Recommended Nvidia and In-Game graphics settings for low-end PC...

[Anatoli-Kagari9]

I reinstalled 2.5 beta, bought the A-8, and am trying DCS in my all time desktop ( the same since 2012 ).

 

It doesnt run bad - I can get between 70 and 20+ fps, but I wonder what settings in the game menu and in Nvidia Control Panel you can recommend for:

 

i5 2500 @ 3,3 GHz

16 GB DDR3 RAM

GTX 960 4 GB DDR5 GPU

Wind 10 Pro 64 bit

 

Sim installed on 240GB SSD, system on another similar unit.

 

Any suggestions really appreciated :-)

 

Thank You :thumbup:

[draconus]

Depends on how many fps you can stand (some people's eyes bleed when looking at less than 60fps) and what you want to sacrifice (some can live without shadows, grass/trees and AA). I'd start with medium button and work from there checking your usual mission's performance. You forgot to tell us screen resolution.

[Anatoli-Kagari9]

@draconus,

 

thx for your prompt reply and suggestions.

 

I'm at 1920 x 1080, HDMI monitor ( 29" ) and don't mind giving up on "graphics sugar" in order to get additional performance.

 

I have Water set at MEDIUM, Textures all at HIGH, cockpit res is set at 1024 but will turn it down to 512 every frame ( otherwise it'll be interlaced, I guess ? ), and only 2x MSAA.

 

I wonder how much grass distance and tree density affect performance at the present stage (?).

 

Also have VSync OFF, Full Screen, Cockpit Global Illumination OFF ( ist this an FPS killer ? ).

 

Thanks again for any additional hints.

 

Ah, I'm fine with down to 30 fps too... although I got accustomed to 120-150 or even more in War Thunder ( Simulator Air Battles and Enduring Confrontation ), and also high fps in IL-2 GB.

[draconus]

In FHD you can be pretty liberal in the gfx settings. Trees and water are cheap - go max. Grass - test on land and look around in a pause - you can move the slider then in options live. Ctrl+Break - shows fps.

Textures high can give you stutters in heavy missions or MP (when you over-RAM), but some cockpits looks terrible without it. Cockpit res controls also mirrors so choose it wisely - this is one of the biggest killer. Key M turns off mirrors when not used. Your card won't hold more than 2xMSAA. I use both shadows high and global cockpit illumination for immersion but it will take some fps. Also hate the tearing so Vsynch On. Didn't tested but I guess civ. traffic can save you some CPU time.

 

Other games are other games - here the CPU is eaten by all kind of simulations.

[Art-J]

Any MSAA has a hefty impact on performance in DCS (fps, or stutters, or both) since introduction of Deferred Shading- that's why I turned it off even with my GTX1070. I use simple post processing methods like FXAA and SMAA instead (via Reshade or nvidia cpl) - they offer negligible performance impact with still acceptable visual quality when looking at terrain. Buildings shimmer horribly, however, but I don't fly over cities all that much so I can live with it. I use 1440p resolution.

 

Cockpit global illumination is a mixed issue depending strictly on chosen aircraft. Based on my tests in warbirds results vary from no difference in fps and look (P-51D, Me-109K4), through amost no difference in look but serious difference in fps (Fw-190D, 12 fps on average), to serious difference in both look and fps (Spitfire, 12-14 fps). You mileage may vary.

[Kid18120]

SSAO 1.5x has better performance and almost equal results as MSAA 2x, at least on my system at 1080p so you might give it a go to save a few more fps

[HC_Official]

i5 2500k, was one of the best over clocking CPU's around

 

you could easily take that the 4.2 - 4.4Ghz, you thought about trying that?

[Anatoli-Kagari9]

Thank you All guys,

 

all good hints for me to test & see how they come out in my system.

 

Yep, overclocking the 2500k was a possibility, but I would have to invest in proper cooling, and I am saving for a serious PC upgrade somewhere around mid 2020, so..., no more investment on this 2012 machine :-)

 

@Kid18120, when you refer SSAO 1.5, would that be through NCP ?

[HC_Official]

an okish 15-20 euro cooler will do it (and if yo pick up an artic cooler one, it could be transfered to your new PC )

[Anatoli-Kagari9]

Good hint HC ! Thx!

[Anatoli-Kagari9]

SSAO 1.5x has better performance and almost equal results as MSAA 2x, at least on my system at 1080p so you might give it a go to save a few more fps

 

This was so far what gave me the best results, with my GTX 960 4GB GPU.

 

I turned MSAA to none and SSAO to 1.5 and gain around 10 fps overall!

 

Other suggestions also contributed to some fine tuning, and I am now good with my settings, until I can invest on a new rig :-)

 

:thumbup: