which GPU is best for AC?

[Tim Meuris]

nvidea or ati?

 

[Simon Roberts]

Not Monza, i cant stand the track, its the most boring place i can think of but Silverstone runs perfectly with 21 458 S3's on the grid and tyre smoke at the start.

I'll give Monza a go though, purely for testing purposes and i'll report back soon.

OK Cool, i like Monza in the GT3, but Imola and Silverstone are my favourites.

Post settings as well please.

 

[Pete Bone]

Hmmmm, have you tried full grid at Monza? I ran a 680 SOC before my 780 and struggled to maintain 60fps.

Just had a 12 lap race with 25 psycotic AI round Monza and did have a bit of stuttering but only when we all piled into the first chicane and everyone went nuts but after that things were smooth.

I had the Render Stats App up but dont know which numbers represent FPS, i think its the top number, and that was between 60 and 80, the red and blue traces never spiked massively but they werent dead smooth either. Not sure what to make of it.

My settings are

FPS limit 59
Anisotropic x2
Anti-aliasing(?) x2
Fast Aproximate x0
World Detail Medium
Cubemap res Low
Faces per frame 1

 

[Simon Roberts]

Just had a 12 lap race with 25 psycotic AI round Monza and did have a bit of stuttering but only when we all piled into the first chicane and everyone went nuts but after that things were smooth.

I had the Render Stats App up but dont know which numbers represent FPS, i think its the top number, and that was between 60 and 80, the red and blue traces never spiked massively but they werent dead smooth either. Not sure what to make of it.

My settings are

FPS limit 59
Anisotropic x2
Anti-aliasing(?) x2
Fast Aproximate x0
World Detail Medium
Cubemap res Low
Faces per frame 1

Ah right ok, yeah pretty low settings, i just couldn't run AF x16 and AAx8 with the 680, so went to the 780 and the difference with the card running at 1250mhz is outstanding, its actually quicker than a Titan in bench runs.

I also lock at 59 as the Nvidia Surround changes my refresh rate to this for some reason, but at 59 its silky smooth.

 

[Pete Bone]

Ah right ok, yeah pretty low settings, i just couldn't run AF x16 and AAx8 with the 680, so went to the 780 and the difference with the card running at 1250mhz is outstanding, its actually quicker than a Titan in bench runs.

I also lock at 59 as the Nvidia Surround changes my refresh rate to this for some reason, but at 59 its silky smooth.

If im honest i have no idea what AF and AA do. I dont use Nvidia surround, it messes up my desktop and looks terrible. I edited the Triple Screen and Video files to get 3 screens running.

The Cubemap res and Faces per Frame are also a mystery to me, i guess i should spend some time learning but the game runs well as it looks miles better than rF2 or Race 07, plus my eyesight isnt perfect so the small details dont really bother me.

 

[Simon Roberts]

If im honest i have no idea what AF and AA do. I dont use Nvidia surround, it messes up my desktop and looks terrible. I edited the Triple Screen and Video files to get 3 screens running.

The Cubemap res and Faces per Frame are also a mystery to me, i guess i should spend some time learning but the game runs well as it looks miles better than rF2 or Race 07, plus my eyesight isnt perfect so the small details dont really bother me.

How do you mean surround messes up your desktop Pete?

AF - Anisotropic filtering makes textures appear sharper as the angle at which you're viewing them gets more and more parallel to your own point of view. By default, textures degrade in quality and blur as they angle out of view, to save on memory and all that good stuff.

AA - Anti-aliasing smooths sharp edges it detects across the full screen. So if you have sharp pixelated edges, this will smooth them out.

Cubemap - This is for the lovely reflections and the low, med & high is the resolution (i run low)

Faces per frame - This is how many times the cubemap is written per frame i believe, the higher the number the smoother the reflections appear to move on the car, i run 2 as it gives a good result with not to great a performance hit.

 

[Pete Bone]

How do you mean surround messes up your desktop Pete?

AF - Anisotropic filtering makes textures appear sharper as the angle at which you're viewing them gets more and more parallel to your own point of view. By default, textures degrade in quality and blur as they angle out of view, to save on memory and all that good stuff.

AA - Anti-aliasing smooths sharp edges it detects across the full screen. So if you have sharp pixelated edges, this will smooth them out.

Cubemap - This is for the lovely reflections and the low, med & high is the resolution (i run low)

Faces per frame - This is how many times the cubemap is written per frame i believe, the higher the number the smoother the reflections appear to move on the car, i run 2 as it gives a good result with not to great a performance hit.

That helps alot, thanks bud.

I use a 40" centre and 32" side screens so if i use Nvidia surround it drops my centre screen to 1440x900 and it looks so bad it makes my eyes hurt, plus i have to undo it and reset my screen res everytime its used.

I think ill have a little play around with the AC settings, ill try everything on max and see what happens.

 

[Simon Roberts]

That helps alot, thanks bud.

I use a 40" centre and 32" side screens so if i use Nvidia surround it drops my centre screen to 1440x900 and it looks so bad it makes my eyes hurt, plus i have to undo it and reset my screen res everytime its used.

I think ill have a little play around with the AC settings, ill try everything on max and see what happens.

No problem.

Yeah i had that when i used different screens too, but now i have three of the same then its loads better! If you can at some stage get 2 more 40's and then run surround and the bezel correction and also the triple screen in game too.

 

[Pete Bone]

No problem.

Yeah i had that when i used different screens too, but now i have three of the same then its loads better! If you can at some stage get 2 more 40's and then run surround and the bezel correction and also the triple screen in game too.

My next upgrade is Occulus Rift, then i can sell my TV's and use the Rift for Gaming and a tablet for my desktop as i dont watch TV. If the Rift wasnt on the horizon id have got 1 more 32" and been happy with that but the Rift is going to be a game changer when its released properly. The only reason i havent got one yet is the poor resolution, the rest of it sound great.

Thanks again for your help with the AA and AF, it makes more sense now.

 

[Simon Roberts]

My next upgrade is Occulus Rift, then i can sell my TV's and use the Rift for Gaming and a tablet for my desktop as i dont watch TV. If the Rift wasnt on the horizon id have got 1 more 32" and been happy with that but the Rift is going to be a game changer when its released properly. The only reason i havent got one yet is the poor resolution, the rest of it sound great.

Thanks again for your help with the AA and AF, it makes more sense now.

Im hyped for the rift, but i just cant see the screen door / res thing being solved to a great standard, that will be a show stopper for me.

No problem, anything else let me know.

 

[Tim Meuris]

my guess will be that it will take some time before the OR will have a decent consumerversion

 

[Pete Bone]

my guess will be that it will take some time before the OR will have a decent consumer version

Im not so sure you know, the Crystal Cove prototype seems to have got over alot of the problems that plagued the Developer Kit. The new screens they are using by all accounts have fixed the screen door effect and some of the problems with resolution. I reckon by the time it comes to a consumer version the screens they use will be top notch and the Rift will finally be what we have been waiting for in the sim world. I for one cant wait.

 

[Tim Meuris]

Im not so sure you know, the Crystal Cove prototype seems to have got over alot of the problems that plagued the Developer Kit. The new screens they are using by all accounts have fixed the screen door effect and some of the problems with resolution. I reckon by the time it comes to a consumer version the screens they use will be top notch and the Rift will finally be what we have been waiting for in the sim world. I for one cant wait.

I've always asked myself how hard the OR is on the eyes
cause your eyes are very very close to the screen

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

My eyes are currently about two feet away from a 42" screen so the OR can't be too much worse on them than what I have now.

 

[Stereo]

Cubemap - This is for the lovely reflections and the low, med & high is the resolution (i run low)

Faces per frame - This is how many times the cubemap is written per frame i believe, the higher the number the smoother the reflections appear to move on the car, i run 2 as it gives a good result with not to great a performance hit.

It's a cube so it has 6 faces (up, down, left, right, front, back). Instead of rendering all 6 every frame, it just updates whatever number you put in. The only time you'll really notice is if one of the edges is visible, cause then they'll be reflecting slightly different things on either side of the edge.

If you have 60fps I think the reflections update smoothly enough at 1 face per frame so I left it there.


Personally after seeing more videos I got convinced of triple-screen setup, and put down some money for a third 24" display. It'll be useful for other stuff too, whereas the OR is only for 3d games.

 

[Pete Bone]

It's a cube so it has 6 faces (up, down, left, right, front, back). Instead of rendering all 6 every frame, it just updates whatever number you put in. The only time you'll really notice is if one of the edges is visible, cause then they'll be reflecting slightly different things on either side of the edge.

If you have 60fps I think the reflections update smoothly enough at 1 face per frame so I left it there.


Personally after seeing more videos I got convinced of triple-screen setup, and put down some money for a third 24" display. It'll be useful for other stuff too, whereas the OR is only for 3d games.

The Rift isn't just for 3d games, although they will feel even better, the main use for the Rift is filling your entire view with the game your playing rather than what we have now even with 3 screens.

As for what the Rift will do to your eyes, i spoke to my Optician and he doesn't think it will do any lasting damage, he likened it to someone wearing glasses, which i do. As your not going to be wearing it all day long it shouldn't damage anything. If you think about it, Glasses are barely an inch from your eyes, and while they do alter your eyes very slightly i haven't noticed myself getting more and more blind in the 15 years iv had to wear them.

Finally, to get back on topic, i think the best GPU for AC would be the GTX670 upwards, from my experience.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

780 ti is a must.

I really don't think a $700 card is a must......

Seems that a regular GTX 780 is plenty enough for triple screens but at $500 is still pricey.

 

[Simon Roberts]

I really don't think a $700 card is a must......

Seems that a regular GTX 780 is plenty enough for triple screens but at $500 is still pricey.

Yeah mine is running faster than a Titan right now and i have no problems at all! The GTX780 is a beast.

 

[Jan-Olov Johansson]

It all comes down to how much eye candy you want/need. My old rig with HD4870 could play the game ok but I naturally had to turn down the gfx alot. New rig running a GTX780Ti with all maxed out gives very high fps but I am only running at 1920x1080 on a single screen though.
But if you want all maxed out and triple screen I should think you need at least a 780 or 780Ti

 

[Tim Meuris]

I really don't think a $700 card is a must......

Seems that a regular GTX 780 is plenty enough for triple screens but at $500 is still pricey.

Yeah mine is running faster than a Titan right now and i have no problems at all! The GTX780 is a beast.

It all comes down to how much eye candy you want/need. My old rig with HD4870 could play the game ok but I naturally had to turn down the gfx alot. New rig running a GTX780Ti with all maxed out gives very high fps but I am only running at 1920x1080 on a single screen though.
But if you want all maxed out and triple screen I should think you need at least a 780 or 780Ti

you guys are talking about single screen gaming i presume
like Olav is saying: triple screen will require a 780ti and i don't think you can max out everything, right?
do correct me if i 'm wrong

 

[Pedro Cunha]

ok guys I don't want to scare anyone with this but, Monza full grid is making me drop from 60fps, with Titan SIi and i7 4770 1080p single screen assetto maxed out. GPU and CPU both at 60% max usage.
Since I never drop from 60fps in 4k resolution with Project Cars maxed out I hope Assetto wont forget graphics optimization, because Project Cars is way more visualy attractive.

...and I don't like Project Cars