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Lucid Virtu MVP: What it is, and why you'll want it on your Intel/AMD motherboard

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·feist·

Member
I last posted about Lucid Virtu Universal MVP in this AMD thread, after ASRock launched a Llano motherboard with the feature. Since I couldn't recall seeing a specific discussion topic about it over the last few months (also searched, to no avail), I decided to make one.

For those who have followed the developments for some time, you'll already know what Virtu MVP is. For everyone else, this may be something you'll want to keep in mind for your gaming builds.

Yes, it's platform agnostic. Virtu MVP will be a major bullet point for many vendors' Ivy Bridge, and Trinity motherboards. While it can be retrofitted to past productss, like Sandy Bridge, or Llano, don't expect a great deal of companies to offer that option. Selling you on one of their new models is better for their bottom line.

Check out the links below for a breakdown, or just watch the video demo for an idea of what to expect.


422381_10150702934581948_249425191947_11151998_276285628_n.jpg


Lucid Virtu MVP: What it is, and why you’ll want it on your motherboard
http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.com/2012/02/lucid-virtu-mvp-what-it-is-and-why.html
http://www.facebook.com/notes/gigab...want-it-on-your-motherboard/10150643214844446

Lucid's 'smarter vsync' could revolutionize game performance
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21682

White Paper - Eliminating Graphics Pipeline Redundancies
http://www.lucidlogix.com/download/WP-Eliminating Graphics Pipeline Redundancies 181011.pdf


***CeBIT 2012 - GIGABYTE live demo Lucid Virtu MVP.***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7FB1wfM53E


http://www.lucidlogix.com/product-virtu-mvp.html

Virtu MVP

Uncompromised Game Response Performance

At Lucid, we believe there shouldn't be a tradeoff between frame rates and visual quality. We think that when you click the mouse it should interact with the screen instantaneously. So we created the ultimate competitive weapon. Virtu MVP, is an optimized Lucid Virtu GPU virtualization software that makes your PC look better, respond faster, process video and media smoother, all within a low power environment.

Designed for the next generation of Intel Sandy Bridge Z68/H67/H61 and other Intel integrated graphics as well as many AMD processor-based notebooks, all in one PCs and desktop motherboards, Virtu MVP has many of the same features as the popular Virtu software, but with a twist – the addition of the optional Hyperformance™ feature for intelligent reduction of redundant rendering tasks in the flow between the CPU, GPU and display. Together with improved power management, Virtu MVP:

  • Boosts responsiveness to the game at any frame rate
  • Improves gaming frame rates 30-70%
  • Increases Vsync frame rates – up to 120 FPS and beyond
  • Sharpens visual quality without tearing
  • Works seamlessly with hundreds of game stations

How Hyperformance Works

3D games put the greatest demands on both the CPU and GPU. And as the race for higher performance on the PC and now in notebooks never ends, both CPUs and GPUs keep getting more robust. Despite this, display refresh rates have remained fairly flat over the years, 60-75 Hz, except for 3D stereo displays at 120Hz. Lucid takes advantage of this disparity and eliminates redundant rendering tasks and predicts potential synchronization issues in the graphics delivery pipeline and intelligently removes and or replaces them for better game control.
Click to expand...
 
E

evlcookie

but ever so delicious
This looks super fucking interesting to say the least.

I never bothered to try lucid on my Z68, And while it won't do THAT, Maybe i should mess around with it.

Will certainly keep an eye on this though.
 
C

Cyrix

Neo Member
the performance gains seem crazy, and to be honest I'm skeptical but I don't understand how it's supposed to work so I'll leave it to the pros to determine its viability.

Question: what's the point of that virtual vsync? It seem like your just stressing you gpu for no reason, correct me if I'm wrong but the game is still displaying at 60hz so you're rendering tons of frames that are then dumped away. Frankly it seems like a bad idea, no gains in actual performance or visuals but a huge increase in workload for your GPU.

Edit: oh, sapientwolf may have answered my question. i'ma read that.

Edit2: well it certainly seems interesting, but I'm still super skeptical, and it still seems like your making your GPU do a lot more work than necessary.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
From the picture of a control panel, this kind of thing seems like it's windows only. That's a shame. I would have liked to try it out in Linux.
 
Lactose_Intolerant

Lactose_Intolerant

Member
I would like to see this with a game that actually stresses a gpu. Something that doesn't get 60 fps to start with.

Its pretty cool though that it seems to make the game more responsive with vsync turned on, so even if that's all it does, its good.
 
·

·feist·

Member
Here's an old writeup and demo vids of the non-MVP versions of standard Virtu, and Virtu Universal.

Lucid Virtu Universal Adds AMD and Virtual Vsync Support
http://pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Lucid-Virtu-Universal-Adds-AMD-and-Virtual-Vsync-Support


Lucid Virtu Universal - Virtual Vsync Demo - Mobile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg3evAgdx64

Lucid Virtu Universal - Virtual Vsync Demo - Desktop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPhXqQFb7wE

u7HQ4.jpg




Brief preview of Virtu MVP:

JyOMX.jpg


Test equipment-Test Conditions
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K
Board ASRock Z77
Memory: Kingston HyperX DDR3 2400 2GBx2
VGA: GALAXY GTX560Ti White Editon
SSD: Intel 520 SSD solid state hard disk 120GB
PSU: Antec TPQ 1200W OC

tCQhU.jpg
 
S

Sethos

Banned
So let's pretend I'm a guy who plays a very high resolutions, play with a lot of settings maxed out plus a healthy dose of unspecified anti-aliasing that is tailored to at least hit the 60FPS mark ( Rarely goes over ) - What will this tech do for me? I can't really decipher if this benefits everyone or is basically a fancy Vsync.

Even in the event of a game that isn't a graphical monster that lets me hit a few hundred FPS, why would I even stress my GPU like that? Just rendering a ton of frames, drawing more power, getting heated up and the fans start to make a racket.
 
Lactose_Intolerant

Lactose_Intolerant

Member
Sethos said:
So let's pretend I'm a guy who plays a very high resolutions, play with a lot of settings maxed out plus a healthy dose of unspecified anti-aliasing that is tailored to at least hit the 60FPS mark ( Rarely goes over ) - What will this tech do for me? I can't really decipher if this benefits everyone or is basically a fancy Vsync.
Click to expand...

Basically makes the response times better for stuff like moving the camera in a fps.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
SapientWolf said:
It sounds like their virtual vsync implementation was designed to deliver the most current frames right before they're needed. Some frames are only partially rendered and discarded, so games aren't really running at hundreds of frames per second.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/21682

Still, neat stuff.
Click to expand...
Scott's the best.
Sethos said:
There's a delay as it is now?
Click to expand...
Play a game with triple buffering on and see if you notice.
It's pretty bad for me.
 
E

EphemeralDream

Member
Love that they stuck in a cheesy CG GPU lady in the application.

Interesting technology, do Z68 mobos allow you to power down the discrete (and work off integrated) without Virtu on?
 
S

Sethos

Banned
Hazaro said:
Scott's the best.

Play a game with triple buffering on and see if you notice.
It's pretty bad for me.
Click to expand...

Triple buffering eliminates the delay caused by conventional V-sync, if you are locked at 60FPS that is.

I don't have any responsiveness issues in my games and I'm hyper sensitive to that stuff, obviously there are scenarios where it can happen but it can also be fixed easily.
 
A

Anony

Member
HOLD THE PHONES
i have a z68 mobo how do i get in on this action? people are just mentioning z68, i watch that video there was no mention on the mobo series, and it seems exclusive to the amd 7xxx platform
(i have 6870)
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Sethos said:
Triple buffering eliminates the delay caused by conventional V-sync, if you are locked at 60FPS that is.

I don't have any responsiveness issues in my games and I'm hyper sensitive to that stuff, obviously there are scenarios where it can happen but it can also be fixed easily.
Click to expand...
My mistake. My own personal experience is just trying it on TF2 where I probably did something wrong.

I don't tweak nearly as much as I used to. I just leave V-Sync off since I only really play two games at the moment. Plus I have AMD now, and had issues with RaedonPro.
 
C

CrunchyFrog

Member
How does this affect input lag if it's tossing away unneeded frames? There's a difference between watching a benchmark and playing an actual game.
 
S

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
Cyrix said:
the performance gains seem crazy, and to be honest I'm skeptical but I don't understand how it's supposed to work so I'll leave it to the pros to determine its viability.

Question: what's the point of that virtual vsync? It seem like your just stressing you gpu for no reason, correct me if I'm wrong but the game is still displaying at 60hz so you're rendering tons of frames that are then dumped away. Frankly it seems like a bad idea, no gains in actual performance or visuals but a huge increase in workload for your GPU.

Edit: oh, sapientwolf may have answered my question. i'ma read that.

Edit2: well it certainly seems interesting, but I'm still super skeptical, and it still seems like your making your GPU do a lot more work than necessary.
Click to expand...
It doesn't look like the GPU is doing much work on the tossed frames other than caching texture memory. So maybe marginally more work than it would had it been using vsync.
 
·

·feist·

Member
From the OP:


Lucid's 'smarter vsync' could revolutionize game performance
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21682


[...]


If it works well, HyperFormance ought to have several related benefits. Evened-out frame delivery in sync with the display should provide a smooth sense of motion, of course. That motion should be improved by the fact that the frames displayed would contain timely information—i.e., the latest updates to the underlying geometry in the game world. Furthermore, the immediacy of those frames should reduce the lag between user inputs and display updates. Remez contrasted the inherent delays in conventional triple buffering, where queuing up three frames at 60 FPS would add up to 48 milliseconds of lag, with Lucid's scheme, where frames are delivered more or less "just in time" for the display refresh.

Make no mistake: if HyperFormance works as advertised, then it should be far from a gimmicky software feature; it could bring a true and tangible improvement in perceived gaming performance, a cut above anything currently offered by AMD or Nvidia. Remez told us Lucid has a host of patents in the works related to this technology, as one might expect.
Click to expand...
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
Lucid continues with its line of very useful gaming/gpu solutions. Hopefully they will release some variation of this software for "discrete only" PC configurations.
 
A

Anony

Member
i just tried the virtu (green) for z68...
i have NO clue how it works, dont even think it works, i couldnt tell if it switched gpus from intel hd2000 to my 6870 :|

anyways, gonna try that z77 one and will report back
 
·

·feist·

Member
Anony said:
i just tried the virtu (green) for z68...
i have NO clue how it works, dont even think it works, i couldnt tell if it switched gpus from intel hd2000 to my 6870 :|

anyways, gonna try that z77 one and will report back
Click to expand...
1. It operates in i-Mode, or d-Mode, based on which video output you're using. Try running through your IGP (Virtu enabled), do a quick transcode using QuickSync, and then start a game, or benchmark.

2. I've never used that site, but there have been complaints of infected software in the past.

3. AFAIK, Virtu MVP is license only, so...
 
A

Anony

Member
·feist·;35938803 said:
1. It operates in i-Mode, or d-Mode, based on which video output you're using. Try running through your IGP (Virtu enabled), do a quick transcode using QuickSync, and then start a game, or benchmark.

2. I've never used that site, but there have been complaints of infected software in the past.

3. AFAIK, Virtu MVP is license only, so...
Click to expand...

well fuck, what a waste of time
 
·

·feist·

Member
For further clarification:

IDF 2011: Lucid Announces Virtu Universal MVP Featuring HyperFormance Technology (Update)
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4795/...timate-mvp-featuring-hyperformance-technology

Update:

We had a chance to talk to Lucid about HyperFormance and Virtual Vsync in more detail, and have updated our article accordingly. One thing Lucid has made very clear is that while HyperFormance technically improves framerates, this is not the intention of the technology. Indeed it's largely a side effect of the fact that with HyperFormance the GPU is rendering some (or none) of a frame while still reporting to the CPU that the frame has been rendered and the buffers flipped.

The principle purpose of HyperFormance is to reduce input lag, and this is a logical extension of Virtual Vsync - if something is not going to be displayed (e.g. it will be an out of date frame by the time the next buffer flip comes around), why render it? Ultimately what Lucid is doing here is a creative workaround on updating the display without always waiting up to 16ms for a new refresh cycle with v-sync, and an even more creative workaround for the fact that modern GPUs typically have up to several frames in their rendering pipeline. The end goal is to display as new a frame as possible, as waiting for refreshes and having multiple frames in the rendering pipeline both contribute to input lag.

Of course it goes without saying that there are good reasons that modern GPUs have a frame pipeline, and this is primarily to smooth out the framerate so that it doesn't constantly fluctuate (creating a microstutter-like effect) and so that the CPU doesn't end up waiting on the GPU. Lucid contends that their solution can handle these issues without buffering additional frames - and thereby without increasing input lag - and it will be interesting to put this to the test once Virtu Universal MVP finally ships.
Click to expand...


qQSRe.jpg
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Fuck. I just upgraded to a new motherboard too. Would have held out and just waited for Ivy Bridge if I'd know there was a chance motherboards could be doing away with input lag and triple buffering.

My Asrock has Lucid Virtu Switchable Graphics and I've disabled it. I'm assuming this has nothing to do with MVP and the triple buffering tech?

EDIT: No. Quick google search shows I was wise to ignore that piece of junk.
 
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