iRacing Rain | How does it IMPACT Hardware Performance?

[@DannyGiusa]

Looking at the graphics settings, you can adjust a bit there without loosing to much graphics quality. - Reduce amount of lights - Reduce mirrors amount to 1 - Reduce MSAA (1440p specific) - Clouds low (Not a big difference at least at current build) - Foliage Low (Eats your fps like cake - Reduce Cars shown cars to 12 (Max Cars is only the gathered data from server to your client, important for UIs, you can set it to 63) - Crowds Low (If you race GT3, you are used to empty grandstands) - Events (Medium, only applies when special effects are happening like smoke etc.) Thanks for the preview!

[@OverTake_gg]

Hey Danny, thanks for the advice, good points! Lets see if I can win some FPS with that. -Michel

[@aidotas]

undo "Higher details in mirrors" too. It's pretty useless but it eats a lot of CPU, especially noticible at start. and one for the debate - turn on FSR Res Scaling. It might look funny at start but you get used to it. It also nets around 20% lower GPU consumption.

[@aidotas]

also, looking at your GPU utilization graph, I see that your GPU is underutilized, meaning your CPU is taking the beating here. Try lowering settings on the left-hand side, as these are mostly CPU heavy. In addition, settings for mirrors are another culprit of CPU usage, play around with that.

[@Jarek_iRek]

You can even make bigger changes in iRacing .ini files. LoD and below options are great to get some fps. you do not need to see 20 cars in your rear mirror or in pit lane. 4 or 5 is enough. Your GPU will thank you 🙂

[@SquiggyWigginz]

Great thoughts Danny, however I would tweak a few other things. Getting over 200 fps now with BETTER graphics after making a few tweaks.

[@4FiftyRacing]

Lowering graphics settings doesn't matter for you, you could up them a lot, your GPU is bored, it's sitting at 50-60% utilization... the only reason you would want to have it lower than 99% is if you want to save energy. Your CPU is limiting your GPU, it would be interesting to see how the single cores are utilized.

[@JonRacesCars]

My thoughts exactly. This looks CPU limited. Probably using near 100% of 4 cores on the 12 core 5900X and why the CPU utilization is around 30%. A 5800x3d would be a massive improvement in this system somewhere around 15% higher minimum FPS. That's based on my prior PC going from 5600x to 5900x then to 5800x3d and 3090 pushing 5120x1440

[@richardople]

I would love to see VR user cases. I personally run an RTX 3080 Ti with an i7 12700KF with 16 gigs of ram

[@ozzijayjd]

I play acc in VR and the rain actually helps out ,it seems like the gpu has to render less back ground detail as the foreground is all wet,rain and spray

[@fan2hd277]

@@ozzijayjdthat‘s because UE4 and UE5 intentionally blur the details in the background its like a veil which you can tweak. Before 1.9.4 ACC VR was dogshit but now it is actually much sharper and clearer that what iracing can do. Only AMS2 with a beefy PC can do better but the performance hit on the GPU is higher.

[@ozzijayjd]

@@fan2hd277 does ams2 have rain? I've played in the dry and the shadows drive me bonkers

[@CMSimRacing]

He is CPU limited here, with a 12700KF you're likely to have the same issue.

[@richardople]

@@CMSimRacing Currently without rain I get a solid 90fps using the Reverb G2 with OPENxr. Here's too hoping for a solid 90 with rain.

[@deadmanwalking1930]

Seeing those fps with triple screens makes me so happy that I run one screen. I'm up around the 140 to 150 fps with iracing.

[@nateattinello1464]

You can get those numbers on triples but at much lower settings, I average like 100-130 running 3 1440p’s

[@marcosicolo4542]

For as much as a triple screen is great and immersive, I always recommend people to use an ultra wide screen instead. They are still immersive, give you a decent FOV, and the performance is so much better.

[@OverTake_gg]

And it takes less space. I tend to agree, if I had to build my rig again I'd opt for a 49 inch super ultra wide instead of triples. -Michel

[@SquiggyWigginz]

​@@OverTake_ggGot rid of my triples and moved to 1000R 57" Odyssey Neo. Way better. 200+ fps with 4090 and 128ram

[@OverTake_gg]

very nice!

[@darinmartel3595]

@@SquiggyWigginz you must be downscaling to 1440p, otherwise i'd have to see it to believe you are getting 200+ fps with 8k resolution (since that monitor is essentially two 4k monitors) in an online race. Not to mention the display port on the newest nvidia cards is only rated at 120 fps for 8k resolution.

[@regibson23]

Ultrawide are basically useless. The extra FOV you get is the a pillar and side mirror.

[@th3orist]

i run one 55" OLED TV 4k@120hz and after the first lap i usually hit the max refresh of the TV so thats good to know that rain won't have a too heavy impact

[@fan2hd277]

Wait for a stacked online multiclass grid 😂

[@chrisracing81]

You need a better CPU (5800X3D or 7800X3D) and please uncheck „higher details in mirrors“. You can’t see a difference and gain a lot fps.

[@christheander371]

My main question is. Will the ones who chose lower graphics settings have an advantage when it comes to the visuals of the splash ?

[@Joakim_Johansson]

Interested in vr performance with rain 😬😁

[@TheSimRacingDad]

This is with AI as well which makes a big difference to performance

[@fan2hd277]

It will worse in online races with all the not location based stints, high lags and the wonderful netcode.

[@nicolaslopez3987]

@@fan2hd277 no, AI uses a lot of CPU and easily bottlenecks even high end configs. Lag is another thing, it has nothing to do with GPU and CPU

[@torque2802]

Looking at the performance overlay looks like most of the time CPU bottlenecked. Be interesting to see each cores usage to see if its because a single core is being maxed out or if it is a memory limitation.

[@OverTake_gg]

I can look deeper into that, but I think iRacing and many Sim Racing titles in general are bottlenecked by CPU. -Michel

[@glitchinthematrix9306]

​@OverTake_gg what i can tell for sure is that if you want proper fps maximization? Tune your cpu with high quality ram manually. It will lead to huge fps increases depending if you use 12900k or higher or either 7800x3d which has already vcache.

[@paulmdevenney]

iRacing is very CPU bottlenecked. I got no real improvement out of moving from VR on a 1080Ti / 16GB Ram to a 3080/32GbRam. Sadly very few games utilize either all the cores, or the GPU properly for VR as far as I can tell. Not sure if this is an issue with dev priority or the SDKs available.

[@Michi-tn7zw]

@@glitchinthematrix9306 I have a 7800X3D, could you elaborate a bit what you mean by "tune your cpu with high quality ram manually" ? Also, do you think I have more performance with 32 GB Ram and max Mhz or 64GB with low Mhz? (Cant run 64 GB on high Mhz unfort.)

[@mementomori4972]

@@glitchinthematrix9306 How do you tune it manually?

[@StevenYanni]

Wow that’s impressive from the developers.

[@FirestormCH]

The most concern i do have: if you lower some graphical settings, do you get any visual advantages out of it?

[@dystopia_lp]

I have asked that question, too - never got an answer yet.

[@4FiftyRacing]

@@dystopia_lp no, Greg West answered that in Tony Kanaans stream. There's no way to disable spray or anything else to get an advantage, it's the same for everyone.

[@dystopia_lp]

@@4FiftyRacingThanks a lot for the answer - I appreciate it! (and I´ll have to sub, I guess)

[@jorge_781]

I remember GTR2 when you could turn off sun flare in config.ini and you'll not get blind at sunset while other racers can't see nothing in a part of the circuit pointing to the sun, unfair.

[@HowlingMadAsh]

only 10% drop, thats not bad.

[@mike_33gt]

ahhh, shit, that’s bad

[@GaryMUC123]

CPU is your "bottleneck". Changed from 5800x to X3D. The difference is obscene. But these are first world problems... ;-)

[@OverTake_gg]

That might be my next step! -Michel

[@LadrimSlump]

Thats what i did... Huge difference

[@Nick_Kearney]

Given I'm not running triples and I've already done some optimisation of my graphics settings. I'm running at about 150 to 180 fps around Zandvoort in testing. Less at race start obviously. But I still intend to do a bunch of A/B comparisons to make sure my fps is optimised in the wet. The last thing I want is to take myself out because my fps slowed to a crawl.

[@jorge_781]

Problem is race start is when you'll need more FPS.

[@finkylinky]

This made me feel better.

[@Real28]

I'm curious what the actual hit is: CPU or GPU. Because they've said for months this is a physics driven system, which means the primary hit is likely to be the CPU which will bottleneck the GPU. The actual visuals don't look difficult for GPUs since I doubt it's actual literal volumetrics. That said, I'm typing this before fully watching but I haven't seen anyone dive into the detailed fps counter to show the loads on CPU/GPU. My guess is that if anyone needs to upgrade anything, you'll want a better CPU.

[@OverTake_gg]

I think you are absolutely right. -Michel

[@fan2hd277]

iRacing is highly CpU bound so no surprise. And i agree I bet this is no volumetric rain which would kill the performance. iRacing is very good at marketing simple things for the fans ;)

[@CMSimRacing]

He is CPU bottlenecked even without weather.

[@MadMike991]

Can you tell if the rain is hitting the CPU or GPU harder? I have a 4090 and i7-13700 with triple 1440s but get severely CPU limited at starts or when lots of cars are around particularly in AI races.

[@OverTake_gg]

CPU!

[@William3143]

Yeeik.. it's possible to take at least 30 or more fps the minimum, with a few adjustments, without losing quality...

[@paulmdevenney]

10% FPS lost would be unplayable in VR.... :(. My only hope is that because I'm pretty certain iRacing's VR is CPU locked, that the new load is on the graphics card, which isn't the VR bottleneck as far as I can tell.

[@OverTake_gg]

Fingers crossed it will work out for you! -Michel

[@mementomori4972]

It depends on your headset and your system. You can easily have a 10% impact and still hit the max frame rate of the headset .

[@paulmdevenney]

@@mementomori4972 I sure hope so. Going to find out soon I guess!

[@MrEDET]

Yup.. that means either upgrading the pc or lowering the resolution a bit. With the current GPU prices I'll drop the resolution ;)

[@Khosumi_]

You're grossly exaggerating by claiming a 10% fps loss would be unplayable in vr. I strictly drive in VR, and play lots of other VR content, and it is not true that such a small drop in frames makes it unusable. You might need to turn down some other settings if your PC isn't capable to run the game at decent framerates.

[@matiaz0]

Only 49% GPU utilización... Big micro bottleneck

[@HesDeadJim]

Im a bit worries about this actually. Just found that switching from the mercedes F1 car to the Porsche GT3, for some reason i get a drop of around 30 fps :(

[@OverTake_gg]

On the same track? - Rene

[@fan2hd277]

Guys for those who say >10% fps hit is a good job you are clearly biased. It is a big hit which is expected. Anything below 8% would have been an achievement. Don’t oversell iracing please, it is still completely outdated and highly CPU dependent which produces with no surprise the performance hit. My RTX4090 falls asleep while my OC 12900K is sweating like hell.

[@OverTake_gg]

I already thought about a rain fps comparison and impact on gpu / cpu with others titles to have the big picture. -Michel

[@brianz7850]

Almost all sim racing titles are highly CPU dependent. That's the nature of having to do the physics calculations and such.

[@radstandardracing2945]

Great vid but FYI NVIDIA overlay impacts performance

[@OverTake_gg]

Good point, but this was mainly about showing the difference between dry and rain under the same conditions otherwise :) -Michel

[@FabianWinklerRacing]

Interesting, that you only hit 60 FPS with a triple 1440p setup. I am running 1440p with 4 mirrors active and get 140 fps (capped to 140) on most tracks. I have to check what framerate I get at Mugello.

[@OverTake_gg]

what CPU are you running? -Michel

[@FabianWinklerRacing]

@@OverTake_gg I am using an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D., So far, fps at the Nordschleife in the rain are exactly the same, as in dry.

[@FabianWinklerRacing]

@@OverTake_gg I am using the AMD 7800x3D

[@EliasWEC]

Im running triples (2k) and rtx3070 and low to medium settings. I get 190fps rn so i should be good

[@jorge_781]

It's strange how other simulators has graphics better than iRacing and run at higher FPS. There's probably something wrong with GFX engine. Probably your triple screens set-up would be unplayable with a 3070 under rain.

[@OverTake_gg]

Probably not, as the GPU is not even fully loaded, I am more CPU capped with iRacing. -Michel

[@fan2hd277]

The game is CPU bound because its outdated. AMS2 or rF2 now LMU do a better job because they use lore CPU cores.

[@MontgomeryScotty]

Unless iRacing fixes the safety rating for road, we will eventually end up with some A class guys, no real B class to speak of, a few thousand C class and tens of thousands of D class drivers. Everyone will love the rain, at first, but then reality will set in and the first corner of every race will be even worse than the first corner has historically been. The second corner will finish off the survivors of the first, aaaand every race will finish with about 3 or 4 cars.

[@Prickles2001]

Tony Kanaan did a stream with Greg West from iRacing and they discussed this. iRacing are going to see how things go and watch closely.

[@natbrzow1242]

I don’t have any water droplets on my windshield, anybody know how to fix it

[@fastforward7670]

You had SSR disabled - I assumed this is required for rain?

[@Daz555Daz]

What does "new collision in use" mean at the top of the screen?

[@FeintMotion]

So you know how there's new collision? It's in use.

[@Daz555Daz]

@@FeintMotion lol. It's a very odd message. It's been on all the videos I've seen showing the early release of rain.

[@OverTake_gg]

It's an Alpha thing. -Michel

[@AlbrechtLiebenau]

Can you try to get to 120 fps? That’s were the real talk begins. Stable 120 fps and you gain seconds in laptime. I swear. 60 I’m afraid, isn’t quite anything near a reasonable number to aim for.

[@OverTake_gg]

On most tracks and without AI but online I usally get constant 90-100 - with some tips from the comments today and upgrading to a 5800X3D it should be possible to get stable 120 FPS. Thats my next goal! -Michel

[@AlbrechtLiebenau]

Cool. Sounds good. 🤙🏽🤙🏽

[@DreamyDan]

@@OverTake_ggif the price difference is minimal and your motherboard is compatible look at the 7800x3d. It has more 3D cache and faster single core. You will probably see 10-20 more fps average between the two cpus on iracing. Look up videos benchmarking the two in games like MSFS or iracing where 3D cache makes a big difference.

[@OverTake_gg]

Unfortunately I only have AM4

[@wojtaz8363]

How to play now in Rain?

[@KevinTheFirefighter]

Cpu bottleneck most of the time, gpu barely hits 60% of util. Need 3D chips for iracing if on AMD side.

[@frozezone22]

why is there such low gpu utilization.

[@OverTake_gg]

because it's bottlenecked by the CPU, it doesn't utilize all the cores. -Michel

[@ar9gaming2020]

but normally i run 30fps

[@MCplayer94]

Your gpu is not even at 100% utilization lmao

[@nicolaslopez3987]

most likely because he's racing versus AIs and they use a lot of CPU

[@samohtlp1985]

Im playing rfactor 2 and i love. It

[@mcr420mcr5]

Its 2024 we shouldnt be happy with 60fps on pc anymore i racing dosnt get grief for poor graphics u need a serious pc 2 make it look even a little bit decent imo the idea of how it feels over how it looks is a 10 year old compramise 🤷🏽‍♂️👊🏽

[@regibson23]

You have dynamic lod set to 60fps. You need to turn that off to see true fps loss. Otherwise iracing will reduce graphics to keep you at 60. That's why you keep getting frame rates around 60.

[@chotus69]

Well I hope I don't need to upgrade my 7800x3d and 4090 lol

[@OverTake_gg]

that should probably be enough 😂 -Michel

[@NASCARJIMMAYFAN]

I got a 100fps drop 😀

[@darwinLee81283]

Your Struggling to get 60fps with a 4080????

[@OverTake_gg]

Yes, but it's due to the CPU, the 4080 is bored. -Michel

[@darwinLee81283]

@@OverTake_gg ah ok. Maybe an 5800x3d will help if your on AM4 Motherboard

[@LadrimSlump]

@@darwinLee81283 around 30-40% more fps

[@OverTake_gg]

I started researching and this video costs me ~275 EUR now to get that 5800X3D haha. -Michel

[@brianz7850]

@@OverTake_gg I'd be interested to see any changes in your FPS with your settings as is in the video, just from simply swapping from the 5900X to the X3D. I've got a 5800X and a 3070 myself and terrified of my FPS drop because of the CPU I have and already struggling at places like Daytona and Mugello.

[@Paolo_Pinkas747]

I have zero to no impact on FPS... I really wondering who is paying your channel and what is your agenda? You guys hyped Forza Motorsport to the moon, but is mediocre at best, same with WRC which had many heavy bugs and still has a lack of proper resource management, then you praise LMU which is also in a very bad state at the moment (to be fair, it is a early access) and now you suggest with your thumbnail that rain in iRacing will be very demanding for the FPS. If it is a clickbait, it is a very bad one. If this is your real opinion you should a)wait and see what the public release looks like and b) change your settings. Rain in iRacing is from a driving point of view the very best that happened to sim racing sind a very LONG time. You should praise this! And remember, it is just the first iteration... they will work on it to make it even better and perfect. Only downside for me are the windscreen effects, which doesn´t look like water at all and drop behave the same at 50 and 200 KPH. This would be a point for critics, but not a made up FPS discussion.

[@OverTake_gg]

I think your claim is not correct - we also mentioned almost all of the negatives for Forza, WRC and LMU. Either in the reviews or follow up videos. It will always contain individual opinions and experiences of the person who tested something or made the video and everyone weighs different aspects in a different way. You should judge after watching the entire videos, same with this one - "-20 FPS?" is just a caption - with a question mark. Yes, we need some marketing / "clickbait" in todays media world. The video simply answers this question and was intended as a service for people with hardware concerns. If we are sponsored or paid, there will be a clear marker as we have to follow strict rules for that being in Germany / EU. -Michel

[@chrisracing81]

20 FPS drop? From what? From 240 FPS, from 165 FPS, from 144 FPS, from 120 FPS or from 60 FPS? You can expect 20% drop, but not FPS…

[@OverTake_gg]

It's just a caption:) Maybe watch the video 😇👋🏻 -Michel

[@HesDeadJim]

First!

[@SIMRIG412]

Iracing is such outdated junk 😂

[@volkarach0293]

Still the best simracing experience 🤷‍♂️

[@xmor]

I don't get this cringy thumbnails. I feel so much cringe that I'm unable to watch the video.

[@OverTake_gg]

No problem, its not for everyone :) But thanks for stopping by and commenting, it really helps the algorithm. -Michel

[@xmor]

@@OverTake_ggNo worries, I'm a fan of cringe and this is a prime example. Thank you!