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Up and Coming
March 22, 2014

Unreal Engine 4 Rift framerate issues

Hi, sorry for spamming this post on two forums. Unfortunately we don't have a dedicated UE4 thread yet. Just want to improve my chances of somebody with a solution stumbling upon it.

I seem to have an issue with framerate when launching my scene in the Rift. The scene that I'm running is just a simple default 2 chair + table with sky scene when you open UE4. But it doesn't really matter, the issue is the same with more complex scenes. So I launch the scene, which gets opened in a separate window and I get 30FPS, which is not so good, but it makes sense since I'm still running UE that I launched from in the background. As soon as I close it, the framerate jumps to 60FPS. So far so good. Now the problem comes up when I go fullscreen on this window with the Rift turned on. It switches to side by side stereo Rift mode as it should, but now my framerate drops down considerably to about 23-27 FPS (regardles of complexity of the scene). If I go fullscreen without the Rift the framerate stays at 60FPS. This is most likely something that has to do with the implementation of the Rift drivers so I was wondering if anyone came up with the solution for this problem. Just to let you know that I have a high end graphics card (MSI HD7990) that is able to run Crysis 3 on highest settings at 60FPS without breaking a sweat, so horsepower is not the issue here.

I will be grateful for any kind of help on the matter. Even if you can just confirm if you're having the same issue or not would be great. Thank you!
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    27 replies

    Up and Coming
    April 20, 2014
    Hey guys, this frustrated me as well.
    When I was doing tests, I got 60 fps constant in the most basic scene imaginable (3rd person code template), yet when I switch to stereo, the fps would drop to 30fps.
    This leads me to believe that vsync enabled was miscalculating due to 2 cameras, limiting the display to half the expected frame rate.
    I entered the console, and entered "hmd vsync off", and the frame rate corrected.

    In-case others do not know, here is a list of console commands to help tweak Rift/Stereo settings by way of console commands in UE4

    https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Oculus_Rift

    I do get other strange frame rate inconsistencies between full-screen and windowed, when the resolution is seemingly the same... o_0
    Pretty sure 4.1 is released next week, crosses fingers that it both uses the latest SDK, and fixes these crazy frame rate issues. This isn't exactly the effect cave scene that I am testing here, just a single average poly character, and a bunch of cubes.
    AleshAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 20, 2014
    I found out that framerate feels a bit better with version 4.0.2. I can now run the basic scenes pretty smoothly and the jitter seems so be gone after I close the editor in the background. Even the big 3GB "Shooter Game" demo is quite decent - (below 60FPS though). The "Effects Cave" is unfortunately still not enjoyable due to low framerate - feels like this one is the most GPU demanding of all demos. Looking forward to 4.1 as well - should be released in a few days and will hopefully include the latest SDK. And we'll be able to download Elemental demo! Woohoo!
    Up and Coming
    April 21, 2014
    Yeah, from what I have been reading on Reddit, everyone (or almost everyone) has been struggling with decent FPS on the effects cave, even with mono vision.
    I am excited for 4.1 as well :)
    Up and Coming
    April 22, 2014
    "Simonaiso" wrote:
    for me the problem is more crucial, due to my older card (GTX 550 Ti). The UE4 runs fine on 30+ fps on fullscreen monitor and epic settings, but when I connect the Rift it slows down to about 18-20 fps... which is way too slow for VR (way too slow for anything, really). I really hope they improve the code very soon!

    I've got a GTX 560M. I've had this issue with UE3 demos as well. I haven't been able to figure it out. I was hoping UE4 would fix the issue. Everything on Unity and other engines runs silky smooth, but I'm not sure there's been an Unreal demo yet that I've been able to run smoothly.
    The Furious Angels - an Oculus Rift Online Gaming Community!
    AleshAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 24, 2014
    Unreal Engine 4.1 now available for download! Anyone tried it yet? Framerate any better?
    Participant
    April 24, 2014
    4.1 does not seem to have sorted the frame rate issues in the rift :(
    AleshAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 24, 2014
    Ok, just tried it.. Framerate seems a bit better now, but not really ideal - Reflections demo gives me about 10 FPS more (42FPS tops). Effect Cave between 20 and 30 FPS - still not playable but an improvement (40-60FPS in 2D mode). InterestingIy I'm getting 60FPS in Mobile Temple Demo. Blue Print Office demo between 40 and 50 FPS. I will try to play around with the antialiasing settings, looks like they are cranked up quite a bit by default..

    Downloading Elemental Demo now. Will let you know about the results.

    *UPDATE*

    Not a chance. My system is struggling without the Rift already.. The intro matinee FPS is just above 20 when we get outside, and with the rift enabled - eye watering 12FPS. This is ridiculous, running at 1280x800 on dual crossfire HD7990! Really curious what kind of hardware/setting they were using to demo Elemental on HD rift.
    Participant
    April 29, 2014
    I have just upgraded my graphics card from a GTX560 to a GTX770 and the unreal demos run at 60fps now - amazing. Just need to get screen-space reflections working, particles rendering in both eyes and temporal SMAA working in the oculus ;)
    AleshAuthor
    Up and Coming
    May 1, 2014
    "mrboggieman" wrote:
    I have just upgraded my graphics card from a GTX560 to a GTX770 and the unreal demos run at 60fps now - amazing. Just need to get screen-space reflections working, particles rendering in both eyes and temporal SMAA working in the oculus ;)


    Really? You get constant 60FPS in Effects cave and Elemental demo as well? Please post any optimization tweaks you may have done with the quality settings. Don't tell me you achieved this FPS with the default "Epic" settings...
    Up and Coming
    May 1, 2014
    4.1 have worst performance than 4.0.2 for alot of people.

    My framerate go from 40fps to 20fps after update

    UE4 need time... atm the performance with this engine ins't good.
    PD: yes my english its bad i known i5-4570 - Shaphire r9-290, win10-64