How much hardware do i have to throw at this game to get a playable career mode?

[fogpipe]

Before anybody gets triggered, this is a serious question. I have been through three different cpus and graphics cards and still a few missions into a career (especially the later maps), the game is so jerky and stuttery that, especially at start in the air, its a problem even controlling the plane, let alone aiming.

 

Im getting a consistent 120 fps (vsync on, up to 200 vsync off) and for a game to be as jerky and stuttery as this one is and to keep a consistent frame rate is new to me.

My specs are i7 10700kf, 2070 rtx super, 32 gigs of ram and every bit of data storage i have is an ssd, no spinning disks.

Checking task mgr neither the gpu nor cpu are being used at anything close to their limit.

So somebody tell me what i have to buy to get this game to run stutter free.

Edited March 26, 2022 by fogpipe

[Panzerlang]

Have all those CPUs and GPUs been on the same motherboard? What you have right now should be stomping all over the game so something is clearly bent. When was the last time you did a fresh install of the OS?

[R3animate]

Your hardware should be plenty. My old rig was a 6700k/GTX 1080/16gb and had no issues. 

 

Can you post your startup.cfg?

Are you using gsync/freesync, or just bog-standard vsync? 

What resolution are you running at? At 1440p or below you should be fine with that rig.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

59 minutes ago, fogpipe said:

Before anybody gets triggered, this is a serious question. I have been through three different cpus and graphics cards and still a few missions into a career (especially the later maps), the game is so jerky and stuttery that, especially at start in the air, its a problem even controlling the plane, let alone aiming.

 

Im getting a consistent 120 fps (vsync on, up to 200 vsync off) and for a game to be as jerky and stuttery as this one is and to keep a consistent frame rate is new to me.

My specs are i7 10700kf, 2070 rtx super, 32 gigs of ram and every bit of data storage i have is an ssd, no spinning disks.

Checking task mgr neither the gpu nor cpu are being used at anything close to their limit.

So somebody tell me what i have to buy to get this game to run stutter free.

Is this only in the career mode (as the title seems to suggest), or in general (quick missions etc. as well as career mode)?

[fogpipe]

Gsync compatible (the logo shows in the upper right to show its on) 2560 x 1440, bought this computer last april iirc and it has no trouble running other sims smoothly. If you can help i will be eternally grateful.  Quick missions work fine, as does PWCG missions. Startup.cfg :

[KEY = account]
	login = ""
	password = ""
[END]

[KEY = camera]
	cinematic = 0
	head_smooth = 0.76000
	hmd_restricted = 0
	shake = 0
	vr_zoom_speed = 0.00000
[END]

[KEY = force_feedback]
	amplitude = 1.00000
	enabled = 0
	force = 1.00000
[END]

[KEY = graphics]
	3dhud = 0
	adapter = 0
	bloom_enable = 1
	canopy_ref = 0
	desktop_center = 1
	detail_rt_res = 1024
	draw_distance = 1.00000
	far_blocks = 1
	fps_counter = 1
	fps_limit = 0
	full_height = 1440
	full_width = 2560
	fullscreen = 0
	gamma = 1.00000
	grass_distance = 100.00000
	hdr_enable = 1
	land_anisotropy = 2
	land_detail = 2
	land_tex_lods = 0
	max_cache_res = 1
	max_clouds_quality = 2
	mgpu_compatible = 0
	mirrors = 1
	msaa = 1
	multisampling = 1
	or_ca = 0.00000
	or_dummy = 0
	or_enable = 0
	post_sharpen = 0
	preset = 2
	prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = 155
	rescale_target = 0.50000
	shadows_quality = 3
	ssao_enable = 1
	vsync = 0
	win_height = 1440
	win_width = 2560
[END]

[KEY = input]
	exclusive = 1
	input_map = "input.map"
	mouse_plane_control = 0
	old_trackir = 0
	turrets_angle_limit = 0.00000
	turrets_dc = 0
[END]

[KEY = interface]
	forces_color_mode = 0
	language = "eng"
	log = "_gui.log"
	scale = 1.00000
	showcompas = 1
	showicons = 1
	units = ""
	withdebug = 0
[END]

[KEY = iservice]
	proxy_name = "alpha.il2sturmovik.net:443"
	register_url = ""
	server_debug = ""
	try_ping = 0
	try_web_port = 1
	use_proxy = 1
[END]

[KEY = network]
	available_ip = ""
	client_download_traflimit = 3000
	client_ip = ""
	client_upload_traflimit = 3000
	downloader_port = 28100
	server_download_traflimit = 3000
	server_upload_traflimit = 3000
	tcp_port = 28000
	udp_port = 28000
[END]

[KEY = sound]
	count = 32
	debug_radio = 0
	interface = 1
	interface_music = 1
	quality = 1
	speedenable = true
	volume = 0.68000
[END]

[KEY = system]
	bin_log_folder = ""
	chatlog = 0
	debug_info = 0
	debug_render = 0
	dlgbox_sky = 0
	gamelog = 0
	keep_binary_log = 0
	mgenlog = 0
	mission_text_log = 1
	modes = 0
	playoffline = 0
	reset_configs = 0
	reset_effects = 0
	reset_textures = 0
	sdebug = 0
	show_net_skins = 1
	skin_dir = "graphics\Skins\"
	text_log_folder = ""
[END]

[KEY = track_record]
	fx_sound = 2
	record_graphics_effect = 1
	record_ground_vehicles = 1
	tacviewrecord = 0
[END]

[KEY = updater]
	language = "eng"
	locales = "rus,eng,ger,spa,fra,pol"
	seed = 0
[END]

 

7 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Is this only in the career mode (as the title seems to suggest), or in general (quick missions etc. as well as career mode)?

Just career mode. Seems to run almost stutter free with PWCG and quick missions.

Edited March 26, 2022 by fogpipe

[fogpipe]

55 minutes ago, Hetzer-JG51 said:

Have all those CPUs and GPUs been on the same motherboard? What you have right now should be stomping all over the game so something is clearly bent. When was the last time you did a fresh install of the OS?

Not the same motherboard, actually 3 different pcs and if something were screwed up at the os level, other flight and space sims i play would be having problems too. The other sims i play, depending on graphics settings, might not run at the kind of blistering frame rate that il2 maintains, but ill take a smooth 50 or 60 over a jerky 120 anyday.

[unlikely_spider]

3 minutes ago, fogpipe said:

Not the same motherboard, actually 3 different pcs and if something were screwed up at the os level, other flight and space sims i play would be having problems too. The other sims i play, depending on graphics settings, might not run at the kind of blistering frame rate that il2 maintains, but ill take a smooth 50 or 60 over a jerky 120 anyday.

Did you do a clean OS install when changing motherboards? If not, that's the main thing I would recommend.

[fogpipe]

46 minutes ago, unlikely_spider said:

Did you do a clean OS install when changing motherboards? If not, that's the main thing I would recommend.

Not. A. Chance.

Not when every thing else is running smoothly without a problem and il2 has behaved this way on every machine i have run it on. No Thanks

[Waldo_Pee]

I had similar problems before ,am on 9900k, 32Gb, 1080Ti and what finally smoothed it all out was locking 58fps and set vsync to 'Fast'  in Nvidia control panel, also turm off far buildings visibilty in graphics options, that one seemed to be a killer!  everything else on ultra and maximum and now it runs like silk smooth!

In the campaign options I also noticed that even with a decent PC, setting the Frontline Activity to very dense can cause the dreaded slo-mo phenomenon.... set on medium there is still plenty going on!

Edited March 27, 2022 by Waldo_Pee

[40plus]

I've played this sim just fine, in VR no less, on a Ryzen 1700x, 1080ti, 16 Gb ram with settings close to maxed out. I now have a 3800x, 32Gb ram and the same 1080ti.... Your specs are more than good enough.

[Panzerlang]

Just spotted earlier replies. 

In-house career-mode only. Clearly something is being loaded into career that's too much for your (or anyone's probably) PC. A bug or glitch.

Fresh install of IL2?

Edited March 27, 2022 by Hetzer-JG51

[=ARTOA=Bombenleger]

Hmm how many pcie lanes does your graphics card have available? 

Are you running any pcie expansion cards? Dont think il2 would max out x8 pcie 3.0 on 1440p but perhaps it does? 

 

Edit:

Generally high fps with intermittent long stutters is usually a sign of a cpu/ram bottleneck. Whats your ram/xmp enabled? 

 

Edited March 27, 2022 by =ARTOA=Bombenleger

[AEthelraedUnraed]

10 hours ago, fogpipe said:

Just career mode. Seems to run almost stutter free with PWCG and quick missions.

Yeah, that wasn't quite clear from your opening post, and also by your wording which specifically asks for hardware. Whereas your problem is most likely, as Waldo_Pee suggested above, that you're simply running the career with too many active AI units.

 

As suggested, in the Career settings, set the Frontline Activity to Medium or so. When set to its maximum value, IL2 will basically simulate a full frontline for something like 50km on either side of your flight path. Even a supercomputer would struggle from that. Lower settings will remove some of those units, that you'll pretty much never notice anyway.

 

You might also think about reducing the career difficulty to Medium or so. The difficulty is quantative rather than qualitative; at high difficulty the game will generate much more aircraft (especially enemies) that can also clog your CPU.

[Yogiflight]

13 hours ago, fogpipe said:

Im getting a consistent 120 fps (vsync on, up to 200 vsync off) and for a game to be as jerky and stuttery as this one is and to keep a consistent frame rate is new to me.

I had serious issues when I tried to play career mode with unlocked FPS with my i7 12700KF and a RTX 3070. Locked the framerate to 60, gives a very smooth gameplay with no stutters at all with very high graphic settings and distant buildings activated. So my suggestion would be to lock the framerate to either 60 or what fits your monitor best.

[fogpipe]

1 hour ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Yeah, that wasn't quite clear from your opening post, and also by your wording which specifically asks for hardware. Whereas your problem is most likely, as Waldo_Pee suggested above, that you're simply running the career with too many active AI units.

 

As suggested, in the Career settings, set the Frontline Activity to Medium or so. When set to its maximum value, IL2 will basically simulate a full frontline for something like 50km on either side of your flight path. Even a supercomputer would struggle from that. Lower settings will remove some of those units, that you'll pretty much never notice anyway.

 

You might also think about reducing the career difficulty to Medium or so. The difficulty is quantative rather than qualitative; at high difficulty the game will generate much more aircraft (especially enemies) that can also clog your CPU.

Frontline is already activity is set to sparse, difficulty is already on medium.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

24 minutes ago, fogpipe said:

Frontline is already activity is set to sparse, difficulty is already on medium.

And you still have stuttering, and only in career mode?

I assume that, when you tried it on a different PC, you did a full re-install of IL2? If you simply swapped your SSD, now is the time to re-install (alternatively, if you use the Steam version, you can simply verify the integrity of the game files).

 

If that still doesn't solve your problem, can you post the generated mission (appears right after you've started the mission as data\Missions\_gen.mis)?

[unlikely_spider]

12 hours ago, fogpipe said:

Not. A. Chance.

Not when every thing else is running smoothly without a problem and il2 has behaved this way on every machine i have run it on. No Thanks

So I take it that's a maybe?

[TCW_Brzi_Joe]

I was reading this thread, wanted to help, and then went to check my own bios/uefi settings; I do not know how, but my hypertreading was again enabled???. I disabled it, and my fps have less peaks now.

Thx guys 

[dburne]

13 hours ago, fogpipe said:

Not. A. Chance.

Not when every thing else is running smoothly without a problem and il2 has behaved this way on every machine i have run it on. No Thanks

 

Hmm changing motherboards without a clean OS install is never a good idea. Whether this might be related to your issue is hard to say. Something is messing it up, with your rig you should have great performance.

If I were to troubleshoot that issue barring a clean OS install, I would first turn off all the processes in background that I can, and see how it runs. If better start adding them back in one at a time checking in between.

Edited March 27, 2022 by dburne

[1Sascha]

On 3/26/2022 at 11:24 PM, fogpipe said:

Checking task mgr neither the gpu nor cpu are being used at anything close to their limit.

Perhaps it's a different component then. How fast is your SDD? Not that I would expect this game to run poorly on a non-M.2 SSD (that's where I had it installed before building my new system), but you never know ....

 

Does the game even shuffle lots of data around once the mission is running..?

 

 

S.

[fogpipe]

On 3/27/2022 at 8:50 AM, AEthelraedUnraed said:

And you still have stuttering, and only in career mode?

I assume that, when you tried it on a different PC, you did a full re-install of IL2? If you simply swapped your SSD, now is the time to re-install (alternatively, if you use the Steam version, you can simply verify the integrity of the game files).

 

If that still doesn't solve your problem, can you post the generated mission (appears right after you've started the mission as data\Missions\_gen.mis)?

Yeah completely new hardware, new install on a samsung 870 qvo 1tb ssd.

[Voyager]

Honestly, I'd start with Thud's VR4DCS.com tuning guides and just walk through every non-VR setting he's got to see what does what. 

 

I was having a big problem with stutters a while back, and, for me, it turns out HAGS was periodically grabbing my GPU to ask it what to schedule next, and dumping the frames in the process... 

 

Yours is probably different, but I only found out because I was stepping through *everything* and that was the one that worked. 

[cardboard_killer]

26 minutes ago, Voyager said:

it turns out HAGS was periodically grabbing my GPU

 

I was married to one that was periodically grabbing my paycheck, so I feel your pain.

[69th_Panp]

Fogpipe

try changing your rescale target to this 

rescale_target = 1.00000

Sometimes capping your frames is just as bad as low frame rates stutter wise 

 

as the game is played it will try to maintain a specific frame target 

I had stutters when mine was anything other than 1.0000

It would usually happen when I was deep into a low level fight 

Chased the stutter for weeks and when I moved it to 1.0000 it all went away.

 

specs 

I 9 9900 K 

GTX 3090 

64 gigs of ram 

all disk ssd 

144 htrz monitor