I really was done tweeking untill this darn thread, will we ever stop driving ourselves nuts?

LOLOLOL That is the funniest thing I have read in weeks! But true, so true! :(Stephen

Jim, et all:BP=0 is IN FACT (and please, DO test yourself using your OWN methods) a 'Static' Memory pool. Even if you set it to 1, 5, 10 or 500 million, what you are doing is creating a 'memory pool' (a pool buffer) to be used by FSX, this buffer is NOT (and I repeat) NOT created using Video Ram!!! it uses SYSTEM RAM, and ALSO uses CPU, think of this pool as a 'cache' were calls are made, and no.. I'm not 'assuming' I've been commited to this for the past three weeks, and in time I'll prepare a formal guide/document.

Not my understanding, not that you are wrong, but it isn't what I have observed. But are you talking allocated memory or mirrored memory?For instance from the Aces lead programer who first told us of BP tweak:"If you're getting stutters/"pops" during turns or when pan your view around, try adding this to your fsx.cfg (located in yourprofile\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX):[bufferPools]PoolSize=5000000The default pool size is 1 million but sometimes (If a lot of things are drawing like autogen) that isn't enough. Increasing it to 5 or even 10 million trades off some of your video memory against having to re-allocate these things all the time.-Brian @ AcesJbrians:http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtop...p;#entry1292524Could be that if you are seeing actual ram usage rise as a direct result of BP=0, then maybe infact you have shut BP down and now all the little bit of off loaded geometry is back on the CPU? J.B.S. as well as other Aces docs clearly states BP uses video memory.So how are you reading actual memory usage, not mirrored, not allocated vs GPU memory usage not allocated etc?I do think you are on to something but I am led elswhere; as with out so much of a cfg tweak I elimimated stuttering by increase uncore to QPI ratio from the I7s 9:8 stock to 1:1 or above and use ultra high settings as far as GPU and image quality loading detailed aircraft and sceneries, but I'll leave that for another time/guide, on with BP (Dont try this at home kids unless you have very good cooling and can handle fast memory like the 2000 variety as it does similar to the uncore).

Not my understanding, not that you are wrong, but it isn't what I have observed. But are you talking allocated memory or mirrored memory?

I'm talking about allocated, a fixed, software managed pool. We are not talking about a mirrored, if that were the case you will see an increase in BOTH Video Ram AND system RAM. And, interestingly enought, the system memory, particularly, the fsx.exe process grows 'proportionally' to the number of bytes you set in BP!! easily tested, just see for yourself ;)

For instance from the Aces lead programer who first told us of BP tweak:

Yeah, I'm aware of what he said, and ALSO about what Rafael said. The 'behavior' of the fsx.exe process using BP=0 vs. BP=xxx is CLEARLY visible to anyone using perfmon, BP=0 memory usage is LOW, and if you changed BP to a value like 500 000 000 you'll see how the fsx.exe grows 'exactly' 500MB change that to 200 000 000 and check again... it IS a static, allocated, system/CPU/FSX managed memory pool.

Could be that if you are seeing actual ram usage rise as a direct result of BP=0, then maybe infact you have shut BP down and now all the little bit of off loaded geometry is back on the CPU? J.B.S. as well as other Aces docs clearly states BP uses video memory.

Its actually, the other way around.. BP=0 reduces system memory utilization, CPU utilization, and GPU utilization and increases 'slightly' Video Ram utilization, so, lets suppose you do your own measurement and observe exactly the same, (assuming my observation was correct of course) what would you make of the above?

So how are you reading actual memory usage, not mirrored, not allocated vs GPU memory usage not allocated etc?

via perfmon counters for system memory (including some CPU counters as well) for GPU usage and memory utilization I'm using the GPU-Z tool (which is the only way to read video ram usage on my nvidia card)this is (so far) observations, but the good thing is, ANYONE can confirm or deny what I'm seeing.

Okay - tried the BP=0 and had excellent results. BUT, I started getting the dreaded out of memory errors (I'm on Windows 7 32...I know, I know). Any idea on how to get around this?

Okay - tried the BP=0 and had excellent results. BUT, I started getting the dreaded out of memory errors (I'm on Windows 7 32...I know, I know). Any idea on how to get around this?

Under heavy usage, add-ons, scenery, REX, GEX, UTX I've seen the FSX.exe process grow to 3-4GB.Unfortunately, this is not a 'solution' but, I suggest you make the switch to 64bit OR try the userva switch (google it)

Under heavy usage, add-ons, scenery, REX, GEX, UTX I've seen the FSX.exe process grow to 3-4GB.Unfortunately, this is not a 'solution' but, I suggest you make the switch to 64bit OR try the userva switch (google it)

Thanks ******* - will eventually make the switch once I get up the courage to install everything from scratch! :( Would you know if the userva switch is usable in Win 7?

Bizarrely enough, I set the bufferpools on my system (listed below) and it runs much smoother. I am tracking my process usage and I can't get it up over 2--I am getting ready to try increasing the water ( I am set at 2.xx low) to see if that will do. My vids are in SLI so I must have those working really well. I can't set BP to anything other than 0 or I get spikes, and stutters. Not quite sure what's happening but it's good and I'm keeping it.

J van E:Thanks for the screenshots and explanation on water settings...You're right, it looks much better with the reflections etc.OK, crank up the card and CPU - AGAIN! :(

Hey All First off Let me make this very clear i take no responsibility for the follwing tweak/setting and peoples usage of it,i decided to take the risk in using it on my system and just wanted to pass along my finding if it toasts your system dont blame me!Ive been following this thread with some interest over the past few weeks and i thought id add a little of my own findings Just like pretty much everyone else id been having hit & miss attemps at getting my system 100% stable while using BP=0,some flights would flicker out,and snow within a few mins (forcing me at shutdown completely to get the PC back into a usable state)other times i could go for longer but it would always sneak in within 30mins or soSo while you guys reseached to try and trackdown the tigger/cause i took another approach that being,how could i stop the reaction of the system to the trigger....whatever that trigger was/isAfter monitoring/loging my 260GTX's activity in FSX with BP 0 inplace i found that my GPU was Clock Throttling to 400mhz core clock, 800mhz shader, 300mhz memory once FSX has flickered/snowed/crashedoutnow it Turns out that this is a feature of NV hardware,when the GPU isnt getting a high % usage in full3d &/OR is running at low FPS for and extended time the controller decides it will save you power and drop the GPU/shader core/memory clocksChecking the wider (gaming) web i found that this problem isnt just effecting FSX with BP=0 inplace but also WOW,Crysis and many other games that either run at low GPU usage or Low FSP for and extened time,this feature was disabled in the 170.xx series due to bugs but was reimplemented in the 180.4x drivers & onward,NV later added a switch to there Control pannel (Power management mode) allowing you to switch between adaptive or performance modes to stop the Clock Throttling,the only problem is that with BP=0 inplace this setting is getting ignored and the controller is still resetting the GPU clocks,im gussing that bp=0 is causing FSX to act outside of the profile that NV have setup for it within there drivers Doing some more digging on how to stop it from happening i came across a guide that shows how to force full 3D clocks all the while using rivatuner,so stopping the controller from resetting the GPU clock,heres a link to the guidehttp://www.overclock.net/nvidia/423880-how...wnclocking.htmlIve been testing this for a week now and ive found that with BP=0 and the Rivatuner force inplace FSX will not snow/flash or spike,I set up a cfg/flight that was causing flashing/Clock Throttling and ran it a number of time with the force on/off everytime without forced 3d clocks it bugged out within 30 secs,everytime with the force 3d clocks inplace i flew for over an hour before shutting FSX down & the only side effect i saw was a slight hitch where it seems that the clock was trying to get downclocked but was being reset by rivatuner more reseach turns up the fact that some OEM's decide to remove this Clock Throttling feature from there range of cards,which helps explain why some people have reported total succes with BP=0 where others even with the same series of cards have reported flashing/snow.......Let me just say again i take no responsibility for what the above tweak does to anyone's system if they decide to us it,using it will set your GPU to run at 3DClock setting at all times if you dont understand what that is doing or dont have anyway to monitor or adjust your GPU's fan/clock/temp leave this tweak well alone....as i said it works for me and im willing to take the risk in using iti'll contiune to keep it inplace and report back after more testing or if i find any problemsGreat thread btw many thx to all who have contributed worth while posts within it :)CheersGizmo

Nice find, I'm trying this, but Rivatuner doesn't work in Windows 7!Any suggestions?

I installed and benchmarked the new nVIDIA 197.13 drivers yesterday. Good drivers on my system with a significant perfomance gain. I got inspired by a post by David Roch and tried the new drivers without using nHancer.These are my settings in the nVIDIA control panel with the 197.13 beta driversMy display settings setup in FSXFSX.CFG tweaks[Display]TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=70UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=26TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=4096[TERRAIN]LOD_RADIUS=6.500000TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_TREES_PER_CELL=4500TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=900[bUFFERPOOLS]Poolsize=100000000Here is picture from PNW (Click on the thumbnail to view the image with increased resolution. Click once more to get the full resolution image):Shimmering is about the same low level as when I used nHancer to set a combined AA. Can't notice any difference so I'll keep the above settings. IMO IQ is as good as ever and the flights are smooth.

Nice find, I'm trying this, but Rivatuner doesn't work in Windows 7!Any suggestions?

I have the v2.24c MSI master overclocking area 2009 ed installing/working fine on Win7 X64 get it from herehttp://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163What kind of problem do you have in getting it installed/running? as i recall the only option i turned off durning install was the mem mapping i/o option for punkbuster maybe thats upsetting win7?LatersGizmo

I use the same Riva you mention, and turned off the IO setting.It won't recognise the driver, maybe cause I use the latest version: 197.15.But then again, just wanted to experiment, I use EVGA with no problems and issues, excellent control of clock and fan...

I use the same Riva you mention, and turned off the IO setting.It won't recognise the driver, maybe cause I use the latest version: 197.15.But then again, just wanted to experiment, I use EVGA with no problems and issues, excellent control of clock and fan...

you can work around that bug check here http://www.overclock.net/6826244-post77.htmlIve got 197.15 in atm forced OC works fine with those,i have'nt tryed .17 seems like the only diffrence between .15 & .17 is for OpenGL 3.3 dev featuresCheersGizmo

you can work around that bug check here http://www.overclock.net/6826244-post77.htmlIve got 197.15 in atm forced OC works fine with those,i have'nt tryed .17 seems like the only diffrence between .15 & .17 is for OpenGL 3.3 dev featuresCheersGizmo

Thanks, I'll try that..."And the tweak goes on, and on, and on..."! :(

Before I try the new drivers, I just wanted to re-affirm to those who are not believers:Performance doubled (fps wise) since upgrading my drivers from the 182.50s to the 196.21 and adding BP=0.I will try the latest driver just to see if it gets rid of the flashes and spikes. I'll post my results.