Reducing VRAM

[David Mills 4,774]

Reduce Render Scale from 100 to 70 or 80. The visual difference is almost imperceptible but performance is greatly enhanced.

[ryanbatc 12,937]

16 minutes ago, David Mills said:

Reduce Render Scale from 100 to 70 or 80. The visual difference is almost imperceptible but performance is greatly enhanced.

I think at 4k it may be like that but at 1440p or 1080p which I've done in the past it looks ugly.

[Sky_Pilot071 580]

1440 seems like the ticket for non VR MSFS IMO.  

sp

[abennett 172]

2 hours ago, btacon said:

DX12?

No, I’m using DX11.

[abennett 172]

1 hour ago, Sky_Pilot071 said:

My 3060TI has 8gig VRAM that run about 70% with FPS in the 70s.

Note that I stay away from busy airports.

sp

Thanks, yeah I’m totally fine in vast majority of airports. But heavy 3rd party large ones in something like the Fenix A320 and my 8GB just gets exceeded and then really low FPS.

[abennett 172]

2 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

I think at 4k it may be like that but at 1440p or 1080p which I've done in the past it looks ugly.

Yeah, thanks for the render scale suggestion David, but like Ryan, when I reduce Render Scale it is incredibly noticeable and blurry. I tried running at 1080p like I used to before my 1440p monitor. I honestly don’t know how I ever used 1080p, this difference is so obvious and lower than 1440p just looks horrible to me now I am used to it.

Edited March 16, 2023 by abennett

[Noel 4,531]

15 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

I think at 4k it may be like that but at 1440p or 1080p which I've done in the past it looks ugly.

Dunno about that but definitely leave it at 100, not greater.

[RobJC 2,073]

I am running 1440p with a 10GB 3080 and have zero issues with VRAM. It just uses what it needs. 

[TWerner 34]

It's a difficult topic.  I've had a 3080 10GB and even that was stuttering badly at some aftermarket airports where VRAM would exceed the limit.  I'm back on a 3070 now.  I'm on 3440x1440, and I've come to accept that I just need to turn down some settings when visiting heavy aftermarket airports, especially ones that aren't fully optimized.  90% of the time everything is fine though.  

Here's where most people will try to murder me, but I use DLSS (Quality, Balanced, and Performance) instead of TAA.  I also use it in conjunction with DLDSR factor of 1.78x, so to me, it actually looks better visually than using TAA at render scaling 100, even when using the DLSS Balanced preset.  Depending on the airport that I fly into, I leave DLSS on Quality, but reduce it to Balanced or Performance when I'm on approach into iniBuilds KDTW or KLAX, or FlyTampa's KLAS to not exceed the VRAM limit once I'm on the ground.  Most other airports that I have still give me great FPS using the DLSS Quality preset.  VRAM usage does go down when using DLSS.  It was by far the biggest game changer for me so far to get a smooth running sim.  8GB is certainly not enough nowadays especially with aftermarket products, so we have to optimize the best we can. 

Just in case people want to reply with "DLSS sucks and looks terrible", here's the screenshot thread of using DLSS + DLDSR: Link to the screenshot thread

Edited March 16, 2023 by TWerner

[Noel 4,531]

22 hours ago, Republic3D said:

Why do you want to lower VRAM usage? 

I posed the question of what happens when you exceed the VRAM you have and the unequivocal reply was that you get stutters.  I've not seen this yet I've seen many times when it's right on the edge but no stutters so I assumed MSFS must use System RAM as a cache or what have you to deal with that.

[Noel 4,531]

1 hour ago, TWerner said:

I use DLSS (Quality, Balanced, and Performance) instead of TAA.  I also use it in conjunction with DLDSR factor of 1.78x, so to me, it actually looks better visually than using TAA at render scaling 100, even when using the DLSS Balanced preset. 

That's news I will give it a try JFK thanks

[TWerner 34]

First you need to go into the Nvidia Control Panel and go to Manage 3D Settings.  Then, under DSR Factors, enable the DLDSR 1.78x resolution and hit apply.  Then, you need to open the simulator and select the new monitor resolution (it will be greater than the native resolution).  Then, select DLSS (any preset) and check it out.  What I have heard is that DLSS looks much better on 1440p and 2160p screens as opposed to 1080p screens.  You can then also play around with the "Smoothness" factor.  I keep mine at 33%.  Also adjust the Fidelity Sharpening to your liking.

Edited March 16, 2023 by TWerner

[btacon 1,831]

1 hour ago, Noel said:

so I assumed MSFS must use System RAM as a cache or what have you to deal with that.

DX11 yes. System Ram makes up any VRAM shortfall. DX12, not so much. System Ram is not used to cover VRAM deficits. That’s my understanding at least. 
-B

[Republic3D 1,232]

1 hour ago, Noel said:

I posed the question of what happens when you exceed the VRAM you have and the unequivocal reply was that you get stutters.  I've not seen this yet I've seen many times when it's right on the edge but no stutters so I assumed MSFS must use System RAM as a cache or what have you to deal with that.

Who did you ask?

I've had my VRAM fill up when loading up complex airliners at complex airports, but I didn't notice any stutters because of it. 

[Noel 4,531]

18 minutes ago, Republic3D said:

Who did you ask?

I've had my VRAM fill up when loading up complex airliners at complex airports, but I didn't notice any stutters because of it. 

Someone here I posed the question in a thread and you may have been in the thread as I think we talked about this w/ respect to youru 16Gb now.  

Asked ChatGPT:

When the VRAM is exceeded in DirectX 11 mode in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, the game will likely experience a drop in performance or even crash.

This is because when the VRAM is exceeded, the graphics card needs to start swapping data in and out of the system memory (RAM), which is much slower than the VRAM. This can result in noticeable stuttering or freezing in the game, as well as reduced frame rates and lower overall graphical fidelity.

Additionally, if the VRAM usage continues to increase, it can cause the game to crash due to running out of memory. This is because the game engine needs a certain amount of VRAM to store all the textures, geometry, and other data needed to render the game world, and if this exceeds the available VRAM, the game may become unstable and crash.

To avoid these issues, it's recommended to monitor VRAM usage while playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and adjust the graphics settings accordingly to stay within the VRAM limits of your graphics card.

Then asked the same question vis a vis DX12:

In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, if VRAM is exceeded in DirectX 12 mode, the performance may be impacted but the game is less likely to crash compared to when VRAM is exceeded in DirectX 11 mode.

This is because DirectX 12 has a feature called "Resource Binding Tier 2" which allows the graphics card to manage its own memory more efficiently. When the VRAM is exceeded in DirectX 12, the graphics card can dynamically allocate memory between VRAM and system memory to maintain optimal performance, without the need for the game engine to handle it.

However, even with this feature, if the VRAM usage continues to increase beyond the available VRAM capacity, the performance may still be impacted due to the need for data swapping between VRAM and system memory, which can result in lower frame rates and reduced graphical fidelity.

It's still recommended to monitor VRAM usage in DirectX 12 mode and adjust the graphics settings accordingly to avoid exceeding the VRAM limits of your graphics card and maintain optimal performance.