This post is intended as a guide to helping others achieve the best possible framerate and

graphics quality of TS2019 (soon to be TS2020! ) at a native UltraHD 4k resolution. It's

worth bearing in mind that the core engine of TS is very old, and multithreaded support is
minimal - I believe it also still uses DirectX9 from what I've read so far. But here are my
findings from tweaking my rig and all possible config options to achieve a solid and smooth
TS20XX experience.

Rig
===

CPU: Intel i7700k overclocked to 5GHz from 4.2GHz base (good CPU cooling and
appropriate motherboard are essential for this)
GPU: NVidia GTX 1080
RAM: 16GB DDR4
HDD1: 120GB SSD (For the OS)
HDD2: 2TB Hybrid drive (For Railworks/TS installation)
VDU: LG OLED (55") via HDMI @ 4k (4096 x 2160)

Software
========

- Windows 10 64-bit (fully updated)

- TS2019 (plus misc official DTG DLC add ons)
- RWEnhancer (all graphics enhancement config options on, no performance enhancers on)
- AP track and weather/skies enhancement packs
- I highly recommend any Armstrong Powerhouse DLC enhancement packs/rolling stock
packs (as these also bring performance enhancements as a general rule)
- Just Trains route packs/locomotives
- Alan Thompson route packs and associated dependencies

CPU
===

Due to the single threaded nature of DX9, CPU clock speed seems to be king here - the
higher the stable frequency, the more frames you'll get per second, hence I settled on a
stable 5GHz. This type of overclocking should only be considered if you have the kit to
support it and know what you are doing. Mistakes can lead to baked processors!

GPU and TS config

=================

After much testing I settled on NVidia driver 373.06 - quite an old driver but I saw gains of
around 5fps when switching to this
(link: https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/108324/en-us). Below is the
NVidia control panel config (Manage 3D settings/Program Settings/Railworks64.exe -
Railworks64.exe can be found in; "*HDDhere*:\Program Files
(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\RailWorks\RailWorks64.exe" should you need to add it):

-= NVIDIA Control Panel =-

<MANAGE 3D SETTINGS>
Ambient Occlusion - N/A
Antistropic filtering - Application Controlled
Antialiasing - FXAA - Off
Antialiasing Gamma correction - On
Antialiasing Mode - Application Controlled
Antialiasing Setting - N/A
Antialiasing Transparency - Multisample
CUDA - GPU's - All (Use these GPU's: select GTX 1080 checkmark)
Maximum pre-rendered frames - Use the 3D application setting
Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA) - Off
Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration: Single display performance
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance
Preffered refresh rate: Application-controlled
Shader Cache: On
Texture filtering - Antriscopic sample optimisation: On
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Allow
Texture filtering - Quality: High performance
Texture filtering - Trilinear optimisation: On
Threaded optimisation: Auto
Triple buffering: Off
Vertical sync: Off
Virtual Reality pre-rendered frames: N/A

<CHANGE RESOLUTION>
4k x 2k, 4096 x 2160 (60Hz refresh rate)
[Colour Depth: 32-bit/Output colour depth:8 bpc/Output colour format: RGB/Output dynamic
range:Full]

<Configure Surround, PhysX>

PhysX settings: Processor - GTX 1080

-= TS Config =-

*One caveat to note here; for very CPU/GPU intensive routes, the view distance should be
knocked back one notch (e.g. WCML Trent Valley, WCML South) most other routes will run
at 60fps buttery smooth (aside from tile loading causing split second drops). The heavy
routes will run at a decent and serviceable 30fps with the view distance setting to one below
maximum.
<ADVANCED SECTION>
Master Detail: Custom
Anti-Aliasing: Off (Not needed at 4k!  )
Texture Filtering: Anistropic x 8
Scenery Quality: Max
Scenery Density: Max
View Distance: Max* - see caveat above
Shadow Quality: Max
Water Quality: Max
Procedural Flora: On
Adaptive Bloom: On
Depth of Field: On
Headlight Flares: On

<BASIC SECTION>
Master Detail: Custom
Resolution: 4096 x 2160
Full Screen: Full screen
Dynamic Lighting: On
Dyncamic Clouds: On
Brightness: Default

Frame Limiting
==============

As Railworks64 can't possibly run faster than 60fps due to our display constraints (60Hz), a
shortcut to Railworks64 should be created on the desktop. Under properties of the shortcut
(right click/properties/shortcut) <Target:> should be modified to <"*HDD*:\Program Files
(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\RailWorks\RailWorks64.exe" -FPSLimit=61> - be sure to
include eveything between <> as is! 

Railworks64 will now be limited to 60Hz/60fps in sync with the display device.

Windows Graphic Settings

========================

1. Right click desktop - Display Settings

2. Click Graphics Settings
3. Choose an app to set preference -> Classic App
4. Browse to *HDD*:\Program Files
(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\RailWorks\RailWorks64.exe
5. Set to GTX 1080 and High Performance
6. Save & Exit

The Result
==========

TS20XX will now run 64-bit Railworks64.exe at a maximum (and mostly constant) 60
frames per second with a graphic quality to rival Train Sim World (particularly with the loco
DLC enhancement packs). West Coast Mainline routes such as Trent Valley and South will
run at approximately 30fps provided that the view distance is knocked back one notch - I
think this may be due to the complex OHLE rendering.

As an aside, it would be amazing if DTG would remove the headlamp/marker lighting effects
for daytime running on all locomotives - fingers crossed.

I felt this two weeks of tweaking was entirely needed for me to get the most out of Train
Simulator and I'm very pleased with the results. Sega Rally smoothness driving a Class 66
over the York to Peterborough line, and finally I can use the Class 390 on Trent Valley
without having an aneurysm - albeit at 30 frames per second, which to me is acceptable
(much improved from 15-25fps!). The older classic routes look and feel stunning, and while
the newer routes really push the hardware, they are at last enjoyable for me to use.

I hope someone else finds this guide useful