Hi, Recently tried DX11 on my Athlon X 2 250 with GTX460 (I know, I know). Unsurprisingly, didn't get on very well. It's early in DX11 development, I realise but I reckon it'll be a step too far for my old pc. I tried Automobilista as I've always known it would be far more suited to my pc. Pretty good, I thought. Had a couple of hours with it then popped rf2 dx9 back on for comparison. Well, frankly, there is no comparison in my opinion. Rf2 dx9 looks and feels in a different league on my pc. So, I want to stick with rf2. However, there's a couple of things I don't understand. Can I stay on DX9 if DX11 doesn't perform as well for me? I've read it will be phased out. What does this mean for me? Will all content be DX11 from now on? Will DX11 content run on DX9 with my usual DX9 fps? Thanks for any help.
You can flip back and forth simply by deselecting the beta in steam > rf2 > properties and let steam download and install the change.
Oh, yeah thanks, I know about that for now. That's how I was able to try RF2 DX11, then Automobilista then back to RF2 DX9. But what about the 'phasing out' of DX9 that the devs mentioned?
I believe eventually DX11 will be normal, with the ability to run the DX11 version in a DX9 mode. For that DX9 mode, performance is rapidly improving in the beta. Yup. If you're subscribed to the Studio 397 content, you're already running some provided you have Steam updates enabled.
Well, that sounds very encouraging. Why, and how, is 'that DX9 mode' seeing rapidly improving performance in the beta? How have you seen 'that DX9 mode' 'in the beta'? Sorry for the questions or if I've misunderstood. It's very important to me that I'm still able to run rf2 in the future as well as I can run it now and I'm worried its gonna move out of my reach!
The DX9 branch seems to be retaining some of the elements of the Beta when you switch back from DX11...behind the scenes stuff...Like the little pluging icon that appears briefly when you start a race or appear in the pits...Its there, so I imagine some of the infrastructure stays.
After beta, dx11 will be the new official stable branch. The goal is to get same or better performance if you disable additional image quality features like post effects. So, no worries, you will lose dx9 support over time, but don't lose performance. In steam you can always access those old builds. But this might not work online as soon as people move over with the server to newer builds.
Thanks for your thoughts guys. I feel a bit more reassured that I'm not gonna lose my precious rf2. If there's one thing that trying Automobilista taught me, it's to treasure rf2. To be honest, it's mostly the lighting and the ffb. So much better in rf2, and I'm grateful for the efforts the devs have put in so far to enable me to enjoy it on such an old, limited pc. I just pray it continues to run as well as it does now.
Eventually cars will get some new shaders that most probably won't work in DX9 mode. I can imagine the DX9 build to stick around for quite a while yet, but I see it unlikely there will be a DX9/DX11 toggle button, because that won't be compatible with post FX and new shaders. Iracing recently got rid of DX9 entirely, and I think that's what's gonna happen with rF2 eventually as well.
regardless, stay on DX9 until they sort out the performance problems with the DX11 builds. no matter what the typical defenders of the age on here say, there is a major problem with FPS on the DX11 betas. for now they retain feature parity with all official builds (DX9) so stay there until its fixed If someone with a high end i7, high end RAM, high end SSD and a 1080 Ti founders edition can't get above 45fps in real world average racing, and suffers massive perf issues when clouds or rain or overcast, or non-ISI track, or more than 7-8 cars on screen, or when viewing replay, or when...<insert typical random perf issue symptom here> Also given the DX11 visual improvements are honestly questionable (despite being a slight improvement) - there's no excuse for it dropping the frame rate on high end modern hardware to 1/3rd of what it was...
I've now moved over to DX11. To do so means to sacrifice racing in Dx9 online series to some extent as most series use Dx9 cars and tracks that look terrible in Dx11 build. I can't be bothered to alternate between the two or have multiple installs. If I miss a race or three because of it I'm not too fussed, because I'll be able to help other racers who I race with transition when they are ready. I'd rather get a handle on DX11 than to keep going back and forth... If you are racing in a league, and want to compete, it's probably not wise to transition yet. If you can be bothered to go between Dx9 & DX11 then that would be the best option for some. As for performance, eventually DX11 will outstrip DX9 for performance, even on an old PC. Your PC may need the odd driver update, unless it's SO old it can't handle DX11, though GTX460 is definitely DX11 compliant..
The DX11 has a way to go but todays' patch has made a huge improvement. I'm getting approximately 105-125 FPS during daylight with the updated content, and that's with most settings at max (3440x1440, AA=3, PP=High). At night less FPS but ohhhh it looks sooo good (Mills MetroPark and Toban)! i7 3770, 16GB, GTX1070, UltraWide. Haven't tried my triple screen setup since today's patch but I wasn't getting much less than my ultrawide.
I suggest you to come to the latest build. Having great performance here. Is it possible to save the last build just in case?
Our league is running Magny cours this week and there are 2 versions available. 1.4 version is on steam. 1.46 version from elsewhere. I get near 100 frames per second with no PP effects on version 1.4 period but the track looks terrible and a lot of the textures are awful and the track mesh is super bumpy. The 1.46 version looks great and has a much better track mesh. Before the latest update I was getting between 30 and 35 frames per second on the 1.46 version and better than 80 frames per second on the 1.4 version. After the update I'm getting 2 - 3 frames per second on the 1.46 version and the 1.4 version has massive frame drops from 60 frames per second down to 3. I understand this is not a DirectX 11 compliant track however, I'm not sure how the new update made the performance drop so dramatically on this track. And by the way we are using the urd EGT mod.
Ask the guy who did the update of that specific third party content, it's not really DX11 beta build related.
Performance seem to have gone up in the latest build and i could have post process on low (not existing in DX9), shadows from low in DX9 to medium in DX11 and i could turn on road/environment reflections in DX11. And with 3 settings turned on (both reflections and post process) and shadows raised to medium i had ~60 to ~90FPS on triple screens. If i turned shadows to medium in DX9 it would almost always drop below 60FPS around the pits. However, even though its looking better and better there is one issue that might or might not affect you and that is fullscreen/vsync isnt working atm. They are working on it and said they will fix it soon (next build according to S397) and im not sure if thats done already, but if you have a PC that need vsync to be fluid and not stuttering then you maybe want to wait in case you have some important race before its updated. Again though, some get fluid gameplay when they hit a bit over the refresh rate, but to me both AC and rF2 stutters without vsync. But its looking up. I also had horrible performance after the first DX11 builds and now its just getting better and better.