Have AMD is Nvidia the way to go ?

[Aiboman]

Hi all

I purchased the Beta a long way back but only now just having another bash now its come on as far as it has

I have just picked up a DK2 and trying to get it working at its best in the game

I have been browsing this forum and with all the guides I have read about getting the best settings for the rift seem to all be geared towards Nvidia users ?

Is it that Nvdia is better supported ?

I am trying to get my DK2 setup using quite an old ATI Radeon 6950 2Gb card and was just wondering if I should be looking at swapping the card out to a more powerful Nvidia card ?

or does anybody here who is running ATI care to share some of there settings and tips etc ?

 

[Karnath]

I think at this very moment it is very much geared up for Nvidia cards, but this could all change with the launch new VR drivers and hardware

I keep reading good things about the way AMD are moving forward with their products and drivers for VR

http://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/technologies-gaming/vr

Nvidia VR SLI is just around the corner which again will give boosts to performance

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=130598

http://on-demand.gputechconf.com/gtc/2015/video/S5668.html

 

[Pate]

Nvidia seems to be more popular, but that does not necessarily make it any better for running DK2 in ED. I have heard people having success with AMD GPU, sorry I can not help further as I also have Nvidia card. Hopefully AMD owners speak up!

 

[Aiboman]

Nvidia seems to be more popular, but that does not necessarily make it any better for running DK2 in ED. I have heard people having success with AMD GPU, sorry I can not help further as I also have Nvidia card. Hopefully AMD owners speak up!

I now find myself in the lucky position on being able to pick up a Intel i5 4690K Devil's Canyon CPU & Board along with a GeForce GTX 980 card

How would that run Elite in the rift ?

 

[adoredtv]

I now find myself in the lucky position on being able to pick up a Intel i5 4690K Devil's Canyon CPU & Board along with a NeForce GTX 980 card

How would that run Elite in the rift ?

It'll give you the best performance you can currently get without spending nearly a grand on a graphics card.

You might want to wait a couple more months on the 390X (AMD are doing nice stuff regarding VR) but if you really can't wait then you're basically gonna be as good as it currently gets with the 980. You will however get very similar performance with a 970 and 290X, which are both an awful lot cheaper than the 980.

Really it comes down to how much cash you have to burn.

 

[Mazhurg]

Go with whatever provides you with the best performance / price ratio you are willing to get. Both NVIDIA and AMD top tier (single) cards provide good to excellent performance in ED, and both still require some work in multiple GPU settings - Driver updates for both coming soonish.

Newer cards, coming this summer will take great advantage of the next DX iteration, but this will not show in Elite Dangerous until FD update the Cobra engine.

As far as Rift drivers, Oculus is agnostic but HTC/VIVE seems to favour NVIDIA.

YMMV.

 

[rkodey]

I'm running a R9 280x, which is 1 generation newer than what you have I think.
I originally set ALL graphics settings to Off/Low, and was considering going to a 970 or 980. But, recently I've discovered that many of the options can be turned up without impact to FPS. So for now, I'm happy with the results! (In solo mode, anyway. Open play kills my FPS.)

- In CCC, I have AA etc set to "Use application settings"
- Also verify CCC sees the Rift as 75Hz
- In the graphics options, I have all set to Off/Low, the following that I have on whatever the Max is FX, Environment, Reflections, Materials
- But, if you're not already, start everything on low
- See this page, which is where I started: http://in2gpu.com/2014/12/16/elite-dangerous-performance-guide/

 

[rkodey]

...and just a week or so after my post I decided to get a GTX 970. (For several other reasons besides ED.) Anyway, I can report that moving from a AMD 280x to a GTX 970 was a very significant upgrade in performance. I went from most settings at Medium and Shadows Off in the 280x, to everything on High/Ultra with Medium Shadows, AND 1.2 DSR in the GTX 970, and the 970 is even smoother with all the higher settings. So, at least in my case the difference was fairly dramatic.

- turning Shadows on is a HUGE increase in immersion, especially in the rift. Medium Shadows look better to me than High, and the FPS is better as well.
- Going to High/Ultra for the Environment and Materials settings is also very noticeable. Big improvement.
- And then using DSR at 1.2 is also a big improvement.
- and like I said even with all those additional settings, the 970 is smoother, drawing less power, and running cooler

 

[crims0n]

I'm running a R9 280x, which is 1 generation newer than what you have I think.
I originally set ALL graphics settings to Off/Low, and was considering going to a 970 or 980. But, recently I've discovered that many of the options can be turned up without impact to FPS. So for now, I'm happy with the results! (In solo mode, anyway. Open play kills my FPS.)

- In CCC, I have AA etc set to "Use application settings"
- Also verify CCC sees the Rift as 75Hz
- In the graphics options, I have all set to Off/Low, the following that I have on whatever the Max is FX, Environment, Reflections, Materials
- But, if you're not already, start everything on low
- See this page, which is where I started: http://in2gpu.com/2014/12/16/elite-dangerous-performance-guide/

I also have an R9 280x and for the price/performance ratio it's great. I play fine with everything on low/off, even in Open Play.

 

[Hexcaliber]

FWIW my brother is playing on my old pc that includes an nvidia 670 and runs everything maxed with dsr set at 3840 X 2160 down sampled to 1080p and it runs at 60 + fps outside stations and around 40-50 inside. Iirc running it at a native 1080p he gets around 100 fps outside, anywhere outside, including asteroid belts, I was quite impressed (dropped him a txt to check that I got that right will update if wrong).

I play at 4k frame locked at 60 fps but I use dual 980's, I was going to do some experiments with one card and dsr etc but never got round to it.