thanks for your guide, I'm using it to set the correct parameters in the Amd control panel

 

Few specific cases for setting up AMD Radeon Profiles:


1. If its an online game and the settings in Profile dont seem to work at all.
Some games use DRMs or different ways to block tampering with the code. This however applies to Radeon Settings, and any settings - even forced ones or in Global profile.


2. Game was originally a console exclusive. As an example i will talk about Nier: Automata

When i was playing it on 1080p at "default" settings, everything was nice and snappy. Once i changed resolution to 4k and full details things went awry. This indicates that game was optimized for specific resolution and level of details, and we "PC Masterrace" were given more options ... and more ways how to mess things up.

a) Frame limiter
Consoles use it routinely. Its easiest way how to prevent HW overheating. I would recommend to use it.

b) OpenGL Triple buffering
Consoles (and mainly PS) do not rely so heavily on DirectX as PC or Xbox. Depending on port this actually may help to make game smoother if Vsync is On.

c) Wait for Vertical Refresh: On, unless application specifies
d) FreeSync: On
Again combine it with Fullscreen.

In game i turned on all the details to max, except I turned off Anti-aliasing (same reason as in Witcher 3 - effects are almost invisible).

Also there is a persistent problem in PC version that cutscenes are choppy. This can be fixed by installing of RAD Game Tools, which contain Bink Video codec.
http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm

Few Notes:
Even when the game was still indicating 59FPS when Vsynced, there was a significant difference in game menu GPU frequency and power consumption while Frame Limiter was not used. It indicated that there was a lot of frames generated, but not actually presented and discarded. In case where GPU is able to generate at least 120 FPS on a 60Hz display Vsynced, certain engines may attempt to generate and present multiple frames at once, sometimes resulting in displaying them in wrong order. This can cause a shimmerring effects and considerable input lag.

 

Great guide, I have a question about the Texture Filtering Quality how do they affect image quality ? I'm assuming if you are using Vega/Rad VII then you can turn on HBCC if neccessary

 

Last time I noticed difference was back in 2006 when I was trying to play Oblivion on Pentium III-S and Ati x850xt. With current high-res textures its even more problematic to see any difference.

And yes I have Radeon VII (i am impatiently awaiting waterblock for it). HBCC... I might test it on my older system which had 8gb of RAM, but now I have 32gigs and nothing gets even close to half of the capacity.

 

Better to use RTSS for frame rate capping. FRTC provides TERRIBLE frametimes compared to RTSS. Also vsync provides input lag.

Recommend to watch these to videos for greater understanding.
Personally I recommend in global settings to change to enhanced sync. HBCC has not shown any difference on vs off.

 

Better to use RTSS for frame rate capping. FRTC provides TERRIBLE frametimes compared to RTSS. Also vsync provides input lag.

Recommend to watch these to videos for greater understanding.
Personally I recommend in global settings to change to enhanced sync. HBCC has not shown any difference on vs off.

I havent test it myself, but HBCC seems to have slightly negative impact on 3d performance.

The videos (watching the first one) is quite ok, but i have to stress that data are not "sent" from one video buffer to another. Instead, graphic driver uses "pointers" eg. driver tells to the GPU from which memory address it should show its content on display. Nothing is being sent or copied, which would be an activity requiring more time.

Also i dont appreciate that method how triple buffering works is NOT described correctly later in the video. Triple Buffers are NOT displayed in sequential order, the older one is always discarded, and GPU starts to draw next frame. At time of sync with display, the one actually finished is presented, therefore you always see the newest finished frame.

The fact that people are used to play games in "Borderless Windowed" effectivelly always add 1 more buffer, but in fact you have to keep in mind that DWM or other composite desktop first "take screenshot" from the 3d engine window, then renders its own content. Therefore you are putting game image through one additional 3d engine when windowed = Thats what adds latency, not third buffer.

Whether its better to use RTSS - i consider that to be off topic, as i want to discuss how to properly set and use AMD Radeon Settings. I have been using Rivatuner myself for some time, its great tool. Also I have been using Radeon Settings again great tool.

But what I can tell from FRTC, it did fixed issue with time inconsistency in Nier Automata, where game was clearly using a lot of Vram for frame bufferring (expecially in the menu - it could peak up to 12gb of usage). Even when the video calls it "true triple bufferring". Its actually Multiple bufferring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_buffering.

Also, i will always prefer to use frame limiter, incorporated within the game. If its coded properly it should generate mesh data at correct pace and at CPU level, effectively lowering power and resource consumption. But this should be preferred for every scenario, independently on frame limiter.

Therefore the best configuration i used for some time is:

a) Fullscreen
Input latency from desktop is removed.
b) Vsync On
Tearing is fixed.
c) Triple buffering On if available.
Third buffer just to prevent Buffer overflow (which may happens with double buffer, regardless Frame limit should make it less possible).
d) Frame limit equal to refresh rate
Frame limit to avoid both CPU or GPU to generate FPS beyond reasonable amount. (Lowering chances to buffer overflow on multiple occasions within Render Chain).
e) Freesync ON (or Gsync if its the case).
Freesync to allow display to extend the presentation time a bit, so 59 FPS would not end up to be effective 30/60 alternating.

 

ive always thought it was better to leave HBCC to "OFF" am i understanding correctly that you recommend to set this to "Enabled"?

 

I recommend to leave it off.

 

HBCC Memory Segment: Disabled
This option does not exist for me. Thank you for this guide. One game I cannot get to work correctly or seemingly sometimes randomly is Chivalry Medieval Warfare. Sometimes switching the pixel format helps when it is working correctly I have to toggle it every time I alt tab.



Maybe unrelated but in this game, between alt tabs there is a white screen most of the time instead of a normal black screen.



Maybe not solely related to this game, I noticed switching my monitor from the preset gaming mode somehow changes my windows monitor resolution from 144hz to 60hz. My sound occasionally also changes from my speakers to my monitor as default.


I'm going to try all your exact recommended settings and edit.