My experience:
I fly exclusively in single player so I can’t comment on multiplayer experiences. Interestingly, I get better performance at 1440p VS 1080p (which was my normal setting). The motion is smooth and stutter-free, with an occasional hiccup. I also don’t have the ghosting that others have reported (or at least I don’t notice any). I did turn off SSS due to the strange shadow effects.
With monitor:
My fps range anywhere from 110 to 160+ depending on the aircraft, phase of flight, and map. The Apache did dip my fps to around 65 but evened out to around 120+.
With VR:
My fps drop by about 30 to 40 percent. Still, the experience is good but not great. I think some issues are related to my G2 (That’s another story for another time). Oh, I forgot to mention that I made the switch from Steam VR to OpenXR a while back so my experiences are based on the latter.
I think I covered everything.
I have noticed that my jet does not seem to cast shadows while on the Sinai map. This is something I will investigate at a later time. I’m not sure if it it related to the map or something else.
Speaking of B550, I’m thinking of switching from my 9600k to a B550 and 5800x3d (I think it was) becuse they aren’t too expensive at the moment, but I’m not sure how much that will even help with my 3060–though I am frequently CPU-bound.
Setting terrain textures to low will most likely help with that but I had to switch the setting to high with the Normandy 2 release because the low textures on Normandy 2 are amazingly awful. I barely notice a difference on other maps but with Normandy 2 it’s like someone smeared vaseline all across the ground and the high quality buildings stand out like a sore thumb.
Have you cleared your shader cache after upgrading? And how long does this bad performance last?
Because I expect DCS 2.9 to need new shaders. Clearing the shader cache after the upgrade might help, but mostly the new shaders need to be compiled (by your CPU) on the fly, whenever they are first needed.
This seems to match your observation of severe FPS drops and a very busy CPU core. So give it some time, it might get a lot better. After a while of flying the same aircraft on the same map, your shader cache should be nicely filled for the stuff you’ve been looking at and framerates should even out
Wondered about that. I tried to compare specs and decided it was a wash. Just never hear anyone compare these two - I have the 5900X also and am getting “CPU Bound” message in DCS.
You don’t need SteamVR with Quest, but you do with Pico 4. As per the VD dev’s website, the Pico would need a change to it’s basic API for him to be able to bypass SteamVR, which is unlikely to happen with the current headset. Same with another one which eludes me right now.
I always do that - I’m going to delete the User files folder as well before I test next time - just keep the input one in place.
The bad performance is everywhere compared to 2.8, but it’s worse on the ground at bases. Even alone at bases.
edit - having said all that, I just remembered that I was really impressed with “bogey spotting”.
There was a flight of two other Hogs in the area and once the movement had caught my eye i had no problems tracking them visually, flying at low altitude over the terrain below me! Found it amusing that even after the aircraft was lost in the distance, I could still see its shadow moving along the ground
Unfortunately the screenshots I took in DCS World didn’t come out at all. That’s weird - usually not a problem. Only the ones I took with the Pico did.
To everyone with multi-thread and CPU bound issues, have you unparked your CPU cores? Seems to affect the more recent generation CPUs and there is virtually no downside to trying (unless you’re on a laptop— cpu core parking is essentially a battery saving feature). Your mileage will vary.
The 5800X3D has an additional 64MB L3 cache bringing it up to a whopping 96MB vs just 32MB per CCD on the 5900X. That additional cache makes a massive difference in games and easily makes up for the slightly lower clockspeeds it necessitates and then some. This makes the 5800X3D one of the best gaming CPUs on the market. It’s just a shame it’s on a platform that reached its end of life.
Ah - found it. Not the website, it was Mbucchia’s post on Ed forum:
He says SteamVR must be used for OpenXR. The post is from January and the tool you quote is new - but it requires the beta VD and for reasons I already posted, I won’t use that. Installing the beta previously caused all kinds of problems when the app was later updated automatically, and also cross-platform.
Would that mean upgrading to a 5800x3d wouldn’t be such a wise choice considering future-proofing? I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the best choices for DCS VR with the whole multithreading issues on the latest-gen Intels and GPUs still selling for as much as a used car.
I installed the VDXR beta yesterday, and it’s like night and day. Can only recommend it!
With SteamVR and generally low settings, I chugged along at 50 FPS on Marianas in the Huey.
With VDXR beta, FPS shot up to 70-80 with a lot of settings on medium or high even.
Pico4, 5600x, 3080.
Not at home now, so cant give more detailed settings atm.
Edit: upped VD resolution to Ultra, and put on shadows and clouds, so now FPS hovers around 60. A good base for activating reprojection and locking FPS at 45. Happy days.
I think it’s pretty simple. If you’re already on AM4 with a second gen Ryzen CPU it’s a no brainer but if you have a 5900X it’s not worth it. If you are changing platforms I would recommend to go with AM5 and a Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Of course it’s more expensive but AM5 is going to stay with us for a while.
