56 replies to this topic

[enerider]

Since the last thread has been eaten by a black hole, I've decided to resurrect it here

I presently run an Asrock Z77E-ITX motherboard with an i5-3470, with a Radeon HD 4870 thrown into the PCI-E slot (so oldish graphics but still pulls 30-60FPS in usual run-behind-cover-before-that-cloud-of-LRMs-gets-me situations).

So far I've been running the game without any real graphical bugs rearing their heads (apart from the usual ones afflicting the game on occasion as has been exhaustively re-re-repeated) and have been enjoying the ability to have a few more FPS on occasion thanks to the handy Virtual VSync (have been seeing 120 FPS at times right at the start of Forest Colony for example - on stock Windows 8 drivers running the Radeon).

So I am putting this out there, to see if anyone else is making use of this feature

Also if someone gets into difficulties with Virtu we can hopefully hunt down a solution.

Adding MWOClient.exe to the list of applications in the Virtu Control Panel in D-mode seems to work quite well.

More info on this stuff can be found at http://www.lucidlogix.com

[Loc Nar]

I have the same board (3570k/7850), but have never gotten LucidVirtu to work. Got tired of playing around with it, now I'm just plugged right into my 7850 since it was going to waste. I just freshed up my copy of win7 though, and my puters happy again and you have me interested in trying another go. I'll report back in the near future...

-Loc ***

[enerider]

Loc ***, on 29 October 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

I just freshed up my copy of win7 though, and my puters happy again and you have me interested in trying another go. I'll report back in the near future...

-Loc ***

Well if you are interested I'll see if I can find the download link that was previously posted in the thread that used to exist in the Beta forums thread (before it disappeared into a singularity) that pointed to the latest version offered by Asrock themselves.

[enerider]

Well so far:

Windows 7 and 8 64 bit: http://download.asro...20_64Bit%29.zip

32 bit: http://download.asro...(v2.1.220_32Bit).zip

Hope this helps!

EDIT: Fixed 32 bit link
EDIT #2: WTF - how do these links keep breaking?! ARRGH

Edited by enerider, 05 November 2012 - 04:42 PM.

[enerider]

Well, so far VirtuMVP works one way around but not the other!

As in I can plug into the 4870 and it'll work fine, but if I plug it onto the motherboard it won't go!

[Loc Nar]

First attempt was a total slideshow. I uninstalled Virtu and installed the newer version linked above. Also updated Catalyst control center to 12.10 (I know, 12.11 beta is out...). After that I was pulling around 20-40fps :/

Plugged back into 7850 and disabled Virtu till I saw the last post. Leaving it plugged into the 7850 but with Virtu toggled on, I was getting frame rates around 70, but it would very briefly dip to 40 or so, but for so long that my new average has to be over 60, where my old average was around 50. Virtu will stay on, thanks man! I'm running the game at max settings, and I also just pasted a bunch of things into my .cfg that make it take more resources but make the pic look much better.

[enerider]

Yeah Virtu MVP can work two ways around.

One way is that you can plug your monitor into the onboard and still get decent framerates because you make use of the GPU you've wedged in, which also has the handy effect of introducing some power savings when you're not using the GPU.

The other way around is to plug it into the GPU, which will let the Hyperformance and Virtual VSync do their thing (for Virtual Vsync to work, you'll need to enable VSync in the options in MWO - I've seen 120+FPS in Forest Colony this way)

[enerider]

Edited above links - now they should be less broken

Edited by enerider, 05 November 2012 - 04:43 PM.

[enerider]

Well, I've now upped my GPU from 4870 to 6870 - and the framerates have improved to the point that they're usually in the 57FPS range - bottoming out occasionally at 35FPS.

VirtuMVP still appears to help quite a bit with this

[enerider]

Woohoo!

One Firmware update, GPU update, AMD driver update later, and I'm running once more with the Intel graphics as the primary (and pulling 125FPS in Frozen City).

Hooray for go fast bits

[Kurayami]

you know, op mwo needs only cpu and memory and your i5 is more than enough for it - i know, i tested many setups. hell you can just use intel integrated graphics which comes with i series and do just fine with 120 fps and all - i actually have a few clanmates who run it just like that so pointless tread is kinda pointless.

[enerider]

Say what?

There is no way Intel graphics pull those kinds of framerates in MWO.

In the menu it is pulling single digit framerates right now (I just switched Lucid off).

I'll buy beer if you can prove otherwise.

[enerider]

And yes - I do actually mean that.

I will wander into the local brewery, find a suitable bottle of beer (or other beverage of preference), package it and courier that parcel if you show me how Intel graphics can pull those framerates without extra shenanigans being involved somewhere.

[Kurayami]

last measurement was before "improved and fixed graphics bug patch" i5 with 8gb ram and integrated graphics made it into 90 fps. after patch framerate dropped into oblivion - 2-3 but could be returned via config file. if i get myself mb with video output again ill post results.

edit oh, nobody told anything about "without extra shenanigans" well here goes my beer i guess. well ill still try for the fun of it.

Edited by Kurayami, 20 November 2012 - 03:04 AM.

[enerider]

I await with much eagerness!

Edit: read your edit. If you pull it off, you're getting beer (or other beverage of preference) sent your way

Edited by enerider, 20 November 2012 - 03:13 AM.

[Sen]

There is a saying on the internet:

PICS, or it did not happen!

I have an extremely difficult time believing an i5 on integrated graphics with this software is getting 40+ more frames than my 4.7Ghz overclocked 3930k/ 2x 7950 crossfire setup, even *IF* the optimization for my hardware is not yet present in MwO.

There is another saying that pre-dates the internet:

"If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is"

[enerider]

I'm not dismissing it - I'm extremely interested to see if this is achieveable
Because it would be something of legend to wrangle that kind of performance out of Intel graphics this early on in its development in the 3D department - given historically it usually is the thing displaying Excel spreadsheets and Word documents on your work computer where 3D performance isn't really a big requirement.

Although that said, Minecraft was more than happy to toodle along at 26 FPS for a short time with all the graphics settings cranked up (while running on the Intel graphics alone) - although it slowed down shortly after when the temperatures starting picking up.

I must finish my case I'm working on...

Edited for spelling and grammer

Edited by enerider, 20 November 2012 - 06:38 PM.

[Kurayami]

don't worry disregard the results when i get my hands on needed hardware again i will post them somewhere and send links.
the trick with intel integrated graphics is that they don't have support for most modern features so they just skip them altogether resulting in surprisingly better performance in many applications. ****** picture though.

on a side note - apparently mwo graphics is soooooooo damn good that my "normal" rig runs at 30 fps. again.

[Sen]

not disregarding, but approaching with a healthy dose of skepticism. If I'm reading their webpage right, it sounds like an advanced form of Optimus technology where the computer does not have to "switch" between graphics solutions, it simply adds the power of the discreet to the integrated.

Now, granted, their website is written with such an assault of technical verbage it says practically NOTHING about what the software ACTUALLY does, but it seems that if this were possible it'd already be integrated into the aforementioned optimus switchable graphics system and heavily patented.

At the end of the day though, if this software actually performs as advertised, it could be a great addition to my arsenal of technical tools.

Unfortunately my processor does not have integrated graphics onboard, so I'm unable to test it myself.

[enerider]

Sen - I think we're getting wires crossed a little - I didn't realise you were skeptical of the VirtuMVP as opposed to being skeptical of getting decent framerates solely on the Intel graphics alone. (Something which Kurayami posits is doable, and something which I will buy him a beer for if he can show it working).

VirtuMVP does do what it says on the tin - even if it can be something of an *** to set up.

Rough outline, it does three things:

a ) Like Optimus - it lets you swap between onboard and discrete GPUs as needed - but you don't have to be plugged into a particular display port. So you can plug into the onboard or onto the GPU but it'll work either way.
b ) Virtual VSync - lets you keep VSync on to stop display tearing but uncaps the frames being limited to 60
c ) Hyperformance - basically decides which things it doesn't need to do and drops them - so rather than 3 things trying to do the same thing, it'll strip it down so only one gets run - frees up GPU power for other stuff.

VirtuMVP from Lucid can work in two configurations:

1) Monitor plugged into onboard video
2) Monitor plugged into GPU

As far as game config goes - I'm running completely default settings with VSync turned ON. The reason for this is so the Virtual VSync ability of the VirtuMVP stuff can take effect (which can help to eliminate screen tearing).

With 1), this allows the GPU to be throttled back to allow for power savings - only calling on the GPU horsepower when required. This config was achieving >60 FPS prior the current patch. After the current patch everything was crawling along at 38FPS which was not so good.

So I went back to 2), which is the more gaming-oriented setup - which lets the VirtuMVP stuff work its magic. >60FPS the norm unless in intense battle (Radeon HD 6870 + i5 3470 graphics on the ASRock Z77E-ITX).

Of course, a few caveats:

You need Windows 7 or better (I'm presently using Windows 8 Pro)
Latest drivers help a lot (AMD being the provider of drivers in this case for my HD 6870)

Presently MWO uses DirectX 9, which I notice a lot of the benchmarks provided tend to try DirectX 11 games. DirectX 11 is still being worked on at present for MWO.

So in summary: VirtuMVP does *NOT* work with onboard alone. VirtuMVP simply provides a way to use onboard and discrete GPUs at the same time.

Edited by enerider, 22 November 2012 - 03:48 PM.