Client Performance

[Rab]

I'm using the chat window again, the flashy flashy for PMs is essential. Just gotta remember to click minimise on the game window instead of leaving it running behind the chat window.

[RageRitual]

Now with no chat window it seems the game doesn't flash on the taskbar when minimised and a green message is received. So games are gonna start and I won't notice.

so u need the chat window on, for the flashing when shit happens
but the chat window covers ur game window
and if u dont minimise ur game window properly, then it continues using gpu

Rab I do have a channel on discord I can set you up on that will let you know anytime a TWD match starts if you like.

[Kassius]

An update on GPU utilization, using Nvidia Driver 512.15

GPU: GTX 1080

At 1440p with no framerate limit, fps=144, gpu=97% [a maxed out gpu]
At 1440p with framerate limit, fps=100, gpu=65% [unplayable stuttering]

1920x1200 window with no framerate limit, fps=144, gpu=38%
1920x1200 window with framerate limit, fps=100, gpu=24% [irritating stuttering]

The main takeaways:
- framerate limit causes stuttering which is either unplayable or irritating depending on resolution.
- 1440p unlimited maxes out the gpu, a maxed out gpu causes latency as frames arrive but the gpu is too busy to deal with them, this latency impacts competitiveness.
- windowed 1920x1200 unlimited is the only way to play this game currently that doesn't have a massive issue.

Eco warrior hat on:
- If we know the client has high gpu utilization (and therefore power draw, and electric bill) over 1920x1200, maybe there's an argument for a 1920x1200 res limit zone-wide to keep the game's carbon footprint in check.
- I realise that's the opposite of what I've always said, so I hate saying it, but the data has changed so it's reasonable that the conclusion changes too.

FWIW, I use a Asus 3060 TUF on latest drivers, on 1920x1080 at 144fps framerate limit (edit - Within NVidia control panel, not the continuum client), it runs like butter, no stuttering at all. I'm not at my PC atm but without limit I think it went over 1000. I have things like Software Emulation ticked.

Edit - follow up on settings :

Continuum Client

Advanced Options

Ticked
Software Emulation
Avoid Page Flipping
No Framerate Limit
Show Default Resolutions

Unticked
Diable Clipping
All 'force into RAM' options

Graphics

Ticked
Translucent Effects
Show Bomb Trails
Show Bullet/Shrap Trails
Show Ball Trails
Colour Depth : 32

Unticked
Show Backgrounds
Show Stars
Detailed Explosions
Rolling Ship
Visible Thrust
Adjust Brightness

Graphics Card

Card Info

[Display]
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit
DirectX version: 12.0
GPU processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Driver version: 516.94
Driver Type: DCH
Direct3D feature level: 12_1
CUDA Cores: 3584
Resizable BAR No
Core clock: 1852 MHz
Memory data rate: 15.00 Gbps
Memory interface: 192-bit
Memory bandwidth: 360.05 GB/s
Total available graphics memory: 20437 MB
Dedicated video memory: 12288 MB GDDR6
System video memory: 0 MB
Shared system memory: 8149 MB
Video BIOS version: 94.06.25.00.9B
IRQ: Not used
Bus: Unknown bus
Device ID: 10DE 2504 88161043
Part Number: G190 0051

Program Specific Settings : Continuum

Low Latency Mode: Ultra
(Everything else 'global settings')

Global Settings

Image Scaling: Off
Ambient Occlusion: Off
Anisotropic filtering: Application-controlled
Antialiasing - FXAA: On
Antialiasing - Gamma correction: On
Antialiasing - Mode: Application controlled
Antialiasing - Setting: Application controlled
Antialiasing - Transparency: 2x (supersample)
Background Application Max Frame Rate: Off
CUDA - GPUs: All
DSR - Factors: 2.00x;4.00x
DSR - Smoothness: 33%
Low Latency Mode: Off
Max Frame Rate: 144 FPS (this is my monitor's refresh rate)
Monitor Technology: G-SYNC Compatible
Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA): Off
OpenGL rendering GPU: Auto-select
Power management mode: Normal
Preferred refresh rate (): Highest available
Shader Cache Size: Driver Default
Texture filtering - Aniotrpic sample optimisation: Off
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Allow
Texture filtering - Quality: Quality
Texture filtering - Trilinear optimisation: Auto
Threaded optimisation: Auto
Triple buffering: Off
Vertical sync: Off
Virtual Reality pre-rendered frames: 1
Virtual Reality - Variable Rate Super Sampling

System Information

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 52 °C, Matisse 7nm Technology
RAM: 16.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1064MHz (15-15-15-36)
Motherboard: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (WI-FI) (AM4) 29 °C
Graphics: Generic Non-PnP Monitor (1892x917@32Hz)
Graphics: 4095MB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (ASUStek Computer Inc) 30 °C
Storage: 931GB Western Digital WDC WD10JPVX-22JC3T0 (SATA ) 28 °C
Storage:238GB SanDisk SD8SNAT256G1122 (SATA (SSD)) 28 °C
Storage:931GB Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB (Unknown (SSD))
Optical Drives: No optical disk drives detected
Audio: Realtek High Definition Audio

[Rab]

Now with no chat window it seems the game doesn't flash on the taskbar when minimised and a green message is received. So games are gonna start and I won't notice.

so u need the chat window on, for the flashing when shit happens
but the chat window covers ur game window
and if u dont minimise ur game window properly, then it continues using gpu

[Rab]

Nice tool for keeping an eye on pc vitals:
https://github.com/ArcadeRenegade/SidebarDiagnostics

[Rab]

lol, further observation:

When you're in windowed mode and you tab out so the chat window opens, the gpu is still rendering the game window so there's the load and electricity cost of that.

I noticed this because I'm used to full screen mode, which when tabbed out to the chat window uses 0% gpu.
(I usually leave the chat window open so I see when the bd arena fills up)

So that's an environmental downside of windowed mode.

That'll be why there's a "Full Screen Only" chat window option.

++ Noticed when you use windowed mode with chat window off you can minimize the game window, then it's 0% gpu.

[Rab]

An update on GPU utilization, using Nvidia Driver 512.15

GPU: GTX 1080

At 1440p with no framerate limit, fps=144, gpu=97% [a maxed out gpu]
At 1440p with framerate limit, fps=100, gpu=65% [unplayable stuttering]

1920x1200 window with no framerate limit, fps=144, gpu=38%
1920x1200 window with framerate limit, fps=100, gpu=24% [irritating stuttering]

The main takeaways:
- framerate limit causes stuttering which is either unplayable or irritating depending on resolution.
- 1440p unlimited maxes out the gpu, a maxed out gpu causes latency as frames arrive but the gpu is too busy to deal with them, this latency impacts competitiveness.
- windowed 1920x1200 unlimited is the only way to play this game currently that doesn't have a massive issue.

Eco warrior hat on:
- If we know the client has high gpu utilization (and therefore power draw, and electric bill) over 1920x1200, maybe there's an argument for a 1920x1200 res limit zone-wide to keep the game's carbon footprint in check.
- I realise that's the opposite of what I've always said, so I hate saying it, but the data has changed so it's reasonable that the conclusion changes too.

[Zeebu]

there used to be a way to force it to a proper resolution with black bars on either side to adjust for the mismatch

[Rab]

Nah it's a PC at 100%

I'm just trying to say I'm 20 years used to this: https://imgur.com/tk9Bxpp

To satisfy the res limit I get a window that looks like this: https://imgur.com/pfHJ6xk

It starts in the top left corner every time. So I try to drag it centred, but don't get it exactly the same every time.

Notice how my radar, nrg, etc. are not where I'm used to looking.

1920x1080 does not go into 2560x1440p exactly, so any attempt to full screen a res within the limit will blur.

[Zeebu]

Aim is 100x better in fullscreen(1440p) compared to windowed(1920x1200) as enforced by all competitive wb arenas. Res limit rules me out from even attempting to compete at wb. I think a big part of it is having the ship centered.

Edit: ... and having radar + energy in the place I'm trained to glance at.

just checking, but you dont have scaling on, do you? my laptop used to do really dumb things when i tried to make it go into full screen. turns out i was scaling to 125% and it couldnt cope and the display did dumb things.

youre much better at computery things than me though so this is likely not the issue, but just wanted to check

[Rab]

I've been testing wifi adapter settings for a couple of weeks, game feels better, although it's hard to prove.


Packet Coalescing

"Packet Coalescing" can also be called "Interrupt Moderation" so substitute where appropriate.

Instructions to disable wifi "Packet Coalescing" on Windows 10
1. Open Control Panel > Network and Sharing Centre
2. Click "Change adapter settings" (on the left)
3. Right click on your wifi adapter > Properties
4. Click the button "Configure"
5. Click the tab "Advanced"
6. Set "Packet Coalescing" to "Disabled"

WTF does this setting do?
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil.../?id=727946014

Interrupt Moderation

RECOMMENDATION:
Turn off if you can afford to; your mileage may vary.

REASON(S) TO TURN OFF:
Acts like a packet buffer for sending interrupts. “Allows the network driver to wait for enough packets of information to be generated before sending them, lowering the necessary number of times the driver has to send an interrupt message, which in turn lowers the CPU latency. However this has a negative effect in situations where it is necessary for data to be sent immediately. Disabling Interrupt Moderation will slightly increase CPU time; however the trade off is better registry in games” (SOURCE: [PSA] REDDIT).
“Disable the Interrupt Moderation setting for network card drivers that require the lowest possible latency” (SOURCE: TechNet). Even Microsoft agrees.

REASON(S) TO LEAVE ON:
Depending on the program and the hardware, you may not have the CPU runtime to spare, as turning Interrupt Moderation off “can use more CPU time and it represents a trade-off” (SOURCE: TechNet). It’s possible that without this setting on, you will lose performance by increasing the already taxed CPU-load.
Other theoretical reasons are that it improves latency at the CPU and the gains on that level exceeds the loss of latency in the network... or the NIC can handle the offloads/buffers enough to justify the CPU latency gains.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:
This is usually the biggest culprit of the primaries. This is due to the idea of ‘one packet, one interrupt’ which helps mitigates non-recoverable packet losses common to problematic online gaming. The principle is that one packet comes in, it gets a response from your system, the CPU turns it around back to the network card and it goes back out, for each packet. When they build up, the interrupts leaving your system pile up and delay your response. It’s hard to see how this couldn’t make any online gameplay that relied on time-critical elements problematic.

MTU Size

Instructions to set the correct MTU size (Do it for both ipv4 and ipv6)
https://homenetworkgeek.com/mtu-size/

WTF does this setting do?

MTU size is the maximum packet size that can be transmitted over your network. Finding the best MTU size and changing it is worth doing should you experience a decrease in speed, lag or even complete disconnections on your network.

If your line has a Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) limit of 1492 bytes per packet and Windows is trying to send 1500 bytes per packet, your line will constantly snip 8 bytes off the Windows-borne packet, causing fragmentation. Fortunately, while divining the correct value is its own work, the process of changing the MTU value is relatively simple and painless. You just have to be willing to use command-line!

[Rab]

Aim is 100x better in fullscreen(1440p) compared to windowed(1920x1200) as enforced by all competitive wb arenas. Res limit rules me out from even attempting to compete at wb. I think a big part of it is having the ship centered.

Edit: ... and having radar + energy in the place I'm trained to glance at.

[Rab]

Updated nvidia driver(496.76) and now 1440p 144fps works again.

[Rab]

for ages i've been playing 1440p 144fps, which has been okay, but trying to play in a window would totally mess up the settings - seemingly at random.

now I have a newer nvidia driver(472.12) because of D2R, and reinstalled ss, and now the situation is totally different...

the game won't go over 60fps in full screen mode, but will quite happily play in a 1920x1200 window at 144fps.

does still randomly change settings though, restarted my pc and the game started using 1920x1440 full screen lul.

fun times.

[Rab]

Some games don't have the option for Fullscreen, only Windowed or Fullscreen (windowed) modes. If you play a game like that, e.g. WOW, you have no choice but to enable GSync for windowed mode.

this also applies a frame rate limit to the windowed game, so if you're used to 600+ fps, then you turn this on and you get 150fps, even though GSync is meant to be working it actually looks less smooth.