Large Framerate Boost w/ Practically No Image Quality Loss

[Spinelli 61]

(This was originally written for rFactor 2 and slightly modified for Game Stock Car Extreme & Formula Truck 2013, however, everything applies to GSCE and FT2013 as I have tested everything - with the exception of #1 and #5 - in GSCE and FT2013. Also, this should apply to any other game based on ISI's engine, for eg. rFactor 1, Raceroom Racing Experience, ARCA Simracing, GTR 2, Race 07, etc.). I will not post this in all those threads as I do not want ISR to think I am spamming, so I will only post here in the GSC section, and obviously the slightly different rF2 version in the rF2 section)

Trying to run Game Stock Car Extreme / Formula Truck 2013 with maxed-out graphics settings but just can't do it? Try this!

The following settings are "golden" and have transformed my gaming experience. They do not change the visual quality - to me - from fully maxed-out graphics settings, yet they really boost my framerates, and therefore the overall experience, so much! Thanks to these settings, I can keep everything else absolutely maxed-out.

1. Anti Aliasing (Nvidia) - 8xCSAA instead of 4xAA / 16xCSAA instead of 8xAA

- Slightly better performance AND image quality. If setting AA from the Nvidia Control Panel or Nvidia Inspector, then make sure to also set "antialiasing mode" to "override application settings" instead of "application controlled", and make sure the antialiasing in the GSCE/FT2013 configuration screen is set to "None". If using AA from GSCE/FT2013 itself, then I believe Lvl 2 = 4xAA, Lvl 3 = 8xCSAA, Lvl 4 = 8xAA, and Lvl 5 = 16xCSAA, but don't quote me on that, plus, it may be different with different GPUs (780 Ti, here).

2. Shadows - "High" (4/5)

- Visually speaking, you will hardly notice a difference between this setting and "Max". I don't notice it, I would need to do side by side comparisons to notice, but you sure do get better framerates (especially overall consistency around the track).

3. Shadow Blur - "Off" (1/2)

- Of course not as nice as "On", but it also helps very nice with framerate and is hardly noticeable when you're actually playing (unless you play from an exterior cam eg. chase cam).

4. Anisotropic Filtering - "8x" (6/7)

- You almost certainly will not notice a visual quality difference between 8x and 16x (you will with 4x, though), and you will also most likely not get a framerate improvement when lapping on your own, but testing shows good framerate imrpovements when multiple cars are on screen (especially at the start, during the first couple laps, lots of cars on screen at once during a replay, etc.).

These settings are the difference between my framerate dropping and stuttering to as low as 45 fps/eye (total 90 fps - I use Nvidia 3D Vision 2), and having them at 60 fps/eye (total 120 fps) (I have this set as my max framerate in my player.PLR file). Maybe some rare drops to 58 fps/eye (116 total) or something, but hardly. That's a pretty massive gain for settings that literally make no image quality difference to me, at all - and that's while using triple screens w/ multiview!

If you still want to raise your framerates without lowering any in-game graphics then you have 2 more options (I recommend to everyone to do #5, regardless!).

5. Pre-Rendered Frames - "1"

- This may raise framerates in GSC & FT2013, but definitely lowers input lag for most users.

6. This may noticeably affect image quality for some, but it may not for others, give it a shot! In Nvidia Inspector set the following (I believe you can only adjust two of the following in the standard Nvidia Control Panel, however it may give the same result - framerate-wise - but I'm not 100% certain, so I use Nvidia Inspector just to be safe):

- Texture filtering - Anisotropic filter optimization: ON

- Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: ON

- Texture filtering - Quality: HIGH PERFORMANCE

- Texture filtering - Trilinear optimization: ON

Still want more framerates while hardly affecting image quality?

7. Circuit Detail - "High"

- May achieve a higher and more consistent framerate around the track or at specific points around the track where you may be experiencing framerate drops. You may notice some far-away trackside objects not showing anymore, but it is a very small amount of stuff, and usually far off into the distance rather than actual track-side stuff. It is a very, very small image quality decrease for the amount of potential framerate increase it may bring on certain PCs and certain tracks.

8. Opponent Detail - "Medium" or "High"

- May improve framerates when racing against other opponents, including possible large framerate improvements when racing against many opponents.

These improvements will give you a very, very nice framerate boost in Game Stock Car Extreme and Formula Truck 2013 while barely affecting the image quality at all.

Thanks for supporting Game Stock Car Extreme, Formula Truck 2013, and Reiza Studios! Happy racing!

Here's an example of great results

The 2 worst places for fps drops and stutter areas I have noticed lately have been the tunnel at Troyton GP where the FPS would drop to 40 and stutter like crazy and a full grid start at Curitiba where dust would fly up on the front straight and fps would drop to 25 and stutter badly. With your suggestions, the Troyton tunnel does not drop fps or stutter at all anymore and the dust at Curitiba only drops fps to about 50 with very little stutter.

Source --> http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/large-framerate-boost-w-practically-no-image-quality-loss.97304/#post-1882250

[stone775 173]

Hey, Thanks for these settings. I'll try them out and see what happens on my PC. Thanks Again.

[Spinelli 61]

You're welcome, heres an example of someone else's results

The 2 worst places for fps drops and stutter areas I have noticed lately have been the tunnel at Troyton GP where the FPS would drop to 40 and stutter like crazy and a full grid start at Curitiba where dust would fly up on the front straight and fps would drop to 25 and stutter badly. With your suggestions, the Troyton tunnel does not drop fps or stutter at all anymore and the dust at Curitiba only drops fps to about 50 with very little stutter.