New player VR Help

[DD_TBone]

Hi Folks,

I decided to get back into IL2 after 10 years away, got myself a VR headset (Rift S) and a copy of BOS.

so... heres my issue. running native steam version of IL2 im getting great FPS with good graphics settings. but on VR thats tanking to 25FPS, so im having to lower almost everything and Im still not even hitting the 90fps sweet spot, 80 is the best I have achieved., but the graphics and resolution are just crap as Im having to nerf all the settings pretty much, and the view distance is appalling, I cant make out what planes are until Im right up their ass. this is making the game unplayable in VR., and also the stuttering of the background when flying low to the ground on low FPS is making me feel very sick.

Ive tried resetting the VR sensors, and its not that, the tracking is fine, the game is stuttering.

Ill be as detailed as possible to see if you can help. but please ber in mind im not a computer genius.

my spec is as follows

i7 - 8700 3.2Ghz
16Gb DDR 4 RAM (not sure on exact clock speed)
GPU NVidia RTX  2070 8GB.

IL2 Settings using Native (No VR): the below screenshot is giving me 120FPS no problem. also this is running with HUD switched of in both instances.

The same settings on VR im getting 26FPS - Ive been told I can double that figure by a friend as he says on VR its FPS per screen. but even still, thats only 50FPS at best.

Im having to run the game through Oculus and Steam VR, I have read that Oculus needs to be running for VR, people have mentioned a work around to just run off steam VR, but I've not been able to find a solution that works.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really only bought the Rift to play IL2, and maybe a few other titles. and... this is the only VR game so far I am struggling with.

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by xxxXTBoneXxxx

[dburne]

Your CPU speed is a little weak for VR. If that was the K version cpu (8700k) you could probably overclock it higher to help.

I am assuming it is not the K version so if that is the case not much you can do on the cpu. This will hold you back.

 

Try reducing FXAA to 2x and see if it helps. Might also reduce clouds to say medium.

You won't see 90 fps in Rift S, it runs at 80 Hz. So you should see either 80 fps or 40 fps ( ASW). If it drops much below 40 fps it will not

be a good experience.

 

First remove that target fps number in the settings, this should be none.

You can not keep the Oculus runtime from running. You do however have an option to not run through Steam VR.

You can use Open Composite instead.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/9nxixe/systemwide_installation_for_opencomposite_released/

 

Most folks including myself find we get better performance with Rift running it through Open Composite.

Try the above and see if it will help your performance some.

 

 

[ZachariasX]

If 4.6 GHz doesn‘t cut it, then I guess I don‘t have to try. Running IL2 I get about 4.2 GHz on my 7900X on all cores, paired with a 1080. (Runs all maxed out at 1440p withsome 80 FPS, give or take in demanding scenarios.) Now Rift S is available again at a reasonable price. But together with the FB sign in requirement I‘ve read about... Bummer.

[dburne]

32 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

If 4.6 GHz doesn‘t cut it, then I guess I don‘t have to try. Running IL2 I get about 4.2 GHz on my 7900X on all cores, paired with a 1080. (Runs all maxed out at 1440p withsome 80 FPS, give or take in demanding scenarios.) Now Rift S is available again at a reasonable price. But together with the FB sign in requirement I‘ve read about... Bummer.

 

He listed his CPU at 3.2 GHz which was what I was basing my comment on.

If it is indeed boosting to 4.6 on all cores whilst running IL-2 then yeah he certainly should be seeing much better I would think.

Sounds like currently he is not even able to maintain ASW of 40 fps.

[ZachariasX]

23 minutes ago, dburne said:

If it is indeed boosting to 4.6 on all cores whilst running IL-2 then yeah he certainly should be seeing much better I would think.

Then his CPU would be seriously miconfigured. The vanilla 8700 has 3.2 GHz base frequency and 4.6 GHz max. boost, but I don't know that the default "all core" boost is. This one is the relevant for IL2.

[DD_TBone]

20 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

Then his CPU would be seriously miconfigured. The vanilla 8700 has 3.2 GHz base frequency and 4.6 GHz max. boost, but I don't know that the default "all core" boost is. This one is the relevant for IL2.

To all the above, yes I think its an i7-8700 3.2Ghz (not K) as it doesnt state that anywhere on the config list.
and also thats a massive bummer, as I only had that CPU fitted about 9 months ago. its part of the reason im on VR at all, I did a major upgrade to my old system after the CPU burnt out in my last rig. so I did it all, Cpu, Mobo, Ram and a new Gpu.

deciding to get a VR headset wasnt the intention at the time, but I thought I should be able to run it no problem on the upgraded chipset.

Ive read that IL2 has poor performance on VR due to the fact tha game engine is an older one, and that this is not really geared up to make the best of VR by using hyperthreading and multiple cores very effectively. Im not sure how much truth is in that.

I also have Star Wars Squadrons on pre-order, so I hope I dont have the same issues with that.

Im just curious, if this lack of CPU power is going to affect other titles that are VR supported on newer engines, or fully supported VR only games?
if it is going to be a problem going forward I will most likely upgrade to an Intel core i9 when money allows. my updated Mobo should hopefully support just replacing that. but thats not going to happen any time soon as I just laid out a massive wedge for the Rift.

I'll keep tweaking and see what improvements I can make, thanks for the link to the open composite. I will give that a try for sure...
but... regarding that, what is it, and how does it work?

T.
 

Edited September 14, 2020 by xxxXTBoneXxxx

[chiliwili69]

Welcome to IL-2 VR!

 

Something really really strange is happening in your PC to be at 25fps.

 

First thing, install some software to diagnose:

 

CPU-Z, it is a free tool just to get info of your hardware.

MSI-Afterburner, it is a free tool to monitor key data while you play.

fpsVR, it is a paid software (3$) which monitor CPU and GPU fps and other variables while you are in VR. This is a SteamVR app, so you will need to run SteamVR.

 

After running CPU-Z please, give us screen-shoots of the CPU, Mainboard and memory tabs when IL-2 is running. So we can know your Mobo model and memory speed.

 

With MSI-Afterburner you can configure it to monitor in trendlines the key variables: CPU temp, GPU temp, CPU clock speed, GPU load, etc while you play IL-2 VR.

(here we will see if the CPU clock speed is at 3.2 or at 4.8)

 

With fpsVR you will be able to see if the problem is CPU related or GPU related.

 

Perhaps you didn´t enable the TurboBoost option in your BIOS, this will allow your CPU to reach higher frequencies if the temperature, amperage and power is below the limits.

 

You can also read this old post with a number of items to review (the IL-2 performance tests are old and they don´t work):

 

5 minutes ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

Ive read that IL2 has poor performance on VR due to the fact tha game engine is an older one

 

Don´t worry, your PC (running the CPU at 4.8) should be more than OK to run IL-2 in your Rift-S with moderate graphics (like the game settings you use, perhaps clouds to medium).

[DD_TBone]

awesome I will do just that! I just need to figure out how all this works, im not used to messing with these sorts of things and in terms of VR im a total noob.

as for adjusting the BIOS, I have no idea how to do that. hopefully I can find a flick on youtube to help.

Edited September 14, 2020 by xxxXTBoneXxxx

[DD_TBone]

ok heres some screen shots from CPUz and Afterburner.

the game was running in the background on VR mode, plane is idling on the runway on a dogfight server. this is how I have been testing it, just by running up a provate dogfight server with just me in it. as thats how I train, taking off, landing and manouvres etc.... and I like to dick around with gun convergance etc,, but I hadnt go that far due to the performance issues.

I switched anti aliasing down to x2. and also running this through onecomposite as DBurne suggested.

just using onecomposite bumped the FPS meter up to 40FPS. so thats hopefully a start. the counter in game is reading 40 (Top figure) 90 (bottom figure)

I didnt take the plane up for a spin as Im working atm, and didnt have time, so have not been able to test framerates and comfort etc... just yet.
I can do that this evening.

 

 

 

 

maybe you can help me find a tutorial or explain how I can check to see if the BIOS has turboboost enabled? as I have no clue how to do that with Windows 10

Edited September 14, 2020 by xxxXTBoneXxxx

[dburne]

The bottom number (90) represents your Field of View.

[DD_TBone]

yes thats what I thought, but being new to the latest edition of IL2, I thought I'd mention it.

so from those screens from CPUz it looks as though the cpu is running at around 4.2Ghz. with the game running., though i may be wrong, im not sure how to read these things..

Edited September 14, 2020 by xxxXTBoneXxxx

[DD_TBone]

Ok so I have switched off Anti Aliasing on Oculus software, and I also dropped the rendering in game to 0.8, Im now seeing 80fps. so getting much improved results.
theres no more stuttering from the backdrop in the game. had a few jerky moments follwing a He111, but that was at least after both of his engines were on fire. lol

i'll keep tweaking and see what performance I can get and what feels optimal from an experience point of view and also graphics. but I just wanted to say thanks for your help guys.
I truly thought this was a lost cause, but this has helped me immensely.

only annoying thing is, with opencomposite the oculus software doesnt truly quit games so I need to reboot to be able to load up without Steam. but thats not a deal breaker.

Edited September 14, 2020 by xxxXTBoneXxxx

[dburne]

3 minutes ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

Ok so I have switched off Anti Aliasing on Oculus software, and I also dropped the rendering in game to 0.8, Im now seeing 80fps. so getting much improved results.
theres no more stuttering from the backdrop in the game. had a few jerky moments follwing a He111, but that was at least after both of his engines were on fire. lol

i'll keep tweaking and see what performance I can get and what feels optimal from an experience point of view and also graphics. but I just wanted to say thanks for your help guys.
I truly thought this was a lost cause, but this has helped me immensely.

only annoying thing is, with opencomposite the oculus software doesnt truly quit games so I need to reboot to be able to load up without Steam. but thats not a deal breaker.

 

Yeah having anti aliasing on in the Rift software, which I believe it defaults to, does cause a hit on performance in games. First thing I do when the software

updates is to make sure that is off.

 

Not sure on your last comment... but I am not running Steam version of the game.

[DD_TBone]

yeah it certainly appears to have been slowing things down considerably for me. im just unfamiliar with how the VR works and which settings over ride which. But I figure you can manage the AA in game anyway, and I certainly didnt notice any major differences with it switched off from the Oculus app.

I launched the game from Oculus, with Opencomposite running, and it didnt load thorugh steam. otherwise it boots up steam as well.
Oculus for some reason when I quit from a game still thinks its running. which is a bit odd, its not just IL2, it does it with other games I have as well.

 

Now I just have a long session ahead of me fine tuning, and getting those aricraft set up how I like them.
cant wait to get back into the skies again!

I play on full real, its the only way to go.

[dburne]

33 minutes ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

yeah it certainly appears to have been slowing things down considerably for me. im just unfamiliar with how the VR works and which settings over ride which. But I figure you can manage the AA in game anyway, and I certainly didnt notice any major differences with it switched off from the Oculus app.

I launched the game from Oculus, with Opencomposite running, and it didnt load thorugh steam. otherwise it boots up steam as well.
Oculus for some reason when I quit from a game still thinks its running. which is a bit odd, its not just IL2, it does it with other games I have as well.

 

Now I just have a long session ahead of me fine tuning, and getting those aricraft set up how I like them.
cant wait to get back into the skies again!

I play on full real, its the only way to go.

 

[chiliwili69]

3 hours ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

maybe you can help me find a tutorial or explain how I can check to see if the BIOS has turboboost enabled

looking at the MoBo manual: https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/PRIME_B360M-A/E13793_PRIME_B360M-A_UM_web.pdf

I see there is a section for Ai Tweaker, there I read Target CPU Turbo Mode Frequency. Here you should specify 4.6GHz since it is supportted by your PC (Assuming your CPU is good enough to keep CPU below 80 Deg C). Also, you can disable Hyperthreading in the BIOS, it doesn´t help with IL-2 VR if you have 6 physical cores.

 

Also in MSI AfterBurner you can detach the trendlines window and make it longer and with many variables. It would be interesting to see:

fps, CPU Temp, GPU Temp, GPU load, CPU frequency, Cores frequencies, cores temperature all in the same window view.

 

You RAM speed is 2133 Mhz (this is 1064 at dual mode). It is a bit slow for IL-2 VR. Your MoBo and CPU support until 2666MHz, if you find a 2x8Gb RAM modules at 2666MHz you will get some gain but maybe not worth. I don´t know if your CPU/Mobo can run with faster RAM (faster than 2666MHz )

[DD_TBone]

i will take a look at afterburner and see if I can post some screens with the trend graphs as you suggest.
again I'll have to do this a bit later as I will need to figure out how to get the display of the data as you suggest, and then run the app in the background.

but so far at least to say, progress has been made so far!

[DD_TBone]

here are the trend graphs

that was running at 80FPS, again idling on the runway in a deserted Dogfight server.

I switched the rendering back up to full, and dropped the screen res to 1080x768

seems as though the Anti aliasing from Oculus was the root cause of most of the issue.

its fluctauting between 70 and 80FPS while idling, I will try a flight a bit later and keep an eye on the framerate.

[Alonzo]

1 hour ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

here are the trend graphs

that was running at 80FPS, again idling on the runway in a deserted Dogfight server.

I switched the rendering back up to full, and dropped the screen res to 1080x768

seems as though the Anti aliasing from Oculus was the root cause of most of the issue.

its fluctauting between 70 and 80FPS while idling, I will try a flight a bit later and keep an eye on the framerate.

 

The graphs look a bit odd. Your GPU is at only 40% usage. Use Oculus Tray Tool HUD set to "Application Render Timing" and see if it's CPU or GPU time that is taking too long. You want to see frame times below 12.5ms for both.

 

I'm guessing your CPU frame times are a problem here too. You might be able to overclock your RAM and get a little more out of it, and you can overclock the 8700 by tweaking BCLK up to 102.9 mhz (gives you a tiny bit extra of extra performance). It also looks like you don't have the all-core boost set correctly, you are at only 4.3ghz according to CPU-Z.

 

Don't change the in-game rendering below 1.0. That setting is horrible. You'll be better off reducing your supersample in OTT.

[DD_TBone]

will the application render timing show up in game? or... how can I view the results?

[TWC_NINja]

15 minutes ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

will the application render timing show up in game? or... how can I view the results?

 

Yes, it shows in your headset.

 

[chiliwili69]

3 hours ago, xxxXTBoneXxxx said:

that was running at 80FPS, again idling on the runway in a deserted Dogfight server

Based in your image:

 

- You run 12 cores , 6 are software cores since you have Hyperthreading activated in your BIOS. So deactivate Hyperthreading.

- All your cores run at 4.3 GHz, this will be the limit set in your BIOS. So change it to 4.6GHz

 

From MSI afterburner, you can remove from graph all Core temps and Core clock, and monitor just CPU temp and CPU clock (so less variables in the chart)

 

Please, when installing MSI Afterburner you can also install the Riva Tuner option, so you will be able to graph frametimes, Min/Max/Avg, 0.1%, etc.

 

You can put just the 5 o 6 main variables in just one column, play the game for 10 minutes, then you look the graph.

[DD_TBone]

cool thanks for the advice chaps.

now just need to figure out how to alter the BIOS as I have never done that before.