P3Dv5 Excessive vRam usage

[CaptainIronside 52]

4 minutes ago, Nemo said:

It would be so easy if we could add some RAM to the video card as we can do this on the motherboard 😉

That would be -too- convenient for the end user. 😋

[cannow 61]

11 minutes ago, cwburnett said:

Have you tried locking your frames lower? Some are reporting that their VRAM is higher with higher framerates?  What happens if you lock at 30 - still running out? What are your other settings? (I don't use VR so not sure what the various implications are, but I didn't think VR would inherently use more VRAM than a 1440p screen)

Thanks I have tried VR is the main issue getting a clear picture before blowing the vram looks to be impossible . Could easily run a PD of 1.6 on rift sometimes 2 with msaa x 4 . Now no chance .

[cwburnett 1,809]

4 minutes ago, YVRDXBLHR said:

I have a 9900k, 2080gtx and have all sorts of issues. Vram been one but I also have issues with my FPS getting choppy. I have the same settings I have in P3D V4.5.

If you have HT on, make sure you have an affinity mask set (especially if you had one in 4.5 also) that prevents the main thread from competing with another thread on one physical core. With my 9600k and 8GB of VRAM I get acceptable VRAM and FPS with textures at 2048, 2xSSAA and frames vsynced to 30 via 30hz setting on my monitor. Just something to try if you haven't already.

[cwburnett 1,809]

1 minute ago, cannow said:

Thanks I have tried VR is the main issue getting a clear picture before blowing the vram looks to be impossible . Could easily run a PD of 1.6 on rift sometimes 2 with msaa x 4 . Now no chance .

Are you able to run 2xSSAA? That will lower VRAM usage vs 4xMSAA. Just something else to try.

[cannow 61]

5 minutes ago, cwburnett said:

Are you able to run 2xSSAA? That will lower VRAM usage vs 4xMSAA. Just something else to try.

Very good call did not know that helps 

[B777ER 2,486]

24 minutes ago, cwburnett said:

Are you able to run 2xSSAA? That will lower VRAM usage vs 4xMSAA. Just something else to try.

Seriously? I run x8 MSAA in v4.5 because of performance issues everyone says they have with clouds and DL at night (though never tried it myself and I have a 1080Ti). So you're saying I will get lower VRAM with x2SSAA?

[SolRayz 392]

1 minute ago, B777ER said:

Seriously? I run x8 MSAA in v4.5 because of performance issues everyone says they have with clouds and DL at night (though never tried it myself and I have a 1080Ti). So you're saying I will get lower VRAM with x2SSAA?

Yes, I know it boggles the mind. 

[cwburnett 1,809]

17 minutes ago, B777ER said:

Seriously? I run x8 MSAA in v4.5 because of performance issues everyone says they have with clouds and DL at night (though never tried it myself and I have a 1080Ti). So you're saying I will get lower VRAM with x2SSAA?

The multiplier number, more or less, is how many times the graphics card has to render the frame to complete the AA function. So 8x means the GPU is taking 8 passes on the frame to complete the AA task, whereas 2x is only 2 passes.  SSAA is better, so needs fewer passes to get the same effect...but SSAA is more intensive on the GPU.  So...if you have GPU (processing) capacity to spare, but no VRAM to spare, go to the better AA.  It is true that SSAA used to have a very hard time with DL, but most DL has been updated to not cause such big problems with SSAA these days. inibuilds has also fixed a bunch that had big problems before.  So, give SSAA 2x a try and check out the results...YMMV

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

3 hours ago, YVRDXBLHR said:

I have a 9900k, 2080gtx and have all sorts of issues. Vram been one but I also have issues with my FPS getting choppy. I have the same settings I have in P3D V4.5.

I still can't believe we now have vram issues  to deal with. P3D V5 was suppose to address performance issues and overall give us better FPS. I think it's safe to say that P3D V5 and any further upgrades will never address the elephant in the room which is the sim is built on a very dated platform. Our only hope now for true performance is the new flight sim.

The only thing that is safe to say is that calling it a "dated platform" is incorrect. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by jabloomf1230

[Noel 4,499]

4 hours ago, sivart2000 said:

As far as frames unlimited with vsync on, this will do almost the same thing as using frame limitation in that your GPU is only going to try to crank out the number of frames equal to your refresh rate. The difference being that the fps will bounce around a bit more because of latency. 

I will make the V5 leap when I'm convinced that it will buy me those extra few frames to keep me at 30fps in demanding scenarios, reduce texture popping in areas like NYC and some of the night lighting shimmering. Another way of putting it is, I'm an word not allowed and will pay $200 for 4 or 5 more fps.....

Cheers

I think that is how I could frame the argument.  It may not be a straight across +35% or whatever % is being claimed because for starters both GPU and CPU are doing a different set of tasks apparently.   Some Lighting sliders can hammer a high end GPU, so if we are doing more rendering on the GPU what happens to those resources that were allocated to processes like Dynamic Lighting/Reflections in the former model?  I suppose some of those will be done more efficiently as part of the rendering so might not cost much.   But straight across if it's roughly a 35% bump that is substantial and even at $200 is more than in the value ballpark for sure.

I've been at it for 4 decades, flight simming.  For many years w/ FSX then P3D v2.x I thought I had achieved best possible smooth video.  That fantasy dissolved once I got on to UNLIMITED/vsync to 30Hz monitor refresh.  I had totally smooth performance for the past 4y using that on a 3930K/GTX Titan, now going on 7 years old.   I'm still feeling out the new build which is about 35% improvement in CPU and 100% in GPU, but it's almost completely capable of doing anything I do with it.  But yes, flying into KSFO-HD in the NGXu in ORBX FTX NCA was too much for it.  I had to really back off on the CPU sliders, so I hear what you're saying about getting that extra overhead to really be able to handle anything, or very close to anything you would normally do.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Noel

[chrismot 0]

7 hours ago, sivart2000 said:

LIMIT FPS! Unlimited is going to dump all that extra work on the GPU instead of the CPU now. Why not limit FPS so that once the GPU has rendered its 30 frames, instead of trying to render "infinity" frames, the headroom can be used for increases in other settings? I currently run at 24fps and can get as low as 20 and still have a smooth experience in V4.5 and intend to do the same in V5. I don't want my GPU trying to render extra frames I don't need at the expense of AI traffic, scenery and ambiance(shadows, reflections etc). I suspect many of those with graphics cards of 8GB or more running into VRAM issues are more concerned with running high fps and thus running fps unlimited rather than balancing out workload to make an immersive experience. I went through the same thing when I first got V4. It was a tough pill to swallow that I'd never run 60fps at KTPA in the NGXu with nice shadows, reflections, clouds, AI etc. I have it nailed now, 24-30 and smooth with the exception of places like FlyTampa EHAM with Netherlands HD and the NGXu (18-22fps).

So by running with framerates unlimited, you are just making your GPU render a lot of unnecessary frames at the expense of valuable VRAM. This isn't first person shooter, no need for 120fps. I think my V4.5 looks great right now and when I do switch to V5, I intend on running the exact same settings with the expectation of not 60fps but a steady smooth 30 even at EHAM. How many folks have tried running apples to apples comparison of 4 and 5?

 

 

 

I think our friend Sivart2000 is right...! With the DirectXY 12, we give even more work to the GPU. And if we ask the CPU to work as before (unlimited FPS), something seems to me incorrect. You should give the CPU a little more time instead of asking it to send a lot of images to the graphics card...

I tested : unlimited FPS, the fluidity is very bad... FPS limited to 30 or 40 depending on the PC configuration, limited either on the graphics card or in P3Dv5, and the fluidity comes back!

Try it, it's worth it....!

[sivart2000 96]

5 hours ago, sivart2000 said:

I will make the V5 leap when I'm convinced that it will buy me those extra few frames to keep me at 30fps in demanding scenarios, reduce texture popping in areas like NYC and some of the night lighting shimmering. Another way of putting it is, I'm an word not allowed and will pay $200 for 4 or 5 more fps.....

word not allowed! I don't know what happened there...lol. Last line should have said; Another way of putting it is, I'm an word not allowed and will gladly shell out $200 for an extra 4 or 5 fps. 

In some scenarios, that is the difference between word not allowed and great.

[Joseph29 225]

Well I was worried for nothing! I bought and installed it tonight. No excessive VRAM usage errors for me after about 15 minutes of flying (with sliders at full right).

 

PS: this is with no add-ons or AI installed

[Noel 4,499]

6 hours ago, SolRayz said:

But the sad reality is that going forward I will have to limit Texture resolution to FSX levels. I am now able to cruise around Vegas with no CTD and spiking close 6800MB Vram. Adjusting any of the settings mentioned would send me well above 7000MB resulting in a crash. So far this is the hardest hitting area for me at the moment.                                                                                                                                                                                                

Thank you for that perspective--it is helping me hold off for now despite the promise of significantly better performance.  I have 8GB of VRAM which does not sound like enough to really take advantage of the new architecture.  v4.5 is running so well right now I have no complaints but when 3080Ti comes along I will have the choice to go down the v5 road or MSFS whichever one looks more promising then.

[scotth6 74]

SImple solution:

Leadtek Quadro RTX 8000, 48G

https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Graphics-Cards/Workstation/75648-Quadro-RTX8000?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_K-Hvojx6AIVED5gCh0x7AqGEAQYBCABEgL2AvD_BwE