VAM performance tips in new build

[starplat1num]

Hi all,

Essentially my current specs are as follows:
- GPU GTX 1080ti
- CPU AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- RAM - 32GB

I mainly edit my scenes in Desktop which I have pretty good performance with and then I play/view them in VR with my quest 2. I know softbody physics is pretty intense, and when i run it in scenes with even a single character, my fps drops significantly in VR. High quality is good, but just doesn't have the detail im looking for that soft body gives. So what I am looking at is upgrading my rig to be able to have solid/good performance with softbody enabled for scenes.

I have heard that it is most important to have a good CPU as the physics is heavily dependant upon that, is this true? I was looking at upgrading to the Ryzen 9 5900x. Would this give me what I am looking for here? Would upgrading my GPU give me sizeable FPS benefits in VR too?

Thanks in advance

 

[HolySchmidt]

My advice to you is to have a look in here: https://hub.virtamate.com/threads/benchmark-result-discussion.13131/
That should give a good overview of what is possible with different hardware.

In general: yes, CPU single-thread performance is king. The more, the better. And yes, the more performance your GPU has, the more you'll profit from it.
But: VaM 1.x is based on old unity engine so it's only capable of handling 4-cores of any CPU. So you won't profit of a 16 core or whatever.
And: it depends heavily on what you throw at your created scene. How many persons, clothings, hair, assets, lights, environments, whatever. You can easily reduce performance by adding physics-calculated stuff for example. Even with a top tier system and depending on your VR-resolution.

Have a look here: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Ryzen-9-5900X-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3600/4087vs4040
Single-core difference is roughly 30%. That's what you can expect CPU-wise. But are you running into a GPU bottleneck after switching to 5900X? I don't know, maybe/probably.

Install MSI Afterburner with Riva statistics tuner and check for yourself: is your GPU load at nearly 100% (95%+) in your scene? You need a faster GPU. Is it at around 70% or whatever? You need a faster CPU. Kinda like that.

Check the GiveMeFPS plugin as well: https://hub.virtamate.com/resources/givemefps.1367/
I experienced a huge fps gain with turning off the glute physics. Play around with it.

 

[Sally Whitemane]

The fastest socket AM4-CPU for VAM physics is the 5800X 3D.
The downside is that this CPU will be slower in heavy multithreading tasks like video-encoding for example compared to a 5900X with more cores. So it really depends on what you typically do the most.
Simplified: pick the 5800X 3D for gaming/VAM or pick the 5900X if your do a lot creative-production stuff.
Don't forget to check whether your mainboard and update BIOS if necessary.

I upgraded my PC from 3600X to 5800X before the 3D V-cache version was published. The difference is very noticeable in physics heavy scenes. It doubled the FPS in some scenes - BUT(!) that is with a "ball to the wall"-fast RTX 3090 on EK-waterblock. There is no way you get this jump paired with your GPU.

The classic GTX 1080 Ti - legendary good price/performance card - is very likely to be the bigger bottleneck for VR due to the typically VERY high resolution.
Right now is not the worst time to consider a GPU upgrade - prices are down manufacturers are trying to move out "old" inventory RTX 3000-series cards. Deals and price cuts popping up everywhere.
RTX 4000 series - when it comes out - will probably be sold out on day 1.

Overall I'd upgrade the GPU in your case.
Like Holy already said - best thing is to 'check for yourself' with tools like MSI Afterburner.
For the CPU note that VAM does it's physics calculations on 1 CPU-core (1 thread) only.
If one core is at 100% the overall CPU utilization might still show less on a 6-core Ryzen 3600 because the remaining cores are (almost) idle.
So you'd be CPU-limited even thought Task Manager shows for example 40% only.

 

[HolySchmidt]

3000 series will drop in price even more, just wait.

 

[keycode]

3000 series will drop in price even more, just wait.

so i did buy (finally) the nice 3080 toy ...the problem: with the growing of my age, I am "dropping" with my body performance too.