GTL and overclocking

[Tim Ling]

It seems I am going to be able to upgrade my pc soon, so I'm thinking of getting a pre-overclocked system. Does GTL (and rF/Race etc.) play nice with o/c'd systems? This is a CPU o/c, not gfx.

 

[Predrag Drobac]

I'm running my Intel C2Q Q8300 on 3ghz (default is 2.5ghz), and in all gmotor2 sims fps is around 20-30% better. I think that gmotor2 titles demands more cpu power, not sure. I've got gtx 560 gpu month ago (was on 8800gts), and to be honest I didn't ran any benchmarks in GTL or Rf, because vSync was on (60fps). Then I saw that vSync adds delay between controller and game, so I turned off vsync, so no delays now, with 80/90/100fps or more while driving in GTL with enbseries plugin activated. In rFactor I measured over 300fps in private practice.

 

[Tim Ling]

Cheers Predrag, I shall go ahead and browse some more while trying not to drool on my keyboard

 

[Ian Strom]

I have my Phenom x4 9950 black (2.6GHz stock) at 3GHz. GTL runs just fine. Unfortunately I did not have GTL when I was running my E1200 (1.6GHz stock) at 3.2GHz.
That would have resulted in some benchmarks to post about!

As far as overclocking goes if it means getting the computer cheaper I would say to overclock it yourself.. but then I would also say to build it yourself too. *shrug*

 

[Tim Ling]

I normally build my machines Ian, I enjoy it. But this time I know my disability is going to make it more difficult (though not impossible). Add to that the fact the system I want works out about £50 more to buy built as opposed to individual components, and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to put it together myself.

This is what I'm looking at, though the case needs changing to a Raven02 or Corsair 500R/600T

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-207-OE&groupid=43&catid=2040&subcat=1270

 

[Roland]

ray: That's some serious gaming machine.. :doublethumb:
You plan to go all crazy and throw in the bigger SSD and second Graphics Card as well??

I think that thing then has enough power to play GTL on 6 of those 27" 2560x1440 screens! :f1:
You are aware of the fact that Fraps can't display framerates over 999 LOL??

That's one SaaaWEEEEEET Gaming Machine, but then again, some serious money as well :eek:

 

[Tim Ling]

lol thanks Roland. Plans have changed a little, I am going to build it myself, but on a reduced budget, as I plan to squeeze in a set of clubsports. Shhhh, don't tell the missus :tongue:

**EDIT**Just noticed the price has risen sharply. I guess it's down to hdd price rises

 

[Rupe Wilson]

This is something i found will looking at old threads in gtr2 and i saw a link showing the same for GTL and it seems to work ..

in an attempt to get better fps, i was looking at what setting to run my graphics card and found something about running on all cores if your pc has a multi processors..
I have tried this and i'm getting about a extra 35fps in single player with everything all maxed out...

this was posted by redi on Nogrip
CPU Affinity Explanation
Most older race sims (and games in general) were not optimized for CPUs with multiple cores, and hence they run on one core by default. Some games, however, will get better/smoother performance if run on multiple cores even though they were not programmed with multiple cores in mind.
http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1575443

Usually this involves ALT-TABbing from the game back to the desktop, starting Task Manager and setting the CPU affinity of the game's process, exiting Task Manager and switching back to the game. This is a bit of a chore to do each time, and some games don't like or even don't allow ALT-TABbing to the desktop (e.g. GTR2 on my PC).

 

[David Wright]

When GTL came out it pushed hardware hard and I had an Athlon XP2500+ which struggled with full grids, so I overclocked it and saw a usefull increase in fps. I haven't felt the need to overclock either of my subsequent PCs. A bit surprised anyone would need to overclock a current pc to run GTL.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Why spend a thousand plus on a machine when a little tweak here and there can do the job .. I built a pc that cost less than a xbox and it will play gtl and many other older driving sim's, I get a very good fps for the machine and its great to have as a spare...And i'm also learning all the time, this way I don't destroy anything of value...
And the crazy thing is i'm just as quick(or slow) with both machines...

 

[Stuart Thomson]

There are several little launcher programs that you can use that set affinity at game launch.

I like RunAff at the moment, I'll post up my config when I get home

 

[Marco80]

i5-2500k 3.3 stock @ 4.8 ghz, it runs fine with overclocking, some nice gains, cpu oc helps on sims probably more than most other games.

 

[4 8 15 16 23 42 108]

Tim, you should target your system along the resolution you are able to show. Let'S say, FullHD 1920*1080 or such and 50fps would be enough...

GTL does! load very fast on my HDD, so I never felt the urge to dhove it to my 2nd SSD (1st is C: both are 64GB only) . Crucial M4s, they are really great! Be careful with OCZ

Be careful with duel GPUs. We call it micro-lag or something, it's a driver problem you cannot sort out yourself especially with old games!
And if 60fps is the maximum your monitor will bring, better hardware is even more wasted.

My suggestion: Buy something I recommend, and in two years ask me again^^

Argh, the OC-PC is not available at the moment...

 

[Marco80]

Yup with my dual 6950s, it's much smoother when going to 1 gpu, u may not notice it much until u try 1gpu and experience it. It's a big step in smoothness.

But I need 2 gpus because I love supersampling aa and that destroys frames.

Using a frame rate limiter like msi afterburner or dxtory to remove fps oscillations helps with stuttering and tearing.

I might add a 3rd 6950, I keep reading peoples experiences about the 3rd gpu making the games as smooth as just one card due to crossfire/sli being handled differently in a tri setup compared to a dual.

aim for 60fps, but you have to aim for higher so that it doesn't drop lower than 60 when you get more cars on screen, smoke and dust effects, night racing and headlights etc.

I heard the physics run at 100hz or something so ideally you should aim for 100fps (even though you can visually only see a difference up until 60fps on a 60hz monitor), I also heard that multiples of 60 help reduce tearing, so I have my fps limited at 119, setting it to 120 actually limits the frames more often than not to around 121, so I use 119 which is more a true 120.

 

[David Wright]

I heard the physics run at 100hz or something so ideally you should aim for 100fps (even though you can visually only see a difference up until 60fps on a 60hz monitor), .

The physics runs at 400 Hz

 

[Marco80]

Oops ya i think it's the inputs that are updated at 100hz, so like your pedal and wheels movements etc

 

[David Wright]

Oops ya i think it's the inputs that are updated at 100hz, so like your pedal and wheels movements etc

Inputs in GTL are updated at frame-rate. rFactor was initially the same but after a while ISI patched it so it updated at a constant 100Hz. So if we assume 100Hz is "ideal" then a framerate approaching 100Hz in GTL should also be "ideal" in terms of input.

We got there in the end

 

[Marco80]

Inputs in GTL are updated at frame-rate. rFactor was initially the same but after a while ISI patched it so it updated at a constant 100Hz. So if we assume 100Hz is "ideal" then a framerate approaching 100Hz in GTL should also be "ideal" in terms of input.

We got there in the end

Yup if we assume 100hz then a framerate of 100 would be ideal, but I said 120 because of the whole screen tearing and fps in multiples of 60 thing. I think you are right though and I was wrong, the whole inputs locked at 100hz thing was added later to the rFactor engine.

I always forget that gtl, gtr2 etc etc are on older versions of the ISI gmotor engine.

Question, if input frequency is linked to fps, then is there a max, or will the input frequency just keep on improving as you go higher and higher in fps? For ex. Using 180 or 240 fps to get a better input update rate as opposed to for ex. 60 or 120 fps...

 

[Stuart Thomson]

There are several little launcher programs that you can use that set affinity at game launch.

I like RunAff at the moment, I'll post up my config when I get home

For those of you who are interested, you install RunAff in a folder on your PC, then create a shortcut pointing to it, with arguments pointing to:-
1. the GTL executable,
2. the GTL folder path,
3. the cores you want to use, and
4. how long to pause in sec (before it sets core affinity)

I've got both RunAff & GTL in folders on my D:\ drive, so my config is:

Target: D:\RunAff\RunAff.exe
Start In: D:\RunAff
Arguments: GTL.exe D:\GTL 0123 10

 

[David Wright]

I always forget that gtl, gtr2 etc etc are on older versions of the ISI gmotor engine.

Its a little more complicated. ISI and Simbin developed the engine in different areas. rF has features not found in Simbin titles and Simbin titles have features not found in rF.

Question, if input frequency is linked to fps, then is there a max, or will the input frequency just keep on improving as you go higher and higher in fps? For ex. Using 180 or 240 fps to get a better input update rate as opposed to for ex. 60 or 120 fps...

I'm not aware of a cap on the frame-rate polling. However polling the controller 100 times a second is pretty fast. I honestly don't think you'd notice a lag of 1/100th of a second, so really doubt that polling at say 200 times a second would really make any difference.