Multiple application graphic settings - some guidance please!

Zeke Drexel · Jun 21, 2020

Hey all,

So I finally got a Rift S and am blown away by the VR experience in ED.

The only area I'm struggling to understand is how the various apps with their different graphic settings relate to each other to get the right balance of performance vs. quality.

I first tried playing with my regular ED install, then installed again in Steam VR, then eventually directly in the Oculus app, and have to say I've found ED performance and stability seems best when it's launched directly from with the Oculus library.

This also meant I could uninstall Steam & Steam VR to remove one more app and its settings. I also tried with the 'optimal' game settings in GE Force experience but didn't notice any difference so uninstalled that app too.

So I'm left with the graphics settings in the Nvidia control panel, the Oculus app, and within ED itself.

I have a pretty good understanding of how the ED graphics settings work, but what I don't understand is what the Oculus graphics settings should be on. There are two places this can be set - in the VR settings screen (I currently have it set to 'Automatic') and an additional one in the 'Devices' section. I currently have that set to 'Automatic' too, but it offers a choice of Performance or Quality.

Similarly in the Nvidia control panel: In the 3D settings area there are three options: 'Let the 3D application decide', 'Use advanced 3D settings' or 'my preference' for quality, performance, or balance.

Historically I always had it set to 'use my preference: Quality' - but now I'm wondering if it's better to 'Let the 3D application decide' as different VR apps will have different needs.

It's all a bit confusing for me as I'm not sure what I'm pushing or losing in the Oculus app or Nvidia control panel if I set them to quality vs. performance. What impact, if any, would they have on the in-game settings in ED?

Not sure if anyone here has a better handle on it all - my rudimentary logic tells me to set everything to automatic in Oculus & Nvidia, which should mean ED has full control of the GPU?

I never really worried about all this before as I was getting 80fps the majority of the time in ED, but now that I've introduced VR it drops to around 40fps with some stuttering and juddering depending on what I'm toggling in ED. I'm mostly okay with that as I've worked out what I can dial down in the ED settings to improve performance (thanks in part to the excellent guide here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/best-graphics-settings-guide.422735/)

But I can't help think I'm missing a trick somewhere with the Oculus & Nvidia settings if I leave them on automatic ...

Any pointers welcomed

Thanks.

Dragsham · Jun 21, 2020

Let windows decide or go for performance.
Supersampling set to 1
Hmd set to 1.5
Terrain on high
Others on high or ultra. But do one at a time.

Dragsham · Jun 21, 2020

Blur OFF
Anistroptic set to smaa

LutzBY · Jun 21, 2020

Check this thread, and use dr kaii's profilier. When i had rift s i played only with elite's settings, and i suppose you dont have to cus oculus soft is doing a great job of effectivly utilising GPU. And yes, oculus version of ED is better.

Zeke Drexel · Jun 22, 2020

Thanks for the responses guys. I was aware of some of that already - my question was more around what I am trading in performance or quality by updating the Nvidia or Oculus graphics settings. I guess I should just leave them all on automatic and only play with ED settings.

I ended up not using ED Profiler as I couldn't see the benefit in it above using the settings directly in ED. I also had a play with the Oculus tray tool, which is quite useful for showing the frame rate vs. performance overhead while playing with each setting in ED. It gives a good feel for which parameters are performance heavy.

aXeL · Jun 22, 2020

You will spend the next year fettling with your graphics settings regardless. I think, for what you're trading in performance and quality - only you can decide that according to what matters to you.

I keep my HMD at x1.5 but recently, I've knocked my SS down to x0.85 and I get a big boost in performance for no discernable loss in quality on my Reverb which is surprising because, previously, if I turned SS below x1.25 it started to look poor.

At the time I left the in game SS at x1.0 and turned up the SS in SteamVR instead and got all the nice visual benefit without the performance hit of ingame SS multipliers, however.... that was many updates ago for both SteamVR and ED.

Zeke Drexel · Jun 23, 2020

Yeah I did notice that reducing SS in ED gives a massive performance boost, but the visual change was noticeable enough for me not to drop it below 1.0

I’ve left the Oculus app & Nvidia control panel settings on “prioritise performance” for now and it seems OK enough.

I was really searching for an answer to know how the graphics settings in various apps (Oculus, Nvidia & ED) all related to each other so that I could fully understand what I’m changing and why, rather than just randomly changing stuff to see what happens. But I guess this might not be the right forum for that, and fettling is what one must do

[VR] Mad Life Crisis · Jun 28, 2020

I guess that you're talking about this:

The way That I understand it, is that if you select 'Let the 3D application decide', then whatever settings in the programs that you are using are set to, will override those setting in the Nvidia Control Panel. So, If in the 'Manage 3D Settings' (see below for clarification), it was set for 'Allow Vertical Sync', but in Elite you had V Sync turned off in the game's settings, V Sync would be disabled in that instance.

I hope this helps. I'm not sure about whether settings that aren't in the game are affected, such as threaded optimisation, so I'm afraid I can't say anything on that. Now that you've got VR, I expect you'll get quite used to Graphics Settings screens...