Need some help with VR settings - new computer

[Notso]

I just bought a new computer with the following specs. I know most of the answers are floating around in various threads, but if someone could give me a good starting point for all the VR settings, I would really appreciate it. Its a bit overwhelming to try to sort through all the chaff.

 

CPU: i9-9900K, 3.6ghz, 16MB cache (but seems to be running at 5ghz)

GPU: MSI 11GB RTX-2080 Ti Trio

RAM: 32GB 3200mhz

MB: MSI Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON

SSD: 970 Evo Plus 1TB

Windows 10 Pro

NVIDIA driver 441.41

 

Steam VR

 

HTC Vive Pro HMD

 

My questions are about the 3 different setting areas:

1. DCS in-game setting

2. Valve Steam VR settings

3. NVIDIA graphics settings

 

I have a pretty decent idea of how to use the DCS in-game settings, but don't know how to set up the others to make sure they are all sync'd correctly.

 

Note, I am NOT a PC genius by any stretch. Especially when it comes to getting into the weeds on digging in Windows directories or editing computer settings,

 

Huge thanks in advance for any help :helpsmilie:

[speed-of-heat]

Try vr4dcs.com

... It's not an exact match but should be pretty close

[Wicked.-]

In Nvidia control panel for now just set prefer maximum performance for power setting and pre-rendered VR frames to 3.

Pixel Density pretty much does the same thing as SteamVR custom resolution so it’s easiest to use one or the other. If you use both they multiply the effect. I use SteamVR Custom resolution at 204% and pixel density at 1.0 in DCS. MSAA also has a similar effect but can be combined @ 2x if your system can push it. If you do use MSAA I would set Custom Resolution to 188%. MSAA smooths out the aliasing but will lower your FPS.

You can also set Custom Resolution to 100% and then move Pixel Density to 1.4 - 1.6 depending on your FPS performance.

I don’t have a Vive Pro so if these start values are dragging down FPS, lower them until you find a balance.

[Notso]

Try vr4dcs.com

... It's not an exact match but should be pretty close

 

Awesome, thank you!

 

Edit: Just had a glance through on that site and it's really useful - especially for the VR and deep computer novices (like me). This should be a sticky link somewhere here on this forum.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Notso

[Notso]

In Nvidia control panel for now just set prefer maximum performance for power setting and pre-rendered VR frames to 3.

Pixel Density pretty much does the same thing as SteamVR custom resolution so it’s easiest to use one or the other. If you use both they multiply the effect. I use SteamVR Custom resolution at 204% and pixel density at 1.0 in DCS. MSAA also has a similar effect but can be combined @ 2x if your system can push it. If you do use MSAA I would set Custom Resolution to 188%. MSAA smooths out the aliasing but will lower your FPS.

You can also set Custom Resolution to 100% and then move Pixel Density to 1.4 - 1.6 depending on your FPS performance.

I don’t have a Vive Pro so if these start values are dragging down FPS, lower them until you find a balance.

 

Perfect. Great explanation. I will experiment with them now. Thanks.

[Notso]

Try vr4dcs.com

... It's not an exact match but should be pretty close

 

I followed the website's "rig setup" video exactly to speed up the machine and get rid of all the windows background apps closed. I then ran the VR steam set up that @wicked suggested and then the DCS settings.

 

OMG what a huge difference that has made to the graphics and the resolution. I'm even running MSAA x2 on DCS and the lack of shimmer now is so amazing.

 

The whole experience is night and day now. Thanks so much for the point out to the website!

[Notso]

In Nvidia control panel for now just set prefer maximum performance for power setting and pre-rendered VR frames to 3.

Pixel Density pretty much does the same thing as SteamVR custom resolution so it’s easiest to use one or the other. If you use both they multiply the effect. I use SteamVR Custom resolution at 204% and pixel density at 1.0 in DCS. MSAA also has a similar effect but can be combined @ 2x if your system can push it. If you do use MSAA I would set Custom Resolution to 188%. MSAA smooths out the aliasing but will lower your FPS.

You can also set Custom Resolution to 100% and then move Pixel Density to 1.4 - 1.6 depending on your FPS performance.

I don’t have a Vive Pro so if these start values are dragging down FPS, lower them until you find a balance.

 

Hi Wicked, So I followed your setup instructions and as I said to Stuartaston - it all combined to make a huge difference. I notice we have similar computer setup specs, so I was assuming the results would be similar. So thank you for that!

 

I have a couple of questions though on a few things I was confused about with the SteamVR settings.

 

1. When you are setting your custom resolution setting to 188% or 204% - are you doing it in the "applications" tab or in the "video" tab? In the applications tab, the custom resolution explanation said it was a "multiplier on top of the video application settings". So I sort of assume you set the video custom resolution to 204% and leave the first slider bar in the application tab at 100%??

 

2. Do you enable the "motion Smoothing" checkbox in the video tab?

 

3. Under the developer tab, do you enable anything..... Like the Advanced Supersample filtering or the GPU profiling. I have no idea what any of those do.

 

TIA

Edited December 11, 2019 by Notso

[Wicked.-]

Question 1 is multi-faceted. Since you’re able to see the Applications tab and Video tab I going to assume you’re running SteamVR stable which is fine. The beta has made multiple changes to the Settings interface and it’s a bit harder to navigate. That said, the Applications tab allows you to customize a specific VR program like DCS without effecting any other program. Therefore you should treat it like Custom Resolution under the Video tab and Pixel Density in DCS. All three do the same thing, though the results can be different visually depending on your rig and headset. Another thing to note is that all three of the above AND MSAA are forms of Super Sampling. SS renders a much larger frame than necessary which it then shrinks down to get rid of screen door effect and aliasing. So, if you have custom resolution set to 188%, leave DCS application setting and Pixel Density to 100% and 1.0.

Here’s where it gets somewhat tricky. You can combine 2 of the above methods so that the total equals somewhere around 204% or 188%. These two numbers represent a close approximation the actual pixel count in the Index and the Reverb so I use them for simplicity’s sake. For instance, with certain SteamVR betas I would set custom resolution to 148% and DCS application SS to 138% which gets me in the neighborhood of 200% and looked best on my index. Currently I’m back to 204% and it’s running well and looking good on heavy online servers.

The original settings I gave you were to get you in the air as quickly as possible with a good image and good performance. Now that you have a good baseline you can experiment.

While each method of super sampling above accomplishes the same goal they do it in slightly different ways. Different rigs and headsets respond better or worse to these methods and only by experimenting can you find which is best for you.

One last caveat. MSAA is supersampling as well but for whatever reason it can compliment the three others instead of multiplying provided your other super sampling settings leave you enough overhead to not kill your FPS. Lastly, MSAA WILL kill your ability to spot targets at distance.

 

ALWAYS enable motion smoothing in the Video Tab but leave it at Global setting in DCS application settings

Enable advanced super sampling.

Disable GPU Profiling

Check the box for “do not fade to grid.

 

The rest are personal preference.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Wicked.-

[Notso]

Question 1 is multi-faceted. Since you’re able to see the Applications tab and Video tab I going to assume you’re running SteamVR stable which is fine. The beta has made multiple changes to the Settings interface and it’s a bit harder to navigate. That said, the Applications tab allows you to customize a specific VR program like DCS without effecting any other program. Therefore you should treat it like Custom Resolution under the Video tab and Pixel Density in DCS. All three do the same thing, though the results can be different visually depending on your rig and headset. Another thing to note is that all three of the above AND MSAA are forms of Super Sampling. SS renders a much larger frame than necessary which it then shrinks down to get rid of screen door effect and aliasing. So, if you have custom resolution set to 188%, leave DCS application setting and Pixel Density to 100% and 1.0.

Here’s where it gets somewhat tricky. You can combine 2 of the above methods so that the total equals somewhere around 204% or 188%. These two numbers represent a close approximation the actual pixel count in the Index and the Reverb so I use them for simplicity’s sake. For instance, with certain SteamVR betas I would set custom resolution to 148% and DCS application SS to 138% which gets me in the neighborhood of 200% and looked best on my index. Currently I’m back to 204% and it’s running well and looking good on heavy online servers.

The original settings I gave you were to get you in the air as quickly as possible with a good image and good performance. Now that you have a good baseline you can experiment.

While each method of super sampling above accomplishes the same goal they do it in slightly different ways. Different rigs and headsets respond better or worse to these methods and only by experimenting can you find which is best for you.

One last caveat. MSAA is supersampling as well but for whatever reason it can compliment the three others instead of multiplying provided your other super sampling settings leave you enough overhead to not kill your FPS. Lastly, MSAA WILL kill your ability to spot targets at distance.

 

ALWAYS enable motion smoothing in the Video Tab but leave it at Global setting in DCS application settings

Enable advanced super sampling.

Disable GPU Profiling

Check the box for “do not fade to grid.

 

The rest are personal preference.

 

Perfect! And you are correct, I'm running Steam VR Stable. I haven't played with any of the Betas yet. Same with DCS. At the moment I'm running stable there as well.

 

So at the moment, I'm running 188% custom resolution in the Applications tab, 100% in the video tab, Smoothing on, Advanced SS on, GPU Profiling off. In DCS, I have PD set to 1.0 as you suggested, MSAAx2, everything else set to high, shadows flat, and Aristropic filtering set to 16x. Everything seems to be a bit brighter and slightly more washed out than it was before. I wonder if that is due to the Gamma or the Global cockpit illumination On?

 

I didn't know MSAA kills spotting targets at distance. Is that airborne, ground or both? I'll have to pay more attention the next time I fly, but it seemed I was able to spot the tanker at 8-10nm. I haven't really played with any ground targets yet since the settings changed.

 

Overall though, I'm really happy with the performance boost over previous settings. The overall experience seems really much nicer. My only issue is the Steam app I downloaded for $4 (VRfps) shows that I'm getting a stable 30 fps rather than the desired 45. It appears smooth to me, I'm not seeing any stutters that I can tell and if so only very rarely. But even flying over downtown Vegas at low altitude seems like buttery smooth frame rates. Maybe that app just sucks. I still cannot get the normal Steam "Show FPS" button to work. It shows if I'm running on desktop, but nada when in VR.

 

Huge thanks again for the help on this!!

[Wicked.-]

I would adjust gamma from 1.5 - 1.7 if it’s washed out. Especially in the Viper. Don’t know what to tell you on the FPS monitor in VR. It should be RCTRL Pause/break.

MSAA kills all spotting at distance whether on the ground or in the air. When shrinking down the image it loses contrast making the object blend in with the surroundings.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Wicked.-