Multi-Threaded optimisation for Il2 and VR

[blitze]

I wrote this in the Pimax forums but I think it is also worth repeating my findings here and hope it helps.  I have been critical of Il2 BoX series in the past for being CPU single thread biased but as I found out, with some settings and optimisations in Windows 10, this is not the case.

 

Here goes

 

After resorting to some searches and finding a VR optimisation guide on Thom’s Hardware and Windows Central and tweaking my system settings I found out that I was quite wrong with the lack multi-threaded usage in Il2.

 

The optimisations included:

• Disabling Hyperthreading in the CPU (i7700HQ)
• Fixed pagefile which I set to 4096 (not sure why I hadn’t done that earlier)
• Enabling Maximum Performance Power Setting in Windows 10
  and lastly
• 2 registry changes
  multimedia class scheduler
  and
  GPU priority / scheduling priority.

Anyway, the 2 sites I referenced for tuning were

Windows Central – 3 Mar 18 3

How to ensure the best VR performance from your PC

Low frames per second (FPS) in PC gaming is your worst enemy — in VR it can also be literally sickening. What better reason to give your old hardware some care and keep it performing up-to-snuff for another few months?

 

 

 

and

Tom's Guide – 4 Jun 16 3

How To Optimize Your Pc For VR

If You want to optimize your PC for VR this is the right tutorial for you. It is very important to know the required steps you need to make. First check your

 

 

With the recommendations there I have found that CPU usage across all 4 cores is greatly improved as well as GPU usage (like 90%+ on all cores and GPU). I am now experimenting with Il2 BoS VR at PiTools set to 1 and SteamVR set to 50%

Using x16 AF and playing with AA settings but in Nvidia Control Panel. With the PiTools = 1 and SteamVR at 50% on my i7700HQ MAx-Q 1070 laptop I am getting low but smooth frame rates which I hope will be improved with BrainWarp. The image is crisp with minimal aliasing artifacts on the terrain and detailed would view.

My effective increase in fps was approx 50+%
My laptop runs at low 80’s heat (Celsius).

Still contemplating an eGPU but this has certainly helped get the image resolution decent and playable for me.

Much to learn.

[Guest deleted@134347]

first time i'm hearing about these registry settings.. will give them a try! Thanks, blitze!

 

 

************

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile
SystemResponsiveness = 0

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile\Tasks\Games
GPU Priority = 8
Priority = 6
Scheduling Category = High

************

[blitze]

Yeah, it would seem it is Windows being the culprit.  I was really surprised myself when I saw the CPU graphs in Performance Monitor / Task Manager.  Getting near 90% across all cores and with spikes to 100% (usually when I deliberately plow into the ground to finish a flight and restart a mission / exit for performance tuning observations LOL

 

Wonder how this would help Ryzen users - imagine 12+ real cores with similar utilization in Il2 VR ?

[BP_Lizard]

Awesome! I’ll try these as soon as I get home. Thanks for the headsup.

[blitze]

Handy app that puts power plan switching into your task bar

 

https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nblggh556l3

 

Power Plan Switcher.  ?

[TUS_Samuel]

Looks promising. By how much does the FPS change with this optimization in benchmark?

 

 

[blitze]

I'm seeing 50% + fps increase in VR across the board over my previous near standard Windows 10 settings.  It has allowed me to bump up my settings and have smooth experience.  At present experimentation I am aiming for smooth flying at high res rendering over high fps.

 

A screen grab of a 110 flight in career VR showing Performance monitor.  Notice core utilization and then to the bottom left, GPU utilization.  That is just after take off with heavy clouds and we have just formed up at altitude.  When action starts, with damage it will be more but it was never  that before.  AA was at 4x but I think in that flight I will take it back to 8x as through the cloud flying was showing AA artifacts which 8x doesn't (Nvidia Control Panel adjustment).

[TUS_Samuel]

Consider running benchmark (link in my previous comment) to make the picture complete.

[ironk79]

Sounds interesting. After the last Updates there was already  huge improvement of VR Performance, making the usage of higher settings, like Ultra shadows possible, i still manage smooth 90fps in QMB. But career mode still performed underwhelming, crushing into 50s as soon as you follow a few bombers > why????.

spreading more load onto the remaining cores could def. help, lets find out.

[chiliwili69]

Hey! what a nice news! it seems like a free upgrade for everyone. Thanks!

I have to try this as well. Let you know what I see and measure.

[blitze]

See how you go and I'm not aiming for 90fps in VR.  Be happy with constant 60 + with Ultra Visuals.

 

Different HMD, different conditions and with my current setup - there is no way I would get 90 without wanting to vomit at the image presented but CPU load spreading is important.

 

Would also like 6DOF but still waiting on Valve/HTC to get the 2nd gen lighthouses happening for Pimax orders.  Another couple of months they say and not wanting to buy others in the mean time.

[J2_Steve]

Waiting for Chiliwili to report back

[BP_Lizard]

I followed it to the letter but didn’t get any perceivable improvement. ?

[Dutch2]

 

13 hours ago, blitze said:

I'm seeing 50% + fps increase in VR across the board over my previous near standard Windows 10 settings.  

 

 

I went to every decent site about VR improvements, also the one from your links and never, never noticed the 50% improvement in FPS. Never I did hit the sweetspot of that 50% performance, while  I’m running  fpsVR OSD ingame software, so I should have noticed that. 

 

But on the otherhand if it is helpfull and getting 50%, that is good and for most readers very welcome. Thanks for publish this. Now for those who like me always trying to get the last drop out of the computer search for Blackviper.com and Tweakhound.com unlike XP/Vista not much improvements anymore, Win10 is become very good, but who knows. 

Also try to avoid starting up the Windows and Virusscan updater and the automatic system processes like maintenance or an shelduled Virusscanning. In my case it is all set to manual. 

 

Thanks for posting. 

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Dutch2

[I./JG68_Sperber]

I have with my rig.. 40 FPS. with high settings, absolutely fluent and a fantastic tracking ...

[ironk79]

no difference for me, still down into 40s in career mode, circeling over my own airfield.

CPU @30% overall, 2 cores above 50%, other 4 cores @ 20% max. GPU @50%

[blitze]

Maybe for some who have already had some of the op

1 hour ago, Dutch2 said:

 

 

I went to every decent site about VR improvements, also the one from your links and never, never noticed the 50% improvement in FPS. Never I did hit the sweetspot of that 50% performance, while  I’m running  fpsVR OSD ingame software, so I should have noticed that. 

 

But on the otherhand if it is helpfull and getting 50%, that is good and for most readers very welcome. Thanks for publish this.

 

Thanks for posting. 

 

Maybe for some with VR they have probably done half the optimisations already.  For me it has been a week and a half with VR and extensive testing.  The suggestions on those 2 sites for my system has delivered tangible results.  Before I was always wondering why my CPU reported around 40% utilisation.  After the optimisations including turning off Hyperthreading, I have seen across the board with different render settings (sames ones I have tested previously) that 50% to60% increase.  The big take away being proper usage of my 4 core CPU on all cores. 

 

Putt'n that slacker 7700HQ to some work.?

 

It would be really interesting to know how people with Threadripper / Ryzen 2 systems would go doing the same and their CPU utilisation.  Maybe this would also negate the needing to rely solely on single core frequency for performance in Il2 BoX

 

For me it seemed that Windows 10 was moreso the bottle neck.  Windows has never been a good OS out of the box.

2 minutes ago, ironk79 said:

no difference for me, still down into 40s in career mode, circeling over my own airfield.

CPU @30% overall, 2 cores above 50%, other 4 cores @ 20% max. GPU @50%

 

Is hyperthreading disabled in BIOS? 

 

And those registry mods done with a Windows reboot?

[ironk79]

1 hour ago, blitze said:

 

Is hyperthreading disabled in BIOS? 

 

And those registry mods done with a Windows reboot?

yes, HT was already deactivated, Win also rebooted.

 

[blitze]

1 hour ago, ironk79 said:

no difference for me, still down into 40s in career mode, circeling over my own airfield.

CPU @30% overall, 2 cores above 50%, other 4 cores @ 20% max. GPU @50%

 

Is hyperthreading disabled in BIOS? 

 

And those registry mods done with a Windows reboot?

 

And the Ultra/Ultimate Performance power setting enabled?

 

Just trying to work it out.  As the screen grab shows, that is my system when flying with my 110 career in Moscow forming up just after take off.  Before, my performance was similar to yours with under utilised CPU/GPU

Edited January 29, 2019 by blitze
change in naming of plan

[ironk79]

since i am playing in VR for over a year, i have dialed in my settings quite good, getting smooth performance everywhere, exept in career mode.

Most of the recommended settings already applied.

Engine isnt optimised, inactive static ground units inducing stutter doesnt make sence to me, just as the poor utilization of the CPU.

Maybe ill look into it this week, but for now, the two reg changes didnt work for me.

[BP_Lizard]

Four cores? My i7 shows 6 cores with HT disabled. Does that make a difference?

 

[blitze]

3 hours ago, BP_Lizard said:

Four cores? My i7 shows 6 cores with HT disabled. Does that make a difference?

 

It would as you have 2 extra cores.

 

I take it you don't have a i7 7700HQ - its probably a H  or a K model in the 8xxx series

 

I am planing a retest with reg edits but with hyperthreading enabled but after finish work and launching steam, I have everything wanting to fn update.  Grrrr.

 

Will post image of hypherthreading usage in Performance monitor whist under Il2 VR and also see if frames are similar or changed.

[blitze]

Ok, back into it.

 

With hyperthreading enabled frames stayed roughly the same but smoothness in flight gone especially when in a large furball.

 

Image of the thread usage posted, for me, going back to turning it off.

General computer responsiveness not that great either.

[blitze]

Update:

 

Another handy hint taken from the Pimax forum solving ST Bridge Commander.

 

# Nvidia Control Panel under Adjust Desktop Size and Position No.2 Apply the Following Settings - Scaling

** Set it to No Scaling where it sets Set a Scaling Mode.** 

The default Scaling Mode setting is Aspect Ratio. 

 

Changing this scaling setting has improved image quality through my Headset no end.  Landscape clarity and focus, less Aliaising - it is like wiping Vaseline off your lenses. 

 

The stuff we find that require changing from default install settings in Windows to get the most out of our hardware and software.  I thought it was a render resolution issue giving me the jaggies and compromised blurry landscape.

 

And I though DOS was bad.....?

[A_radek]

Blitze I appreciate the time and effort you take in documenting and sharing this. Not doubting you increased your performance but have you considered measuring it according to the benchmarking procedure? I think you would benefit from knowing exactly how much and in what situation you gain/loose performance.

Regarding HT and Turning it off, it will certainly make windows taskmanager show increased cpu-usage. This does not necessarily equate to increased cpu performance in the case of il2 though. Same phenomenon if you simply were drop in a +12 core cpu, windows would give you a much lower utilization number and the reverse result if you dropped in a 2-core cpu. It just doesn't show that main thread jumping from core to core as that would be rather painful to watch, but rather averages load across cores. So for il2: More cores(real or not)=lower utilization in performance monitor. 

[SCG_motoadve]

5 hours ago, blitze said:

Update:

 

Another handy hint taken from the Pimax forum solving ST Bridge Commander.

 

# Nvidia Control Panel under Adjust Desktop Size and Position No.2 Apply the Following Settings - Scaling

** Set it to No Scaling where it sets Set a Scaling Mode.** 

The default Scaling Mode setting is Aspect Ratio. 

 

Changing this scaling setting has improved image quality through my Headset no end.  Landscape clarity and focus, less Aliaising - it is like wiping Vaseline off your lenses. 

 

The stuff we find that require changing from default install settings in Windows to get the most out of our hardware and software.  I thought it was a render resolution issue giving me the jaggies and compromised blurry landscape.

 

And I though DOS was bad.....?

Just did this and no change.

[WB_jokkr]

On an Alienware R6 and can not disable hyperthreading through bios

 

any ideas

 

bob

[dburne]

26 minutes ago, JG26jokkmccarthy said:

On an Alienware R6 and can not disable hyperthreading through bios

 

any ideas

 

bob

 

What CPU do you have? Not all have hyperthreading.

If it does, bios is only way to disable it afaik.

[blitze]

1 hour ago, II./JG77_motoadve said:

Just did this and no change.

What HMD are you using?

 

People on the Pimax forums are seeing results with Pimax and Rift HMD's

 

Using Nvidia driver 417.75 with Windows 10 Home.  That has been the biggest improvement in image quality I have seen in the Pimax 8K.  Will look at Assetto Corsa to see how it looks too as that suffered similar visual issues as Il2.

 

As for benchmarking - my system is mediocre at best for VR, probably minimum.  I see no point as the benchmarks are mainly to see is 90fps is doable.  I'm flying at 40fps or so.  With the recent clarity fix I can now start dialing back AntiAliasing to probably 2x like I used to on my 1440p monitor.

 

What I have noticed though with Ultimate Performance power mode and Hyperthreading disabled is there are no stutters or micro freezes when a in game voice com is heard.  The image is smooth relative to 40fps, so normal movements in view changes = ok with large wild maneuvers in flying like aerobatics will give some slight skipping but it is still relatively smooth experience.

 

I will pick up a RTX 2080 and Razer Core X eGPU box in a week or so and I expect I can improve fps performance and graphics fidelity with the purchase.

 

Ah f-it I'll humor you with a VR Bench mark.  Give me a little time LOL?

[A_radek]

2 minutes ago, blitze said:

Ah f-it I'll humor you with a VR Bench mark.  Give me a little time LOL?

It's not really to see if 90fps is doable but to measure your own tweaks/optimizations with what you had prior to those. Sometimes a 2-3 fps gain on average is hard to notice. But knowing that last change was a gain.. well.. they all ad up. 

[blitze]

On second thought's - I can't be bothered.  Just reading through the instructions and with the addition of more software I am not going to want on my system - I'll Pass.

 

I would assume for Pimax 8K users Steam VR render would be set to 50% with PiTools at 1 and Normal FOV.

 

With Hyperthreading - to split the threads into 2 over each core probably adds latency and more overhead to the CPU.  A gimmick brought to us by Intel to make their CPU's look more impressive then they really are in response to AMD's multi core CPU architectures.  When it comes to Intel - I am quite Cynical.  At least with Nvidia their RTX is slowly showing some promise with optimisation of RTX supported games and newer drivers.  I don't like eithers' business practices just like I don't like Microsofts' or Apples. 

 

C'est la vie.

[dburne]

Hyperthreading has it's place where it is advantageous to run it, but not in games.

I myself really don't do anything on my PC that I would gain by having it enabled.

Edited January 30, 2019 by dburne

[WB_jokkr]

44 minutes ago, dburne said:

 

What CPU do you have? Not all have hyperthreading.

If it does, bios is only way to disable it afaik.

Its the 7700. Non K

 

Bob

 

 

As a report of effects of changes

 

I've implemented everything but for disabling hyperthreading.

 

When I first launch the game in career mode I am seeing a significant improvement in frame rate. It's moved up from 40-60 to 60-90 fps

 

I can see the difference.

 

But as time goes on, after 10+ minutes or so the rates are back down tp my old experience.

 

I don't get sick when playing in VR (scared occasionally) so what do the extra dames do for me. 

 

I tried single flight offline also. Same experience.

 

Bob

[dburne]

Yes that CPU is Hyperthreaded.

Certainly should have an option in your bios for that.

[[CPT]Crunch]

If your doing the other Alphabet sim besides BOX, and it fails on you after doing these tweaks, be sure it's the page file.  Just a fair warning.  The registry tweaks gave a slight pick up in frames, that is now converted to higher dynamic res settings, I'll take it.  Already had HT off, and page file don't do squat for BOX on my system, besides crash the other sim.   

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Guys, we know for a fact that windows' reported cpu utilization doesn't matter because it creates an average per second, which outputs lower if the single heavy weight thread jumps from one to the next.

To put it into perspective: A wouldbe single-core 100% utilization-app is 0.5 on one thread, maxes out, gets pushed to the next - and also remains there for 0.5. You get 50% utilization shown on both. Hence your "improval"... 

 

So what Blitze suggested is indeed useless (sorry buddy). The Newbs echo chambering useless information to each other won't change reality either. Sometimes I ask myself, what is their qualification, please! 

 

If you want to waste your time, go on ahead. None of what the guys like Blitze or McCarthy here reported holds any credibility - they ignored ceteris paribus conditions, didn't test anything under this and/or just told "based on my feelings". Even outright refused to test it or verify their own claims "On second thought's - I can't be bothered" - blitze. 

 

Sorry guys, but we must call a spade a spade. False information on this delicate topic of VR ghosting around on these forums (just remember when Ss*****, a guy who didn't even own any hmd, posted "Nvidia settings tweaks" that would crash SteamVR compositors), that's a no-go and must get called out.

 

 

Still ❤️ for trying to help. 

 

Edited June 15, 2019 by SCG_Fenris_Wolf

[dburne]

On 1/28/2019 at 4:09 PM, blitze said:

• Disabling Hyperthreading in the CPU (i7700HQ)
• Fixed pagefile which I set to 4096 (not sure why I hadn’t done that earlier)
• Enabling Maximum Performance Power Setting in Windows 10
   

 

#1 and #3 can certainly help and should be done and probably already is by most.

Not sure on #2, maybe it could help depending on how much system ram one has. I always just let Windows manage mine.

I would stay away from registry tweaks myself.

Edited January 31, 2019 by dburne

[blitze]

36 minutes ago, dburne said:

I would stay away from registry tweaks myself.

Nothing to be shy about.  Just backup your registry if you are a little worried.

[TUS_Samuel]

1 hour ago, SCG_Fenris_Wolf said:

cpu utilization doesn't matter because it creates an average per second

 

That is true. But as I remember we are getting 30-40% CPU usage on 4 cores. Blitze also has 4 physical cores on 7700HQ. Even if his CPU runs at 3.5 GHz instead of 5.0 he will see about 45-60% but he has 78% with HT disabled.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

That doesn't mean anything. This just doesn't switch threads as fast. That's why I put the example of time on a thread in there. The windows tool is useless. You get no magical performance bonus. 

 

Thats why people have developed 3rd party tools to measure it properly. 

 

You need to use software like fpsVR, it shows your headroom as well. Can find it on steam.