Low frame rates on PIC only

[Guest]

I've got a frame rate problem which, strangely, only appears to affect the PIC. It's a problem which has taken over since i formatted my C drive, (but not my E drive where FSim runs). Everything runs fine from t/o etc - frame rate of about 15 - quite happy. After about 30 minutes it gets slower and slower to about 3 or 4. Of course, this is too slow and I've had it running much better before. The graphics also get very blurred and fuzzy. Sounds like a memory problem to me. If I restart the computer, it improves again. What's happening here? Any ideas? I know I've got the video card installed, and other aircraft work fine (including the new Mach 2 concorde, which I pretty heavy on resources). What's going wrong? Thanks for any suggestions. Tom

[gosta]

Hi Tom,I'm not quite sure what exactly is happening, but it may well be a memory problem. Try changing to windowed mode (Alt+Enter), the back to full screen - that takes care of the problem when it happens on my computer.Cheers,Gosta.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[Guest Dan_Pergau]

Hi Tom,Are you using the POSKY visual model or the one that came with PIC767? The PIC767 visual model would bring any PC to its knees. Checkout the POSKY v3 767-300 model and do a search for Lee Hetherington's merge file to combine the visual model with the PIC767 panel and sounds.Good luck!

[Mats_J]

Hi TomCould it be a swap file/memory issue?Can you see or hear an increase in harddrive access as you are losing frames? Could possibly be due to different file system (FAT/FAT32/NTFS) on the C-drive since formatting, or changed swap file settings in Windows?Just a couple of long shots here to get our brains going ;-)Regards

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestions. What difference would FAT32 make? Now you mention it, I did try to install a newer version of windows but went back to ME after it messed up some drive configurations. (some kind of FAT32 issue)How would I check this? Is there anything I can do to remedy the problem? I think we might be getting somewhere, so thanks a lot for your help, guys.Tom

[Guest Stephan Haas]

Tom,A very drastic but good option is to start all over again.Format c: (make sure you have a good woirking backup)install windowsinstall FSinstall PICinstall all other addonsAt some point yuo want to make an image of your harddisk so that next time you can recover in a more easy way.It's a lot of time, but I did this some 2 months ago and it made a whole world of difference.Kind regards,Stephan Haas

[Mats_J]

TomSome information here, sorry if you know this already. And anyone, please correct me [o]if[/o] where I'm wrong! ;-)FAT, FAT32 and NTFS are different ways for the computer to process and save data on your hard drive. FAT being the oldest one, is almost never used by a modern OS. But I think the Win98 installation program formats to FAT. Not sure about WinME as I have never used it.FAT32 is better optimized, safer and (I think) faster.NTFS is the most secure of the different MS file systems used by WinNT, Win2k and WinXPPro (not sure about the Home edition)You can check your file system in the Properties window for your respective hard drive.You can also check your swapfile settings in the Properties window for My Computer.What about the disk access rate? Can you identify any change/increase when your frame rate drops?Hope it helps

[Guest ielchitz]

Tom,Hi there - Dan Pergau already mentioned this but so far no response from you so I will say it again in order to drive it home.My bet is you are NOT using the Project Open Sky (POSKY) model. The models that come with PIC, to put it bluntly - are unusable.Go to www.projectopensky.comDownload your favorite B762 or B763.Search this forum for "POSKY MERGE ILS"Download Lee's PIC/POSKY merge file.Follow the instructions.Report back here if this solved yoru problems.Have fun,Ian.

[Guest]

Hi Ian, and everyone else who's been giving me such great advice. Sorry I haven't replied, but I've got some news.I've sort of solved the problem I think - it wasn't pretty, just did a complete format of E: and re-install of FS2k2 - I think it might have been a problem with DirectX being removed when I formatted the C drive and then not being re-installed properly. I noticed during re-installation that DirectX v7.1 was installed. I think I had been trying to use version 8. Would this account for problems? Anyway, like so many things in Fsim, it seems to be working now. Go figure. :)I'm getting about 14fps with the PIC/POSKY model - I really am sure that's what I'm using. With my specs (below) does that sound about right to people? Is there anyway I could improve that?I'm slightly suprised that the frame rates are like that even in mid-flight with no extra windows open.1.8Ghz, winMe, 32mb Nvidia, lots of hard drive.PIC 763, POSKY/Hetherington merge, no window view etc.Activesky.Nothing else. :)Thanks for your help guys - I really appreciate it.Tom

[Guest Dan_Pergau]

How much RAM do you have? Your video card should be adequate but having a 64mb or 128mb card would be better.. if you have money to burn ;)DirectX8 seems to be the best I think... I haven't messed with DirectX9 yet.Dan

[Guest]

Can I install DirectX 8 over the top of v.7.1 which was installed during installation? What do you think?Thanks for the help, how much money are we talking to upgrade my card like you say? (just a ballpark figure would be great).Thanks,Tom

[gosta]

Hi Tom,yes, you can install DirectX directly over the old version - actually there isn't a way to uninstall it (apart from system restore).As to graphics crads, you can get 64MB cards for around $50 US (or even less), but if it's worth it really depends on what you intend to do with your computer over the next few months. For example, if you're thinking of upgrading during the next twelve months, you might be better off saving up some money to buy a very good card for a few hundred bucks, which will still be good when you upgrade your other components.Cheers,Gosta. http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg