(Il-2 Series Korea) Hardware analysis and Benchmarks.

[LuftManu]

Hey everyone!

Hardware and tech are another big passion of mine. I genuinely love exploring every component and performance tweaks to all the nerdy details in between.

Just like we did with the Great Battles thread (https://forum.il2-series.com/topic/77-il-2-great-battles-syn_vander-benchmark-v6-to-measure-il-2-performance-in-monitor-vr-by-chilliwilli69/#comment-2289), I’d love for us to create a dedicated channel focused on benchmarks, performance deep dives, optimisation tips, and other valuable resources. A place where we can share data, compare results, discuss hardware choices, and help each other get the most out of our setups, whether you're flying on a monitor or VR.

Let’s build a space that becomes the go-to reference for anyone looking to understand, test, or improve IL-2 performance. Looking forward to seeing what everyone brings to the table!

I'll try to create a benchmark mission so we can all have an standard test, like @chiliwili69 did and his great work!

What we know so far?  

Il-2 Series Korea uses a new iteration of the  Digital Nature engine used in Great Battles. Per the latest videos, It uses Dx12 with multithreading (Up to 10 threads).

The team has already published the official requirements:
 

Minimum for 2D FullHD/2K Screen:
4-Core CPU 3.6+ GHz
24 Gb RAM
8 Gb Graphics Card no more than 2 generations old (RTX 3060 or RX 7600 level)
Windows 10/11 (without other demanding programs running in the background)
Joystick or GamePad

Optimal for 2D Screen:
8-Core CPU 4.5 GHz
32 Gb RAM
12+ Gb Graphics Card (RTX 4080 or 7900 XTX level)
Windows 10/11

For Virtual Reality:
8-Core CPU 4.5 GHz
32+ Gb RAM
16+ Gb Current Gen Graphics Card
Windows 10/11 OpenVR / OpenXR compatible VR HMD

 

Let's start by saying that requirements are often estimates and conservative. Nobody wants to put erroneus information and the team cannot check every system configuration so is safe to be conservative.

Comparision with Digital Nature requirements posted for Great Battles:

Great Battles requirements are somewhat similar in some places.

For example, CPU do not change that much (i5 or i7 recommended as minimum against a 4 core CPU in Korea).

In terms of RAM, we can see a jump from 16 minimum on GB to 24 minium in Korea, but recommended stays at 32gb for both.
(VR is another thing and seems like more than 32gb will be better).

GPU is where the biggest jump is IMO and that's probably related to the new effects, PBR and other settings. In this case, 8gb VRAM are now the minimum. Good news is that it's the baseline VRAM for entry models for GPUs for the last 5 years.

The most impactul thing is usually the VRAM, now being 12 and + for 4K (Optimal settings?).

 

Other considerations

For GPU, Digital Nature Engine (Great Battles) performance can be extrapolated by synthethic benchmarks on 3DMark (Firestrike Ultra) User @chiliwili69found ot this and it can work really well.

 

If we take this into consideration and Il-2 Series Engine works somewhat similar, we can try and extrapolate the minimum points requirements. 

If the 3060 is the minimum, we can say that around 5000 points on FireStrike Ultra will get your GPU to run Korea.

Another example is a 3080 with 10 and 12gigs. Maybe the 10 gigs are too short now, but it's twice the performance against a 3060. That might lead to medium-to-high preset.

Who knows!

My personal opinion

We need to wait to check everything, specially GPU performance. It's too soon but this kind of thread helps a lot with people seeking information to build a PC for simming.

Hardware and PC parts are not cheap. They are increasing in price everyday so a place to discuss and test will help a lot of people.

 

Kind regards