PC1 Horrible optimization?

[Richard Eriksson]

Ok, so i've been a long time Team Member and today used my discount and got the release version...

To my horror the horrible optimization is still there.

My GPU sits at 55% usage at the start of the race some times, with CPU load around 80% max, but framerate takes a dive into low 40s...

Something is stalling in the rendering still.

And still, if you add rain, it kills performance without taxing the GPU, something is wrong in the code. Been like this for at least a year now. Still there in release.

Too bad.

Hardware:
GTX 980 SuperClock 1342MHz. 4Gb. VRAM
16Gb. RAM
CPU@4.2 GHz. 4 core


Problem is worse on some tracks, Spa being a notorious problem maker.

Changing settings does little, as you would expect, since both GPU and CPU is underutilized.

Don't go for screenshot quality for PR, if you can't code the damn thing to run properly in motion.

As for the feel of the sim itself, it's still only so-so, but the immersion is nice. Shame it has problems still.

Any ideas on settings?

Else i'll wait, like i've done since being one of the first sponsors on WMD... Because it still feels unfinished.

 

[jimortality]

Ok, so i've been a long time Team Member and today used my discount and got the release version...

To my horror the horrible optimization is still there.

My GPU sits at 55% usage at the start of the race some times, with CPU load around 80% max, but framerate takes a dive into low 40s...

Something is stalling in the rendering still.

And still, if you add rain, it kills performance without taxing the GPU, something is wrong in the code. Been like this for at least a year now. Still there in release.

Too bad.

Hardware:
GTX 980 SuperClock 1342MHz. 4Gb. VRAM
16Gb. RAM
CPU@4.2 GHz. 4 core


Problem is worse on some tracks, Spa being a notorious problem maker.

Changing settings does little, as you would expect, since both GPU and CPU is underutilized.

Don't go for screenshot quality for PR, if you can't code the damn thing to run properly in motion.

As for the feel of the sim itself, it's still only so-so, but the immersion is nice. Shame it has problems still.

Any ideas on settings?

Else i'll wait, like i've done since being one of the first sponsors on WMD... Because it still feels unfinished.

Can I make a suggestion, try the GForce experience to optimise it. It worked well for me.

 

[Vladimir Antic]

Thats something on your end im sure, I have 970 and get stable 60 on almost everything at max

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Thats something on your end im sure, I have 970 and get stable 60 on almost everything at max

At the back of a 20 car grid? In rain? If so, please share a screenshot of your settings and i'll check. Tried it on a second rig with a 970. Same underutilization there.

I get solid 60 fps maxed with less AI of course but i need 20 or more AI to be good and use the hardware better.

 

[Chadd]

Not sure if this is much different than a 970, but I have 780ti SLI, and I can run a full grid at Le Mans in the back with rain and I get a solid 60 fps. That's also running almost all settings at high/medium on triple screens

 

[William Wester]

@Richard Eriksson, "seems" like something on your end, I'm having great performance with most settings on High/Ultra except for a few settings known to drain performance (grass/blur off, reflections/environment Med., ...) but everything looks fantastic and I can maintain 60 FPS (vSync). I recently switched from triple screen to a 21:9 UltraWide so I could turn up the eye candy.

EVGA GTX 980 SuperClock 4GB @3440x1440 - MSAA
i7 @ 4GHz
16 GB RAM

Watkins Glen, Formula B, cockpit cam, 23 AI, start at back
17:00 light clouds: GPU 52-54%, CPU 53%
20:00 storm: GPU 82-84%, CPU 58%

Oulton Part, Formula B, cockpit cam, 23 AI, start at back
20:00 storm: GPU 84-88%, CPU 58%

Edit: I get just as good performance as my other sims, but some don't look as good.

 

[jimortality]

I'm running a GTX 770 and I can get medium high with rain 22 ai vsync lovely 60fps smooth as. If you're going for full on ultra, you might want to check out some youtube vids as there doesn't seem to be that much difference between the settings. All the fancy stuff like reflections , track details is only slightly better. A watched a vid by candyland or something and they explained what all the graphic settings do.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Same boat I upgraded from a r9 290 to a gtx 970 ssc 4gb as well as 21:9 ultrawide 3440 x 1440p
i7 2600
I've yet to see it drop below 60 fps with vsync on I've been running career mode 20 cars rain and during the night all good
all visuals on except heat wave
X16
high resolution
msaa on
SMAA med
reflection high
environment med
car track ultra
shadows high
shadows and enviro map seem to be the fps killers

 

[Richard Eriksson]

I'll try your settings to see how it goes... However there is some rather odd underutilization going on still where hw is not used fully i think.

But interesting about environment mapping, as it is a separate setting from reflections in this title. I am guessing reflections refer to the amount and enviro map to the resolution and update frequency.

Still, the visuals are nice in ultra bit not THAT nice... Still a mixed bag really. Some stuff looks amazing while textures for instance look a bit bland.

More ppl please post your settings and i'll fiddle some more with it.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Same boat I upgraded from a r9 290 to a gtx 970 ssc 4gb as well as 21:9 ultrawide 3440 x 1440p
i7 2600
I've yet to see it drop below 60 fps with vsync on I've been running career mode 20 cars rain and during the night all good
all visuals on except heat wave
X16
high resolution
msaa on
SMAA med
reflection high
environment med
car track ultra
shadows high
shadows and enviro map seem to be the fps killers

Tried it on 6 different systems now, all with different GTX cards ranging from 770 to 980 SC

All exhibit the same issue, low usage on GPU/CPU at times with low framerates.

Tell me, can you try 19 AI in let's say DTM merc, start at the back, in rain? What is your FPS? Mine is around 48-65 with your settings. That's awful low.

Seems to be high CPU utilization though... 85% across the cores... On all 6 PCs using your settings.

But as for you having smooth 60 fps in the above scenario on a 970.. i don't see it.

And when comparing, don't go on "feel", get a counter and look at the fps numbers.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

@Richard Eriksson, "seems" like something on your end, I'm having great performance with most settings on High/Ultra except for a few settings known to drain performance (grass/blur off, reflections/environment Med., ...) but everything looks fantastic and I can maintain 60 FPS (vSync). I recently switched from triple screen to a 21:9 UltraWide so I could turn up the eye candy.

EVGA GTX 980 SuperClock 4GB @3440x1440 - MSAA
i7 @ 4GHz
16 GB RAM

Watkins Glen, Formula B, cockpit cam, 23 AI, start at back
17:00 light clouds: GPU 52-54%, CPU 53%
20:00 storm: GPU 82-84%, CPU 58%

Oulton Part, Formula B, cockpit cam, 23 AI, start at back
20:00 storm: GPU 84-88%, CPU 58%

Edit: I get just as good performance as my other sims, but some don't look as good.

Please post a screenshot of your settings and i'll replicate them and see.

 

[William Wester]

Please post a screenshot of your settings and i'll replicate them and see.

Will do... I have my son's college graduation today but should have some time tonight.

 

[townnet]

Thats something on your end im sure, I have 970 and get stable 60 on almost everything at max

Try storm rain at night with full grid and all ultra then you will know it...

 

[Vladimir Antic]

I will, but if the frame drops under those circumstances you cant say its badly optimized.
Thats pushing the limit and pCars is already near photo realistic in some cases.

If the game on that system ran low framerates with 10 cars thats bad optimization.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

I'll check later on, similar circumstances I was running a 20 car race at oulton park in the fog and rain I was at the back of the pack entering the last right hander before the the straight and it dipped to 54 fps for a split second.
the only oddities I've in countered thus far on a few tracks with tight turns is that it stutters slightly while at 60 fps.
Maybe Iam not seeing other things due to having such terrible performance with the amd gpu for so long lol
the difference in clarity/smoothness and performance are night and day

 

[Vladimir Antic]

Tried it 30 cars night, storm al maxxed out execpt anti anti aliasing which is set MSAA high.

40 fps at start, then between 37-60 depending on cars on screen. That very good if u ask me and not any case of bad optimization.

Maybe your AA i set to high.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Got a different idea earlier and decided to lend my card to a pal with a newer CPU.

His CPU is a newer I7, but with lower clocks than mine, i have an I5 3570k @ 4.2GHz. while his is a 3.6 GHz. newer I7.

This proved one thing for sure... The game is optimized for the new consoles, as it seems to be set to run at low clockspeeds but on many threads.

The I7, with HT enabled gave an increase of nearly 25 frames per second, using my GPU.

Wcited by this find, we did the same thing on an AMD pc, but that gave worse results than the I5, despite the AMD one being "octacore" (probably because AMD is basically using a different threading model).

So it seems to have some strange thread optimization going on, probably PhysX-related. As a developer, i am suspecting that this is the PhysX adaption for consoles being used, but it's just a hunch... But looking in the games folder there are custom PhysX-files.

Another avenue to investigate.

The main point is still that hardware is not utilized properly though. I will wait for some settings from @William Wester and check.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Tried it 30 cars night, storm al maxxed out execpt anti anti aliasing which is set MSAA high.

40 fps at start, then between 37-60 depending on cars on screen. That very good if u ask me and not any case of bad optimization.

Maybe your AA i set to high.

Specs on your setup?

 

[jimortality]

Have you tried the Gforce experience yet?

 

[William Wester]

@Richard Eriksson, here you go. Talking about optimization, I have had more problems with rFactor 2 than any of my other sims, Project CARS included. But, after trying different settings I have rFactor 2 looking good enough. Each sim has one or two settings that can drain performance, most of the time related to shadows or reflections. pCARS doesn't need every setting at Full/Ultra to look good.
I have also included my nVidia Inspector settings for Project CARS but I don't think I changed much at this point in time.