Enhanced Atmospherics and GPU usage

[Cruachan 705]

Hi All,

Prepar3D v5 (HF2), Windows 10 (2004)

Affinity Mask = 4085

Usual ORBX stuff with the exception of Vector (undecided at this point)

No 3rd Party weather running

4XSSAA

Cloud Resolution = High

Godrays = No,

Shadow Quality = Ultra

Shadow Draw Distance = Ultra

Clouds Cast = Yes

GPU temp = 66-70C (while flying around default situation in the Raptor)

GPU Memory = 4.7 / 10.1GB (EA = ON), 4.0 / 10.1GB (EA = OFF)

Frame Rate (Unlimited) at Default situation (Randolph AFB) on in VC (F22):

FPS = 44 (EA = ON) , 67 (EA = OFF)

Performance during flight is very smooth and with no stuttering.

 

Quick question:

Enhanced Atmospherics = ON -> GPU usage at or around 100%

Enhanced Atmospherics = OFF -> GPU usage at or around 40%

Is this normal and to be expected?

Thanks,

Mike

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Cruachan

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Mike, I think that you'll find that Cloud Resolution = Medium doesn't look all that different with EA active. I can't remember what your hardware specs are or what resolution you are running at, so I can't address the GPU usage question.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Jay,

Darn it, thought I’d covered all the relevant bases!

Hardware spec: see signature

Monitor resolution: 2560 x 1440

Regards,

Mike

[mpo910 2,112]

14 minutes ago, Cruachan said:

Hi Jay,

Darn it, thought I’d covered all the relevant bases!

Hardware spec: see signature

Monitor resolution: 2560 x 1440

Regards,

Mike

I also think Cloud Res setting to medium should be much more vram AND FPS friendly. At least on my end. Cloud res high = 1024 cloud res medium and low are 512. According to LM. I dont see any difference visually speaking  

Marcus

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Jay, Marcus,

Thanks for the helpful advice. I did wonder as I’ve always gone for lower resolution cloud textures in the past while using 3rd Party products and, yes, visually there is little or no discernible difference visually.

However, my question has more to do with GPU usage. Don’t feel comfortable with it sitting at 100% for prolonged periods while leaving little or no headroom in more demanding scenarios. Doubtless the reduction of cloud resolution should be helpful in this respect. I’ll give it a try a report back.

I must say the 1080Ti coupled with my i7-5960X @ 4.6GHz continue to deliver the goods. Thankfully, and for the foreseeable future, there really is no imperative to indulge in expensive upgrades.

Regards,

Mike

Edit: My initial VFR setup is closely based on RDPresets’ Prepar3D V5 Guide. Their recommendations appear well founded and based on extensive testing. The guide is well written and certainly worth a look.

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Cruachan

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

100% GPU usage seems a bit high with EA=on for your setup and settings. However, the Pascal series GPUs are somewhat less efficient at Ray Tracing than an equivalent Turing GPU, so I suppose that it's possible. Try using the NVidia Control Panel limiter set to 30 fps, with the frame rate set to unlimited in the sim. See if that helps.

[Cruachan 705]

29 minutes ago, jabloomf1230 said:

100% GPU usage seems a bit high with EA=on for your setup and settings. However, the Pascal series GPUs are somewhat less efficient at Ray Tracing than an equivalent Turing GPU, so I suppose that it's possible. Try using the NVidia Control Panel limiter set to 30 fps, with the frame rate set to unlimited in the sim. See if that helps.

Hi Jay,

That came as a surprise! I had no idea that my GTX 1080Ti was now capable of ray tracing, but I see that it is and, indeed, has been for some time!

https://www.gizbot.com/gaming/news/how-to-enable-dxr-ray-tracing-on-gtx-10-series-pascal-gpus-059628.html

I suspect the performance penalty (no match for the RTX cards) will outweigh any potential visual bonus, but might be worth some experimentation at some point in the future.

I’ll try limiting to 30 in the NCP as you suggest and see what difference that makes performance wise and GPU usage. It may be that I will have to disable GSync as it tends to fall down when frame rates dip below 30.

Thanks.

Regards,

Mike

Edited July 12, 2020 by Cruachan

[Cruachan 705]

Okay, some results:

Enhanced Atmospherics = ON

Cloud Resolution = High (FPS 44)

Cloud Resolution = Medium (FPS 60)

GPU Usage = 99% (i.e. unchanged)

———————————————————

Max Frame Rate (NCP) = 30 FPS (Target Frame Rate: Unlimited in P3D)

GPU usage = 50% (Sitting in VC of Raptor at Randolph AFB)

Values noted during a short flight of approx 30mins:

GPU Usage (Max) = 62%

GPU Temp (Max) = 61C

CPU Utilization

LP 0 = 70-80% (Previously this was at or near 100% for most of the time)

It was noted that 7 of the remaining LPs within the 4085 affinity mask were running at or near 100% with frequent brief dips of varying percentage points.

Max Core Temp = 78C

Core #0 = 62C

Core #1 = 67C

Core #2 = 73C

Core #3 = 68C

Core #4 = 78C

Core #5 = 72C

—————————-

Reserved for Addons

Core #6 = 62C

Core #7 = 59C

—————————-

Performance remained smooth at 30-31 FPS (displayed by GeForce Experience) with only the very occasional brief stutter noted.

Conclusion: The use of lower resolution cloud textures (in my case dropping from High to Medium) while running Enhanced Atmospherics, coupled with setting a Max Frame Rate of 30 FPS under Prepar3D.exe in NVidia Control Panel lowers GPU usage by a significant percentage along with a reduction of CPU LP0 utilisation. Both are providing useful headroom for more demanding Scenarios.

Neither performance nor visual appearance has been affected significantly. Looks great!

Mike

 

 

 

[captain420 3,099]

How do you enable ray tracing in P3D v5? I have a GTX 1080 8GB card.

[Cruachan 705]

14 hours ago, captain420 said:

How do you enable ray tracing in P3D v5? I have a GTX 1080 8GB card.

Hi Aaron,

I believe that ray tracing is normally turned on via the game’s UI. This will only work providing you have a recent ray tracing capable driver installed.

My understanding, and I could be wrong, is that ray tracing capability has yet to be implemented in Prepar3D by LM. 

Unfortunately for GTX 10 Series card owners the performance penalty is likely to outweigh any benefits. You will need an RTX card which is designed for the task.

Regards,

Mike

Edited July 13, 2020 by Cruachan

[OzWhitey 3,353]

As is noted, EA with high resolution clouds is a performance killer.

I would add one point, however. “High” resolution does make a substantial difference to appearance in one specific situation - the unpleasant jagged appearance seen when low clouds interact with mountains. The “jaggies” are much improved when high resolution is selected.

Despite this, I typically fly with “medium” resolution as smooth flight is one of my primary goals.

As for GPU at 100% - I certainly notice stutters when this occurs, so alway alter my settings to avoid running out of processing power.

[mikeymike 357]

On 7/12/2020 at 11:40 AM, Cruachan said:

Hi All,

Prepar3D v5 (HF2), Windows 10 (2004)

Affinity Mask = 4085

Usual ORBX stuff with the exception of Vector (undecided at this point)

No 3rd Party weather running

4XSSAA

Cloud Resolution = High

Godrays = No,

Shadow Quality = Ultra

Shadow Draw Distance = Ultra

Clouds Cast = Yes

GPU temp = 66-70C (while flying around default situation in the Raptor)

GPU Memory = 4.7 / 10.1GB (EA = ON), 4.0 / 10.1GB (EA = OFF)

Frame Rate (Unlimited) at Default situation (Randolph AFB) on in VC (F22):

FPS = 44 (EA = ON) , 67 (EA = OFF)

Performance during flight is very smooth and with no stuttering.

 

Quick question:

Enhanced Atmospherics = ON -> GPU usage at or around 100%

Enhanced Atmospherics = OFF -> GPU usage at or around 40%

Is this normal and to be expected?

Thanks,

Mike

 

4xssaa with a 4k monitor ?

any issues with setting shadows to ultra?

thanks 

mike

[Cruachan 705]

1 hour ago, mikeymike said:

4xssaa with a 4k monitor ?

any issues with setting shadows to ultra?

thanks 

mike

Hi Mike,

No, it’s QHD or 2K - 2560x1440 (27”). I was surprised there was very little impact changing from 2xSSAA to 4xSSAA. I was running 4xSSAA in 4.5 without issues. However, still early days, but it’s all looking very promising. Actually 2xSSAA didn’t look at all bad but then you know what it’s like as we constantly fall into the trap of pushing the envelope ..lol

Regarding the shadows, not so far, but then I’ve only been pottering around Randolph AFB with my initial setup courtesy of RD Presets’ helpful and informative Prepar3D Guide. I’ve been out of the loop for a while so it’s quite nice to be led by the hand once in a while as I cautiously re-enter the fray 😀 

Regards,

Mike

Edited July 14, 2020 by Cruachan

[BMW969 126]

And I would love to continue to fly in v5 with an atmosphere of v4.5. PTA and REX work there. And the performance is great. Only LM broke this engine unfortunately.

[mikeymike 357]

1 hour ago, Cruachan said:

Hi Mike,

No, it’s QHD or 2K - 2560x1440 (27”). I was surprised there was very little impact changing from 2xSSAA to 4xSSAA. I was running 4xSSAA in 4.5 without issues. However, still early days, but it’s all looking very promising. Actually 2xSSAA didn’t look at all bad but then you know what it’s like as we constantly fall into the trap of pushing the envelope ..lol

Regarding the shadows, not so far, but then I’ve only been pottering around Randolph AFB with my initial setup courtesy of RD Presets’ helpful and informative Prepar3D Guide. I’ve been out of the loop for a while so it’s quite nice to be led by the hand once in a while as I cautiously re-enter the fray 😀 

Regards,

Mike

Thanks for the reply , I was using 4xssaa but using a 4k tv. Dynamic lighting at some of the more demanding  airports was too much.

had to revert back to 8msaa which increased my vram a little .

Cheers

mike