purchase advice gtx 1070/1080 | supersampling | htc vive

[Olle3000]

Hello commanders!
Im playing ED with htc vive, and as we all know there is this issue with antialiasing/resolution etc. Since it is really difficult to read in game, i concluded that i have to pay my way out of this, bcs i love the game so much, and bcs, as far i understand it gets a lot better with supersampling, am i right?
So to the questions:

- Does it really get a lot better with supersampling? Is it a very noticeable difference? (considering what a gtx 1080 costs)
- Is my computer (i7 4770, 32 gb ram) going to be enough for supersampling say 2.0 if i buy a gtx 1080? Or will a gtx 1070 do as well?

I am especially interested in hearing from commanders playing with htc vive, gtx 1070/1080 and supersampling.

Looking forward to your input

 

[mp4x]

Hello commanders!
Im playing ED with htc vive, and as we all know there is this issue with antialiasing/resolution etc. Since it is really difficult to read in game, i concluded that i have to pay my way out of this, bcs i love the game so much, and bcs, as far i understand it gets a lot better with supersampling, am i right?
So to the questions:

- Does it really get a lot better with supersampling? Is it a very noticeable difference? (considering what a gtx 1080 costs)
- Is my computer (i7 4770, 32 gb ram) going to be enough for supersampling say 2.0 if i buy a gtx 1080? Or will a gtx 1070 do as well?

I am especially interested in hearing from commanders playing with htc vive, gtx 1070/1080 and supersampling.

Looking forward to your input

It really does make a huge difference. I don't know about the comparrisons though, with the other CPU and card, but with my CPU anything over 1.5HMD and it drops too many frames loading an area or base. Once it loads it's largly fine, but those with a better CPU than me get this load/frame drop less than I do and run at 2.0. Mine is an i5 though, and runs at 100% load when I'm in VR ED

 

[Olle3000]

Ok. I bought a 1080 and tried SS 2.0 now. It works fine and looks really good, however, sth is different with the tracking, my head movements isnt really 100% corresponding to the game anymore, (and it is not bcs of low fps, it is smooth still). It gives some kind of motion sickness too. Dont know what has changed.

 

[mp4x]

Have you set up the SteamVR options regarding reprojection?

Ok. I bought a 1080 and tried SS 2.0 now. It works fine and looks really good, however, sth is different with the tracking, my head movements isnt really 100% corresponding to the game anymore, (and it is not bcs of low fps, it is smooth still). It gives some kind of motion sickness too. Dont know what has changed.

 

[Olle3000]

No i havent, honestly i dont even know what that is, although i have seen the term in forums including this one. If you could explain what it is and how i adjust it that would be great And btw 2.0 turned out to be too heavy, now im on 1.7 and have quite low framerates in and around stations.

 

[[HJ]-RedRaven]

In my opinion, SS should stay at 1.0, and HMD Quality should be kept at 1.25 or 1.5 for 1080GTX hardware.

You see the most benefit from moving the HMD Quality value up from 1.0 to 1.25, less from 1.25-1.5 and even less the higher you go.
Your cpu makes very little difference when it comes to the load generated by supersampling (either SS or HMD Quality) as its all handled by the GPU.
Geometry doesn't change so there's no difference for the CPU.

Supersampling is a brute-force method for overcoming the low resolution of the Vive (or the Rift).

In the SteamVr settings, only one of the reprojection options should be checked. Try the Interleaved Reprojection - your application frame rate will drop to 45fps but you'll see synthetic frames in between. You see 90fps but the GPU is generating 45 fps.
Some people experience a bit more nausea with this option (anecdotally), especially if their settings are really high and a lot of frames are being dropped.

Worry less about the actual frame rate and more about the 'experience' you see and feel (especially if motion sickness is an issue).

The 1080GTX can support pretty much maximum detail but a number of settings can be dialled back to gain performance without compromising the graphics feel.
Drop Blur to Off
Depth of Field to Off
Shadows to Medium
Bloom to Medium (lowest setting)
Ambient Occlusion to Low

 

[Gortron]

I have found the same as RedRaven. SS 1.0 and HMD quaility at 1.25 on a GTX 1080 with the Oculus rift is about the sweet spot to push the GPU and Mostly be able to maintain 90FPS.

The settings I use are the VR ultra default but with the above changes plus AA set to FXAA. I have in the past used VR medium or low and SS 1.25 and HMD at 1.5 which will Mostly maintain 45FPS with ASW (Reprojection I think is the same thing on the Vive) and while it image is clearer you get strange graphical anomalies, that once seen can't been unseen.

The graphical graphical anomalies bugged me so much that I had to find the 90FPS the sweet spot, which was quite difficult.

 

[[HJ]-RedRaven]

SS 1.0 and HMD quaility at 1.25 on a GTX 1080 with the Oculus rift is about the sweet spot to push the GPU and Mostly be able to maintain 90FPS.

The settings I use are the VR ultra default but with the above changes plus AA set to FXAA. I have in the past used VR medium or low and SS 1.25 and HMD at 1.5 which will Mostly maintain 45FPS with ASW (Reprojection I think is the same thing on the Vive) and while it image is clearer you get strange graphical anomalies, that once seen can't been unseen.

The graphical graphical anomalies bugged me so much that I had to find the 90FPS the sweet spot, which was quite difficult.

Yes, my experience exactly. I don't like how ASW turns on too soon, and doesn't turn off easily either. I don't like the menu bleed or the wiggly HUD lines when you shift your head.
I just disable ASW every time by Ctrl-Numpad 1.

Imo, with a 1080 or TitanX pascal, you can safely ignore ASW and 45fps fakery. (I appreciate its still an expensive solution, am still paying the wife for it lol)

 

[Olle3000]

So i set my hmd quality to 1.25, ingame SS 0,65x and steamvr SS 1.8 and it works good. But what is the difference between the ingame SS and the steamvr one? Shouldnt only one of them be applied actually? It seems strange to have two different SS at the same time no?

 

[CptXabaras]

Why everybody is sacrificing shadows? Can be kept in high without problem and and makes a huge quality difference, especially in the SRV.

 

[[HJ]-RedRaven]

Why everybody is sacrificing shadows? Can be kept in high without problem and and makes a huge quality difference, especially in the SRV.

I sacrifice the shadows because I don't mind them being a little blocky on medium, and it keeps my frames up a bit. I don't use ASW so I need a bit better raw frame rate.

 

[paulkemp]

The graphical graphical anomalies bugged me so much that I had to find the 90FPS the sweet spot, which was quite difficult.

How are you doing on the search for the spot? Sweet spot that is? I want it to maintain 90fps, ideally in stations and when jumping out of hyperspace. I am willing to dial down everything to achieve this. Also on the 1080.

 

[shadragon]

In my opinion, SS should stay at 1.0, and HMD Quality should be kept at 1.25 or 1.5 for 1080GTX hardware.

You see the most benefit from moving the HMD Quality value up from 1.0 to 1.25, less from 1.25-1.5 and even less the higher you go.
Your cpu makes very little difference when it comes to the load generated by supersampling (either SS or HMD Quality) as its all handled by the GPU.
Geometry doesn't change so there's no difference for the CPU.

Supersampling is a brute-force method for overcoming the low resolution of the Vive (or the Rift).

In the SteamVr settings, only one of the reprojection options should be checked. Try the Interleaved Reprojection - your application frame rate will drop to 45fps but you'll see synthetic frames in between. You see 90fps but the GPU is generating 45 fps.
Some people experience a bit more nausea with this option (anecdotally), especially if their settings are really high and a lot of frames are being dropped.

Worry less about the actual frame rate and more about the 'experience' you see and feel (especially if motion sickness is an issue).

The 1080GTX can support pretty much maximum detail but a number of settings can be dialled back to gain performance without compromising the graphics feel.
Drop Blur to Off
Depth of Field to Off
Shadows to Medium
Bloom to Medium (lowest setting)
Ambient Occlusion to Low

This.

Nausea is usually an indication of low frame rates/dropped frames. Follow RedRavens steps and things should improve.

 

[Heavenly-Hammer]

Yes, it gets much better with supersampling.

Yes, the 1080 is a far better experience.

Whether you should wait for the inevitable 1080Ti announcement or not is your choice.

 

[[HJ]-RedRaven]

I think its very subjective... the Rift and Vive pixels are still there. You're only seeing half the resolution of a typical 1920x1080 monitor. (2160x1200, half for each eye = 1080x1200 viewable in 3D).

A super-sampled image is still a low-resolution image - but the aliasing is somewhat smoothed and less obvious because the image is making the best use of the few pixels.

The 1080Ti will likely only allow an incremental bump as far as supersampling goes. Perhaps it will outperform Titan X Pascal - but I'm betting a 1.75x supersampling with max detail settings will be usable in VR (I know some are running 2.0 on ASW/interleaved etc)and perhaps a 2.0 with some loss of detail at 90fps. We'll see.

 

[Lucius-Darcia]

Hello commanders!
Im playing ED with htc vive, and as we all know there is this issue with antialiasing/resolution etc. Since it is really difficult to read in game, i concluded that i have to pay my way out of this, bcs i love the game so much, and bcs, as far i understand it gets a lot better with supersampling, am i right?
So to the questions:

- Does it really get a lot better with supersampling? Is it a very noticeable difference? (considering what a gtx 1080 costs)
- Is my computer (i7 4770, 32 gb ram) going to be enough for supersampling say 2.0 if i buy a gtx 1080? Or will a gtx 1070 do as well?

I am especially interested in hearing from commanders playing with htc vive, gtx 1070/1080 and supersampling.

Looking forward to your input

The GTX 1070 is good enough for 2x supersampling and your cpu looks also ready for it. Just make sure that you have a good cooling system. I've needed watercooling because cpu and gpu started to get VERY hot in supersampling. Now with watercooling all back to 2°C above room temperature.
The cooling is here the most important.