Huge VR FPS Increase

[krazycanuck2011]

I was just looking around on youtube last evening, and Sweviver's latest video just popped up...

 

 

It advertised a 30 % increase. After loading up my Pimax 5k+ I can confirm it works with DCS.... What the heck, seems like something that ED should take note of and figure a way to get these increases into DCS without having to click buttons etc... Rendering pipline bug / hack which really unleashes the GPU to 90-95% utilization in DCS...

 

Thought to share as this is a very important one for all of us in VR. I know they are working on VR improvements, but this could help them????

[Harlikwin]

Already several threads about this.

 

So far it seems to be hit/miss if it works. Doesn't work for me with a rift. So at a guess its a pimax/pi-tool or other API issue and not ED.

[Worrazen]

From the video comments:

 

You need to look at the total CPU usage, divide the 100% by the number of cores you have and then look at the DCS process usage, looking at the per-core graph is misleading because of the huge averaging and delay between refreshes of the taskmanager counters, it's very inaccurate, behind the scenes depending on the HW/OS/FW thread scheduling behavior as well as the Software even the most busiest threads may not be tied/favourited to a particular CPU core and will be jumping/bouncing around the cores at a extremely fast rate (nano/microseconds) which would give Task Manager the impression as if more cores are doing more work than they actually are, up to some extent, the reading that was shown may be out of date so you may see 40% on CPU1 but it's already showing 40% on the other 2 cores, for example, otherwise it just shows you that each core is doing a little, technically that's right, but there's a second effect of these threads jumping around, because of the visual graph representation missing so many details it's vague and it can give an impression as if the application that is being run is multi-threaded and is "using multiple threads" (relatively speaking) which isn't true in reality, DCS is practically double threaded, Main + Audio (in reality there's over 20 threads taking less than 2% of CPU combined), Main is always more hungry if Main peaks out it's all over, Audio it self should never peak over the main AFAIK , thread bouncing which is also called "load balancing" in marketing and PR will not help serial workloads achieve better peak performance, it is all a gimmick IMO, hyperthreading makes things a bit more complicated ontop because at least WinOS doesn't expose which logical core is part of which physical core, so it's like a guess, CPU_0 and CPU_1 may be 2 logical cores of the first physical core, but it could be CPU_0 and CPU_3, at least I didn't figure out where is that exposed but maybe some programmers know, I'm not a real programmer tho, but if the HW/OS/FW/DCS is properly behaving then it should properly split the two threads DCS is using to multiple separate physical cores, because logical cores aren't equivalent ofcourse. Now this is only a theory, but infact this may be the actual bug here, maybe you guys have the two main DCS threads tied to the same physical core wrongly, and messing with that program may hack it and split and the CPU can then feed the GPU more so you see it as a GPU utilization increase, you can test this theory by doing what I suggested with the CPU readings and compare the CPU usage with and without this glitch, but also, disable hyperthreading and test the glitch again while also reading the CPU totals for DCS.exe - Good Luck!

 

EDIT: Now with the "DCS multithreading" which is still a valid thing, since I'm not english I don't happen to equate duality with multiplity so I regard it that it is not multithreaded yet, but you can disregard that, again, were only speaking about the multi-threadness in practical terms, the ones that take significant CPU resources, in absolute terms it is alread multi-threaded. The developer still has opportunity to split more things off the Main, but you will not get multi-threaded physics and simulation, it's not easy to make serial workloads into parallel as the calculation of the next equation depends on the result of the previous equation, so there's always going to be that one thread that will take the most resources forever I'm afraid. Vulkan API will improve things by it self greately, a big part of the load on the DCS main thread is the draw calls and driver overhead, people with a mid-level CPU and a good/great GPU should see the biggest improvements in FPS and I wound't be surprised if it's like 30-50 FPS increase (stability) in cases where the FPS dips down to below 20ies, like when viewing a big city (lots of objects). Now if the developer would also include the CPU-specific improvements along the way with the Vulkan API update, it could mean another 10-20% off the main DCS CPU thread, but it may not be visible in the FPS, if the Vulkan API improvement already maxed out the GPU in your system than the CPU improvement may not be able to be appreciated as it's not as obvious at first to most people, or vice versa, but it does give you reserve, would avoid FPS dips, but you can also run better graphics, or have more simulation going on in the mission (more units, destruction, AI, all the action, etc)

[Shotsx74]

So what do you need to do to get the FPS boost in VR? The dude on the video talks way too much to be bothered with listening to him, and this huge comment is confusing.. so what’s the deal to get this to work or not work, plain and simple.

[Harlikwin]

In theory

 

Download EVGA X1 software.

 

Startup DCS in mission, not frame rate/GPU usage etc.

 

Hit "default" button in EVGA X1 software

 

Magically increase FPS performance by 30%

 

At least thats my understanding, and it didn't work for my Rift. At a guess its an issue with pi-tool or something else on his system, or I'm doing it wrong. But my GPU usually runs 70-100% utilization anyway.

[Dudikoff]

IIRC, he just installed EVGA X1 software and by toggling the default button in it, he gets or removes the GPU usage boost (from about 65% to 95%).

 

So, he had a low GPU usage issue from the get go, which may not be present elsewhere.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Dudikoff

[Supmua]

I can't reproduce this with my setup. So it could be headset dependent (Pimax's own issue) or certain PC setups just can't take full advantage of GPU when overclocked to the max which could either be hardware, software or user error. Sweviver does use watercooling on his GPU which can maintain constant clockspeed at 2100 MHz which is nice, mine could only get there for a few sec then would throttle down to between 2055 and 2070 due to temp limit.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Supmua

[fitness88]

Is this an overclocking tool or does it just tweak to increase FPS with no system changes?

[Harlikwin]

Supposedly it fixes some problem of the GPU not being fully utilized. Then you can OC from there. Most people cant reproduce it.

[A Hamburgler]

Did not work with me but i was also short on time and tried really quick.

[Supmua]

https://i.ibb.co/T0WWk7t/DCS-2019-05-23-19-07-15-414.jpg

Not VR, but I don't seem to have GPU load issue.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Supmua

[ShaDowz]

https://i.ibb.co/T0WWk7t/DCS-2019-05-23-19-07-15-414.jpg

Not VR, but I don't seem to have GPU load issue.

 

I tried dcs without vr today and got full usage of my gpu so that works fine. In vr i get around 55-60% usage and it was the same for all the games i tried

[Naruto]

I tried dcs without vr today and got full usage of my gpu so that works fine. In vr i get around 55-60% usage and it was the same for all the games i tried

 

Same here. Seems DCS VR isn't using the GPU to the max. It only uses about 68% usage for me. I found the best FPS I get is with steam SS to 20%, pitools at 1.0 with DCS PD at 2.0. I average between 50 to 60 FPS. I just run DCS.exe directly without starting SteamVR and it run in background. I also set DCS.exe priority to high in task manager "Details" tab by right clicking on DCS. Seems to help with no stutters on CPU a well.

[ShaDowz]

Im curious to know if anyone with 1080 or 1070 have the same issue with the gpu usage or is it only rtx? I had a 1070 before and i don't really see that big of a difference when it comes to performance with my new rtx 2080ti. So im guessing the gtx cards might be using the full gpu? Maybe that makes a 1070 equal to a rtx 2080ti that is running on 60% hehe

[Harlikwin]

my 2080ti runs 100% at times... 50% at others... Its all about scene rendering IMO.

[The_Nephilim]

Well I tried it and there was no change. maybe only for RTX cards or Pimax or something??

[Thunderchief2000]

I've tried this too, no difference for me either, running a Vive Pro with a RTX2080ti.

 

 

I do get low gpu usage, but this is normal when it locks down to 45 frames because it cant quite reach 90 frames. If you think about it, it makes sense. If your GPU can nearly get to 90 frames but not quite, when it locks down down to the lower rate of 45 frames, it will be under half the load. (not quite because it has to frame double) So your gpu will be showing 55 - 65% load in this situation. This is not a fault, but it does look a bit weird.

 

 

I suspect what is happening here is a specific issue with the Pimax. Because of the recommendation to turn of V-Sync, I think that the reset in the MSI/EVGA software is breaking the V-Sync with the Pimax screens. Which is why you get the flickering. Once the V-Sync is broken the gpu will produce as many frames as it can, thus the gpu load goes up. this would be okish on a normal monitor, but V-sync errors in VR wouldn't be very nice I suspect. I also suspect that the V-Sync in the Vive is more robust and can't be broken in this way.

 

 

Cheers.

[cpt.miller]

On my end something is broken... i just upgraded to an rtx 2070 and everything was perfectly fine.

PD@1.5 and medium settings.

And then out of nowhere it was and it is unplayable. Now i have double vision and stutters everywhere.

Im pretty sure that it has something to do with the latest oculus home update (1.37)

 

My PC:

i5 7500

16gb DDR4 2400

Asus RTX 2070

Samsung SSD

Edited May 24, 2019 by cpt.miller

[Harlikwin]

Might be. Ive had issues with really low frames lately. Like in teens and 20s. Usually a reboot fixes it but its not fun.

[Buckeye]

Not running SteamVR in the background when launching DCS gave me some more frames, the EVGA X1 trick did nothing for me on my Pimax.

 

Also, many of the guys saying "MY GPU is only being 60% utilized", consider the fact that VR in DCS is most often CPU bound. If you're CPU bound, your GPU isn't getting fed enough to work to it's full potential.

[lefuneste01]

I made the Sweviver's tips working with nvidia inspector and DCS but no luck with IL2 BoS.

No steamVR use, only Pitool.

Same behaviour that other: GPU usage grow from 70% to 95-100% after some "default" button push. Fps grow from 40-45 to 55-65 fps.

But then I had some double image. Looks like those double images are linked to GPU saturation.

Using Smart Smoothing make GPU usage drop back with the current settings. So I tried to increase graphics settings and keep smart smoothing in order to make GPU usage grow. It works and I reproduced double image when the GPU usage reach 95-100%.

So I lower the settings to be at ~90%.

Finally it allows me either to keep same settings and use 90 Hz and not 72 Hz with Smart Smoothing (because I had fps greater than 45 fps) or to keep 72 Hz and increase my settings (MSAA, supersampling).

Tricky choice, but I think that I will keep 90 Hz.

Edited May 24, 2019 by lefuneste01

[Panthera_Tigris]

I am a bit confused with all of this FPS talk.

 

If Motion Smoothing is activated, does it matter if you are at 50 FPS or 70? SteamVR takes 45 FPS as input from your GPU and interpolates 45 extra frames. So whether you get 50 FPS or 80 FPS - you will see the exact same thing. The only optimisation is necessary to make sure you dont dip below 45.

 

Isn't that how it works?

 

(Also note that other thresholds exist at 30 FPS and 15 FPS)

 

This is based on Valve's explanation of Motion Smoothing.

 

https://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/1696061565016280495

 

"This means that the player is still experiencing full framerate (90 Hz for the Vive and Vive Pro), but the application only needs to render 1 out of every 2 frames, dramatically lowering the performance requirements. Even better, if synthesizing a new frame for every frame delivered by the application still leads to performance issues, Motion Smoothing is designed to scale further down to synthesize 2 frames or even 3 frames for every 1 frame delivered."

Edited May 25, 2019 by Panthera_Tigris

[nrosko]

I am a bit confused with all of this FPS talk.

 

If Motion Smoothing is activated, does it matter if you are at 50 FPS or 70? SteamVR takes 45 FPS as input from your GPU and interpolates 45 extra frames. So whether you get 50 FPS or 80 FPS - you will see the exact same thing. The only optimisation is necessary to make sure you dont dip below 45.

 

Isn't that how it works?

 

(Also note that other thresholds exist at 30 FPS and 15 FPS)

 

This is based on Valve's explanation of Motion Smoothing.

 

https://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/1696061565016280495

 

"This means that the player is still experiencing full framerate (90 Hz for the Vive and Vive Pro), but the application only needs to render 1 out of every 2 frames, dramatically lowering the performance requirements. Even better, if synthesizing a new frame for every frame delivered by the application still leads to performance issues, Motion Smoothing is designed to scale further down to synthesize 2 frames or even 3 frames for every 1 frame delivered."

 

If motion smoothing works like ASW then you will see frame rates at 90 then 45. When it locks to those you potentially are not using 100% gpu. It could drop below 45 though. To test GPU you should turn ASW/MS off but could still appear under utilized if you have headroom at 90fps.

[lefuneste01]

I am a bit confused with all of this FPS talk.

 

If Motion Smoothing is activated, does it matter if you are at 50 FPS or 70? SteamVR takes 45 FPS as input from your GPU and interpolates 45 extra frames. So whether you get 50 FPS or 80 FPS - you will see the exact same thing. The only optimisation is necessary to make sure you dont dip below 45.

 

Isn't that how it works?

 

(Also note that other thresholds exist at 30 FPS and 15 FPS)

 

This is based on Valve's explanation of Motion Smoothing.

 

https://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/1696061565016280495

 

"This means that the player is still experiencing full framerate (90 Hz for the Vive and Vive Pro), but the application only needs to render 1 out of every 2 frames, dramatically lowering the performance requirements. Even better, if synthesizing a new frame for every frame delivered by the application still leads to performance issues, Motion Smoothing is designed to scale further down to synthesize 2 frames or even 3 frames for every 1 frame delivered."

 

 

Motion or Smart Smoothing is not miraculous. If you drop below half of max fps size some artifacts are likely to be display. So you must ensure that you will be above half of target fps for a good experience. Before the trick I was at 40 fps, so target = 72 fps (and I had artifact sometime in missions, in heavy context)

[Panthera_Tigris]

Motion or Smart Smoothing is not miraculous.

 

Who said it was? I was merely quoting how it works. You either satay above 90 or make sure you stay above 45. Reducing graphics settings to go from 60 FPS to, say, 70 will not have any positive impact.

 

 

 

If motion smoothing works like ASW then you will see frame rates at 90 then 45. When it locks to those you potentially are not using 100% gpu. It could drop below 45 though. To test GPU you should turn ASW/MS off but could still appear under utilized if you have headroom at 90fps.

 

Based on the Valve article I quoted, it does. Which is why I am wondering why people are chasing small FPS gains because Motion Smoothing will lock you at either 90/ 45/ 30/ 15 FPS with the rest of the frames being interpolated.

 

BTW, if I turn Motion Smoothing off, it just shows the same frame again instead of interpolating one, right? That will cause stutters.