21 replies to this topic

[Arkadash]

As a result of the 3.4.14 patch, MWO now supports DX11. Would someone please be so kind as to explain why this is important and how it might affect people's MWO experience?

Also, how do you know if you can run DX11? If you can't run DX11 but you can run DX10, does the new patch allow you to run DX10 instead of DX9?

[Smokeyjedi]

DX9 uses more cpu than GPU, DX10 evens that out a bit more(as GPU processing power climbed)......and DX11 should allow the GPU to process a larger % of data faster than the CPU could(after all cuda cores are designed for parallel processing-think clumps, CPUs do better with a long list of things-think dominoes.) enhancing performance for DX11 capable hardware.

[Egomane]

The following desktop GPU series are DX11 capable:
Nvidia - GTX 4xx, GTX 5xx, GTX 6xx, GTX 7xx, Titan
AMD - HD 5xxx, HD 6xxx, HD 7xxx, R7, R9

If you do not have a GPU that is not part of one of those groups of cards, you can not use DX11.

There is no perfromance gain guaranteed and no there will probably be no graphical updates for the mechs and maps right from the start, but only the different rendering path.

[Clit Beastwood]

I'd anticipate the lighting might look a lil different, too. I'm interested to see if the screen glare is gone on tourmaline (hoping!!!)

[Durant Carlyle]

Arkadash, on 04 March 2014 - 11:00 AM, said:

If you can't run DX11 but you can run DX10, does the new patch allow you to run DX10 instead of DX9?

No. The choices are DX9 or DX11. If you cannot run DX11 adequately, DX10 likely wouldn't be much better anyway.

I'm hoping this will allow them to optimize the DX9 version for lower-end machines and optimize the DX11 version for higher-end machines.

[Thorqemada]

In the Public test Dx11 run slower but smoother - i hope for equal but smoother Performance this time.
Still dowloading patch so hope remains alive

[Summon3r]

what is MSAA? when i activate dx11 and MSAA my fps is tanked to 34 from a previous avg of 50-60

[Shamous13]

Summon3r, on 04 March 2014 - 12:02 PM, said:

what is MSAA? when i activate dx11 and MSAA my fps is tanked to 34 from a previous avg of 50-60

Multisample anti-aliasing

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

If your wondering what DX version you currently have running you can check using this .

Select the "start" button, in the search box that opens, or from the run command, type "dxdiag" (without the ")

- this stands for DirectX Diagnostic tool
- there are 32bit versions as well as 64bit, but if your in the 32bit window it may show a box to open the 64bit edition.

It will bring up a window, the bottom line on the front page (system tab) will list your current Dx version.


note: the other tab (Display) lets you check your current video drivers version and if there are any problems,
the sound tab for current drivers, and the input for your attached peripherals. (keyboard, mouse, etc.)

If you find you need to upgrade your Dx drivers look here:
http://www.microsoft...ails.aspx?id=35

You may have to check your windows update after for additional updates and installs.
- many elements within your graphics are effected by the Dx version, and the ability of your current vid card to display items. The higher the Dx version the better most items within windows and game can be displayed.

9erRed

[Summon3r]

in terms of image quality then what is the diference between MSAA and post AA

[MercJ]

MSAA has better image quality, because it's more "expensive" (taxing, computationally difficult?) than post AA. Post AA is very simple, since it doesn't need to know what's in the image being rendered at all - it just applies a "blur" over the entire frame. It will soften up the hard edges (aliases?) in most images, but since it doesn't really know what's in the image (it happens after the frame is rendered) it could make some new "artifacts" (or unwanted pixels).

MSAA - hard to render, "smart" filter that happens before a frame is displayed EDIT2: Apparently I'm wrong on this...
PSAA - easy / fast to render, "dumb" filter that is applied after a frame is rendered

(EDIT: Anti-aliasing does what it sounds like, it's anti-alias / prevents aliases. In order to understand that though...what the heck is an alias?? From what I understand, an "alias" as it relates to computer games/digital images is any effect that is different than what was intended. I'm not really correct above when I say that hard edges are aliases - more correctly, aliases would be those "blocky" edges you get when trying to draw a straight line on a device that is made up of squares. Ever try to draw a straight line in MSPaint? You have to make sure to go perfectly vertical or horizontal, otherwise you get a "stairstep" pattern. Those blocks aren't really intended, they're just the way monitors work (pixels). So, they're aliases. Anti-aliasing describes techniques that try to get rid of those, and make it closer to the way a line would look if you drew it on a piece of paper. Hope that helps!)


EDIT2. Apparently I'm still confused on the different AA modes - I was thinking MSAA happens during the rendering process - it's a form of post AA too, I guess? I still think it's the more expensive of the two with slightly better image quality...if there's anyone here that knows more about such things I'd like to have this cleared up too!

Edited by MercJ, 04 March 2014 - 06:04 PM.

[Arkadash]

Thanks everyone for the information.

Egomane, on 04 March 2014 - 11:25 AM, said:

The following desktop GPU series are DX11 capable:
Nvidia - GTX 4xx, GTX 5xx, GTX 6xx, GTX 7xx, Titan
AMD - HD 5xxx, HD 6xxx, HD 7xxx, R7, R9

If you do not have a GPU that is not part of one of those groups of cards, you can not use DX11.

There is no perfromance gain guaranteed and no there will probably be no graphical updates for the mechs and maps right from the start, but only the different rendering path.

So it's the GPU that determines what DX version you can run, not the CPU? That's great news for me; I just upgraded my graphics card!

[haop]

I have a GTX660 but with DX11 the game runs even worse. So I doubt the postings that now more work is done by the GPU.

[xWiredx]

haop, on 04 March 2014 - 01:29 PM, said:

I have a GTX660 but with DX11 the game runs even worse. So I doubt the postings that now more work is done by the GPU.

That's how the API works, so your doubt is unfounded. The problem is really the inefficient use of the engine and obvious lack of optimization that's been done so far. Using the same engine as Crysis 3, PGI has managed to get far less visually from their game yet have it run like it's absolutely gorgeous like Crysis 3 is. That makes the limiting factor here the developers. There are probably a decent number of bottom-up rewrites that need to be done, and some serious evaluation of what they're actually doing vs what needs to be done. We won't see that happen probably for a long time, and when it is done it will happen slowly, as they've made it very clear what their priorities are.

[Summon3r]

haop, on 04 March 2014 - 01:29 PM, said:

I have a GTX660 but with DX11 the game runs even worse. So I doubt the postings that now more work is done by the GPU.

this ^ .... this is by far the worst performance i have gotten yet.

[haop]

There're another 4GBs patch now, don't know what this is. Can anyone else confirm this patch?

[Mad Strike]

haop, on 04 March 2014 - 01:29 PM, said:

I have a GTX660 but with DX11 the game runs even worse. So I doubt the postings that now more work is done by the GPU.

mehhh they said that theres not gonna be improvments on this patch.

[Goose]

MercJ, on 04 March 2014 - 12:48 PM, said:

MSAA has better image quality, because it's more "expensive" (taxing, computationally difficult?) than post AA. Post AA is very simple, since it doesn't need to know what's in the image being rendered at all - it just applies a "blur" over the entire frame. It will soften up the hard edges (aliases?) in most images, but since it doesn't really know what's in the image (it happens after the frame is rendered) it could make some new "artifacts" (or unwanted pixels).

Edited for Clarity said:

PostMSAA in CryEngine 3 is a modified version of the so-called Temporal Antialiasing, which, at its core, saves the last frame and blurs it into the next one to smooth out the edges.

Of course many adjustments were made so it is only barely visible when moving/turning the camera and I guess many people never noted a slight "halo"ing of the screen …

Some of you may say - "Why use PostMSAA" at all when it produces these artifacts?

The jump in quality is REALLY significant and the cost of the AA is REALLY low. As in barely noticeable low. As in - no other AA is this cheap - low.

Please - go ahead and try it out (if you use the CryEngine 3 Free SDK)

r_PostMSAAEdgeFilterNV = 0
r_PostMSAA = 0

Whoa this looks really bad! Now put r_PostMSAA back to 1. Really sharp and smooth looking image. No noticealbe FPS drop.

Now many enthusiasts disabled r_PostMSAA because it makes the image "blurry".

Look at your image - it's not blurry!

What actually makes the image blurry is the "EdgeFilterNV", which actually is the name for the Image Based Edge Antialiasing developed by Nvidia's Timothy Lottes (here is his blog: link). More people know it as "FXAA".

FXAA is, as said, an image based antialiasing method, which tries to calculate which edges it should blur to make the image look more steady.

It is currently in version 3 and produces great results (check out Cry-Styves's shaders for CryEngine 2 - you'll get FXAA for free then link).

Edited by Goose, 04 March 2014 - 04:43 PM.

[Shamous13]

I had some nasty problems last night running DX11, CTD, missing parts on mechs, missing terrain, when loading in to mech lab the componets on a mech would load in one section at a time. running the repair tool and removing the systemoverride.cfg solved the problems.

I did however notice that my gpu usage in crosfire mode was wonky. My 1st gpu was running at 40% avg while my second gpu was running at 99% the hole time. any Ideas?

[Goose]

Shamous13, on 05 March 2014 - 05:06 AM, said:

… removing the systemoverride.cfg solved the problems.