You are so wrong on so many levels but this thread isn't about disproving your ridiculous post :/.
Anyways, I have an i5 6600K @ 4.6, Asus GTX 1070 OC'd, and 16 GB DDR4 @ 2400 MHz. I'll test the game out this weekend once I get paid.
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Watch Dogs 2 PC performance thread
- Thread starter JaseC
- Start date
You are so wrong on so many levels but this thread isn't about disproving your ridiculous post :/.
Anyways, I have an i5 6600K @ 4.6, Asus GTX 1070 OC'd, and 16 GB DDR4 @ 2400 MHz. I'll test the game out this weekend once I get paid.
dr_rus
Member
So I got to the city yesterday and my fps immediately tanked below 30 when looking at Marine from the beach at the beginning lol. Looks like I'll have to turn off PCSS/HFTS in this one, that's one apparent boost. Another options which I need to explore is lowering most of LODs which judging from NV's article are way too high on Ultra preset. And I'll probably switch to 1080p TV + gamepad for this one. All in all it doesn't run too bad all things considering but they could've included a better AA solution (proper TAA for example) as neither of what's in the engine really cut it on their own or even when combined with each other.
Sevenfold
Member
icecold1983
Member
hfts/pcss cuts performance almost in half in the city where shadows are prominent
PCGH did a CPU driver overhead test with two Radeons vs. one Geforce, well the results are quite shocking in this game:
hfts/pcss cuts performance almost in half in the city where shadows are prominent
Yeah, HTFS is cool, but imo it's really a generation ahead of it's time. Plus, more realistic doesn't necessarily mean it looks better.
ISee
Member
1.) Yes they are extremely heavy on performance. I wish they would/could add a high or medium option.
2.) How did you deactivate the anti cheat tool?
Jumpman
Member
I did the same to track performance and eventually got a weird message from the game. It disconnected me from online features and claimed it was due to having disabled anticheat. So RTSS must be raising a flag of some kind or it's stopping the anticheat from working all together. It makes me a bit nervous because I don't want a ban. I hope they update the game soon to allow for proper RTSS support. :/
*taps OP*
huh must have missed this update. hopefully it improves performance a bit for us folks with older cpus if that anti cheat stuff is as hefty on cpu as people assumed.
dr_rus
Member
Yeah, what's surprising is that PCSS isn't much faster than HFTS in this game.
ISee
Member
*taps OP*
Ahhhh....
Ohhh....
Thank you.
I really missed that.
And a question. RTSS works now, the game told me that multiplayer is offline but the moment I entered the gameworld a 'PvP' event started. Was I still connected (somehow) or is this an offline/npc thing?
icecold1983
Member
The perf hit for pcss is unreasonable. Not a highly optimized implementation
I really like how these look. Too bad its a big hit on performance. I'll probably disable these.
icecold1983
Member
It doesnt look any better than any other correctly functioning implementation. Its just how pcss is suppose to look. I dont inderstand why the perf hit here is so huge. Its as bad as far cry 4
Any detail on this?
If memory serves, simulated player invasions are one of the game's random events.
icecold1983
Member
Not sure what you mean, i just dont see why pcss is cutting performance in half. It doesnt look better than any other proper implementation where performance hit was much smaller. Watch dogs 1, ac unity, ac black flag, dying light, division, ac syndicate(altho this one broke msaa coverage, but at least the shadows themselves were rendered and cascaded properly.). The fact that theres barely an additional cost for hfts is also questionable
So following up from earlier. Experienced a lot of Ubi server connectivity issues but after doing the port forwarding that Ubi recommends that seems to have helped a lot. Not getting disconnected from their servers nearly as much now and can actually do some invasions which has been great.
Only other performance things I am still trying to figure out is an issue with the audio where some of the effects (engines, exhaust note, even voice work) sounds like it is coming through a wind tunnel with a lot of reverb bordering on an echo. I do use a dedicated soundcard and headphones so I'm thinking maybe the game doesn't like my audio output device or configuration. Will have to try using just speakers and see if it still does that.
Also experiencing occasional outright pauses where the game freezes for a few seconds at a time and then resumes on its own after the freeze. Think this might be a CPU thing on my end, have a 2500K OC to 4.5 Ghz but maybe that's not enough. I will try lowering some settings and see if it goes away.
Really enjoying the game though!
Only other performance things I am still trying to figure out is an issue with the audio where some of the effects (engines, exhaust note, even voice work) sounds like it is coming through a wind tunnel with a lot of reverb bordering on an echo. I do use a dedicated soundcard and headphones so I'm thinking maybe the game doesn't like my audio output device or configuration. Will have to try using just speakers and see if it still does that.
Also experiencing occasional outright pauses where the game freezes for a few seconds at a time and then resumes on its own after the freeze. Think this might be a CPU thing on my end, have a 2500K OC to 4.5 Ghz but maybe that's not enough. I will try lowering some settings and see if it goes away.
Really enjoying the game though!
I mean, do we know how much PCSS is supposed to cost(perhaps from nvidia documentation or tests, maybe even other games) and how that compares to in this game?
icecold1983
Member
All the games i listed the perf hit is much smaller. Only game where it his as hard as fhis was far cry 4 but that game was a complete mess on PC and none of the gameworks effects worked properly even 10 patches later
sertopico
Member
I think in Watch_Dogs 2 there are much more objects, trees and vegetation which project a shadow, and the lod is also increased, that's why performance is cut in half.
Watch_Dogs didn't have a PCSS setting.
Full details on Watch_Dogs 2 shadow implementation is here:
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/watch-dogs-2-graphics-and-performance-guide#watch-dogs-2-shadows
Basically, PCSS hardens shadows closest to the source, and softens them the further they are from the source. That simply takes more calculations than Ultra shadows, where the shadow maps are a single, static resolution scene-wide.
HFTS acts just like PCSS, but adds even more shadow detail, as evident here:
http://images.nvidia.com/geforce-com/international/comparisons/watch-dogs-2/watch-dogs-2-shadows-interactive-comparison-001-nvidia-hfts-vs-nvidia-pcss.html
And yes, you're probably going to say you're already aware of the above. Perhaps, I'm just reiterating the reason for the performance impact. As for why it appears to be more demanding than previous implementations, I don't see how it is. PCSS always has been. For instance, I can't enabled it in Syndicate and come even close to maintaining 60 fps. Even Watch_Dogs 2's Ultra Shadows setting is very demanding compared to Very High, and seems to stretch high quality cascades pretty far.
Thankfully, PCSS and HFTS don't make a massive impact visually in the overall scene, at least in this game. Good to have the future-proof option though.
Hmm. I'm looking at the geforce guide for this and GTA V and the perf hit is way bigger than that game. There are surely differences in the game that affect the performance hit, maybe this game has a lot more shadows to draw, maybe higher res shadow maps? Maybe they just decided to go crazy and use some super high PCSS quality preset that doesn't look much better but is way more expensive. Maybe all three. Either way, it is kinda weird.
Slackbladder
Member
I tend to find shadows are a problem when there's a lot of trees. I had Ultra shadows and was fine in the city with just a few drops but in the country with lots of trees and bright sunshine I easily lost 10fps. I'm on Very High now and it's fine.
Also is it just me or am I getting frame timing issues when driving at high speed? My fps doesn't drop but I certainly notice a little stutter creeping in. I'm playing on an SSD too. High speed driving just isn't smooth.
Also is it just me or am I getting frame timing issues when driving at high speed? My fps doesn't drop but I certainly notice a little stutter creeping in. I'm playing on an SSD too. High speed driving just isn't smooth.
How much RAM do you have? That might affect it.
I noticed this too. I remember the Nvidia guy mentioned this too. In my opinion its the streaming of the world thats causing this. Its a slight stutter like its loading. A bit annoying as it does happen often when driving around.
Slackbladder
Member
16GB DDR3 2133mhz and a GTX 1080. It isn't always noticeable but it seems to pop up quite often when I'm hurtling around the city.
That's my feeling too. I just wondered if anybody else noticed this.
Yeah, in rural areas I notice I netted up to 15 frames with Very High over Ultra shadows.
As for high speed traversal, it's going to depend on the system, but on mine it's a far cry from the horrible hitching issues when the original first released. I refunded Forza Horizon over this, so I'm very sensitive to it as it is. Unless it's constant/long lasting, what you're experiencing is plain old frametime spikes due to asset loads. No way to fully avoid them in an open world game, SSD or no SSD.
Forza had a weird bug where whenever i would crash into a collectible board XP or whatever the game would stutter load. Had something to do with the way it was recording the information and stream. It was horrible. Its been fixed since.
Yep. It was even happening with the stock car you can order from the start, which goes kinda fast. Don't want to think how it would go with a really fast car. Also, the driving is a bit weird. No real weight to the cars.
dr_rus
Member
So yeah, PCSS/HFTS are out, Ultra is in. I've also lowered Extra Details to 50% as I don't see much difference in quality but I see about 20% increase in framerate from this. This in addition to using 1.25 pixel density and Temporal Filtering with SMAA takes me to 40-60 in the city which is totally playable by itself. And considering that I'll be playing in 1080p and not in 2560x1600 I'm currently messing in -- I think that this should result in a more or less locked 60 for me.
Couple of screenshots with these settings:
I think it looks ok even though AA is far from perfect.
They're just using what they've called "PCSS Ultra" as default now probably. It's mostly pointless as the quality gains from it are limited to objects which are so far away that they are just several screen pixels in size and it's pretty hard to notice any contact shadows on them anyway. Would be cool if they'd patch in a "PCSS Low" option for WD2 as chances are that it would've been preferable solution out of all currently available.
Couple of screenshots with these settings:
I think it looks ok even though AA is far from perfect.
They're just using what they've called "PCSS Ultra" as default now probably. It's mostly pointless as the quality gains from it are limited to objects which are so far away that they are just several screen pixels in size and it's pretty hard to notice any contact shadows on them anyway. Would be cool if they'd patch in a "PCSS Low" option for WD2 as chances are that it would've been preferable solution out of all currently available.
GavinUK86
Member
How did you customise the text on RTSS?
ISee
Member
MSI Afterburner Settings. You can adjust group names in there manually.
Colour itself can be adjusted in RTSS.
icecold1983
Member
pcss is broken in GTA V tho. cascades are fucked. thats why i didnt use it as an example
I've spent hours tweaking settings to get a good balance of performance and quality, now I've settled on 4K 30hz High / very high I'm actually playing the game, and it crashes about every 30 minutes to an hour, just to desktop, no errors etc.
Not anything specific either
1 crash hacking a gate
2 during online hacking, 1 defence 1 attack
2 crashes randomly driving round.
To say it's pissing me off is an understatement and I'm starting to wish I just bought it on the Pro last week.
Not anything specific either
1 crash hacking a gate
2 during online hacking, 1 defence 1 attack
2 crashes randomly driving round.
To say it's pissing me off is an understatement and I'm starting to wish I just bought it on the Pro last week.
Missed some good sales on Black Friday. There were some good MOBO CPU combos for real cheap.
But like anything PC related, the investment will pay off mid to long term, depending on which you decide to go with.
How is SLI going for you guys and girls? I am playing on an overclocked i7 4770k@4,4 ghz with 2 titan x pascals over a SLI HB-bridge. With the latest nvidia-drivers the gpu - usage is quite bad, like around 50% for each gpu at 4k ultra settings. I have not tested the performance with a single gpu yet, but I am sure, it will be better. So, is the SLI-profile just shitty? I really do not think, that I am CPU-bound, looking at the average cpu usage. SLI is gonna die as it seems...has been a really bad year for it so far. Any experiences from others would be great
PS: looking at the nvidia guide for the game, it seems like SLI - scaling is just poor, judging by the graph at the end of the guide. (temporal filtering off)
PS: looking at the nvidia guide for the game, it seems like SLI - scaling is just poor, judging by the graph at the end of the guide. (temporal filtering off)
yeah my mind went blank about needing a new mobo and ddr4 ram too lol.
Think im gonna do a full new pc build next year with the next gen nvidia cards, or whenever 4k 60fps is probable for current open world games.
I still have an old 650w psu from 2010 lol.
gsync monitor has helped 'smooth' out sub 60fps though so its not too bad.
Had to lock this POS PC version to 30FPS.
Yesterday I could run it at 50-60FPS in cities. Now I can't get over 40-45FPS. And even then it's fluctuating. It's absolutely terrible. No matter what I choose the difference between all settings seems to be just 2FPS. Max. Even running it at a much lower resolution doesn't result in much. I've literally done everything possible, but no dice.
I don't expect miracles but I do expect newer games to run at solid 60FPS considering my videocard (I don't expect to run everything on Ultra, but AT LEAST High settings). This is just poorly, very poorly optimized.
i7-4770K 3,50Ghz
16GB RAM
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW
Installed on my SSD
Latest Nvidia drivers
Acer XB270HU (2560x1440)
Edit: before anyone asks. Yes, I've checked the settings from the Nvidia guide but it doesn't do much.
Yesterday I could run it at 50-60FPS in cities. Now I can't get over 40-45FPS. And even then it's fluctuating. It's absolutely terrible. No matter what I choose the difference between all settings seems to be just 2FPS. Max. Even running it at a much lower resolution doesn't result in much. I've literally done everything possible, but no dice.
I don't expect miracles but I do expect newer games to run at solid 60FPS considering my videocard (I don't expect to run everything on Ultra, but AT LEAST High settings). This is just poorly, very poorly optimized.
i7-4770K 3,50Ghz
16GB RAM
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW
Installed on my SSD
Latest Nvidia drivers
Acer XB270HU (2560x1440)
Edit: before anyone asks. Yes, I've checked the settings from the Nvidia guide but it doesn't do much.
camequipped
Member
Pretty good performance imo and looks great especially coming from Mafia 3.
i7 6700 & GTX 1080. Pretty much locked 60fps @ 3440 x 1440.
No SSR, temporal filtering & AA. Everything else is at Ultra except for shadows.
I do like SSR but too bloody costly to implement, where's the 1080Ti when you need it.
i7 6700 & GTX 1080. Pretty much locked 60fps @ 3440 x 1440.
No SSR, temporal filtering & AA. Everything else is at Ultra except for shadows.
I do like SSR but too bloody costly to implement, where's the 1080Ti when you need it.
temporal filtering giving you a good quality image at 4k?
Slackbladder
Member
I'm happy with it. Sure not as sharp or crisp but colour and contrast takes a big hit for me if I drop res to 1080p for example. Not too sure why. And as TA gives me 20+fps back it's fine for me.
ISee
Member
I know the feeling. Third day I played around with settings testing out different ideas. But I think I finally found the perfect match between performance, IQ and settings for me to reach 1440p/60 on my 1070 (95% of the time, if I get a drop to 55 for one or two seconds I really don't care).
Maybe give my settings at least a try. And I know it's with temporal reconstruction, but 1.25 pixel density helps to bring IQ to a good level (imo). On your 1080 you should even be able to set shadows to ultra or turn on SSR to v.high (whatever you prefer).
https://youtu.be/Bs41d5b0GXE
1440p/60 should be available once YT finishes processing.
edit:
suddenly reaching 40-45fps... check your temperatures while gaming. Maybe something is throttling down.
whats your cpu?
feels like if you don't have the latest greatest cpus, you are shit outta luck even with 1080's.