DCS best settings for Pimax headsets per GPU

[Blackhawk163]

Have you tried uninstalling and deleting Pimax play, openxr toolkit quadviews companion etc? And when  I write delete, I mean everything under your users appdata folder that pertains to Pimax and the other tools? I had an issue within DCS (and strangely only DCS) where the frames would report exactly half the refresh rate no matter what I had clicked. It also started to degrade within DCS where there were these weird artifacts. Almost as if the screens had become cracked (shattered glass affect) and it would flicker, especially on some frames drops. I was about to write a support ticket until I decided to delete it all. So far it’s fixed and I’m able to get more than 75fps+ without dropping past .8 pixel density with the Apache, and a solid 90 (I capped it at that) for a mission I’m working on in the Persian gulf with the a10II.

[avgyst]

17 часов назад, Blackhawk163 сказал:

Have you tried uninstalling and deleting Pimax play, openxr toolkit quadviews companion etc? And when  I write delete, I mean everything under your users appdata folder that pertains to Pimax and the other tools? I had an issue within DCS (and strangely only DCS) where the frames would report exactly half the refresh rate no matter what I had clicked. It also started to degrade within DCS where there were these weird artifacts. Almost as if the screens had become cracked (shattered glass affect) and it would flicker, especially on some frames drops. I was about to write a support ticket until I decided to delete it all. So far it’s fixed and I’m able to get more than 75fps+ without dropping past .8 pixel density with the Apache, and a solid 90 (I capped it at that) for a mission I’m working on in the Persian gulf with the a10II.

Thank you! I've got the frequency sorted out, I think the reason is the turbo mod in openxr. Tried Quadviews, but when using it constantly lights red cpu bound although fps is stable and smooth

[WipeUout]

**UPDATE**

8KX, 4090, i9-13900K 9800X3D, 64 96 GB RAM

DCS MT

Textures High/Terrain texture High

DLAA + DLSS Performance

Shadow low 

Water Med

Clouds Ultra

Keep off: Traffic, Heat blur, Lens flare, Secondary blur/shadows, SSAA, SSLR, SSAO, Aniso Filt., Cockpit Global Illumi., V-synch

Clutter/Forest/Scenery all maxed out. 

Preload at max

LOD at 0.5

Gamma 1.5 (To reduce haze, must be used in conjunction with max backlit in pimax client)

Max refresh rate try to set just above your HMD refresh rate, not exactly the same as it will introduce stutters.  For 90hz set at 95 FPS, for 75 set at 80 FPS.   

PD =1.0

Pimax Client

Refresh 90hz

Backlit 100%

FOV Normal

Render Quality 1.0

FFR off

OpenXR

Turbo mode on

PimaxXR

Enable quadviews

Do not enable turbo mode as this will disable frametime reporting in OpenXR which is very usefull to check performance.  If you want to use turbo mode, use it in OpenXR instead.

Quadview

I use the following config file:

_________________

# These settings are for all headsets and applications
smoothen_focus_view_edges=0.3
sharpen_focus_view=0.2

[app:DCS]
# The settings are specific to the app "DCS World".
turbo_mode=0
peripheral_multiplier=0.3
focus_multiplier=1.6
horizontal_fixed_section=0.45
vertical_fixed_section=0.35

_______________

Process Lasso

Not required anymore in Win 11 24H2 with HAGS enabled.

Additional tips and notes:

Setup two saved settings in DCS: "Setting 1" for low demand maps, "Setting 2" for high demand maps.

Acceptable AA option varies quite a lot from person to person.  For me, using DLAA/DLSS combination is great and I do not mind the small smearing.

Shadows can be improved a lot with mod "https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3329503/".

Quadviews high res box (40% x 30%) may seems small but with the wide FOV of the 8KX, this will give you a reasonable size with tremendous uplift in performance, over 30% in my case!

In VR, clouds are a significant performance hit and horrible at any setting except ultra setting.  If you play a mission that has lots of clouds, you must keep ultra setting and compromise elsewhere such as the "fixed_multiplier" down to 1.4 in quadviews, or lower HMD refresh rate.

You always have the option to lower the HMD refresh rate to 75hz or 60hz and keep same settings on any scenario but for me, 75hz and 60hz cause some flickering.

With these settings, you should get a super smooth experience with excellent clarity.  If not, then your windows/BIOS/NVCP maybe the issue.  A windows fresh install, though requiring lots of work, can cure a lot of performance problems.  If you use 4 x memory sticks on an MSI mobo, make sure your BIOS is up to date as it can cause crashes because of the stress imposed by DCS on the memory controller.  Did not try overclocking with the 9800X3D yet.  Overclocking your GPU, even so lightly, can also introduce stutters.

Edited April 7 by WipeUout
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