Degrading FS performance

[Jackson Redstar]

when the new linden performance code was rolled into FS it was pretty exciting - the thing ripped. crowded areas, no problem. But over time it seems FS has returned to the old FS. Bogged down crowded area, gray textures, half rezzed or unrezzed people, just like how FS used to be, Anyone else notice this? Wonder if it is something FS related or maybe related to Win11? I tried the official Linden performance build viewer in a crowded area - 50+ fps some gray textures for sure, then switched back to both the latest FS and the FS beta viewer, 10 fps at best, gray textures etc... I know can't exactly do a apples to apples test between the Linden view and FS, but still, when the performance code FS first launched it easily matched the Linden performance build
 

Firestorm 6.6.8 (68355) Nov  7 2022 12:59:16 (64bit / SSE2) (Firestorm-Releasex64) with Havok support
Release Notes
Second Life Server 2022-10-07.575585
Release Notes

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz (3792 MHz)
Memory: 32671 MB
Concurrency: 16
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 11 64-bit (Build 22621.674)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070/PCIe/SSE2
Graphics Card Memory: 8192 MB

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 31.0.15.2230
OpenGL Version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 522.30

RestrainedLove API: (disabled)
libcurl Version: libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.1.1l zlib/1.2.11.zlib-ng nghttp2/1.40.0
J2C Decoder Version: KDU v8.2
Audio Driver Version: FMOD Studio 2.02.09
Dullahan: 1.12.4.202209142021
  CEF: 91.1.21+g9dd45fe+chromium-91.0.4472.114
  Chromium: 91.0.4472.114
LibVLC Version: 3.0.16
Voice Server Version: Not Connected
Settings mode: Firestorm
Viewer Skin: Firestorm (Grey)
Window size: 2560x1417 px
Font Used: Deja Vu (96 dpi)
Font Size Adjustment: 0 pt
UI Scaling: 1
Draw distance: 140 m
Bandwidth: 30000 kbit/s
LOD factor: 2
Render quality: High (5/7)
Advanced Lighting Model: Yes
Texture memory: Dynamic (4096 MB min / 10% Cache / 8% VRAM)
Disk cache: Max size 8128.0 MB (9.8% used)
Built with MSVC version 1916
Packets Lost: 1/8,774 (0.0%)
November 12 2022 08:04:40 SLT

 

Second Life Release 6.6.8.576310 (64bit)
Release Notes

Second Life Server 2022-10-07.575585
Release Notes

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz (3792 MHz)
Memory: 32671 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10/11 64-bit (Build 22621.674)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070/PCIe/SSE2

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 31.0.15.2230
OpenGL Version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 522.30

Window size: 1920x1009
Font Size Adjustment: 96pt
UI Scaling: 1
Draw distance: 128m
Bandwidth: 10000kbit/s
LOD factor: 1.125
Render quality: 4
Advanced Lighting Model: Enabled
Texture memory: 512MB
Disk cache: Max size 3993.6 MB (103.9% used)

J2C Decoder Version: KDU v7.10.4
Audio Driver Version: FMOD Studio 2.02.06
Dullahan: 1.12.4.202209142021
  CEF: 91.1.21+g9dd45fe+chromium-91.0.4472.114
  Chromium: 91.0.4472.114
LibVLC Version: 3.0.16
Voice Server Version: Not Connected
Packets Lost: 49/5,577 (0.9%)
November 12 2022 08:06:57

[Aishagain]

Not happening for me on an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X/Nvidia 1660Ti Win 10 outfit.

There ARE a few FS-specific bugs, none, as far as I know, directly impacting FPS  or texture  rezzing.  Yes, texture acquisition IS poor but that is mostly due to the revisions LL made to the render-code that gives the higher FPS.

It sounds like something in your system is choking, and wiser heads than mine may know what.

The default viewer has just as many bugs, is only marginally faster and still has the texture-thashing caused by the enforced tiny texture-buffer size.  Add to that the horrible UI and you have all the reasons why I dislike it so.

FWIW some of your settings are odd, notably your bandwidth and LOD on the default viewer.  I find my system runs more slowly at lower quality (without deferred rendering (ALM) and such low LOD. YMMV.  I also note the 0.9% packet loss on the default viewer connection...that is rarely a healthy level of packet-loss.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Aishagain

[Nalates Urriah]

@Jackson Redstar Try running SFC /scannow as an admin and then restart the computer when it finishes. It takes a few minutes but it is simple and can fix a wide range of Windows problems.

Also, try running the Task Manager and select the Performance tab. All sections should show <100% and ideally <50% with the viewer running. Memory defintely should be in the <50% range to avoid S L O W  page swaps.

I run the latest release version 6.6.3 and noticed you typed 6.6.8. If you are running a beta then you are likely running their embedded debug code version and it will be a slower version of their viewer.

I did a speed comparison of 6.6.3 shortly after it was released. 6.6.3 is faster than the previous version. The comparison is up on my blog. I generally use a Draw Distance of <=512m. For shopping and socializing I set it to 128m. For faster render in stores I sometimes drop it to 64m. But the 128 works pretty well.

I find this 6.6.3 is a bit faster in crowds but not by much. And I see no big change from the previous version... either way.

[Chike Nightingale]

4 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

@Jackson Redstar Try running SFC /scannow as an admin and then restart the computer when it finishes. It takes a few minutes but it is simple and can fix a wide range of Windows problems.

Also, try running the Task Manager and select the Performance tab. All sections should show <100% and ideally <50% with the viewer running. Memory defintely should be in the <50% range to avoid S L O W  page swaps.

I run the latest release version 6.6.3 and noticed you typed 6.6.8. If you are running a beta then you are likely running their embedded debug code version and it will be a slower version of their viewer.

I did a speed comparison of 6.6.3 shortly after it was released. 6.6.3 is faster than the previous version. The comparison is up on my blog. I generally use a Draw Distance of <=512m. For shopping and socializing I set it to 128m. For faster render in stores I sometimes drop it to 64m. But the 128 works pretty well.

I find this 6.6.3 is a bit faster in crowds but not by much. And I see no big change from the previous version... either way.

6.6.8,576431 is the latest release candidate official LL viewer. It is called Maintenance-P. It is from the section described as - Release Candidate viewers are being evaluated to be the next default download; all are believed to be stable. There is a different Project Viewers section. Is that what you would call the Beta Viewers?

[Aishagain]

What Nal was referring to was the 6.6.8 Firestorm I think, which is the latest Beta, possibly a release candidate for the next full release Firestorm. It has several significant changes from the current full release, 6.6.3, which may have performance implications.

Since you are running both FS and the Linden viewer in pre-release forms, there are likely to be performance differences/issues compared with current releases.

Edited November 22, 2022 by Aishagain

[Nalates Urriah]

12 hours ago, Anthony McGregor said:

6.6.8,576431 is the latest release candidate official LL viewer. It is called Maintenance-P. It is from the section described as - Release Candidate viewers are being evaluated to be the next default download; all are believed to be stable. There is a different Project Viewers section. Is that what you would call the Beta Viewers?

The Release Candidates, Beta versions, Alpha versions and other versions team members work and play with tend to be conflated into "BETA" out here in forum land. I suspect only the team members can keep it straight which is which and which versions have additional debugging code. That 6-didgit number after the "8" is there for a reason. But, I tend to lump all of them into Beta when I could be more precise. But, you are correct and more precise when you refer to Project Viewers as Beta. Release Candidates are typically farther along the development path and less buggy that all previous versions.

I don't keep up with viewer development like I once did. So I have no idea how many are using the FS Release Candidates nor how much or little debug code the team is using in the candidate. I am sure it varies from version to version. But as I recall they have groups for those helping with development. The groups are likely where you can get feedback from those using "8". In the forum I suspect most of  us are using "3" and so can't give you good feedback as we are talking about "3"... as Aishagain points out above.

[Rick Nightingale]

I'm using 6.6.8.68355 (release candidate) here... I've used I think every beta since the last release which introduced the huge jump in framerate. This latest is performing just the same as the last few for me with high frame rates, quick enough texture loading, etc.. Everything seems good even in 'busy' places.

[Elektra Hexem]

Hello, I use Firestorm 6.6.3. What is this version 6.6.8 ? Did I miss an update ?

[Resi Pfeffer]

24 minutes ago, Elektra Hexem said:

Hello, I use Firestorm 6.6.3. What is this version 6.6.8 ? Did I miss an update ?

6.6.8 will give you a huge performance boost and fps rates will probably double, but it comes along with a lot of annoying bugs:
-objects suddenly vanishing and then reappearing, maybe
-editing objects and moving them will lag with a 1 second delay
-moving the cam in a crowded club will get you some headache

[steeljane42]

4 minutes ago, Resi Pfeffer said:

6.6.8 will give you a huge performance boost and fps rates will probably double, but it comes along with a lot of annoying bugs:
-objects suddenly vanishing and then reappearing, maybe
-editing objects and moving them will lag with a 1 second delay
-moving the cam in a crowded club will get you some headache

You've described 6.6.3 as it already had performance code from LL, micro freeze (should be fixed in 6.6.8) and objects  vanishing.

35 minutes ago, Elektra Hexem said:

Hello, I use Firestorm 6.6.3. What is this version 6.6.8 ? Did I miss an update ?

It's the release candidate FS at this moment, so you didn't miss an update. You can join FS beta testing group in-world and get a download link from the group notices. Or just wait a bit more, it'll probably get released by the end of this week/early next week as the next FS, unless people will find some serious issues with it.

[Nick0678]

Haven't had a look at 6.6.8 since it's only available as Beta but 6.6.3 although fast texture loading etc,

always "ghosted" my HUD's and avatar after Teleports so i had to zoom far out and back to load it

and also messed up a little bit the "right click", when i tested it.

[Resi Pfeffer]

12 minutes ago, steeljane42 said:

You've described 6.6.3 as it already had performance code from LL, micro freeze (should be fixed in 6.6.8) and objects  vanishing.

Oooops. And thanks

[Jackson Redstar]

1 hour ago, Resi Pfeffer said:

6.6.8 will give you a huge performance boost and fps rates will probably double, but it comes along with a lot of annoying bugs:

-moving the cam in a crowded club will get you some headache

This though is is now seemed to be cleared up.... WHat I noticed as I do weddings, often moving the cam to where alot of people are the framerate drops like a rock (to be expected of course) but then struggles or never really recovers when moving back to a less crwded view. That and the ol nakey avi never rezzing fully seemed to be back again

 

[Beq Janus]

36 minutes ago, Jackson Redstar said:

This though is is now seemed to be cleared up.... WHat I noticed as I do weddings, often moving the cam to where alot of people are the framerate drops like a rock (to be expected of course) but then struggles or never really recovers when moving back to a less crwded view. That and the ol nakey avi never rezzing fully seemed to be back again

I would double check for inventory corruption. There's another thread here discussing this issue and it is plausible that some of what you are seeing could be the result of a previous bad shutdown. Hopefully we'll have a new set of betas real soon.  

[Elektra Hexem]

So I am testing 6.6.8 and it's fine with a GeForce RTX 2060. Nothing to report so far.