Getting the most out of DCS Multithreading

[Wing]

After observing some of the latest findings with the recent MT update, there has been a couple common settings that have been found to actually help improve performance even more. As everyone's rig differs, this may make a difference if you are not seeing as many gains as others are claiming.

1. Ensure shadows are on "High". Users have reported that if you have shadows on low or off - that MT actually may not be kicking in on their machine. Stash also had this issue.
2. Turn flat shadows blurring off.
3. If using Nvidea, ensure that your hardware acceleration is on. On Windows 10, head into Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings and toggle on "Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling." On Windows 11, navigate to Settings > System > Display > Graphics > Change Default Graphics Settings and enable "Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling."
4. Turn the default Windows setting for "VBS" off. More info here: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-vbs-harms-performance-rtx-4090#xenforo-comments-3800626 How to turn this setting off is shown here: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/disable-vbs-windows-11
5. Lastly, keep an eye on your cooling temps now that MT is enabled. Users are reporting temp spikes like never seen before in DCS...

 

[Wing]

Deleting the contents of C:\Users\Username\Saved Games\DCS" fxo and metashaders2 folders after the MT update seemed to have helped a bit...

Someone on the DCS forums also recommended this to others who are having stuttering after MT

First start with cleaning out both your FXO and Metashaders2 by deleting the contents, you will find this in DCS saved games.

Next clear out your DirectX shader cache (right click your OS drive and properties > tools> Disk clean-up.

You can also clean out the Nvidia cache located here C:\Users\YOURUSER\AppData\Local\NVIDIA (There's DX and GL cache folders)

With all shader locations deleted your game will take some time loading while it recompiles new shaders, load up the game and check to see if you are seeing any improvements.

 

[Ski]

Deleting the contents of C:\Users\Username\Saved Games\DCS" fxo and metashaders2 folders after the MT update seemed to have helped a bit...

Someone on the DCS forums also recommended this to others who are having stuttering after MT

what are all of the letter/number combos in the fxo and metashaders2 folders? How does it impact the sim if they are removed?

 

[Wing]

what are all of the letter/number combos in the fxo and metashaders2 folders? How does it impact the sim if they are removed?

Tbh I have no idea what they are, but my understanding is these are cache files which are autogenerated and will re-populate after relaunching the sim. It’s recommended to delete this cache occasionally because overtime things change after DCS updates. The files can become outdated or corrupted which will begin to cause stutters

 

[Wing]

Fellas, just wanted to report in - and remind anyone who has not already done so... after 2.9, I would highly recommending deleting your shaders folders to ensure smooth flights ahead. Just found great results after refreshing these folders again afte 2.9. I have made this a habit after every large DCS update.

delete the contents of
"C:\Users\Username\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta" fxo and metashaders2 folders.