish I had taken pics of the forests before. I had those lime green forests that some people have posted. And it did not look like Wags videos.

 

ReBuild FXO Cache

I also read that you should delete you FXO folder? I never heard that before either, so I am learning a bunch of new stuff. So, I renamed my "..\Saved Games\DCS\fxo" folder as a backup and ran the game again. Running each map rebuilds the entire fxo folder. And you can delete your backups when you're satisfied things are working.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Also, turn off your Mirrors on the Options/Gameplay tab! That just makes them 'Off' by default in the cockpit. You can turn them on with the M key, and they eat 10+ fps!

 

I think this is some basic stuff that should have been posted with the download instructions.

 

I don't think my game settings matter that much. There are other guides for tweaking that. And this should just be a basic starting point to improve your graphics. So, set your Graphic Settings reasonable for your PC. Build a mission for each map(or just one map). Don't change your settings or the missions during any tests so you can compare these results.

 

But here are my settings if you are curious. The pic shows my AA at 8x, but I have now set it to 2x and am using the MSAA + MFAA method talke about above for better FPS. I may change that in the future, but at least I have some options.. My triple-screen pc specs are in my signature. Cheers.

All this is absolutely true..confirmed and tested with excellent results..off curse I have his same rig..but thank you anyway :thumbup::thumbup:

[Chic]

Having just updated to DCS 2.5 openbeta from DCS 1.5 I was meet with a very stuttery (micro pauses, call it what you will) game play, although the FPS was running at between 60-80fps.

 

Solution for me and something you might want to check:

1. Run GPU-Z to monitor all aspects of video card under load from running a test mission in DCS 2.5, especially GPU core and memory Clocks. Noticed that the GPU clock was alternating between the max for my card 1072mhz and a mediocre 600mhz (strange as I had locked the GPU to max voltage performance in Nvidia control panel profiler for all DCS versions.
   
2. Noticed that the "PerfCap Reasons line", was redlining and reporting that the GPU was exceeding max voltage and thus throttling the GPU back to 600mhz to compensate.
   
3. As I run MSI Afterburner for monitoring FPS, Fans, etc, I decided to have a look at something that might help me with this problem. As soon as I went to the Afterburner main page, it was obvious that some how by accident the POWER LIMIT=0% and TEMP LIMIT=0c had been set, changed them to the proper values of POWER LIMIT=100% and TEMP LIMIT=79c and DCS 2.5 now runs really well with all most options on High.
   

Regards, Ian.

 

 

 

Interesting. I don't have stutter issues but this may explain some other symptoms I've been experiencing. Will check it out. Thanks.

[Miro]

I need little advice. I remember i run DCS 2.1 nevada very very smooth, but can't remember two graphics settings. I mean, how is maximum Visibility range option in 2.1? High? Or extreeme? And second one, Terrain shadows... 2.1 have dynamic? or flat only? Thanks

[MadDog-IC]

Interesting. I don't have stutter issues but this may explain some other symptoms I've been experiencing. Will check it out. Thanks.

 

Was an interesting one for me, as it didn't really affect DCS 1.58, because it wasn't as graphically demanding, on retesting with 1.58 it was barely just redlining in GPU-Z with over power threshold every now and then.

 

I posted because there seems to be quite a few people with a similar issues and MSI Afterburner may have reset itself when I installed a newer version, it would be wise to check if your graphics card is throttling down even a little, based on the higher workload of DCS 2.5 graphics.

 

I was so put off by the stutter, I thought well my machine is only just over minimum spec for game, I was going to stick with 1.58 and not run 2.5 at all, but after fixing that issue, it runs better than 1.58 ever did in the Caucasus map with higher settings.

 

Good luck with your issue.

 

Regards, Ian.

[Capt. Caveman]

:thumbup: Thanks Snacko, your guide really helped. It turned 2.5 from hardly playable to playable since I am running an older system.

[javelina1]

great thread and info, subscribing!

[fargo007]

I think that we need to consider the map(s) you are testing on as well guys.

 

Caucasus is a rewrite, not a new map. I do remember seeing statements that reflect that there are limits as to what can be done with it.

 

While I've been struggling to find good settings on Caucasus, I found that going to Normandy settings that were at the bleeding edge on Caucasus were robust and just buttery smooth on Normandy.

 

I didn't expect it to the degree that I found.

 

My initial conclusion is that there isn't one throne of settings to rule them all.

 

I am leaning toward using deferred shading for Normandy and NTTR, and using HDR with a higher pixel density and msaa settings for Caucasus.

 

And even if there were, at night you will want to turn deferred shading off or else the laser beams will be black.

[Snacko]

Did you have Deferred Shading on or off?

[Snacko]

Can you post a screenshot?

 

When I started this thread I was doing it the same way that you are now, and I thought it was working great. But others posted that my FPS boost was because I was not getting any AA. And on closer looking at my screen they were right.

 

Here is a screenshot from last Monday, when I was using FXAA 8x on my nVidia card and No MSAA in DCS. And Deferred Shading was on. I didn't really notice there was no AA until I took a good look. I was so happy to have the extra FPS that I didn't look closely at it.

 

[Snacko]

Nothing else? The AA - Setting changes to 2x? What is your AA - Mode?

 

Maybe you found something we missed? I was overriding the App setting? Maybe if you Enhance it it works. Looking forward to screenshots. ;-) Anything that improves the game is good.

[jurinko]

My tip for ATI cards: completely delete any profile in ATI catalyst CC, related to dcs_updater.exe and for global settings, select "as application wish" for everything. Stopping to force AA/AF via graphic card and also in game I got fps jump from 20 to 30.

[Snacko]

I don't understand. You say the quality was excellent, but the screenshots were bad? So really it looked ok in the game?

 

Well, I may have to test that. The few weeks before 2.5 came out I thought it looked good in game, but previous posts in this thread saw that there was no AA in the screenshots and I did too.

so, I stopped using that method. I don't know how that is possible? But I'm willing to do another test this week if I can get around to it.

[dax]

Wow... what a mess!

Maybe it would be good that ED clarifies what is supposed to work and what's not, for both VR and non VR configs.

Even as beta testers, we shouldn't be supposed to reverse engineer the graphics engine ;)

[Backy 51]

Thanks for this very detailed science project! Downloading a clean install of 2.5 right now to try your findings ...

[erick]

I can't really explain my findings but.... Piston85 is 100% right.

(In an instant action repeated scenario)

With in-game MSAAx4, I am getting 75-85 fps average and visually it is very good on my 2560x1440 screen.

With no in-game MSAA, but FXAA turned on in the Nvidia CP, I am getting 140-165 fps average and visually it is pretty good. It is a slight step under in-game msaax4, there is a little bit of staircasing from certain angles but for the most part it is comparable. The performance increase though is staggering!!! (I also took a screenshot from both scenarios but as Piston85 said, it does not represent what I am seeing in game, and I also don't know why, hence not posting pics, very strange!) ...and yes fxaa is active

btw- this is with all setting maxed except visibility to high rather than extreme.

 

Anyway, I may just stick with this fxaa as the performance boost vs the slight visual drop seems to be well worth it. I have never seen DCS pegged at 165 fps in my life! :)

[dax]

Great investigations!

I'll try that in VR asap...

[erick]

Piston85 ..I just discovered almost the exact same thing (about Nevada and in some scenarios with Caucaus) and I was going to post it.

 

MSAAx2 in game and fxaa on in cp is what I have settled on for that exact reason and I am also seeing the same performance results. Incredible boost. I am super OK with a 120 fps average!

 

Really strange about the screenshots. They appear to show no AA but in game it is obviously working. Very weird!

 

Anyway, thanks you so much for the suggestion! Cheers :)

[Chic]

I can't really explain my findings but.... Piston85 is 100% right.

(In an instant action repeated scenario)

With in-game MSAAx4, I am getting 75-85 fps average and visually it is very good on my 2560x1440 screen.

With no in-game MSAA, but FXAA turned on in the Nvidia CP, I am getting 140-165 fps average and visually it is pretty good. It is a slight step under in-game msaax4, there is a little bit of staircasing from certain angles but for the most part it is comparable. The performance increase though is staggering!!! (I also took a screenshot from both scenarios but as Piston85 said, it does not represent what I am seeing in game, and I also don't know why, hence not posting pics, very strange!) ...and yes fxaa is active

btw- this is with all setting maxed except visibility to high rather than extreme.

 

Anyway, I may just stick with this fxaa as the performance boost vs the slight visual drop seems to be well worth it. I have never seen DCS pegged at 165 fps in my life! :)

 

Why would you take FXAA at ANY fps over 80 fps with MSAA. Take the MSAA quality graphics. Without the frame counter, you could never feel the difference in game between 80 fps and the 150 frames you're gettin with FXAA.

[erick]

Why would you take FXAA at ANY fps over 80 fps with MSAA. Take the MSAA quality graphics. Without the frame counter, you could never feel the difference in game between 80 fps and the 150 frames you're gettin with FXAA.

 

Not too sound like an fps snob or anything, but I really can see the difference between 80 and 165. My monitor is an acer predator and goes to 165. There is a difference, I promise. That is not the important part though, especially with DCS. FXAA gives me much more "headroom" because yes, I am averaging 120 now, but that doesn't mean that it is always like that. During an intense combat mission with multiple planes and ground units, my fps can dip a lot. I have seen it as low as 55 when entering an intense combat zone.

 

So basically more fps is ALWAYS good! ;)

[Snacko]

Why would you take FXAA at ANY fps over 80 fps with MSAA. Take the MSAA quality graphics. Without the frame counter, you could never feel the difference in game between 80 fps and the 150 frames you're gettin with FXAA.

Well, if I get a higher frame rate, I can turn up my settiings? That will bring them down again but now I have room to do that.

 

This is so strange that it needs a picture to believe it. So here it is.. Piston is correct it seems. I thought it looked ok until others said I had no AA in my screenshots. So I thought I had just not noticed it. But it does look good. But you will get bad screenshots.

 

I took a screenshot and put it over top of the game for comparision and took a pic with my phone. Guess which is which?

 

 

The top is the game.

The bottom is the screenshot.

 

Went from 65 fps using the DCS MSAA x2 to 96 fps using No DCS MSAA and FXAA On. I'm back to where I started.. and need to update the OP with this info. I'm feeling kinda stupid, but happy with the extra 30+ fps. I've used about 20 of them to max out the DCS settings.

 

The only bad thing I noticed is the power lines look horrible. I've been trying to fix that for a long time..

 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Snacko

[Snacko]

Thanks. That helped a lot and also removed the flickering in them. Great job Piston!

[Tj1376]

Interesting post! Will have to try some of this!

 

TJ

 

 

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