I have noticed that in the PMDG options while in FSX, there are options for performance tuning, and specifically the Virtual Cockpit.I am curious as to what this option changes, as when i move it from full low, to full high, i notice very little change in quality and also very little impact on performance.I have also noticed that if I run FSX using only two cores, I get better performance than when i'm using all 4. I find this to be a little bizarre and hope you can shed some light on both of these things. :( Cheers,

That option affects the VC displays refresh rate.

So what exactly do the numbers mean, my Virtual Cockpit is currently at 9, does the higher the number mean worse performance? 

The number are FPS. The higher the more FPS you want the display to be at, but also more resources needed.

I've found nearly the opposite of your experience [of the OP.]

 

I turned all of the VC settings to low, and found that I saw no difference except for a very minor one in the various glass displays that wasn't a major change. I saw my FPS go from 6-10 on average all the way to 15-25 on average, so I'm glad I changed it.

The refresh rates' impact on overall performance (frame rates) can vary between systems. I haven't noticed pronounced effects, either.

 

Your AffinityMask findings look interesting: Do you run a true 4core system or is it a dual/2core with HT (Hyperthreading)?

 

I can see 8 cores in my task manager (true 4core) because of those 4 additional shadow cores. The AffinityMask setting, AFAIK, applies only to real cores, so you have to be very careful about the setting you use.

I have an i7-3770k oc to 4.5ghz. So I'm assuming mines a dual core with 4 cores? If so what should I set my affinity mask to?

Bojote's tool can do this for you and optimizes a number of other settings, as well.

 

Be aware that the FSX servicepacks make FSX use multiple cores already and that W7 does a pretty good job on its own to 'feed' the available cores with processes.

 

I did some (very limited) testing with AffinityMask and finally deleted the entry from my fsx.cfg. Now it's just a matter between W7 and FSX again ...

Captain420 did not provide his full name.  I believe it is still a requirement in this forum.

 

Best regards,

Jim Young

Which aircraft first off? If you're adjusting things in the PMDG menu while flying say the J41 or NGX then it's not going to do anything at all because those options only apply to the 747 or MD-11. J41's options for this are set from the config manager application and the NGX's are set from the FMC's MENU pages.