Help with performance with Crystal + 4090

[dlder]

Hi,

I've literally tried every setting in DCS (Stable, MT) so far and checked it in a 1500ft flight over Marianas. I'm running OpenXR + PimaxXR and DCS forced to OpenXR.  I've set pixel density in PimaxPlay, OpenXR and DCS all to 1.0.

Here are my specs:

Spoiler

Win11
i7-13700KF
64 GB DDR5
RTX 4090
PCIe4 M.2

Here are my findings:

Spoiler

2D, everything max, 2xMSAA, 0xSSAA, same resolution as the VR HMD - 66 fps
VR, same settings - 20 fps

nVidia driver settings don't do much: +0-2 fps (that's mainly from setting Transparency AA from Super- to MultiSampling)
-> setting "VR PreRendered frames" to a higher setting then 1 doesn't matter either!

Shadows = Flat only: ~2 fps
Visibility Range:
     Low: 8-9 fps
     Medium: 6-7 fps
     High: 4-5 fps
     Ultra: 2-3 fps
MSAA has a large impact: 5 fps for 2x / 12 fps for 4x
DoF has quite a large impact too; but only for external view: 5 fps
Motion Blur has also quite an impact: 6 fps
Clouds to Low: 1-2 fps
SSLR: ~1 fps
SSAO: 2-3 fps
Forest Visibility to 30%: 1-2 fps
Forest Details Factor to 0.1: 1-2 fps
Anisotropic Filtering to 0x: ~2 fps
Terrain Object Shadows:
     Off: 2-3 fps
     Flat: 1-2 fps 
Rain Droplets: ~1 fps (only when raining and droplets are visible on the canopy)
Mirrors: 1 fps

=> the lowest playable MSAA setting imho is 2x, while Visibility Range is High or Ultra. That means I can get those 20fps up to 41 to 47; although I'm gonna check that again tomorrow, as in a last test, I got only about 35 fps with the above settings

 

So, with that out of the way: how is that possible? From 66 to 20 FPS? There are dozens of posts of people running an older i5 with an 1060ti playing in VR... I just don't get how!?

Do you have any tips on what else I could check?
"Windows Game Mode" is on (should help with Win-AntiVirus which isn't power hungry in the first place)
"Windows Graphics preference for DCS" is set to High performance
"Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" = on

Thanks for "hearing me out"^^ I'm truly baffled tbh. I've only tried "Serious Sam VR" (SteamVR, not OpenXR) and it ran flawlessly with max settings. Sure, that's an older title (to be fair: so is DCS), but it shows, that there doesn't seem to be anything "generally wrong" with drivers, APIs and such.

 

DCS Settings for VR.pdf Custom2.lua Custom3.lua Custom1.lua

Edited August 10, 2023 by dlder
Added document with my findings and settings, as well as my 3 graphic presets

[TheHog107]

Not sure why your getting so low fps.  I have an almost exact same system (except I have a 13900 cpu)  The last time I played I was getting 80 plus fps.

Maybe a screenshot of your dcs settings?

 

 

[WipeUout]

I did some testing a few weeks ago to see the loss between VR and 2D.

Running the same track with the same settings give me a 125-156 FPS in 2D using a 4k monitor, compared to 56-67 FPS in 3D using my Pimax 8kX at 4k per eye. This will vary a bit depending on the settings used but as a general rule, you can expect your 3D performance to degrade to 42 to 45% of what you get in 2D for the same settings in the same scenario. 

Since the Crystal and the 8kX share the same number of pixels, you should get similar results unless you have some settings that only apply to VR (or 2D) that could explain the difference.

[Hotdognz]

See my post here, I'm on a similar system with the Pimax crystal

In OpenXR toolkit are you still running the native resolution, I have set mine to override it and set it too this.

null
 

 

[dlder]

Thanks for 

15 hours ago, WipeUout said:

Since the Crystal and the 8kX share the same number of pixels,

True; the resolution is different, but the amount of pixels is apparently the same. Really weird.

1 hour ago, Hotdognz said:

In OpenXR toolkit are you still running the native resolution, I have set mine to override it and set it too this.

Yes, as I've stated in my post, I have it set to 100% everywhere. Maybe some Upsampling can work, but if it's not dynamic foveated rendering, then it's a pretty big clarity loss.

Can I ask: does your Crystal support eye-tracking & auto-ipd? I don't see those options in the Pimax app anywhere... (as can be seen here: https://github.com/mbucchia/Quad-Views-Foveated/wiki/Pimax-Crystal)

 

The biggest problem I have: even if I fine-tune the graphics and nVidia driver settings, nothing get's me to that level:

15 hours ago, WipeUout said:

56-67 FPS in 3D using my Pimax 8kX at 4k per eye

Sure, I don't know his Pixel Density setting in every middle-wear, but lowering that is like a last-ditch effort. And the 4090 can handle the amount of pixels; in 2D. But that shouldn't make that much different then in VR, one would think.

[WipeUout]

6 hours ago, dlder said:

The biggest problem I have: even if I fine-tune the graphics and nVidia driver settings, nothing get's me to that level:

If you are testing with the Mariana map, it is very difficult to achieve good FPS.  My test track is using the FA-18 on the Caucasus map, which is about the "average demanding" map.  The results are quite different when on South-America for example, I have to drop my refresh rate to 75hz.  I do not use MSAA anymore as the perfect cure to aliasing is high resolution.  Aliasing (for me) is usually bad on the ground but very tolerable once airborne and this is with the 25PPD of the pimax 8kX.  The Crystal has 35PPD which is much better and should have very little aliasing.  Of course, personal preference and tolerance level can vary a lot between individuals.  

Edited August 1, 2023 by WipeUout
Typo

[Hotdognz]

Im using the beta client so I have eye tracking with Quad views.

What your test settings for your go too mission ??, my suggestion is Syria free flight as a good test to nail down settings.

[WipeUout]

4 hours ago, Hotdognz said:

What your test settings for your go too mission ??, my suggestion is Syria free flight as a good test to nail down settings.

Syria is a good test for a high end setup.  For me it is strictly and always the same track in Caucasus with the FA-18 (attached).  It is time consuming enough to have to optimize my system, one track file is enough.  I keep my results in an excel file and have over 250 recorded test results since OB 2.7.9 only, and probably twice that which did not make it in the spreadsheet.  Too much testing, not enough flying!

No eye tracking with the 8kX, I am limited to fixed foveated rendering (FFR) but it is nonetheless a huge gain.

As for my settings:

DCS.  I use low/med textures whenever on the Syria/Mariana/Falkland's maps and high/high on Caucasus/NTTR/Persian Gulf.  I use med water, flat or low shadows and low clouds everything else is off.  I crank up the pixel density to 1.1 to help a bit more with aliasing since I don't use MSAA and my HMD output is very clear.  21% increase in resolution (PD=1.1) is not as good as MSAA 2X but much less taxing on the GPU.  I lower the gamma to 1.1 on day mission to eliminate as much as possible the haze but to compensate, my backlit and brightness is cranked up quite a bit in Pimax client. 

Pimax client.  Everything at normal except the brightness as stated above.  I use 90hz refresh rate on less demanding maps and 75hz on the demanding ones.  No smart smoothing, no FRR either as it does not work with OpenXR, only with SteamVR.  Thank god we have FFR in OXRTK!

OXRTK.  I use CAS 100% to have the crispest possible image and of course FFR at performance setting.  A bit of brightness and that is pretty much it.

For me the most important is avoid stutters and ghosting which is killing my immersion, the main reason why I sim in VR.  I wish my rig could sustain 90hz in all scenario but I guess I would need a 4090 (or even more) for that, maybe later next year.  I posted that before but I feel that I am not exploiting the full potential of the 8kX with the present hardware capabilities on the market.  For now, I don't think I will get another HMD soon, a new GPU will come before that. 

performance track Caucasus F-18.trk

[LePaul]

While I do not have a Crystal, I have a Meta Quest Pro and have been using the Fovated Rendering from here (https://github.com/mbucchia/Quad-Views-Foveated/wiki)

 

It usually works very well for me but last night, in one of the 4YA Servers, I was getting all sorts of stuttering and noticed OpenXR Toolkit kept flashing "CPU Bound" in red.

My rig in a new Intel i9 13900k, 64gb, RTX 4090 with VR settings set to high.  

I installed the latest Beta update yesterday and after updating, as usual, went ahead and ran Multi Thread DCS

I'm running the Quest Pro at 90hz and maxxed resolution and again, usually no issues.  4YA had the Syria map with about 20 players.

I don't know if this was a fluke, issue with the new beta or a setting I need to look over?

[dlder]

Thanks all!

I'll do some more testing; I'm thinking about doing a clean Windows install on a different SSD (don't wanna ruin my current installation^^), but I doubt it would help (only if something critical is out of tune with Windows - Settings).

I'll try Caucassus next; I wanted to use Marianas because if it runs here (those trees are very taxing for whatever reason), then it will run Caucasus and all the other maps too.

Just for completeness sake, here are my settings:

nVidia

Pimax (needs to be open for the headset to start?)

 

OpenXR (not much to set up)null

             

 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by dlder

[BIGNEWY]

 NVIDIA control panel, try
low latency - ultra
shader cache - unlimited
threaded optimisations - On 
power management - maximum performance

[dlder]

Will try!

So, I've now tested with a "clean" Beta install (non-steam) and comparing 1:1 to my steam-stable version. Doesn't seem much difference: (all without Mirrors)

02-08-2023, 11:38:27 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 9535 frames rendered in 109.438 s
dcs beta MT
"default dcs vr settings" (no mirrors)
                     Average framerate  :   87.1 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    3.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   91.2 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   44.2 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    1.0 FPS

02-08-2023, 12:06:04 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4855 frames rendered in 108.641 s
dcs beta MT
"all maximum w/o motion blur" (no mirrors) -> does Beta currently have a problem with MotionBlur? I figured that out through trial&error, that if this is activated, the screen is blank and only blurry MFD-green-text is visible...
                     Average framerate  :   44.6 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    9.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   52.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.8 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    1.2 FPS
                     
02-08-2023, 12:22:08 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4675 frames rendered in 107.313 s
dcs stable mt
"2d w/o motion blur" (no mirrors)
                     Average framerate  :   43.5 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   32.6 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   50.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.8 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    4.6 FPS
                     
02-08-2023, 13:05:30 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 9311 frames rendered in 109.672 s
dcs stable mt
"default dcs vr settings" (no mirrors)
                     Average framerate  :   84.8 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    0.4 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   90.5 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :    0.4 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    0.4 FPS

I've also tested my Marianas flight and it too is the same FPS. So it doesn't seem to be a problem with Tacview or Texture-Mods.

Just for comparison's sake, I'll keep using your Track file in DCS beta.

Edited August 2, 2023 by dlder
added "no mirrors" to the text

[dlder]

1 hour ago, BIGNEWY said:

 NVIDIA control panel, try
low latency - ultra
shader cache - unlimited
threaded optimisations - On 
power management - maximum performance

didn't really change much:

02-08-2023, 13:20:11 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4746 frames rendered in 106.937 s
dcs beta MT
"vr high"
                     Average framerate  :   44.3 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   32.6 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   50.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
02-08-2023, 13:27:19 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4904 frames rendered in 109.454 s
dcs beta MT
"vr high"+optimized nvidia settings
                     Average framerate  :   44.8 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    0.8 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   52.1 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :    0.8 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    0.8 FPS

[WipeUout]

I'll do a ''default DCS VR settings'' test once back home later and post results.  It will be interestiing to compare since we have the same pixel count...  My 4080 results should be lower than your 4090's... 

Do you have your GPU frametime results? Sometime the FPS does not give the real picture as far as GPU usage.

[dlder]

I'll do another run including the frame times (gotta check Afterburner on how to do that^^). -> please note if you use mirrors or not; I didn't check it and default DCS settings seem to disable them. I've since enabled the mirrors again for VR High (which is everything maxed)

 

@BIGNEWY Quick question: are we sure that "msaaMaskSize" is doing anything? I've run it with 4xMSAA (just to max out the GPU usage and thus the potential performance gain) and it doesn't do a lot; 0.5 fps seems more like a benchmark tolerance

02-08-2023, 14:14:54 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 3378 frames rendered in 107.797 s
dcs beta MT
"vr high", 4xMSAA, 1.0 MsaaMask
                     Average framerate  :   31.3 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   22.7 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   36.2 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   22.4 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   22.3 FPS

02-08-2023, 14:19:00 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 3349 frames rendered in 108.937 s
dcs beta MT
"vr high", 4xMSAA, 0.1 MsaaMask
                     Average framerate  :   30.7 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    4.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   35.8 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   22.4 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    1.2 FPS

Edited August 2, 2023 by dlder

[dlder]

I guess I could also just for the sake of it post my options:

 

options.lua

options_vrdcs.lua

Edited August 2, 2023 by dlder
added the "DCS default VR settings" file

[dlder]

1 hour ago, WipeUout said:

Do you have your GPU frametime results?

Sorry, can't find any option in Afterburner

[WipeUout]

Did the test and here are my results with OXRTK recording feature:

DCS Setting: preset VR, PD=1.1

OXRTK: CAS 100%, FFR performance preset

 

Average FPS : 90.48  -> This is does not translate the accurate GPU load as the HMD refresh rate is at 90hz.  The reported FPS will stay at 90+/-1 FPS even if your frame time is less than 11 ms.  What 90.48 just means is that my GPU has "headroom" and it can pump those frames faster than 90 FPS.

Lowest 86 FPS, max 91 FPS. 

Average CPU Frame time (app + rdr):  4.27 ms -> this equates to a CPU average capability of 234 FPS.  In other word, my CPU has lots of headroom as it can pump up to 234 FPS, if the GPU can swallow it... which is not entirely true as it is multithreading and the graphic pipeline can't use all threads.  Let's just say that the CPU is not a bottleneck here.

Average GPU Frame time : 8.76 ms -> this equates to a GPU average capability of 114.2 FPS.  This translates in what is the real average FPS that the GPU can pump.

Looking at your data you have a running test time of 108.641 seconds and it is a bit longer than the actual track, which last 106 seconds.  This means that you are capturing performance outside the track run and thus your real performance might be better or worse depending on what is going on during those extra 2.6 seconds.  I don't know about MSI afterburner to monitor but I trust OXRTK which is a VR application.  Using OXRTK recording feature will generate a csv file that can be use to calculate your averages, you just need an spreadsheet program.

Since I start the recording a bit before I press "FLY" (to open OXRTK menu, toggle recording on), and stops a bit after the end of the track (open OXRTK menu, toggle recording off...), I remove a few seconds (lines) in the csv file at the start and at the end to make sure I only use 106 seconds of data.  The recorded data outside the track run is easy to spot.  Rigor in testing is crucial to ensure meaningful and accurate results, it's my engineering background probably...

Now analyzing your results and taking into account those extra seconds, you definitely have lower performance than expected.  You system should be 20-30% faster than mine (GPU wise).   You should get an average GPU frame time between 6.8ms and 7.3ms.  I also noted that you wrote about the infamous "Tacview" which is know to slow down the sim considerably in some cases.  I personally uninstalled it 2 years ago, you might want to double check this.

Re-installing windows might help a lot.  If you go this route, have a look at this before to ensure a "fully optimized for game" Win 11 installation:  

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by WipeUout
Typo

[dlder]

Hm... OpenXR Tool Kit can capture performance data? I guess I've overlooked that bit; gonna try that next.

Hz / Fps: the only correlation between those two are, if you are using VSync (or FPS limiter in accordance to GSync best-practice). I do (that's probably why my max FPS are 91), but I have a frame limiter at 77fps, but that doesn't take effect in VR, so I didn't even think about deactivating Gsync, as that is also very much monitor dependent, BUT: because of that I have Vsync turned on "globally". Now, I don't know if the nVidia DCS profile is actually being used in every instance - this being beta-multithreading exe - so I can't be sure.
Long story short: the "max" fps might not be correct, but that really is besides the point anyway, because I don't really care about getting more then 90 fps if all I'm getting is 27 at Marianas^^

-> I now know, that this is really an unusual case and most seem to get their performance from Caucasus or some lighter maps like Nevada / Syria (sand maps).

That's exactly why I used your track file; to be on the same playing field.

Pixel Density: I use 1.0 in DCS (and everywhere, as already stated), because this is effectively supersampling and much more power-hungry then MSAA with MultiSampling Transparency AntiAliasing (which is what I use). To get about the same level of AntiAliasing you'd have to use something like 125% SS (at least), which takes more FPS then MSAA.

Tacview: is imho a crucial program to review ones performance; but it's running only on my Stable install anyway which I don't use for this threads benchmarking (to again be comparable to you and most every other people). This install is also clean, so no mods. Also, after comparing the performance with your trackfile and the exact same settings, both Stable and Beta performance are about the same (1-2 fps difference).

I still have to watch your video, but with the big things out of the way - like VBS (virtualization based security, which basically activates Hyperthreading, which means your Windows installation will be running virtualized on a hypervisor) - I don't think any "Windows Hacks" which have been around since Win 98 will be of any measurable help^^
Thanks for the video anyway; maybe I actually will learn something new^^

So, what does that leave me with:

• I could try a fresh Windows install, but from all the things I know, that probably won't help (I might do it on a test-SSD, just to make sure)
• to not play Marianas, as the performance in Caucasus is "good enough"
• wait for dynamic foveated rendering
• wait for DLSS (or use NIS)

I'll continue my testing in a more "practical" matter (doing missions) and will report back on my findings and hopefully my then-final-settings.

 

[dlder]

So, did some more testing:

Oh, first things first: whenever I change something in the Pimax-Client, or when OpenXR-TK tells me to, I restart DCS. So pretty much every test was a new game start.

 

-> graphical glitches (like lightning flashes) with Pimax "SmartSmoothing"; at least in DCS (I've created a video showing that: 

-> Pimax FFR (fixed foveated rendering) doesn't really change anything either? Neither visually, nor performance wise
    What is Minimum and Maximum anyway? "min" is about 0.5 fps slower
    
-> "Hidden Area Mask" area mask isn't doing anything either; it seems to me, with the exception of FFR, that the Pimax-Client settings are only for SteamVR?
                     

Spoiler

04-08-2023, 09:40:51 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4504 frames rendered in 108.187 s
"2d settings"
+pimax SmartSmoothing + Hidden Area Mask
                     Average framerate  :   41.6 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    9.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   46.9 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   22.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    1.2 FPS

04-08-2023, 09:49:10 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4501 frames rendered in 107.500 s
"2d settings"
+pimax SmartSmoothing
                     Average framerate  :   41.8 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   30.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   47.0 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   23.5 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   22.9 FPS)

04-08-2023, 09:54:41 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4666 frames rendered in 107.453 s
"2d settings"
                     Average framerate  :   43.4 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   31.3 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   50.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
04-08-2023, 10:01:20 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4658 frames rendered in 108.000 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
                     Average framerate  :   43.1 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   31.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   49.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
                     
04-08-2023, 10:08:25 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4617 frames rendered in 106.875 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask + FFR MAX
                     Average framerate  :   43.2 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   31.6 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   49.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
04-08-2023, 10:13:06 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4597 frames rendered in 107.110 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask + FFR MIN
                     Average framerate  :   42.9 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   30.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   49.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS

 

-> OpenXR TurboMode doesn't do anything

-> NIS 75% is a huge performance gain of course; DLSS would be much preferred though. But when enabling NIS, why is it saying 100% resolution is "4312x5102"? The HMD has "5.760 x 2.880"!

-> FFR works; but the performance gain isn't all that great

Spoiler

04-08-2023, 10:26:38 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4654 frames rendered in 106.796 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
+openxr turbo mode
                     Average framerate  :   43.5 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   30.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   50.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
04-08-2023, 10:33:57 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 6618 frames rendered in 105.859 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
+openxr NIS 75%, mip-map conservative
                     Average framerate  :   62.5 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   45.4 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   73.2 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   44.6 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   43.5 FPS

04-08-2023, 11:00:47 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4646 frames rendered in 102.516 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
+openxr FFR, quality, balanced
                     Average framerate  :   45.3 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   33.6 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   51.8 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.7 FPS

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by dlder

[dlder]

On 8/1/2023 at 9:58 AM, Hotdognz said:

 

I've just now catched that: why is your resolution so low? (11.8 Megapixel)

PimaxXR for me shows "4.312 x 5.102" (20.98 MP), which is also weird and not the native resolution of "5.760 x 2.880" (15.82 MP).

-> this means I'm currently rendering double the amount of pixels... why? 

Edited August 4, 2023 by dlder

[WipeUout]

8 hours ago, dlder said:

-> graphical glitches (like lightning flashes) with Pimax "SmartSmoothing"; at least in DCS (I've created a video showing that: 

Getting the same problem with my 8kX.  Smart Smoothing has never been an option, it is not good and the transitions are just full of stutter, better off without it.  Unfortunalely compulsive smoothing option has been removed from Pimax client but if you use PimaxXR 0.4.0, you can switch it on there.  I did not try it but it was working very good at 1/2 back then.

9 hours ago, dlder said:

> Pimax FFR (fixed foveated rendering) doesn't really change anything either? Neither visually, nor performance wise
    What is Minimum and Maximum anyway? "min" is about 0.5 fps slower

Pimax FFR does not work with the OpenXR runtime, it will only run with SteamVR.  You can use the FFR in OXRTK instead.

 

5 hours ago, dlder said:

PimaxXR for me shows "4.312 x 5.102" (20.98 MP), which is also weird and not the native resolution of "5.760 x 2.880" (15.82 MP).

I have a PimaxXR reported resolution of 5012x3160 (15.8 MP) which is a bit lower than the physical resolution of the 4k panels x 2 at 7680x2160 (16.6 MP).  Not sure what this number stands for.  Are you super sampling some where?

[Nedum]

12 hours ago, dlder said:

So, did some more testing:

Oh, first things first: whenever I change something in the Pimax-Client, or when OpenXR-TK tells me to, I restart DCS. So pretty much every test was a new game start.

 

-> graphical glitches (like lightning flashes) with Pimax "SmartSmoothing"; at least in DCS (I've created a video showing that: 

-> Pimax FFR (fixed foveated rendering) doesn't really change anything either? Neither visually, nor performance wise
    What is Minimum and Maximum anyway? "min" is about 0.5 fps slower
    
-> "Hidden Area Mask" area mask isn't doing anything either; it seems to me, with the exception of FFR, that the Pimax-Client settings are only for SteamVR?
                     

  Reveal hidden contents

04-08-2023, 09:40:51 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4504 frames rendered in 108.187 s
"2d settings"
+pimax SmartSmoothing + Hidden Area Mask
                     Average framerate  :   41.6 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :    9.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   46.9 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   22.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :    1.2 FPS

04-08-2023, 09:49:10 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4501 frames rendered in 107.500 s
"2d settings"
+pimax SmartSmoothing
                     Average framerate  :   41.8 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   30.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   47.0 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   23.5 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   22.9 FPS)

04-08-2023, 09:54:41 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4666 frames rendered in 107.453 s
"2d settings"
                     Average framerate  :   43.4 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   31.3 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   50.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
04-08-2023, 10:01:20 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4658 frames rendered in 108.000 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
                     Average framerate  :   43.1 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   31.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   49.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
                     
04-08-2023, 10:08:25 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4617 frames rendered in 106.875 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask + FFR MAX
                     Average framerate  :   43.2 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   31.6 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   49.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
04-08-2023, 10:13:06 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4597 frames rendered in 107.110 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask + FFR MIN
                     Average framerate  :   42.9 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   30.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   49.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS

 

-> OpenXR TurboMode doesn't do anything

-> NIS 75% is a huge performance gain of course; DLSS would be much preferred though. But when enabling NIS, why is it saying 100% resolution is "4312x5102"? The HMD has "5.760 x 2.880"!

-> FFR works; but the performance gain isn't all that great

  Reveal hidden contents

04-08-2023, 10:26:38 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4654 frames rendered in 106.796 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
+openxr turbo mode
                     Average framerate  :   43.5 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   30.9 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   50.4 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.8 FPS
                     
04-08-2023, 10:33:57 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 6618 frames rendered in 105.859 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
+openxr NIS 75%, mip-map conservative
                     Average framerate  :   62.5 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   45.4 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   73.2 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   44.6 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   43.5 FPS

04-08-2023, 11:00:47 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 4646 frames rendered in 102.516 s
"2d settings"
+pimax Hidden Area Mask
+openxr FFR, quality, balanced
                     Average framerate  :   45.3 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   33.6 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   51.8 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   29.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   29.7 FPS

 

 

Did I see the right numbers for the frame times? 30+ ms sometimes? Something seems to be off with your resolution setting. I myself still waiting for my crystal, but I'd read that many guys run with a resolution around 3300 x 3800 (done in the OpenXR Toolkit, set size to 75%(Performance Tab)). You should try that.

Isn't DCS, but you get a feeling how to optimize the crystal.

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Nedum

[mbucchia]

13 hours ago, dlder said:

I've just now catched that: why is your resolution so low? (11.8 Megapixel)

PimaxXR for me shows "4.312 x 5.102" (20.98 MP), which is also weird and not the native resolution of "5.760 x 2.880" (15.82 MP).

-> this means I'm currently rendering double the amount of pixels... why? 

 

Look up "vr barrel distortion" on google. Every device does this, you render at a resolution higher than the physical display (typically 1.4x) to account for the pixel distortion created by the optics. 

[72Stu]

Unsure if this helps, but VR Flight Sim Guy on Youtube has quite a number of Crystal / DCS videos.

Also, the tracked foveated rendering looks to be a game changer also -