Hi there, have any Condor VR users tried the new GTX 1660 or RTX range of graphics cards with the sim? There was some conjecture earlier that the new cards may not offer an advantage over the previous generation, due to way Condor 2 has been designed / implemented. Looking for some feedback please?
Thanks
VR with new generation of graphics cards?
Re: VR with new generation of graphics cards?
Given how new the 1660 is, I would be surprised anyone here has one to benchmark. And even if someone has one, it would require some direct apples to apples comparison with another card to get meaningful results. But given that Im the one who conjectured the RTX would be a poor choice for condor, allow me to speculate.
First of all, I said the 2060 RTX was a poor choice given their price (which has come down since) and the fact you pay through the nose for features Condor can not use, like raytracing and DLSS. The 1660 doesnt have that problem. I also speculated that one of the main performance bottlenecks in condor is cloud rendering which is a raw fill rate bottleneck. The 20x0 series doesnt do any better than the 10x0 series in that regard, and in some cases even does worse. So my advice was that if condor is all you care about, a 1070 would be a (much) better choice than a 2060 or 2070 rtx card, giving better performance for considerably less money. I stand by that.
Now we have the 1660. It is reasonably priced, but its specs are pretty close to a 1060 except for shader count and performance. Shader performance matters a lot in most games, its probably the most important bottleneck in modern AA titles, so most reviews will see the 1660 outperform the 1060 by a non trivial margin. But AFAIK, condor only uses shaders for water effects, and those are so simple they are not going to stress any modern card. Fill rate wise, a 1660, 1660 Ti and 1060 seem pretty much identical, so I wouldnt expect a lot of difference between them for condor on cloudy days. You may see higher framerates on blue days due to the increased texture mapping unit count on the 1660, but in those circumstances, framerate is pretty much never an issue with just about any gaming card.
Bottomline; if you had a 1060 and are looking for an upgrade for condor, a 1660 isnt it. If you can still find a 1070 or even 1080 (used mining cards go for really low prices), that would be a significant upgrade and I would recommend it. If you need to buy a new/current generation card, you will need to open your wallet and get a 2070 RTX and hopefully you play other games too.
If you have an older/slower card, and are looking for 1060 class performance, then the 1660 ought to be a fine choice. Either should be fast enough for VR although you may need to reduce settings somewhat if you want to maintain 90FPS .
First of all, I said the 2060 RTX was a poor choice given their price (which has come down since) and the fact you pay through the nose for features Condor can not use, like raytracing and DLSS. The 1660 doesnt have that problem. I also speculated that one of the main performance bottlenecks in condor is cloud rendering which is a raw fill rate bottleneck. The 20x0 series doesnt do any better than the 10x0 series in that regard, and in some cases even does worse. So my advice was that if condor is all you care about, a 1070 would be a (much) better choice than a 2060 or 2070 rtx card, giving better performance for considerably less money. I stand by that.
Now we have the 1660. It is reasonably priced, but its specs are pretty close to a 1060 except for shader count and performance. Shader performance matters a lot in most games, its probably the most important bottleneck in modern AA titles, so most reviews will see the 1660 outperform the 1060 by a non trivial margin. But AFAIK, condor only uses shaders for water effects, and those are so simple they are not going to stress any modern card. Fill rate wise, a 1660, 1660 Ti and 1060 seem pretty much identical, so I wouldnt expect a lot of difference between them for condor on cloudy days. You may see higher framerates on blue days due to the increased texture mapping unit count on the 1660, but in those circumstances, framerate is pretty much never an issue with just about any gaming card.
Bottomline; if you had a 1060 and are looking for an upgrade for condor, a 1660 isnt it. If you can still find a 1070 or even 1080 (used mining cards go for really low prices), that would be a significant upgrade and I would recommend it. If you need to buy a new/current generation card, you will need to open your wallet and get a 2070 RTX and hopefully you play other games too.
If you have an older/slower card, and are looking for 1060 class performance, then the 1660 ought to be a fine choice. Either should be fast enough for VR although you may need to reduce settings somewhat if you want to maintain 90FPS .
