2080 Ti on idle for DCS

[Skjold]

Hello,

 

I recently upgraded to a 2080 ti. I've had performance improvements on all games with the exception of DCS, where the performance dropped significantly compared to my 1070. I can only achieve 40 FPS in Single Player where my last card easily ran double that.

 

Looking at GPU-Z, a software that monitors GPU sensors. The RTX 2080 Ti never leaves "idle" mode and it stays at very low power consumption.

 

I've messed with everything from drivers to Windows power setting and also checked many other games which all go into performance modes and uses substantially more power and draw more resources from the card.

 

• I run a i7 6700k overclocked to 4.2 GHz. CPU usage is relatively low and no core is close to being maxed out.
  
• I have high performance mode for both CPU and PCI-E slots and it can draw as much power as it wants.
  
• 32 GB of DDR4 RAM
  
• SSD for DCS
  

 

/ Skjold

Edited November 13, 2018 by Skjold

[kEnnY_m]

Have you set your card to High Performance in the Nvidia Control Panel under Manage 3D settings -> Power management mode?

 

 

 

Since you're migrating from a previous gen card, it is not a bad idea to flush out your old drivers with the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) tool before installing the latest drivers from Nvidia's website.

[Aluminum Donkey]

I don't know what the problem is, but I really gotta admit, I want to know!!

Hope you get it sorted out. Since your other games seem to work fine, it's probably something minor and not hardware-related.

Did you do a complete driver cleanup (DDU) and install the latest drivers for the RTX 2080 Ti?

 

 

AD

[Skjold]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I've tried everything i could think of including a complete clean driver install using the recommended software, clearing of DCS config files and more.

 

I have come to a conclusion though. When in the menu it is fully utilizing the GPU with 3x the output and is in performance mode. For some reason, it thinks the menu is the game and the game is the menu.

 

Edit: It draws close to 200W in the menu with a GPU usage of about 65%, while in-game it draws about 75W and GPU usage is 15-20%.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Skjold

[petsild]

You should for the diagnosis of the problem used perfect MSI Afterburner.

To show what the GPU is doing differently, plus monitor other important values of the system.

[delevero]

A friend of mine have a 2080ti but what im about to tell you now have nothing to do with dcs but his card in general.

- his old card was a 1080ti card.

 

Anyway he bought the card and install it and it could run games but had issues with it performing worse than his 1080ti card.

He went to the store where he bought it since he thought it was defective.. After a short test it turned out the 2080ti worked perfect.

 

He then went home and tried uninstalling/updating drivers ect ect..

 

But in the end he found out that the problem was his PSU ( power supply)

one of the cables where a little defective, and also the psu was

old.

 

After he installed a new cable the card worked with 100% performance, insted of just running with 65% performance.

 

He did by the way buy a new psu since it was an old one.

 

Anyway, my tip.. try to change your cable from the power supply to your graphics card.. ( maybe change both cables ).

 

if that doesnt help then maybe you should consider a new PSU/power supply.. but i will not gurantee this is the problem just saying maybe ;-).

BUt if this is the case then the 2080ti should run poorly in other "demanding " games as well.. if its only dcs then hmmmm dont know

Edited November 14, 2018 by delevero

[Skjold]

Delevero, thanks for the input but this is only happening in DCS. Everything else runs buttersmooth.

[Headwarp]

It's good that you listed some of your PC specs.. but display type and resolution are almost more relevant than your cpu speeds depending on pixel count and which gpu you're using. A screenshot of your ingame graphics settings or letting us know if you're using any ssaa or not would help as well. Probably a good idea to state what wattage your PSU is rated for. Otherwise you're asking us to shoot in the dark. Knowing you have a 2080Ti doesn't say much if we don't know what you're trying to power with it.

 

Advice for anybody posting in regards to performance in any given situation would be to offer this much information at the least -

 

Processor model/speed

Gpu make and model

Ram amount/speed

In-game settings

Display type (monitor, multi-monitor, VR)

Display resolution and refresh rate.

 

With that info it'd be easier to assess whether there is a setting somewhere that will help. Other than that step one is run the dcs repair tool from the windows start menu and ensure the dcs profile you might have to manually add in NV control panel is set to "Prefer maximum performance" for power management as has been suggested. I'm pretty sure "dcs_updater.exe repair" might ensure the vc redistributable packages are in working order but, also in the install directory for DCS, there are VC redistributable packages that you can run repair on and potentially rule out issues with that. So that would be my next step after running the repair.

 

 

 

If that doesn't help then my guess would be some kind of software conflict somewhere. I know i ran into a weird issue at one point in DCS where I was capped at 64 fps for some reason until I enabled the Geforce Experience Overlay, another member fixed the same issue deleting the max fps line in the graphics lua files. Others i've read said it had something to do with windows game mode which i've always had disabled. And oddly it's something I've only run into once but can no longer replicate, and unlikely your issue as you're stating 40fps. But there's probably a fix for this somewhere.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Headwarp

[Skjold]

Thanks for the reply Headwarp. It is a software issue of some kind, i've troubleshooted everything i could think of (including what you suggested).

 

Did you read the posts in which i've said that all other games i've tried utilizes my GPU to the fullest? There is no indication of a hardware issue of any kind. I've also messed with power settings, clean reinstall of drivers, deleting DCS config files, reinstalling DCS and much more.

 

The only thing that remains to be tried is a complete reinstall of Windows. My computer is long overdue for a system reinstall so i'll do that. If that doesn't work i have zero clue what might be causing it.

 

Also, it is worth noting that i ran the exact same settings (High) on a 1070 with more than double the FPS i'm currently achieving. No other parts of the computer has been changed.

 

I also came to the conclusion that when i'm in game, the GPU goes to idle. If i press escape and open up the pause menu it goes into performance mode and acts like it would when you are playing the game.

 

In-game: 70W power usage

Escape Menu: 180W+ power usage

Other games: 180-250W power usage

 

I run a 750W Gold series Corsair power supply.

[BitMaster]

In any case, I would deinstall with DDU again in SAFE MODE, then install the newest Nvidia driver, then delete FXO and METASHADER2 folders in your DCS saved games folder and try again.

 

 

I doubt it's your PSU, in any doubt, run RealBench for 30min, f it takes that the PSU should be good.

 

 

New Windows...good idea too :thumbup:

 

 

almost forgot, set the card into High performance mode in Nv-Cpanel, that DOES matter.

[Arrowhead]

Did you check the Performance setting like the first reply suggested? That's what it sounds like to me. NVIDIA drivers default to optimal performance and most games run fine with that, but games like DCS don't trigger the card to ramp up clocks properly I've found unless you go in to Nvidia settings and choose prefer maximum performance as mentioned. After you do that you should notice your idle Temps rise a bit but that's fine and DCS will fly.

[boscoh]

Do you have any additional overclock on your card? I have a founders edition 2080ti, and if I add any overclock whatsoever, I have performance and stability issues with dcs. DCS is the only application I've had trouble with so far, when overclocking. Everything else runs like a champ. In Afterburner, I have a profile with no overclock on it that I now use for DCS, and the game runs great.

[boscoh]

 

I run a 750W Gold series Corsair power supply.

 

How old is your power supply? Power supplies degrade over time. I also had a Corsair gold 750W HX series, it was a little over 5 years old. When I installed my RTX some games would play fine, and others like DCS would have issues. I purchased an evga gold+ 1000w power supply and my issues went away, except as noted in my other post when overclocked.

 

Different applications put different loads on pc components. It is highly possible that DCS is exposing hardware issues that other things may not.

 

If you've tried all other suggestions in this thread, order a new PSU and try. It's much easier than a reinstall of windows. You can return it if it doesn't resolve the issue. Since you're on 750, I would do at least 850W. The evga one I bought was $99. Ensure the new psu is Modular and use a dedicated power cable for each input on your card (no single cable that splits out into each input on the RTX).

[Sn8ke_iis]

DO NOT CHANGE POWER SUPPLY CABLES UNLESS SPECIFICALLY FROM THAT MODEL AND MANUFACTURER OF POWER SUPPLY. You will blow components. The wiring diagrams and polarities are not standardized from power supply to power supply and manufacturer to manufacturer.

 

Download Nvidia Inspector and make sure both DCS.exe and run.exe are keyed to the DCS blackshark driver. Then double check power management settings. Or create a new DCS profile from the default driver. Anytime you change or update a driver the power settings can revert to default. Then double check that you pressed alt-enter. Sounds like a driver power setting issue to me.

[Headwarp]

Thanks for the reply Headwarp. It is a software issue of some kind, i've troubleshooted everything i could think of (including what you suggested).

 

Did you read the posts in which i've said that all other games i've tried utilizes my GPU to the fullest? There is no indication of a hardware issue of any kind. I've also messed with power settings, clean reinstall of drivers, deleting DCS config files, reinstalling DCS and much more.

 

The only thing that remains to be tried is a complete reinstall of Windows. My computer is long overdue for a system reinstall so i'll do that. If that doesn't work i have zero clue what might be causing it.

 

Also, it is worth noting that i ran the exact same settings (High) on a 1070 with more than double the FPS i'm currently achieving. No other parts of the computer has been changed.

 

I also came to the conclusion that when i'm in game, the GPU goes to idle. If i press escape and open up the pause menu it goes into performance mode and acts like it would when you are playing the game.

 

In-game: 70W power usage

Escape Menu: 180W+ power usage

Other games: 180-250W power usage

 

I run a 750W Gold series Corsair power supply.

 

I did read thank you. Still I don't know what resolution you're running at. If 1080P 60hz it's completely understandable why your 2080Ti is hardly doing any work. We're talking about video cards. Resolution and refresh rate are always relevant. :P

 

Based on the fact that it's performing worse than the 1070, sure it's likely some software conflict. But without being able to put my hands on your PC it isn't possible to try and help if you can't answer questions. And with that good luck.

 

Just based on what you're willing to offer.. which included half or your relevent PC specs.. the first things I would do are reinstall directx, dcs repair, delete the fxo and metashader2 folders in users/xxxx/saved games/dcs/ and repair the 2013 vc redist. Check and make sure my profile for DCS in NV Control panel was actually pointed at DCS.exe in the installation folder/bin directory, ensure "Prefer maximum performance." DDU from safe mode. Any of the advice already given and that you've already tried.

 

If you have fast internet and not too many files you care about holding onto, of course a fresh windows install, followed by fresh installations of system, peripheral, and video card drivers would rule out most software issues.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Headwarp

[Captain Slow]

My 2080ti does the same quite often, and I have yet to figure out what is the cause.

 

I have verified with gpu-z that indeed it sometimes goes to idle in DCS! No idea why.

 

I thought I was the only one... But apparently I am not, and this isn't a single user case.

 

My system is 9900k, 32 GB ram, Palit 2080ti gamingpro OC.

 

What about you?

 

This is on a fresh windows installation! (yesterday) with zero usb input devices attached except mouse and keyboard

 

Setting the card to "prefer max perf" has absolutely no effect on the issue.

 

Screenshots attached

 

Flapping idle/full perf in game

 

Idle in menus:

 

Idle looking at sky:

Edited March 4, 2019 by Captain Slow

[Captain Slow]

FYI: The IDLE problem was solved for me by disabling the game's built in fps limiter.

It can be found in <DCS_HOME>/Config/graphics.lua line 350