P3Dv5 Settings for Frame Rate, etc.?

[Chuck Dreier 75]

I'd like to finally get a definitive answer about frame rate settings.  My Asus monitor is a 23" with a resolution of 2560x1440x32.  The Refresh rate is 59Hz (unadjustable).  The EVGA card is a 1080ti ftw

I've set my P3Dv5 Frame rate to 59 (had been set to 30), VSync ON, and Triple Buffering OFF.  Texture Resolution is set to 2048x2048.

Are these the proper settings for this monitor?  If not, what should they be?  Is there a right vs. wrong or is it trial and error?  A once and for all answer would be great.  Thanks.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Chuck Dreier

[Rogen 1,087]

Hi Chuck,

There is no right or wrong persay where it comes to setting up for a particular monitor.

The basic question would be can the GFX card/CPU display the chosen resolution at a suitable frame rate and if wanting vsyncing can the frame rate meet and exceed the Hz rate.

So to vsync @ 59 Hz your P3D would need a frame rate of at least 59 FPS, plus an amount for overhead, e.g. say 10~20% e.g. 66~72 FPS.

If your sim can consistantly achieve 66~72 FPS without any frame rate limiting or vsync it would be an ideal candidate for using vsync, which will make the sim fly really smoothly and also limit the frame rate to around 60 FPS to match the Hz rate.

Clear as mud???

 

The Monitor I use is capable of dropping down to 23 Hz and I use a 30 Hz screen mode for P3D with the P3D limiter set to unlimited.

A 30 Hz vsync means the frame rate will lock at 30 FPS and given 30 FPS is half of 60 (Hz & FPS), my GPU and CPU only have to work half as hard to keep the rate @ ~ 30 FPS (plus headroom allowance) for the vsync to work.

Means I can ramp up the P3D settings as I've got plenty of overhead to spare and can "spend" some of the overhead on higher P3D settings.

This video linked below shows a 30 hz vsync and how smooth it is. The vid is P3D v4.5, however the same rules apply to any version and indeed other software and games as well.

Cheers :-)

 

[Chuck Dreier 75]

Thank you and yes, you explained it well. I can achieve those numbers with the ORBX products added but so far I haven’t introduced any add-ons as I await PMDG and other official installers.  So it remains to be seen what the final numbers will be.

But here’s a hypothetical question.  Since I’ve heard that 28 frames produces a smooth to the eye presentation, why not simply set frames to around 33-34 and vsync?  Would that allow for resources to be used elsewhere or would the throttling simply be a waste?  I’m quite curious about this whole thing.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Chuck Dreier

[Rogen 1,087]

8 hours ago, Chuck Dreier said:

But here’s a hypothetical question.  Since I’ve heard that 28 frames produces a smooth to the eye presentation, why not simply set frames to around 33-34 and vsync?  Would that allow for resources to be used elsewhere or would the throttling simply be a waste?  I’m quite curious about this whole thing.

You could certainly do the above, the video in my previous post was a 30 Hz vsync output, notice the frame rate counter in the bottom RH corner was maintaining 30 fps as a result of the vsync (P3D was set on unlimited).

However you've mentioned your monitor is limited to 59 hz, remembering the frame rate output must also at least match the Hz rate for a vsync to occur.

Meaning there is no point to limiting to 33-34 and applying vsync as a vsync cannot occur at 33-34 fps due to the 59 Hz rate of the monitor. There is the option of RTSS to induce a vsync at half the monitor refresh rate, and NVidia drivers have similar types of features, not sure if they work with P3Dv5 though.

Taking vsync out of the equation, limiting to 33-34 fps is an option, some use P3D to limit the frame rate, others find the NVidia driver frame rate limiter to be effective. You'll need to trial such options and see if they suit.

Using a UHD TV is also something many people run with. They can be relatively cheap compared to monitors and much larger, plus they support various Hz rates and stutter smoothing.

You can also throw in GSync and FreeSync monitors which are designed to maintain a vsync in situations of variable frames rates, they usually don't sync down to the sort of low Hz rates needed for P3D but hey with the improved performance of P3D v5 they maybe a viable option.

Cheers

 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Rogen
spelling

[Chuck Dreier 75]

Just getting back to you.  This is the best explanation I've ever read.  I've copied it and put it in my P3D binder that has much useful information.  Thanks again!