Don't miss this one: a NEW FSX optimizer

[Guest Nick_N]

Just a few side notes... If you edited in the line to show the average frame rate in the FSX.cfg, get rid of the average frame rate line in the FSX.cfg fileVista Users... make sure you Run As Administrator.. boith the interface and the BAT fileThere are some reporting they can not seem to get this working and assuming Java is correctly install and working I think it is tied back to Vista and UAC. Just because you disable UAC does not mean it is completely gone.. one of the things I detest about the OS and will not use it. FSX installed outside the programs folder to its own drive can make a difference (XP or Vista) which is why I have posted that in the tuning list.This does NOT work for DX10... see the top of the interface? D3D9 = DX9DX10 is as useless as boobs on a bull for FSX. The fact it does not allow 100% FSAA, correct Vsync and a list of issues not addressed by Aces in the platform ootweighs the advantage to using bloom and higher water sliders.It does not surprise me high clocked i7 and GTX 285 is not displaying the same results. Clocked i7/GTX 285 is in reality the first processor/VC really in line with what FSX demandsBut I will say that one of the reasons why we see smoother results on C2/Q is because we all do the same thing.. demand more than we really should, and, the application needed to be properly throttled in how it addresses multicore. This application throttles threads. It does not allow the app to just pound the daylights out of the CPU with operations that end up ignored anyway and the result is it slows terrain and autogen priority... the benefit is a smoother flight experience.Most people do not realize the limit of autogen in FS9 was about 500 objects per tile. In FSX the tile grew 4x but autogen was taken to a rediculously higher rendering level of 4000-7500 objects per tile. So now perhaps you can understand why AG plugs up the PCIe latency works.

[Noel 4,487]

Noel,I'm running Bios 0605. It appears there is a newer Bios 0704 available that was released on 02/12/2009. I am going to load that Bios right away.The only thing that I could do to alleviate the audio popping/crackling was to increase my Bufferpools to an very high number. At present I am runnning my poolsize at 490MB which reduces DPC latency enough to eliminate the audio popping and crackling. I know I have asked you to try increasing the poolsize before. Have you tried increasing the poolsize since you switched to Vista X64 and got the GTX280?? If not you should give it a go. This is the only thing I have found that will allow me to crank the autogen up without the annoying crackling. The only other thing I can offer is that your overclock (both your CPU and memory) are more aggressive than mine and that could also lend to the problem.

Thank you kindly Sarg. Here is my BP setting which has not improved the picture:[bufferPools]PoolSize=100000000I sounds like you are saying the geiger counter issue is resolved on your machine--great!It could be my o/c is an issue, though I remember having set this back a ways to 3.8 or 3.9 and 1600 FSB, to no avail, so moved back up to my max stable oc.Do you recommend a different BP setting? A BIOS change may help. Thanks again . . .

Noel,Thanks for sharing this information on FPS Limiter.I installed it but it is not yet obvious to me whether it improved anything.A question: I set the limiter to 30 fps and unlimited in FSX optiins. In a test just I noticed that fps jump between 15 and 100 fps, according to the sceney complexity (15 fps in Aerosoft

[Noel 4,487]

What reserving BP does is demand the resources across the PCie port be defined/locked and therefore the latency is shifted in priority to the request. Only those on large VM cards can run a BP that high but it does work for this issue.

OK Nick, remind me how I can go back to BIOS 401 if I try the latest!

[Guest jaskanFactor]

After jumping the hoops to get this thing going, and given that it seems quite treaky to tell if it adds any positive value for some us.Also cause installing Java means i now have two java tasks that auto start with PC, taking up cpu cycles that FSX could Use.For this reasons i have decided to roll back and remove fps limiter from my system, but i will keep the files, just in case my new rig could benefit from it.Like Nick said, maybe only those with powerfull rigs, can benefit from it cause thier lockup arent strictly due to lack of cpu processing power. However for anybody looking for smoother FSX ride without installing java and the 2 tasks it adds to your task manager that always start with windows, then do what i did, JUST LOWER THE PRIORITY OF FSX IN TASK MANEGER, this should give FSX a smoother ride and reduce lockup, cause FSX gives other vital tasks some chance to run.The main reason i have removed this tool is cause Java adds two new tasks to my task maneger, and one of them is about the 4th on the list of tasks getting most of my CPU time, plus the fps limiter window that runs during FSX.For All this reasons, i think fps limiter/java is taking more CPU power, than its improving FSX.Dual Core E6300 @ 2.1Nvidia 9600GT OCXp3.2 Gig Ram

[Guest Nick_N]

OK Nick, remind me how I can go back to BIOS 401 if I try the latest!

NoelIf that is a 1GB card, try this[bufferPools]PoolSize=490000000As for reverse flashing Asus BIOS's... here is the post where I linked the engineering tool.. http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_post...D=165838#165838 but remember Noel, BIOS flashing is your risk. I dont want to see you go through the same thing again. There are those who swear they have flashed a BIOS 100s of time and discount the danger of the operation.. and those who know different like yourself.

[Guest Nick_N]

Just enter the JAVA console from the Control Panel and disable the AUTOMATIC UPDATE system and the try icon... Process StoppedNever would I ever lower the priority of any exe file.

[sargeski 16]

Thank you kindly Sarg. Here is my BP setting which has not improved the picture:[bufferPools]PoolSize=100000000I sounds like you are saying the geiger counter issue is resolved on your machine--great!It could be my o/c is an issue, though I remember having set this back a ways to 3.8 or 3.9 and 1600 FSB, to no avail, so moved back up to my max stable oc.Do you recommend a different BP setting? A BIOS change may help. Thanks again . . .

Noel,I just updated to 0704 and the DPC latency issue is still there with FSX and this hardware. I still can fix the issue by increasing the poolsize.Try this setting (no matter how unconventional it sounds)[bufferPools]PoolSize=450000000 I Have went as far as 500MB....but that sometimes causes graphical glitches.Increasing the poolsize to such a high number in FSX, for some reason on this machine, decreases DPC latency to the point that it stays in the yellow and green areas (when utilizing the DPC Latency Tool) which translates into NO audio issues with FSX.Try increasing the poolsize prior to updating the BIOS. If you update to 0704 make sure you load the default setttings first after you install the Bios, reboot your computer, then reconfigure and save the bios with your settings. DO NOT TRY TO LOAD PREVIOUSLY SAVED PROFILES FROM AN EARLIER BIOS OR YOU WILL HAVE ISSUES WITH SAVING THE BIOS SETTINGS.

[Guest jaskanFactor]

One of the first things i do with all this new software is cut the arms off any kind of automatic update.But this 2 java tasks still show in my task manager, cant remember the names, but they both start with J. And seeing one of them was 4th on the list of tasks getting most cpu was a real turnOff for me. As for reducing FSX to tasks priority lowest on my system, its made a big improvement to lockup that i used to get, given that my system is not that powerfull plus i gotRc4/ ASA/ FSPAX going turning FSX and AS priority to low means i dont get slide show during weather updates. I suspect part of the reason i did not notice change in my system with fps limiter is 1 - My lockup are most probably due to lack of cpu power, so i will try fps limiter on my coming i7 rig, that is only if lowering FSX priority does not fix any lockups. 2 - My FSX is by defualt programed to always run in lowest priority, which means much much less lockups anyway. FSX multitasking is badly written so that it will always be trying to take all the cpu, while stoping other things that it needs to run. Lowering FSX priority to lowest has definatly improved my flights.

[ega 98]

Noel,Many thanks for your answer.The limiter is definetly not running although I run the bat at the correct location.I believe the problem resides in the bat file.The original text created by the program is:start C:\"Games\FPS_Limiter\"FPS_Limiter.exe /r:D3D9 /f:30 /x:OFF /l:OFF "C:\Games\FSX\fsx.exeBut actually this command does not lauch FSX. To do so, I have to add another line:start C:\"Games\FPS_Limiter\"FPS_Limiter.exe /r:D3D9 /f:30 /x:ON /l:OFFstart C:\"Games\FSX\"fsx.exeThis these two lines, I can start FSX from the bat file - but the limiter does not work!Any hints?? I am using Vista32.ThanksEdmundo

[Noel 4,487]

NoelIf that is a 1GB card, try this[bufferPools]PoolSize=490000000As for reverse flashing Asus BIOS's... here is the post where I linked the engineering tool.. http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_post...D=165838#165838 but remember Noel, BIOS flashing is your risk. I dont want to see you go through the same thing again. There are those who swear they have flashed a BIOS 100s of time and discount the danger of the operation.. and those who know different like yourself.

OMG i'm with you on that Nick. I have flashed the BIOS 40's of times, and as you know, I just did a very bonehead thing which caused the disaster I had. It's such a minor issue too since even in the most complex of situations I don't have audio troubles if i set a/g to Normal. Typically, I can run dense/very dense even in the SuperMD80, except in certain areas. I will try the BP setting you (and Sarg) recommend n see if it helps. I wonder what the heck happened in the nV drivers beyond 69.x.Thanks . . .

Noel,Many thanks for your answer.The limiter is definetly not running although I run the bat at the correct location.I believe the problem resides in the bat file.The original text created by the program is:start C:\"Games\FPS_Limiter\"FPS_Limiter.exe /r:D3D9 /f:30 /x:OFF /l:OFF "C:\Games\FSX\fsx.exeBut actually this command does not lauch FSX. To do so, I have to add another line:start C:\"Games\FPS_Limiter\"FPS_Limiter.exe /r:D3D9 /f:30 /x:ON /l:OFFstart C:\"Games\FSX\"fsx.exeThis these two lines, I can start FSX from the bat file - but the limiter does not work!Any hints?? I am using Vista32.ThanksEdmundo

Edmundo, it should look like this:start C:\"FPS_Limiter\"FPS_Limiter.exe /r:D3D9 /f:22 /x:OFF /l:OFF "E:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsx.exeThis looks like the .bat file on your end. I wonder if it has something to do with Vista not running the .exe file. Look thru other posts here re what areas in Vista affect this.

[Noel 4,487]

Noel,I just updated to 0704 and the DPC latency issue is still there with FSX and this hardware. I still can fix the issue by increasing the poolsize.Try this setting (no matter how unconventional it sounds)[bufferPools]PoolSize=450000000 I Have went as far as 500MB....but that sometimes causes graphical glitches.Increasing the poolsize to such a high number in FSX, for some reason on this machine, decreases DPC latency to the point that it stays in the yellow and green areas (when utilizing the DPC Latency Tool) which translates into NO audio issues with FSX.Try increasing the poolsize prior to updating the BIOS. If you update to 0704 make sure you load the default setttings first after you install the Bios, reboot your computer, then reconfigure and save the bios with your settings. DO NOT TRY TO LOAD PREVIOUSLY SAVED PROFILES FROM AN EARLIER BIOS OR YOU WILL HAVE ISSUES WITH SAVING THE BIOS SETTINGS.

OMG Sarg & Nick!@Thank you Thank you Thank you, and of course Nick too! The BP setting fixed the audio!! Thanks alot for reminding me to go there again. With my 8800GT I used the BP and it always caused problems and poor performance--I'm guessing I just had the wrong value in it. In any case, I just tried 490 as Nick n You had suggested and dang! It's great!What's just too cool is that with the frame limiter I am getting just plain superior performance and smoothness. I just ran an acid test too: Dense a/g, Tasmania and Victoria areas in FTX, cloulds out 110m, extreme everything--smooth and was able to do a totally smooth and detailed FRAPS .avi that looks great. Locked it at 25, recorded at 25, and liquid smooth all around--and not audio! No need to change BIOS for me so that's cool as heck. I feel like finally I about have this thing as optimized as possible. What's weird is that I am running stock Vista 64--no optimizations except UAC off and indexing off, otherwise, I have 54 processes running and it's still totally great! Thanks again that was bummin' me out. Appreciate your staying with me on that I will truly appreciate it running totally smooth now. Geez! Hog Heaven!

[Guest santiagoluib3]

Is it normal to still see FPS fluctuation in the 50-ish (sometimes 60-ish)?I have set mine to 30 default and it did stay in the 28~32ish MOST of the time, but in short bursts it can swing to the high region (50ish, 60ish). There is no noticeable effect in the motion though and no stutters too. Before this app, FPS UNLIMITED can fluctuate to as high as 100+ for me... and too much stutters.:)

[OldMaintChief 7]

NickN, along with the cloud flashing fix, this is the fix to finally make FSX functon as smoothly as FS9!I have FSX installed in C:\GAMES, not Program Files. Placed the folder there also and it found FSX.EXE one folder up. Changed FPS to UNLIMITED. Now FSX shows frames as UNLIMITED but locked at 30. Very smooth and no spiking! The only slow down os on the ramp looking at AI sircraft where it is a solid 22, but smooth. I think the slow down is because of the AI aircraft draw calls. I wish I could replace them with better aircraft, maybe get back to 30.DaveSystem:Dell XPS 720 H2CIntel Quad Core Extreme QX6800 2.93 @ 3.73GHz4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator EPP 8500C5D FSB 800MHz @ 1066MHz2x160GB WD SATA Raptors, Sound Blaster X-FiNvidia 2x8800GTX 768MB SLI, Dell 2407WFP PanelXP driver: 169.21, Vista driver: 169.25Logitech Z680 5.1 Speakers, G5 Mouse, Saitek X52WinXP Media Edition SP3 on C: (SATA 0) w/ Internet/AV/Office/FS9/Falcon4 AFVista SP1 on D: (SATA 1) (Dual Boot) w/FSX3DMark06: 17,018/6992/7123/5667

[Cruachan 705]

Since this allows FSX to be set to throw everything at the hardware but limit the issue cause by SP1/SP2 it certainly looks as if it is successfully solving a problem that has been around for almost 2 years

And, I note that version 0.2 is dated 11/15/2007!!Why on earth has this not come to light long before now?The idiom: "hiding one's light under a bushel" springs to mind. How many others out there, I wonder.This finding has restored a much needed spark back into the forum, something badly needed since the sad revelation of the demise of ACES.Regards,MikeEdit: Nearly forgot, a huge thank you to you Noel :(Edit (2): The author appears to be a guy called "vento" - see info tab of the utility.

[ryanbatc 12,819]

So this edit is only for people with high end systems? ie - it would have no benefit for me?