PiTool 262, excellent performance

Pimax Play Discussion
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PiTool 262, excellent performance: can’t crash the frame rate. Did anyone else experience this?

In Elite Dangerous (ED), I suffered late CPU starts (minimum 3-4ms up to 6-8ms looking at SteamVR Performance Graph) throughout all PiTools versions in Windows 1909/2004, leading to stuttering on anything else other than ED absolute minimum settings.

Running an i9-7900x, 32GB, 2080Ti, Pimax 8K (normal FOV, 72Hz and rendering quality 1.0), SteamVR at 100% and ED at absolute minimal settings, the VR-performance was simply unacceptable to use.

After way too much tinkering to get ANY combo or Windows10 (1909 and 2004), PiTool, SteamVR and Elite Dangerous tuned for good performance (or any for that matter), I put my Pimax 8K on the shelf. Next, I dusted off my old HTC Vive to use. No late CPU starts, a great VR-performance and I enjoyed my Vive for a few days. Piss poor FOV though! :pensive:

Tinkerers by nature, right? The Pimax 8K ED poor performance kept bothering me. What did I miss? Enjoyed the Vive, but I wanted my 8K to work well before the 8KX would arrive.

Saw PiTool 262 release online.
I reinstalled Windows 10 2004 from scratch with Steam, SteamVR and Elite Dangerous. For testing purposes, I left everything at default (untouched, no alterations). Made a system-clone for re-use later.

Installed PiTool 262 and used the Pimax 8K. Again, I left everything at default (untouched, no alterations). ED gave me a stunning performance, so I tried to push to see how far I could go:
nVidia Panel Settings: let application decide
PiTool: rendering 1.0, 72Hz, normal POV
SteamVR: SS at 100% (manual override)
Elite Dangerous: except Shadows (Low), Ambient Occlusion (Off), Galaxy (Med), all other settings at max setting with HMD quality at 1.5.

I can’t get the thing to crash below 72Hz: foggy space stations, loaded RES, complex planetary bases and hazy mountainous terrain are all running smoothly without a single frame drop (CPU 3-8ms, GPU 4-12ms). Confused the hell out of me.

So, I decided to test it out. Restored the Windows 10 2004 made earlier and ran each PiTool (250’s up to and including 261beta) for testing. No joy: high CPU usage, late CPU starts, GPU underutilized, you name it. Basically unusable. I installed PiTools 262 and it’s completely smooth, not a single frame drop. CPU usage is lower than before (NO late starts at all) and the GPU is now properly utilized (60-98%).

Pimax, I don’t know what you did, but you did a great job. Seems your new, built-in GPU optimization works well! Thank you. You made my 8K a fantastic kit again.

Edit: Posted as a reply in PiTool 260. This is 262.

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Yes. v262 is perfect version. Best FPS ever (at least for 2080ti users).
Almost 100% gpu usage and no stutter (if HAGS is off). Very nice.

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really good on my gtx1080 ti also :slight_smile:

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The changelog mention they removed the Catalyst feature. As far as I remember, the feature was kind of a workaround to GPU underutilization. Then, was it fixed?

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The catalyst setting in no longer there, however the feature was inconsistent(increased performance but with dropped/‘broken’ frames) for me anyway.

I’d also like to add that this PiTool has finally ‘lifted’ the bottleneck I was getting up until this release. My GPU was always throttling at 60C in vr, I now see full utilization and temps at 70C on average.

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Wow, that sounds awesome, got back from traveling and will install the 262 right away!

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My understanding is that the feature still exists (but is hidden from view). Originally, it was automatic, then exposed as a manual setting, and then improved and made automatic again.

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Definitely the best PiTool as of now! Played NoMansSky before and after 262. The difference is huge! Before i got like 60% GPU usage and the catalyst feature was giving me stutter. After i could crank up settings, FOV and refresh rate and my 2080ti is finally at 90% or so :sunglasses:

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Hi - could you please share your resolution as shown in SteamVR? HMD quality at 1.5 has never gotten me above 50 fps, sounds like a killer, I don’t understand how you could get 72+ fps with that.

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It may be because I’ve finally overclocked my 2080ti a bit, but the performance of 262 just seems to keep getting better.
Project cars 2, (Fov normal) using the non-steam vr version (so no parallel projections), I never get less than 40 fps with smart smoothing on, but for about half the race I am getting 80 fps! I’ve never gotten close to that before.
And No man’s sky, I’ve set the fov to Large, and pushed the pitool supersampling to X2 (gives 30-40 fps) or X1.5 (gives solid 40 fps, sometimes a bit higher, with smsmooth).
It has never looked and played better. (And this with using mods which increase the draw distance of objects and tessellation, so there is less pop-in, and those mods hurt frame rates).
I am very very happy with this latest iteration of Pitool.

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2920x2560 with PiTool 1.5, SteamVR 40% and normal FOV. Smart smoothing ON with stable 45 fps (everything ingame on normal, shadows low). Before that i could only play with 36 fps on small FOV and less SS…

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OK, just force updated windows to 2004 and activated the GPU scheduling, new pitool and other updates and tested ACC, damn never had that before, used to be about 54FPS, now hitting 80!!

IMG_20200726_143604
IMG_20200726_1436043000×4000 3.04 MB
IMG_20200726_143631
IMG_20200726_1436313000×4000 3.12 MB

I do have a running vertikal bar in ACCs menus, but not in game/racing. I guess an ACC bug.
Will check. More games tonight.
Very promising!
(Sorry, phone app/browser got stuck)

Edit: I removed the GPU scheduling again, it caused the menue flickering issues and does not add any benefits as of now for me. All FPS boost is pitool related.

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Care to share your spec’s and settings, i’ve been wanting to play ACC since early access but have never been able to get it to run properly without MS, from your screen shot it looks like I would be able to as i run at 72hz?

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do you use 2080ti whit GPU scheduling?

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My Specs
i9 -9900k, EVGA RTX2080TI, 64GB RAM
I used 1.25x in PITool, Aggressiv FFR, Normal FoV and Steam at 100%.
For ACC, settings are in this thread (near bottom):
https://community.openmr.ai/t/assetto-corsa-competizione-settings-help/29042

Details to the machine:

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Yes I do, I just updated win and went straight to trying it.
I enabled GPU Scheduling and Variable Hz.

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I had some time with the 262 PiTool yesternight. Mainly it runs very good.

I did have an issue in ACC - vertikal bars (looked like parts of the picture from another position) that flickers through the image - and then strong stutters, especially when moving the head - in all Games (Automobilista was really bad). I could not figure out what it was until I rememberd an issue we had quite a while ago.
I slightly changed the config of my GPU (RAM Mhz) and updated it to the GPU - and like a magic wand, all was fine again.
I remember that @SweViver mentioned somthing a while back, where there was a boost if you did something the same thing.

After that one time, all was almost perfect - performance in ACC and Dirt 2.0 was amazing!!! easily added about 15-20 FPS in those games for me going from 50ish to 70-80FPS!
Only Automobilista keept having issues - it seemd like its due to the Parallel Projection, I have not figure out why.

I gave Boneworks a try, also runs noticibly faster now with the same configuration.

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Sadly performance gains evaporated for me yesterday night when I played IL-2. With smart smoothing enabled, both CPU and GPU frame times being below the target for 72FPS, PiTool kept the game running at 36FPS. For it to dare run at 72 FPS, my GPU utilization had to go below 37%. It’s annoying seeing such a pitiful low utilization, and no helpful logging or diagnostic tool to know why.

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It’s hot today but I plan on trying .262 for the first time tonight. I historically had major issues with stuttering, so I’m hoping it doesn’t come back!

I know IL-2 is VERY CPU intensive (and horribly optimized to one core). I wonder if changes that brought about higher utilization revolve around CPU? Shot in the dark, but I’m curious if it’s just that title that suffers.

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Steam VR has probably switched on the automatic performance brake again.

},
“GpuSpeed” : {
“gpuSpeed0” : 2000,

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