iRacing Graphics FPS Impacts & Recommendations (LIVE Comparisons)

[@xreyuk]

Hey, as there have been graphic updates in S1 2025 - would you be able to do a video comparing the new MSAA options with filters?

[@S1Races]

Yeah that’s great idea, I’ll try and do some tests this week and see if I can get something out

[@bartoszszarko8785]

@@S1Races would be awesome

[@bartoszszarko8785]

@@S1Races hows it going man, my graphics are ugly and fps is low after update ;p

[@Endemiq2]

in your documents/iracing there is rendererDX11(Monitor/Oculus/OpenXR/OpenVR).ini files. the setting is called DynamicShadowRes. it will fix jagged shadows very nicely with anything above 1. it will cost ya but the visual difference is huge

[@S1Races]

Good to know, I’ll take a look tomorrow. What do you have it set to out of interest?

[@ClusterFugue]

@@Endemiq2 Now if only I had the slightest clue what jugged shadows might be but it sounds like we don't want them, huh? Actually, never mind. I just realized that the performance of my rig, especially where framerates are concerned, could well be considered unusable by top level drivers, but I putter along and keep learning and getting quicker in my own little VR world, where yee-haa is often my mood of the day.

[@Endemiq2]

@@S1Races I use 2 it looks good. 3 is pixel perfect basically but it costs a bit too much in vr with 4070ti. look at your wiper shadow it will be a good indication

[@S2GUnit]

I use 1024x1024. Higher cost too much FPS even with my 7800x3D. 512 was too jagged.

[@johnsheehan3671]

RTX 4080 here. I've had annoying issues with shimmering on safety barriers or fences in tracks like the Nurburgring especially, setting 'MipLODBias' in the rendererDX11 file to +40 is helpful in reducing it

[@S2GUnit]

Thanks. Did you notice any FPS hit?

[@johnsheehan3671]

@@S2GUnit No significant FPS hit, however I've been experiencing micro stuttering issues since iRacing's season 4 update, according to what I read on the forum, I am not the only one concerned

[@S1Races]

This is good to know, thanks for sharing. I do see this from time-to-time as well so I'll look into it as I've not adjusted that setting before

[@EricK-fr9fe]

Have you ever played with the LOD settings in the ini files? Imo they provide the most drastic results. I am surprised more people don’t utilize that. Start by changing the “lodpct “ and loddynopct” numbers to 50. The results are amazing. You can turn off sharpening and not lose as much fps. Ps: anything in the lod settings referring to “dyno “ means the car…

[@S1Races]

No I haven't, time to go down another rabbit hole...! Thanks for the tip :-)

[@AdamOutlaw87]

Thanks for your patience to make such a detailed video that is very informative and usefull 👍👍 I dont think even the 5090 will be able to max everything out at 1440p on iracing and still maintain high FPS but i hope im wrong🏁

[@S1Races]

Agree, but I also other than when in replay mode, I don’t think it’s worthwhile cranking everything. Never hurts to save some processing power when driving for the things you don’t notice or can’t appreciate when focused on racing!

[@SimRacingDad]

Thank you for this video. Similar settings I see Dan Suzuki has on his too. Will try tonight on the new cpu. With DS settings, I get 140avg, 90 1%, 78 2% with side mirrors and foliage off. With virtual and 2 sides, its 125, 80, 69. This is on a full grid at Spa with pretty close racing on the first 2 laps with ai. Specs is 9800x3D and 4090. Also could you tell me if pcf4 filter is significant over 16?

[@S1Races]

Already on the 9800X3D, I love it! Are you running 1440p triples? I haven't adjusted the pcf4 filter before so I'd need to take a look to see what difference it makes

[@SimRacingDad]

⁠​⁠@@S1Racesyup on triples 7680x1440. Still need to play with the settings to keep it 120-160 atleast all around.

[@SimRacingDad]

@ used your settings and there’s no fps but with pcf16p and can’t tell the difference. Maybe you have a better eye hehe. Also for my system going to MSAA 8x, huge fps hit. Copied yours at 4x and now I’m above 115 most of the time

[@S1Races]

@@SimRacingDad yup, no reason to ever go to 8x for MSAA, brutal on FPS and the visual improvements (for me at least) aren't substantial

[@Enjoying-Life]

Just thought of an idea for a video you can make. IMSA Daytona night race optimized graphic settings. I’m still playing around with lowering settings.

[@S1Races]

You’re in luck, I’m running IMSA tonight, (not sure if the race is at night though), and again in the enduro on Friday night. Both will be streamed on twitch and then highlights posted to YT. The enduro will be at night and also have heavy rain so it’ll be a full stress test for the system! I already did some running last night in an official practice at night and with the rain and I was averaging 90-100 fps which was decent.

[@Enjoying-Life]

Yup, did the same. The IMSA 35 has no rain on the actual race. At starts for first few laps, its around 60-90 fps near the pit and opens to 80-140 on the back straight. Do you turn off two trees, or or lower anything on the right side of the graphic settings?

[@Enjoying-Life]

Could you also do a quick preview of your settings before the race tonight? Thanks man!

[@S1Races]

Yeah I have 2 pass trees and high quality trees off as I noticed it helps a reasonable amount with fps at tracks with a lot of trees and I don't notice the difference when driving. I'm running with sharpening off since i've moved to triple 4k and only run SSR in replay. I still have headlights in mirrors but I think I have it set to med or low quality at the mo and I only run 1 light for shadows instead of 3. I was running with MSAA at 2x rather than 4x, but I've since switched that back to 4x as the fps loss is only significant for me at some of the newer and more complex tracks.

[@S1Races]

Yup of course :-)

[@alistairvictor8755]

Many options only take effect after restarting the simulator, even if it is not specified.

[@S1Races]

Yeah it's a shame they mark that so inconsistently in the UI. Hopefully they've tidied all of that up in the in-sim UI refresh

[@rinkemouris8412]

This and the last video were amazing help optimizing my graphics. Unfortunatly iam kind of expreciencing a cpu bottleneck. Are there any settings i can try apart from lowering amount of cars?

[@S1Races]

Check out this guide as it provides some guidance on CPU vs GPU usage for each graphics setting. It's a bit dated now but the information in it is still valid. forums.iracing.com/discussion/1185/iracing-vr-optimization-guide/p1

[@kdsammy]

Excellent video again. Really appreciate the work you put in to do this. I have just had a go with this but I used the classic pits because there is a bit more going on without moving the car. The question I have is, with reflex enabled I get a drop of 10fps from 130 to 120. My monitor is 144hz so it’s not capping it at my refresh rate it’s just actually reducing the fps. Any ideas why this would be?

[@S1Races]

No that is strange, not sure what would be causing that. I have found reflex to be a bit temperamental sometimes. What system are you running and do you have any custom settings set in Nvidia Control Panel?

[@kdsammy]

@ i5 1300kf, 4070super, 32gb ddr4. No customer settings in nvcp.

[@S1Races]

@@kdsammy Assume V-sync is off and no framerate cap is set in iRacing?

[@kdsammy]

@ yep

[@S1Races]

It's as if Reflex is somehow taxing the CPU more when it's on. I don't have a good answer for you at the mo but I do see others having the same issue when they run Reflex so I'll see what I can learn. For now, it might be best just to cap your framerate 2-4 FPS below you monitor's refresh rate and turn reflex off so you're getting the best performance

[@S2GUnit]

One thing to pay attention to is the GPU usage. For my system with a 3080 & 7800x3D. I prefer the sky on low because it drops my GPU sage by 5-7% and frees up a lot of FPS is many situations especially with rain.

[@S1Races]

Good to know, it probably would have had a bigger impact for me if I'd set the weather to cloudy but I wanted to have shadows rendering in the daytime.

[@marijn17s]

You saw no change in foliage because it requires a restart. It is highlighted for exactly that reason

[@S1Races]

The tool tip says you only need to leave the sim to turn foliage on or off. Once it’s on my understanding was you could change the settings from low-high and it would adjust in-sim. Good to know if that’s not the case but I’d assumed that was how it worked based on the wording

[@VaethOjK]

Too bad, that noone does this for oval racing 🙂 And it is a bit different to set up, if You frequently have a yellow flags and getting all 30 cars back again making another restart. And basically seeing much more cars at the same time than in road racing. But that gives me a bit of idea on how I should approach it.

[@S1Races]

Yeah that's a very good point, I can't remember seeing content on oval FPS in ages. I'll put t on the list and might try to get one done when I jump back into oval rookies, thanks for the suggestion!

[@VaethOjK]

@S1Races id reccomend NextGen cars on Daytona. Carburetor Cup is Rookie which gives a shot at this. One thing I will never change in oval racing is DRAW ALL CARS ;) And thats a hit on FPS already

[@S1Races]

@@VaethOjK k, it's on the list. I'll see if i can get it out before the end of the year but it won't be a direct comparison to this video as I've just switched to triple 4k. GPU gonna sweat with draw all cars, haha!

[@MasterCamus]

I have a system with rtx 4080 32 gb ram and ryzen 5 7600x not the 3d. Looking to upgrade to the 78003dx or even the new one. Do you think I will see much of improvement on the fos?

[@gotspeed_]

I'm not an Iracing expert but I build PCs and I would say you are better off getting the newer 9800X3D if possible as long as you can get it at MSRP or near it. The 40-50 dollars difference really shouldn't be much of an impact when you look at the performance of the chip and the design of the chip. Things they couldn't do correctly for the X3D models with the older 7000 series CPUs were implemented at the design phase in the 9000 series so it has been reviewed and testing well when compared to the 7000 series CPUs. I am waiting to see what the 9950X3D will do and if they will increase the 3D cache to both CCDs which could have huge impacts though the costs would be pretty high when compared to the 7800X3D or 9800X3D CPUs. I have a 13900K build system so the performance gain going to the 9800X3D in my case might not be worth it overall but if the 9950X3D has the 3D cache on both chiplets then I might be interested to do a new build. For your build with the 7600X I would think you would see a pretty good increase in performance when comparing it to the 9800X3D. Especially since you are using a 4080 already the newer 9800X3D would maximize the GPU more. It also might depend on what resolution you are gaming at and the monitors you have. I would think you have atleast a 1440p single or triple monitor or a 4k setup. If you decide to get the 9800X3D just make sure to check with your motherboard manufacturer as there more than likely is a Bios update you will need to do for your motherboard prior to the change. Each manufacturer has a different process on how to update the bios so it's best to check with the manufacturer's website and then you can do a youtube search on how to update the bios on your motherboard. Watch a few videos if available so you can get comfortable doing it first prior to you actually doing it on your pc. Good luck with your choice.

[@MasterCamus]

@ thanks mate for the tips. I’m on a triple 1440. I have a Asus Aorus B650. From what I can see, a bios update will be enough. I might have to upgrade the cooler. Will. Cheers again

[@gotspeed_]

@@MasterCamus The newer 9800X3D should run a bit cooler and allow for overclocks due to the design layout of the newer X3D chips. If you are looking to upgrade your AIO, Artic Freezer makes some really good ones that I usually recommend for builds that will use an AIO. I recently bought a couple of their Gen 2 360mm AIOs off ebay direct from the Artic Freezer. It was B stock though but it was about 65 US Dollars shipped which to me (in the US) was a steal for the performance and the ease of use. The rads they use are pretty thick and they have an additional fan on the pump to help air flow around the CPU/Mobo. The new Gen 3 is really nice and I built using that one as well. It improves on the earlier design by making the CPU fan more easily to be replaced and the fan itself is larger as well. I plan to use these Gen 2s for a couple of budget builds for people I know. I custom loop my PC and that's my stress relief from my day job when I plan and build those. If you already use an AIO, you might be okay depending on your ambient temperatures. On hotter days running an air cooler might leave a little to be desired but it all depends on what you are currently using. Power draw of the 9800X3D should be similar to the 7800X3D though temps might be a bit cooler when cpu clocks are similar. Asus and Aorus are I believe two different brands (Asus and Gigabyte). You might want to double check your manufacturer but once you do it shouldn't be too hard overall to update the bios. Best wishes in what you decide to do. Make sure to use a good thermal paste when you change out your CPU. Also be careful when you remove your CPU from the socket to not get any of the thermal paste on the pins or bend them either. Take your time and have your setup ready. I also remove all the thermal paste off the CPUs prior to remove from the mobo to make sure none gets on the pins/socket. Even for me with many builds that I've done I always try to make sure I'm paying attention to all the small details as I don't want to damage the CPU or the Mobo in the process.

[@MasterCamus]

@ Thanks mate. You are correct. It’s Gigabyte

[@S1Races]

Some great advice from @gotspeed_ I agree with waiting for 9800X3D (I have one on pre-order). The X3D chips are significantly better for gaming than the regular X chip and as the 9800X3D can be overclocked, you'll be able to squeeze a lot of performance out of it. With 1440p you will likely be GPU bottlenecked still but the extra CPU will help with big grids at the start of races and passing by the pits.

[@alistairvictor8755]

why dont enable reflex+boost?

[@S1Races]

I usually have it enabled but I switched it off for the video so the framerate wasn't capped, otherwise it would've been hard to see the FPS differences when adjusting graphics settings

[@CaptainCrunch99]

Spa in iRacing seems to be one of the worst tracks to test on. All your comments made sense though, thanks for all that work.

[@S1Races]

Glad it helped :-) Spa is worst for testing in what way?

[@CaptainCrunch99]

@@S1Races I don’t know why, I I just know that most other iRacing tracks give me way more fps than Spa does.

[@S1Races]

Ah gotcha. Yeah I think newly scanned tracks add quite a bit more detail which is why I chose it

[@CaptainCrunch99]

@@S1RacesYeah, worst case scenario is a pretty good way to get the best out of your system. I was tweaking with Mugello and I was having quite a time with all those distance objects, but then when I switched to a different track all was good.

[@CaptainCrunch99]

Did some more experimentations, and Mirrors was the big hitter, so I dropped it to 2 and gained a lot of FPS and lower FT also. Kind of miss the in cockpit rear display, but it's not really that needed.

[@speedgoat7496]

Hi mate I think u have to restart the game for graphics to take affect.

[@S1Races]

For a bunch of them yes but for quite a few you can make the switch and see the FPS impacts whilst in the sim. Someone pointed out that grandstands / crowds needed a restart which I hadn't caught when I recorded and I need to double-check clouds, but for most of the others that need a restart (high quality trees, MSAA, foliage, etc.) I did cycle out of the sim and come back in to observe the FPS changes

[@lllFeanorlll]

I wonder what percentage of iRacers have equivalent system specs. 1%… 2%?

[@S1Races]

The intent wasn’t to show the best specs and graphics selections for a given system, more to show the impact of the various graphics settings when you change them. Pushing a lot of pixels makes it easier to see the impacts of changing each setting

[@Basmx195]

Yeah sorry to say but this isn't a useful test. For most of the settings you have to leave the sim and load back up to even activate. Just to give an idea, grandstand + crowds off will give you at least 30 fps more on Spa compared to High.

[@S1Races]

Thanks for flagging this, I'll take a look tonight and see if I can replicate that and if so, will add a note to the video description

[@BrendyNew]

Faimrate 😄

[@S1Races]

😂