Running AC silky smooth on mid-end PCs

WHAT'S THE AIM OF THIS THREAD?
Assetto Corsa looks beautiful, even if the graphic engine is already outdated compared to other racing games, the visual quality touches the photorealism and drops the player directly into the game at the cost of an heavy computing power.
But in Assetto Corsa, as a racing simulator, the driving experience should be prior to any other aspect of the game: rock solid 60fps are not an option, they have to be achieved everytime in any condition, quality comes after that.
But as soon as the game runs silky smooth, why to not be delighted by the stunning visual effects? The graphics helps with the immersion.

As an owner of an average PC I can't just max every settings and play at 60fps, actually my current configuration runs AC maxed out at around 35fps
My configuration (aka a 6yo PC):
Intel Core i5-3570k (3.4Ghz)
8GB RAM
Sapphire R9 380 OC 4GB

HOW DO I MANAGED THIS?
The goal of this test is to achieve a solid playable framerate in a race with full grid.
I started with the maximum graphic settings and then I lowered them all step by step until the framerate became stable above the 60fps limit with a decent safety margin and then lock them.

Why not more fps? Well.. a 60Hz screen can't show more than 60fps, so a crazy amount of frames per second doesn't ensure a smooth experience at all. Plus, screen tearing is something to avoid as plague and occours even at 144fps unless you have a freesync or gsync monitor; to avoid screen tearing on most cases V-sync is common way to go, but has a side effect to not be flexible at all and introduces input lag.

Regard screen tearing read the helpful post by Ghoults here at http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/why-more-than-60-fps.81864/
In my case limiting the framerate to 75fps on my 75Hz freesync monitor does the job without using V-sync, but for a 60Hz monitor V-sync is needed for a smooth experience.

Now come the other settings: I posted my personal settings below, but not everyone has the same hardware.
So, what impacts the performance more?
What impacts the quality more?
Some switches affect the framerate much more than others, these needs to be lowered first if you are looking for more frames:
  • AA: huge framerate player, but also big impact on the quality, should be at least 2x to see small details far away in the racetrack.
  • Motion Blur: big impact on fps, I recommend to disable it.
  • Smoke generation: doesn't improve visual quality so drastically, but cause severe loss of framerate when someone goes into the gravel.
  • Depth of Field (DOF): it soften the background and it's a big fps eater, I reccomend to keep it on OFF.
  • FXAA: it reduces a lot of jaggedness with minimal frame drop, but it soften the image.
  • Reflection: HUGE framerate impact, big quality impact. I keep it to None and Static, the only noticeable step forward is on Ultra.
these specific settings eat A LOT of fps, furthermore some of them doesn't improve visual quality so drastically to keep them maxed, so lowering them helps a lot with the fps.
Graphic filter needs a separate mention: Natural Graphics Mod and gbW are the two that I love. Choosing a light PP filter helps with frames, but everyone has his own favourite.

Personal settings:
bandicam 2018-02-26 15-40-12-214.jpg bandicam 2018-02-26 15-40-20-513.jpg bandicam 2018-02-26 15-40-28-916.jpg
(click on the images to open)

IN-GAME SCREENSHOTS
Screenshot_ks_mclaren_650_gt3_tor_poznanl_11-8-117-20-44-40.jpg
Screenshot_ginetta_g55_oulton_park_25-1-117-16-16-23.jpg
Screenshot_bmw_z4_gt3_imola_26-1-117-15-9-2.jpg
Screenshot_porsche_997gt3cup_ks_nordschleife_26-1-117-15-44-10.jpg
Screenshot_ks_porsche_911_gt3_cup_2017_spielberg_2-3-117-18-34-0.jpg
 
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My specs:

Intel Core i7-6700 (3.4GHz)
8GB RAM
nVidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti

Personally, I've never been a graphics junky. I always go for performance over visual quality. This is particularly true for racing sims. When you're doing 150mph+ and concentrating on keeping your car going where you want it to, you really don't have time to notice the finer details. I always turn AA to 2x or off entirely in any game, as it can be a big performance hit and I don't really care about "jaggies". I also always disable motion blur as it's usually a completely unrealistic effect that can also drain FPS for no good reason.

I know I can go higher with my AC settings if I want to without issue, but deliberately keep them lower to ensure I never get any sudden performance drops. Given that I'm usually in the lower midfield when racing online, my rig usually has a lot of cars to render at once. :p

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I set reflection quality, smoke generation and shadow res to low and every other preset maxed. This is enough for 60-100fps in multi-player servers depending on the conditions @ 1440p. My cpu is a 4670k at 4.5ghz and 1250mhz R9 290.

I might get a Fury X for more performance to take advantage of 144hz capacity. It gets so much smoother.
 
AC seems to respond very well (smoothness-wise) to lots of RAM during long track sessions.
AF is another frame killer...even more so than AA.
I have smoke turned to low and 'not shown' in mirrors.
The number of Apps enabled, also seem to have an effect on smoothness.
I keep those to a minimum.
 
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When you have 4x AA activated try disabling FXAA. I don´t know why people combine that... Just blurrs your image and takes quite some frames down with it. With AA off or 2x, FXAA can be worth it, but if you can afford 4x, it doesn´t have a lot of benefits.

Info about FXAA

Good topic otherwise, quite worth discussing!
 
When you have 4x AA activated try disabling FXAA. I don´t know why people combine that... Just blurrs your image and takes quite some frames down with it. With AA off or 2x, FXAA can be worth it, but if you can afford 4x, it doesn´t have a lot of benefits.
Anti-Aliasing in racing games is an huge visual improvement. It makes the road ahead crisp and let you see better small details to use them as reference points. It's the same reason why I keep World Details and Anisotropic Filter maxed.
I'll do more tests on FXAA, actually I don't notice the blurry effect you mentioned, at least while driving.
 
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I use FXAA because even 4x (or 8x through the .ini) anti-aliasing in AC causes a lot of shimmering on car details on my system (with Nvidia card). If the slight blur of FXAA is too much then first make sure you disable chromatic aberration in the post-processing preset you use and then decide.
 
Good topic indeed! I'm struggling to get a consistent fps when turning PP filters on - it used to be absolutely fine but it started to happening at some point without my action. Steam shows 40+ fps but there are noticeable drops (0.1-0.2s) every second or so. Turning PP filters gives smooth 60fps experience. I have a very similar spec to OP (R9 380 4GB, AMD 6300 3.5GHz, 16GB RAM) but cannot run the game with PP on.
I've tested with EVERYTHING set to low/off (except resolution) and PP filters on, but the problem's still there, reinstalled Catalyst, MSI Afterburner, checked AC integrity with Steam, happens with both vanilla and mod content in the same way. What else can I try?
 
Good topic indeed! I'm struggling to get a consistent fps when turning PP filters on - it used to be absolutely fine but it started to happening at some point without my action. Steam shows 40+ fps but there are noticeable drops (0.1-0.2s) every second or so. Turning PP filters gives smooth 60fps experience. I have a very similar spec to OP (R9 380 4GB, AMD 6300 3.5GHz, 16GB RAM) but cannot run the game with PP on.
I've tested with EVERYTHING set to low/off (except resolution) and PP filters on, but the problem's still there, reinstalled Catalyst, MSI Afterburner, checked AC integrity with Steam, happens with both vanilla and mod content in the same way. What else can I try?
Disable V-sync and lock the framerate to 63, it really helps.
Try using my current settings, if AC stutters again disable Motion Blur and lower AA to 2X.
Let me know :)
 
Disable V-sync and lock the framerate to 63, it really helps.
Try using my current settings, if AC stutters again disable Motion Blur and lower AA to 2X.
Let me know :)
I'll give that a try - eventually started playing with PP filters always off, but this thread reminded me of this problem! I'll let you know the outcome later on once back home. Cheers!
 
Disable V-sync and lock the framerate to 63, it really helps.
Try using my current settings, if AC stutters again disable Motion Blur and lower AA to 2X.
Let me know :)
63fps lock and v-sync turned off are allowing me to use PP filters finally! Everything else on high/very high works (except reflections that are still set to static) flawlessly on my budget rig! Probably will be fiddling with settings for the next few days but at least I have PP filters back. Thanks!
 
FXAA is not bad and it´s a good alternative to using 4xAA IMO. But the concept of FXAA is to just blur any detected edges. Normal AA smoothes them along the edge.
If you have the power, downsampling is awesome, too. Been using FXAA and 1.5x DSR and sometimes 2xAA for a long time, with the huge benefit that the menu is sized down by factor 1.5, too. Still all the stuff is too big for my opinion, but it´s a lot easier on the eyes. Just a matter of my opinion, though. ;) Not getting 60 fps, though with that stuff. Well, net getting it without DSR either. And I come from the FSX business, my eyes are happy to see 20 fps.
As a matter of fact, before being able to piece together this machine I used AC on my notebook with a 24" screen and decent graphics settings, getting around 16 fps driving solo. Man, how many seconds I shaved off my laps after switching to this system was a revelation. (Still lucky to get 25 fps with FSX though, but that´s OT).

In the end, it´s all a bit of a taste decission.
 
63fps lock and v-sync turned off are allowing me to use PP filters finally! Everything else on high/very high works (except reflections that are still set to static) flawlessly on my budget rig! Probably will be fiddling with settings for the next few days but at least I have PP filters back. Thanks!
I'm really happy that this thread actually helps someone :)
Have a good game, cheers!
 
So I've always had v-sync enabled in AC and get a steady 60fps with my settings. Out of interest, I tried locking FPS to 63 and disabling v-sync as mentioned above. The moment I started driving I could see stuttering. FPS was reported at a steady 63 yet the stuttering was constant. regardless of how detailed the view was out the windscreen. Switched v-sync back on and disabled the FPS lock, and all was smooth again. What's that all about?
 
I hate this about AC, U have fairly decent specs, at least to run AC, I can run the game with any combination, Ultra > Low, even on Ultra and High settings I can get plus 80-90 fps, but the only way I can eliminate stuttering and screen tearing is to lock at 50 fps, It's not the CPU fault either as that is running nowhere near max, does anyone else have this problem?
 
So I've always had v-sync enabled in AC and get a steady 60fps with my settings. Out of interest, I tried locking FPS to 63 and disabling v-sync as mentioned above. The moment I started driving I could see stuttering. FPS was reported at a steady 63 yet the stuttering was constant. regardless of how detailed the view was out the windscreen. Switched v-sync back on and disabled the FPS lock, and all was smooth again. What's that all about?

I'm exactly the same. Tried out the 63fps limit no V sync tonight and there was a horrendous amount of micro stuttering. This was Especially noticeable in the corners/apex's.

Switched back to 60fps locked and V sync. Smooth as butter again for me.

FPS shows as 59.9999999

I'll be keeping it like this.

I have i5, 8gb and AMD 380 3gb
 
My PC Spects, I have a laptop
1920x1080 full hd screen
i3 5010u 2,1 GHz
8GB Ram
Nvidia 930m 2GB
Smooth gameplay, FPS from 40 - 65 (limited there) But I would say avarage is around 55. Dropping to 35 or 30, The game run smooth as well. Which suprice me.
Screenshots
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MUUDRKo.jpg
 
So I've always had v-sync enabled in AC and get a steady 60fps with my settings. Out of interest, I tried locking FPS to 63 and disabling v-sync as mentioned above. The moment I started driving I could see stuttering. FPS was reported at a steady 63 yet the stuttering was constant. regardless of how detailed the view was out the windscreen. Switched v-sync back on and disabled the FPS lock, and all was smooth again. What's that all about?

Try increasing the frame rate lock to 84 or 121. Sometimes the closer you are to 60 the worse the performance.
 
I got a 7 year old pc, it runs the game locked on 60 fps and I'd like to think that is outdated. Is it really that heavy on people's pcs?

Depends on the settings you're using. Maxing everything out makes my current "modern" rig suffer a bit in certain situations because my graphics card is below par compared to the rest of my system. However, I had an 8 year old PC which ran AC just fine as long as I toned down the graphics. I don't think it even looked that bad either. It struggled with racing the AI though, as even if I was leading (so the other cars were not being rendered) my poor CPU was struggling to handle the physics for all those cars.
 

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