Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Guest ScottPilot

Good performance boost with HIGH priority

Recommended Posts

Guest ScottPilot

Hello!I set FS2004 to run under a priority of HIGH in Windows XP Pro today and I am happy to report that I picked up another 5 fps and an increase in smoothness!I have a slightly slower computer (PIII 1GHZ with a Geforce MX 440 card) so every increase in fps counts.My biggest challenge was getting Windows XP shortcut setting correct to force COF to run at a priority of high. After several tries, I finally got the link setup correctly.So for those Windows XP users who havn't tried this yet, or have had problems with the comspec command, I would encourage you to give this procedure a try. It just might pay off.Here is what you need to do:1) Right click on the FS2004 shortcut and select properties.2) Change the TARGET line to the following: %comspec% /C "start /HIGH fs9.exe"** Note: DO NOT include the path on this line! Windows XP doesn't like it with the comspec command, and you will get an error trying to start FS9 in most cases. Or sometimes you will get dumped to the command prompt with a error alert that states Windows is unable to find the correct file path.3) Make sure the START IN line has the path to FS9: "C:Flight Simulator 9"** This is the line that will take care of the path were FS9 is installed and it should allready be defaulted to your FS9 directory.4) Click the APPLY button and then the OK button to close the window.That's it! FS9 should now be running at a HIGH priority level the next time you click on the modified shortcut.After doing this, I noticed a very good increase in performance of the sim.I also did this with ActiveSky Wxre (I set it to ABOVENORMAL) and I also have Radar Contact set to a high priority.Now all these programs are working much better with FS9.Of course you can verify the priorities by out of FS9 and opening the task manager to see at what priority that your tasks are running at.I know that this topic has been covered before, but since I am getting such good results with these settings, I thought I would post my results anyways.Happy Simming and good luck!Scott :-)ATP/CFII - KCOS, in the real avaition world.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hey...i did that...and i get error msg saying its invalid so i cant click apply.....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

What does changinf the 'Priority' in XP actually do? And how would it give you more FPS? I would think that also turning off alot of the services in XP that you really DONT need would as well increase your FS9 performance...Here are two guides that are a MUST HAVE and MUST DO to really tweaking XP the correct way! It was written by a good buddy of mine, Koroush Ghazi from Tweaktown.com. He has done alot of exaustive research on this subject and knows his stuff!http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=324http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=434Enjoy!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest freequest

Well it worked for me instead of sitting at 14 to 8 fps i am now sitting at 20fps solid with full AI ... though my vid card lets me down a bit.... but it did improve FS performance for me...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest ScottPilot

Are you typing in the traget line just as it is listed here? Quotes and all?%comspec% /C "start /HIGH fs9.exe"Without the quotes in the right place, it won't work. You will get an error message when you try to apply the new settings.You can also try to create a new shortcut (don't use the exisiting one) and then set up the new shortcut with this information.If that doesn't work, try eliminating the quotes all together.%comspec% /C start /HIGH fs9.exeI spent an hour trying to get mine to accept until it finally did.You can also search for the command, %comspec% at Microsoft or through the google search engine to find out more information on how to set it up.If you don't type everything just right, it will not work! Don't cut and paste from this post. Type everything yourself otherwise you might have problems.Hope this helps!Scott :-)ATP/CFII - KCOS, in the real aviation world.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Jack172

I tried this on a 2.4 P4 and my frame rate did not increase, in fact it seemed to drop about 1 fps.Used 1600x1200x32 at KLAX with the detailed scenery download to test, just sitting on the runway in spot plane view, get abouts 15.1 fps with HIGH set, and 15.8 with normal settings.FS was running at HIGH as interaction with the system was very slow except for FS.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest ScottPilot

I'll try to summerise what I read about priority settings...Changing the priority forces Windows to allocate more of the CPU specifically to that program.A setting of HIGH is the maximum amount and will force Windows to make as much CPU and ram available to that program over any other resource that is not also set at a high priority.For example, 80 to 90% of all the background tasks and applications run at a normal priority and are in competiton with each other for resources.Some of the OS tasks, such as the logon protocols and the Windows explorer normally run at a priority of HIGH. This allows them to accept input faster and increase the user response time to a request.Most other programs run at NORMAL or ABOVE NORMAL priority and must wait a little longer for requests to be processed.So the bottom line is, by running FS9 at either the ABOVENORMAL or HIGH priority forces Windows to try to give more resource access and a quicker response time to that program.In some cases this can improve the performance of the sim, as it did for me. Of course I have a slower system as far as the sim is concerned, so I noticed a difference.On faster machines, this may not be the case since the processor response times are much shorter, resulting in better performance anyways.Scott :-)ATP/CFII - KCOS, in the real aviation world.I saw your AOPA banner. I've been a member since 1987 and a project pilot CFI since 1995. Great organization for GA pilots.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest JeanLuc_

This may sound good at first, but this also kills the internal mechanism FS9 (and FS8) have to dynamically load balance the computations between the sim computations and the panel gauges. (there is such a feature internaly).So don't expect better results with complex panels I guess. Let us know!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

scott,its works now! ahah i apperantly left out one of the "%" signs...but thanks for the help...now get more RAM en im good to go!!!cheers

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest ScottPilot

It might not work on a faster system. It all depends on how your CPU and Windows are optimizing resourse access.On my PIII 1GHZ it really helps, but I have also read that on faster systems it might not make a difference, or in some cases slow things down.Also, the more background tasks that you are running can change things, since Windows is trying to accomodate FS9 (and other HIGH priority programs) over the other tasks running at the NORMAL settings.I Didn't say this would work for everybody, but it might for some. Specifically those people with slower systems.Switching the priority can be changed very easily so it is worth giving it a try. If it doesn't work, just change things back the way they were.Happy Simming!Scott :-)ATP/CFII - KCOS, in the real aviation world.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest ScottPilot

Great!I'm glad it helped!Scott :-)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest ScottPilot

You could be right.I think changing the priority will affect each person's system differently with regards to FS9. For some it will make things better, for others - no change, and for others - it might make things worse.(Ahhhh.you have to love all this tweaking for performance)So far on mine, I am having very good results and much better performnce with FS9 set at the HIGH priority.Since I can't afford a faster system right now, I will leave mine set at the HIGH priority setting, since it is helping.If things change, it is just a matter of removing the %comspec% command and reverting back to the normal FS9 shortcut.It is definately a lot quicker (and easier) than overclocking the CPU, ect... for a small performance boost.I have also have used this techniuque on other programs like ActiveSky Wxre, Radar Contact, ect.. and it is working for those programs.Have a great day!Scott :-)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...