Nvidia Inspector

I wasn't sure if this is a general discussion topic or a modding one, so apologies if this is in the incorrect place.

I recently experienced some issues with performance with STMR and in the hunt for consistent frame rates I managed to find a resolution by using the Nvidia Inspector program. I was just editing the settings using the Nvidia Control Panel before, but wasn't able to make any significant improvements to the consistency of the frame rate. Once I started to use Nvidia Inspector, the difference was noticeable immediately.

I've seen some people mentioning that they are not fans of this program, but I have never experienced any performance problems or issues in general with my comp when using it so not entirely sure what the specific reasons for their opinions are.

If you would like to try it out, you can download it from the below link:

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/nvidia-inspector-download.html

Here are my settings:

Nvidia Inspector Settings

I found that my frame rate is the most consistent I have ever experienced with MR with the above settings.

I've read that the Inspector manages the graphical settings at a driver level which, from what I understand, means that performance is generally more efficient than the game is at managing resources, implementing AA, locking frame rates etc, which in turn improves the overall performance of the game.

Instructions:

  1. Download the program via the link below
  2. There is no installation needed, just unzip the contents of the download to a safe place on the computer. You may want to set a desktop short cut at this point too.
  3. Run Inspector and in the 'Profiles' section, type the name of the game you want to create a custom profile for.
  4. When the default profile loads, you can start to edit the values to your liking. It doesn't appear to be in real time, so a game restart is required before any changes will come into effect.
  5. Once you have changed all of the settings to your liking, click the 'Apply Changes' button on the top right hand side. For some strange reason I have to click this twice to make sure the settings stick. You can also save the profile somewhere like the desktop or wherever as a shortcut for quick access later if need be.
  6. Run the game and note any performance improvements/issues. If it all runs OK, and are happy with the changes, you're done at this point, if there are some weird glitches happening, close the game and go back to Inspector to amend some of your customisations. You can always reset back to the default settings if you get fed up.

Tips:

  • Avoid changing the SLi compatibility as the default setting is usually the best and to be honest its more hassle than its worth when trying to find an alternative setting.
  • STMR applies V-Sync as default and if you force it to be off, the game has some very weird performance issues, so avoid this.
  • If you find that your comp struggles to be consistent at 60FPS, you can limit the frames to say 50 or whatever you find the lowest you can go where it stays at a solid FPS by using the 'Frame Rate Limiter' option. This setting only limits the frame rate but does not limit the performance of the computer in the same way that V-Sync does.
  • I have found that forcing the frame rate off and limiting the frames using the frame limiter can improve the performance, but I did experience some strange glitches, so maybe worth experimenting. I have found that forcing vertical sync on limiting the frame rate provides very stable consistent frame rate on my rig.
  • I'm not sure what the default pre rendered frame rate is for STMR, but 8 seems to be the most consistent for me. Limiting it to 4 did cause some minor peaks a troughs in the FPS, so extending that to 8 seems to have levelled that out.
  • I don't have any need to use the AA settings here as the game handles this fine for me with very minimal jaggies. If you play at 1080 or below you may find that the jaggies are a little off putting so using the 'Override Application Settings' and setting up the AA in Inspector may provide smoother edges.

That's about all I can think of for now, if I find any other tips or tricks to provide consistent frames, I'll update the post.

If you are not very computer savvy, or don't know what each of these functions are in Inspector, do not mess about with the settings. Research what you are changing before going in.. You could damage your computer if you are not careful. If you are in doubt, don't use this application

last edited by Kingpinn

@joridiculous said in Nvidia Inspector:

You shouldn't Limit frames to even numbers(30,60,120,etc)

Thanks for the info. That's interesting because I experienced the opposite. When I used the first frame limiter in the drop down menu on inspector, it gives the option for the non rounded number like 59.9 etc, but I found it to be inconsistent compared to using the v2 frame limiter. I assume that it's probably limiting to 59.999999 or something behind the scenes maybe.

I've always found inspector to be non destructive when messing about with 'experimental' values or settings, but from what you have mentioned I'm curious to know if permanent damage can be caused?

last edited by Kingpinn

@joridiculous the screen I use cannot handle anything over 63 fps, i.e. I just get tears left right and centre, so normally I force the V-Sync off in-game and then in Inspector use the frame limiter V2 for proper consistent rates. Works really well for ETS2 and ATS.

I see what you mean about the PC locking up etc.. Luckily I am yet to experience that!

@joridiculous I had that once back in the day when I tried to over clock my GPU, wasn't a good move. 😆

@joridiculous said in Nvidia Inspector:

hot enough to fry fries

haha! I just had a mental image of someone using their comp to cook their dinner!

That is interesting you mentioned eVGA because that lock up I was referring to was when I had a pair of eVGA GTX970. Maybe its a safety feature that eVGA have implemented to stop the the GPU's from getting damaged?

Currently I have Asus GTX's, which so far haven't locked up, but this could be down to better OC'ing now I'm a bit more experienced with that sort of thing.

@kingpinn
A few things can lock a graphic card after it goes above manufacturer spec saved in a chip on the graphic card(not only the bios) :
-high current consumption
-unstable voltage either for the core or the different phase
-thermal protection(gpu and other place if the graphic card is hight end)
-low quality thermal paste or old
-bad design in thermal dissipation it include the vrm wich are really important
-given the quality of the silicon you can have limitation in place to prevent going above spec,so the result can be quite different between two card.

After that there is other fatcor extern to the graphic card:
-power supply stability and ability to deliver a stable voltage with high current output
-pcie express instability (some motherboard have some option to help on those case)

Also when you "fully" load a gpu or a cpu some application will use different area of the chip than usual and push the chip to use certain transistor wich are not fully stable and create some error over time or corrupt straight and crash.

last edited by Raphael

@raphael Thanks for the info there. Its always good to know more about this sort of thing!

@kingpinn https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nvidia-inspector-introduction-and-guide.403676/
It is a little dated, but it explains some important aspects of Nvidia Profile Inspector (as it is called now) 🙂

@joridiculous well that is pretty deep. Thanks for the additional info.