12 replies to this topic

[apturbo]

SUMMARY

 

I’m sharing my story in case it might help others in the pursuit of Visual Pinball perfection; followed up by a question for anyone out there that might be able to shed light on my one remaining problem… Fish Tales (scroll to the bottom).

 

BACK STORY

 

I’ve had a cabinet for 11 years.  I seem to enjoy tinkering with it more than I do playing.  Seems like every other year I will fire it back up, see all the changes that have been made and redo everything.  I’ll then go through every table I have, including new ones added, to make sure everything “just works”.  It’s one of the center pieces of the man cave.  I enjoy having the confidence of turning the cabinet on with friends and not worrying about something going south.

 

Well, recently, it was that time again, but this go around, I replaced the playfield with a 48” 4k OLED.  Also updated from VPX 10.8 1975 DX x64 to VPX 10.8 2051 GL x64 using frame pacing. See full setup details below.  After going through all tables I would say about 1/3^rd seemed a bit off aka not “butter smooth”.  At the time I was running an i7-4790k | 16GB | RTX 4060.  I had a spare i5-14600k PC laying around so used it to make a fresh OS build but reused the GPU.  I started using F11 and watched task manager to see what was going on.  I spent a ridiculous number of hours searching and trying all the myriad settings, Nvidia, VPX, and so on.  Some tables improved but many did not, no matter what I tried.  One common thread with all tables where the ball wasn’t smooth was GPU 100% usage.  I then pulled the trigger on an RTX 5070.  To my instant gratification, problems were solved.  I even went back and applied any VPX settings I had been messing with to “high end” (except for ball trails, personal preference).  Still after this, everything, minus one table, runs a steady 120fps with zero latency.  The highest GPU usage now is about 50%.  CPU usage rarely goes beyond 20%.

 

KEY TAKEAWAY

 

Life is too short.  If you have a cabinet, you’ve undoubtedly spent a lot of time and money.  Save yourself the headache of trying to find the right settings to make everything work the way you want it.  Get yourself a decent computer with a mid-range or better modern GPU (especially if you’re pushing 4k).  Set VPX to high end and you’re done. 

 

CURRENT FULL SETUP DETAILS

 

Playfield: 48” OLED 4K 120hz, Game Mode turned On

Back glass: 1080p 120hz

3^rd Monitor: multi-purpose, used as a topper within PinballY but displays instruction cards or videos instead

DMD: Real, PinDMD2 | Toys: Stern shaker motor via 8port SainSmart Relay Board and DOF

Sound: Backbox + Front & Rear LR exciters under playfield

Other: Pinscape KL25Z, LED buttons, real plunger

GPU: Nvidia RTX 5070 12GB, all 3 displays connected to it

OS: WIN10PRO | CPU: i5-14600k | RAM: DDR4 16GB | HD: PCIE GEN4X4 SSD

VPX: 10.8 FINAL 2051 OpenGL x64 (using default high end settings with frame pacing) | VPinMame: x64 3.6.0.1227 | B2S Server: 2.1.3.327

 

ONE PROBLEM REMAINS – LOOKING FOR HELP

 

Fish Tales is the only table I have out of 200 that ball movement is bad, very bad.  Ball teleports to another location of the screen, skips, stutter, whatever you call it.  I’ve tried the latest from VPU and an older one from VPforums.  Adjusting one setting after another within VPX specific table overrides doesn’t help or makes it worse.  Have tried running without the directb2s back glass.  I assume this is a fast way to determine if it has anything to do with?  I’ve tried running the DX version of VPX for this one table.  At this point, I’m not interested in or willing to change any Nvidia or TV settings since everything else is perfect.  I’ve found one site mention “timing” inside the table may have something to do with bad performance of this table.  But given the problem persists in an older version too just seems odd or maybe a clue.  So, the only thing I can think of yet to try would be to edit the table but have no idea what would be needed. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for reading.

Edited by apturbo, 27 January 2026 - 05:02 PM.

[Emanoel299]

Well. I had a similar problem with Fish tales VPW 1.0 and PC setup below:

 

I7 3770 or I7 2660

GTX 1650 4GB or GTX 980 4GB

MB 1155

DDR3 16GB

SSD 480 GB

 

I have no problem with PC setup below:

 

I7 3770

GTX 1660 6GB - Super or TI

MB 115

DDR3 16GB

SSD 480 GB

 

To the first PC setup

I fixed change the especific table video settings: 

see the picture below:

 

 

Also, you can try change "Max.ambient occlusion" from "dinamic AO" to "static AO" or "Disable AO"

The BIGUS version 2.2 works fine for any PC setup and normal video settings.

 

My system is composed by:

32" TV 60 Hz - BG

15" monitor 60Hz - DMD

42" 3D TV 60 Hz - Playfield

 

Try to reduce the windows frame rate from 120 Hz to 60 Hz for testing.

Edited by Emanoel299, 27 January 2026 - 05:55 PM.

[apturbo]

Thanks for the reply.  I did try dialing down everything as you suggested but didn't help.  Upon trying for like the 100th time, i removed the directb2s and what do you know... stutter gone.  I did this before so not sure why it worked this time... could be the bg server was still running when i closed and restarted the table before.  I then undeleted the directb2s, launched table and problem came back.  However this time, despite in the B2STableSettings.xml showing <StartAsEXE>1</StartAsEXE>, when i right clicked on the BG the button for running as exe was not checked.  Did this, saved, exited table, relaunched and way better but still had occasional stutter.  Wound up setting Solenoid and GI Skip frames to 10 and now the table plays as it should.  No idea what skip frames does but I read somewhere this can help.  I'm running Fish Tales now with full on high pc settings even.

 

Side question... by default i run tables in exclusive full screen mode.  A few tables, including this one require me to use windowed mode or else i get no playfield.  I've read mixed things regarding windowed vs full exclusive.  According to link below, it says you should not need or should not use full screen exclusive since it was depreciated back in windows 8.  Not sure what's going on here.... should i be running everything in windowed mode or does it really matter?  Thanks.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1vPb0u3jkt-Yf1pyStEQgfE9ypHRX9Ie9z6IdfotxwIQ/mobilebasic 

[Emanoel299]

Hi

 

Which Backglass server version are you using?

I´m using 2.1.3. There some issues with 2.1.4 and 2.1.5 versions

 

In the past,I use to play with windowed mode.

Nowadays, I´m playing with exclusive full screen mode. There is less input latency.

Only window focus message as ROM setup if needed is bad because is "exclusive full screen", so, if need to change something , I change to windowed mode for a moment and then return to windowed mode.

[X Vector]

Well. I had a similar problem with Fish tales VPW 1.0 and PC setup below:

The latest version of that table is 1.1, which from what I remember performs much better than 1.0. 

[forte]

the gpu you are recomending cost 1500 usd on my country, impossible

 

how come vpx on pc needs a beast to run and the android version works on a cheap tablet?

[apturbo]

the gpu you are recomending cost 1500 usd on my country, impossible

 

how come vpx on pc needs a beast to run and the android version works on a cheap tablet?

$550+tax at Microcenter  currently

Zotac NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Twin Edge Overclocked Dual Fan 12GB GDDR7 PCIe 5.0 Graphics Card

[Thalamus]

@forte : Because, he is asking for a 4k screen running at 120Hz ... what resolution is that tiny android device running on ? How fast is the update freq ? Very different thing all together.

[X Vector]

Exactly.

I use an old 4:3 monitor at a 1280x960 resolution and can run almost all VPX tables frame-paced at 85 FPS using the following hardware:

- Intel i7 2600K

- 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM

- Nvidia GTX 980 4GB (used to be an AMD R9 380 4GB which achieved almost identical results in VPX).

That's a 2010 PC with a 2014 GPU.

[apturbo]

This is the reason why I gave up searching for answers to fix certain tables with different settings.  Everyone’s environment is different, there are too many variables which is why I posted everything about my setup including software versions, just because one thing works for one person, it isn’t always for others.  I’m running the latest Fish Tales table over at VPU that’s a monster file with zero issues now.  I did however have an additional problem which was directb2s but figured that one out, see above.  As Thalamus wisely pointed out, pushing 4k does require better hardware or adjusting settings down which may or may not help.  In my case, better hardware was the only fix to making all my tables play perfectly. 

 

Like I said, I hope this helps someone else with a similar situation.  Thank you.

[Emanoel299]

@apturbo

 

As I sad to you to reduce your windows/monitor  frame rate for testing

I gave up to play in 2D 4K even in 60hz frame rate and the setup below:

 

I5 11460

RTX 3060 12 GB

DDR 4 16gb

M2 512 GB

MB 1200

PS 850W

 

One thing, take a look about your PS is power enough and with task manager how is your CPU fan RPM behavior.

[apturbo]

@apturbo

 

As I sad to you to reduce your windows/monitor  frame rate for testing

I gave up to play in 2D 4K even in 60hz frame rate and the setup below:

 

I5 11460

RTX 3060 12 GB

DDR 4 16gb

M2 512 GB

MB 1200

PS 850W

 

One thing, take a look about your PS is power enough and with task manager how is your CPU fan RPM behavior.

Sorry mate, you just don't get it.

[Emanoel299]

@apturbo

 

You have a power setup.

It should be work fine

The setup above works fine me in my system all tables.

I gave up because the setup is for my VR system.

 

Good luke for you mate

Edited by Emanoel299, 30 January 2026 - 11:27 AM.