My Simple Benchmark

[taufikp]

Processor
AMD Athlon II X4 635, Overclocked 3.3GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM 736MHz, Cool n Quiet On

Video Card
ATI HD 5770, 1GB, AMD Overdrive 890MHz (GPU) and 1320MHz (VRAM)
ATI AMD Driver Version 12.1a

Video Card Setting
No AA, No AF, Catalyst AI Quality, Flip Queue Size 0, Texture Hi Quality, MipMap Detail Level Quality, VSYNC Off

Game Display Setting
Fullscreen, VSYNC OFF, 8xAF, Sun Occlusion On, Reflection Off, Wind Off, Shadow Med, Shadow Blur Off, Opponent Detail Med, 20 Visible Vehicle, 20 AI, everything else on highest setting, Vertical FOV 50

Game mode: Replay HotLap, no HUD, Cockpit View, Steering Animation On
Vehicle: Formula Renault 3.5
Track: Sepang Full Loop
FRAPS Benchmark 60 seconds

Game Video Res, Quality Setting, and Result

1440x900 32-bit

HDR On, AA Level 1
Frames:2076, Min FPS: 21, Max FPS: 45, Avg FPS: 34.600

HDR On, AA Off
Frames:2219, Min FPS: 27, Max FPS: 48, Avg FPS: 36.983

HDR Off, AA Level 1
Frames:2356, Min FPS: 20, Max FPS: 53, Avg FPS: 39.267

HDR Off, AA Off
Frames:2584, Min FPS: 29, Max FPS: 57, Avg FPS: 43.067


1680x1050 32-bit

HDR On, AA Level 1
Frames:1838, Min FPS: 22, Max FPS: 39, Avg FPS: 30.633

HDR On, AA Off
Frames:1945, Min FPS: 24, Max FPS: 41, Avg FPS: 32.417

HDR Off, AA Level 1
Frames:2197, Min FPS: 27, Max FPS: 47, Avg FPS: 36.617

HDR Off, AA Off
Frames:2368, Min FPS: 27, Max FPS: 52, Avg FPS: 39.467

Summary
It is clear that the HDR shader at this point is not ready for "golden release". Releasing rFactor2 with current HDR will hurt rFactor2 reputation. Hopefully in six month time (or less!) this troubled HDR can be fixed.

Also I noticed that running rFactor2 using vertical resolution of less than 1024 (for example 1280x720) will give you blurry scenes and need anti aliasing level 3 to fix it (this is actually also happen in rFactor1 too). Going up to 1680x1050 or even just 1280x1024, the scenes are quite sharp. With anti aliasing, the scene is gorgeous. But when HDR comes into play, that's when you know you have trouble.

I know that an HDR scene is beautful. But fix it first please.

PS:
Below is the video of HDR On, AA Level 1, 1440x900 setting (34.600 FPS)




I think my goal of achieving 50 FPS is impossible without bringing graphic quality down. At the moment I'm using No HDR, AA Level 2. For HDR replacement, I'm thinking of using D3D9 injector such as ENBSeries or FXAA. Both have capability to do post processing similar to rFactor2 HDR, but with little performance hit.

[LoPaN]

Are you running an LCD monitor or CRT? if its LCD the blurry image you are seeing is due to running in a non native screen resolution.

[taufikp]

This time I'm giving FXAA a try. The in-game HDR is brilliant and gorgeous, but its performance is poor.
Enter FXAA. Based on my test, FXAA gives you very little performance hit, reduced your frame-rate by 3 FPS only, and it looks better than normal rFactor2 scene (no HDR).

The resolution I'm using is 1680x1050, since at 1440x900 the graphic is blurry. For comparison, iRacing graphic at 1280x720 is sharp and crystal clear, even with no AA. With AA turned on, iRacing graphic is looking better.

So, here's my second benchmark result. The method is still the same as my previous method. Some in-game settings are changed as well as ATI driver setting.

ATI Catalyst Setting:
1680x1050 32-bit, VSYNC ON
4xSSAA Box filter
2xAF
Catalyst AI High Quality, Enable Surface Format Optimization
Mimpmap Detail High Quality
Overdrive 890MHz (GPU) and 1320MHz (VRAM)

Game Setting:
HDR Off, In-Game AA Off, AF Billinear, Shadow Med, Shadow Blur Off, Vertical FOV 55, AI 20, Visible Vehicle 20, Environment Reflection Off, Wind Off, Road Reflection On, the other display setting is at max, Sound Effects 20

FXAA Benchmark
note: the level names shown here are not FXAA's preset, I just made it up.

FXAA "Level 4 - Highest Setting"
Active Module: HDR, Bloom, ToneMap, TechniColor
Frames:1808, Min: 21, Max: 38, Avg: 30.133

FXAA "Level 3"
Active Module: Bloom, ToneMap, TechniColor
Frames:1846, Min: 22, Max: 38, Avg: 30.767

FXAA "Level 2"
Active Module: ToneMap, TechniColor
Frames:1908, Min: 22, Max: 40, Avg: 31.800

FXAA "Level 1 - Lowest Setting"
FXAA Active Module: TechniColor
Frames:1914, Min: 22, Max: 40, Avg: 31.900

FXAA OFF
Frames:2001, Min: 22, Max: 43, Avg: 33.350

I'll post the video as soon as I have it uploaded in YouTube.

Update:
This benchmark is also showing that FXAA performance is going down (but still under 2 FPS, from 31.900 down to 30.133) as more modules are activated. Also I was quite surprised that the effect produced by FXAA Level 1, which uses TechniColor module only, is actually quite good!

[taufikp]

Are you running an LCD monitor or CRT? if its LCD the blurry image you are seeing is due to running in a non native screen resolution.

I have a 32" LCD (with LED back-lit) monitor (it's a Samsung), and all the resolution I'm using is native resolution. As you have said, non-native resolution will give me very, very blurry image.

[taufikp]

Here's the video of my second benchmark above, using FXAA "Level 4" setting.



The in-game time is 9AM, and you can still see the moon!

[MarcG]

The in-game time is 9AM, and you can still see the moon!

thats not a bug...thats reality

[taufikp]

Here's the video that shows the difference between FXAA "Level 4" and "Level 1". Personally, I prefer FXAA Level 1.

[modmate]

Well yes, the HDR effect is much more realistic here but you may notice that FXAA got some huge problems with AA on objects with a special Angle. Have a look at the Fences,Hotels and so on. All Angles wich are not Horizon/vertical have a bad AA effect on them , you`ll see those steps on the egdes wich looks verry ugly.
I would advice to wait a bit and let ISI do their work, even if the HDR is a bit heavy right now. You may notice the ingame Option "HDR Profiles", i think thats what we waiting for.

Greets Modmate

[miguelskaff]

It might be a stupid question, but how do I measure the in game FPS?

[modmate]

It might be a stupid question, but how do I measure the in game FPS?

Just Press Shift+F ingame. Thats it.

Greets

[miguelskaff]

Thanks!

[Gridgirl]

Just Press Shift+F ingame. Thats it.

If you mean the default keystroke combination -> CTRL+F

[modmate]

If you mean the default keystroke combination -> CTRL+F

While Shift means exactly the same as CTRL.

[Gridgirl]

While Shift means exactly the same as CTRL.

Sorry ... but you're wrong again^^

If both are the same, then get it a try and type some upper-case letters by using CTRL

[taufikp]

Actually in my all FXAA setup above, I didn't use the anti aliasing module at all. I only used anti aliasing setup from the driver (ATI Catalyst): 4xSSAA Box filtered. In-game anti aliasing also was not used because I found that AA Level 3 dropped more frames than 4xSSAA Box Filtered, but the end result is very good though. I agree we should wait for ISI to fix this graphic performance problem. I also learn to live with all sort of graphic problems found in rFactor 2 for the moment.

[modmate]

Sorry ... but you're wrong again^^

If both are the same, then get it a try and type some upper-case letters by using CTRL

true, i hate that damn american layout, strg was the same.Forget it.

[Robert Gödicke]

true, i hate that damn american layout, strg was the same.Forget it.

It has nothing to do with the layout, CTRL/STRG and Shift are the same on both layouts, except that CTRL ("Control") was translated into German, so it's simply called STRG ("Steuerung") on a German keyboard.

Let's just call it "the key on the lower left corner of the keyboard", hehe.

[facu]

this would sound stupid but what is the FXAA?

[taufikp]

this would sound stupid but what is the FXAA?

Not stupid at all. I was asking the same question myself. FXAA is short for Fast Approximation Anti Aliasing, developed by nVidia (read PDF here). To read better explanation with clear sample, click here. You may also read Timothy Lottes blog, the nVidia guy.

So, the "FXAA Injector" is a piece of software overlaid on top of DirectX 9 based games, usually named D3D9.DLL so all DX9-based games can load the software instantly. This injector was first developed by a guy named "somedude", based on nVidia's white paper above and since then has been evolved into various pieces. The FXAA version I'm using is from this Assembla page (just download the first file on the list).

ps. the first best-known visual injector for DX9 is ENBseries, search for "ENBseries" in YouTube and you will be presented with loads of video showing off various games enhancement using ENBSeries. Can be used in rFactor (1 and 2) but the performance hit is bigger than FXAA.

[taufikp]

Well yes, the HDR effect is much more realistic here but you may notice that FXAA got some huge problems with AA on objects with a special Angle. Have a look at the Fences,Hotels and so on. All Angles wich are not Horizon/vertical have a bad AA effect on them , you`ll see those steps on the egdes wich looks verry ugly.
I would advice to wait a bit and let ISI do their work, even if the HDR is a bit heavy right now. You may notice the ingame Option "HDR Profiles", i think thats what we waiting for.
Greets Modmate

I think I just found the answer for your post: it's because FXAA was designed for pre-processing in-game image render. FXAA Injector's anti-aliasing module is not doing very good, because it is applied to a post-processed image. The algorithm is not working at its ideal condition, hence producing more artifact.

Now I'm wondering whether the in-game anti-aliasing used by rFactor (1 and 2) is using FXAA method. Because AAA (triple A) games like Battlefield 3, Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, and so on are using FXAA as their in-game anti-aliasing process, and the end result is great while the FPS hit is minimal.