I recently changed my zwift system from an old PC with a RTX 2060 super to an Asus ROG Ally X.
When running in Ultra (1440p) on my TV I have noticed:
Some road surfaces have parallel dark lines. These change orientation as I turn and seem fixed in orientation to the world not the rider.
Objects like trees tend to stay in their low res fuzzy mode until they are quite close to the rider. Then swap to the detailed model with a dither effect at about halfway down the screen. This feels much closer than I am used to seeing, but the CPU/GPU are not maxed out?
The same issues appear in 4K mode. (Although frame rates are only 40 to 60 in that mode.)
This runs an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme. I have set the vram to 8gb and system ram to 16gb. if I run zwift in either turbo (30W) or performance (~19W) modes I see the same issue.
I tried to capture the lines in the image below. This is from my phone camera off a tv but you can see them about halfway down the screen.
Searching zwiftalizer.com shows a few reports about the Ryzen Z1 Extreme and they all show Basic graphics profile. AFAIK there are no PCs with integrated graphics that get a profile other than Basic.
I have no experience with your hardware but I would probably be experimenting with different video drivers (including the very latest supplied by AMD and Asus) to see if there is any change in behavior. You are probably among a very small user population on that hardware.
Alrighty I confirmed it was running basic profile. I was confused by the ultra 1440 option.
Plugging in my 2060 super in as an egpu on my ROG Ally X gives me ultra back.
The ryzen z1 extreme is far faster than my last cpu which really helps given how cpu bound the current zwift is. (It was starting to be too slow in crowds on my i7 laptop).
Seems excessive to add a 2060 super for zwift when the internal gpu meets/exceeds the specs of some other cards on the ultra list… Its unfortunate that zwift has such restrictive graphics options.
I get the impression from other threads that zwift is uniquely untrusting of giving it’s users the abilities to change graphic setting. I dont even see support for an obfuscated method using a config file…
Has anyone figured out where zwift reads the gpu from? I might try a registry tweaking wrapper script around the launcher…
I also started using a ROG Ally X (which can run quite well even the latest PC games) and found the graphics worst than with an old laptop…
I totally don’t understand this Zwift attitude of arbitrarily decide based on some mysterious algorithms which kind of settings to apply, and I totally agree it makes no sense not to give users some more customization options, at least on PC.
Mysteries of Zwift, and its mysterious ways of always find unnecessary ways to upset customers.
Yep. I run a lot of far more gpu intensive games (even space marines 2 runs pretty well) on my Ally X and nowadays I really only use my egpu for zwift (which is pretty minimal utilization on a lowly 2060)…
What do you see when you upload a log file to zwiftalizer.com? The results I’m seeing are just OK at the Basic profile, which does not indicate that a higher graphics profile would be sensible unless they make improvements. Also keep in mind that Zwift primarily uses one CPU core so it will typically look like the CPU is underutilized (which it is).
Previous reports of lines across the road when using AMD graphics, like the OP mentioned, did get addressed (more than once) but I won’t be too surprised if hardware that has a very small user base doesn’t get that attention.
My humble opinion is that if Zwift would allow the users, at least on PCs, some degree of freedom in deciding by themselves graphic options instead of trying to decide it arbitrarily for everyone, that would be in line with what usually happens in PC gaming and applications.
Zwift instead decides that everything has to be dealt as if it is an Android or IOS game, and I don’t understand the reason or logic behind it.
I run with a 60fps cap (my garage tv limitation) so I was seeing mostly 60fps with some reductions in heavy crowding (which seems to be cpu more than gpu), and of course makuri slow downs.
The Z1 extreme is a bit tricky to compare without knowing the settings and system. It can be run at multiple TDP settings from ~10 to 30 watts and have variable amounts of shared memory allocated to vram… And another complication is that framegen works with vulkan (opengl).
Performance wise it at higher TDPs it should be very roughly similarish to a 1650 level card with more memory.
I think this reflects in the zwiftalyzer scores at 1080/1440 (its reallly not a 4k card) having a really broad range.
Honestly the single core cpu limitation during crowding is the main slowdown I notice regardless of the gpu… (usually I see one throttled cpu core and a gpu at modest utilization)
I would try uploading some data to zwiftalyzer and comparing with what other people are seeing with similar hardware to see if there is any chance its just a settings issue.
We are using an ASUS ROG Ally. It is basically an AMD based handheld Windows 11 console. It runs different performance profiles depending if it is connected to power or handheld. When connected to power, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse it is a PC.
When connected to power, at its max performance profile, it run well PC games, including AAA titles like Starfield or the latest Monster Hunter, much better than (as a reference) a Win 10 laptop with Intel integrated graphics I had around. It can run MyWhoosh HD at max graphic detail in 1080p, as another reference.
For whatever reason however, Zwift arbitrarily decided it is worst than that laptop I had around and I was using previously for Zwift, and set the graphics at a much worst detail level, for a device that it has been built to run PC games, leveraging on AMD features specifically tailored around this scope.
I think it would be good if we user would be granted some more control about graphic on Windows, as obviously Zwift can’t take always the right decisions.
Totally agree with you. My ROG Ally X can handle Space Marines 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 on the built in gpu (at 1080p) whereas the laptop it replaced could handle Solitaire on its internal GPU (and barely utilized my external gpu in zwift)…
Please @Zwift (@shooj sorry if this isn’t the right topic to tag you) can you log a request/wish from advanced users to be able to change the graphics options to Ultra (or Basic), or add the Z1 Extreme to the ultra list. Users of gaming focused platforms are typically very well versed in optimizing graphics settings beyond the current config file options.
I have opened a ticket and after some back and forth, they wrote me that they informed the development team about the request for their consideration.
Maybe more tickets can help expedite enabling ROG Allys to get ultra graphic profile support, so if you will have the patience and time to open one… Worth a try…
