Bojote's Tweak Compilation

[bojote 20]

Long time ago, there was discussion of a PDF / formal document with a compilation of all tweaks. The idea was to make MS 'confirm/bless' the findings.. unfortunately, they are NOT allowed to do that. So, this is an un-official (not so formal) tweaking post. Included here are the tweaks with the biggest impact on performance for FSX. Feel free to ask for clarification on any setting, but ABOVE all.. don't rush it! read, understand and experiment. results will vary depending on your setup, but pretty much all this tweaks are 'universal' and ALL of them have a significant impact on FSX performance.If you don't see a tweak here, its probably because its impact on performance is minimal and it wont really change anything. Enjoy.TWEAK COMPILATION (the most relevant ones)You will need to open your FSX.cfg file to apply this changes.. best way to do this is pressing the WIN key (the one with thewindows logo) plus the R key. this will open a prompt window. Simply enter the following command into that window and press ENTER: notepad %APPDATA%\Microsoft\FSX\fsx.CFGAfter doing this, you'll see your FSX config file. The structure of that file is very simple, within [] brackets you'll find SECTIONS and underthe sections you'll find SETTINGS. The following, is an example of SECTIONS and their corresponding SETTINGS and next to it an explanation ofwhat the actual tweak does.[bufferPools]UsePools=0 // Setting this to 1 will turn the BufferPools ON (stability), setting it to 0 disables them (Performance).RejectThreshold=98304 // Vertex data at or over 96KB does not get pooled and bypasses the bufferpoolPoolSize=2097152 // Defines a 2MB BufferPool[GRAPHICS]HIGHMEMFIX=1 // Fixes LARGEADDRESSAWARE issue with D3DX Libraries for shader compilationForceFullScreenVSync=1 // Fixes vSync natively (Fullscreen)ForceWindowedVSync=1 // Fixes vSync natively (Windowed mode)[Display]TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=10 // Useless.. its simply a multiplier, what you REALLY want to tweak is TextureMaxLoadTextureMaxLoad=21 // You can try 12, 15, 18 and 21 (it will make texture loading faster)Some other tips:* If you have an ATI card, download The Shader 3.0 Mod (v1.5) from the AVSIM Library using this link: http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=148399 READ THE FULL instructions on how to install the mod, and don't forget to download the UPDATED WaterConstants.XML file located in the Shader Mod 3.0 thread located here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/283701-bojotes-shader-30-mod-for-fsx/* If you experience texture flashes set water to 2.0 HIGH (it will NOT impact CPU, but GPU usage)* Use an EXTERNAL Frame rate limiter, and set FSX to UNLIMITED frames.My nVidia video settings (using latest drivers)My updated fsx.cfg file (for reference)http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.txt** OPTIONAL TWEAK ** (only if your PC is running on 4 cores and NO Hyperthreading)[JOBSCHEDULER]AffinityMask=12 // Determines which cores to 'use' in FSX (CORE0 will ALWAYS be used regardless of what you set here)The above tweaks assume the following:1) You have a healthy, properly configured PC with no issues of any kind2) You feel confortable updating the FSX.cfg file and you made a BACKUP of it before doing any changes.3) You can NOT hold me responsible if you mess your FSX instalation, you do this at your own RISK4) You have READ and UNDERSTAND the concepts discussed here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/281538-the-bp0-conclusions/If you need help configuring/overclocking your PC you can post your questions in the Hardware forum. To keep this thread on topic, we'll discuss FSX.CFG related settings and their impact on performance. If you have problems with the Shader 3.0 mod, you should ask your questions on the Shader 3.0 mod thread located here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/283701-bojotes-shader-30-mod-for-fsx/This post is the 'short' version of months of research and experimentation conducted on AVSIM during the first 4 months of 2010. It was a COMMUNITY effort that involved hundreds of your fellow AVSIM members who provided feedback and testing. The tweaks already passed the test of time and are actively being used 'literally' everywhere, so if anyone is still having peformance issues, here's your chance to ask.

[AlexMD11 14]

Hi *******,Thank you for this great post. I have experimented a lot with these settings and most of them indeed do have a great effect. However, there is one thing that perhaps you can help me with. In your post you suggest limiting the framerate externally while setting the framerate inside FSX to unlimited. If I do this, I experience major stutters especially while going through clouds (even when limited externally at 28, I see frames going up to 45 and down to 10). I would love to be able to set my frames externally, since I now lock them inside FSX combined with a lower fiber_frame_time_fraction (value of 0.15). This again seems to introduce more blurries in my ground textures..Do you have some advice? :)Thanks!

[RobertK 0]

*******,thank you very much for sharing all of this information, it has already helped considerably speeding up my FSX install.One question though -

don't forget to download the UPDATED WaterConstants.XML file located in the Shader Mod 3.0 thread located here: http://forum.avsim.n...30-mod-for-fsx/

where can I find that file in the mentioned thread? It has 23 pages by now and I have no clue where to start looking...Regards,Robert

[Steve1969 8]

<br />*******,<br /><br />thank you very much for sharing all of this information, it has already helped considerably speeding up my FSX install.<br /><br />One question though - <br /><br />where can I find that file in the mentioned thread? It has 23 pages by now and I have no clue where to start looking...<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Robert<br />

<br /><br /><br />Its on page 20, post number 483. You need to cut and paste the text into a new waterconstants.xml file.Best wishesSteve

[bojote 20]

I experience major stutters especially while going through clouds (even when limited externally at 28, I see frames going up to 45 and down to 10). I would love to be able to set my frames externally, since I now lock them inside FSX combined with a lower fiber_frame_time_fraction (value of 0.15). This again seems to introduce more blurries in my ground textures..Do you have some advice? :)

Your alternative, is in fact the one I used before. If I were to lock frames INTERNALLY, the ONLY value I would tweak is the fiber_frame_time_fraction (to make it a bit lower). The 'stutters' or wild jumps in FPS when using the external limiter is due to the limiter inability of keepting the FPS constant (the limiting is done by polling) and this happens every x milliseconds at the API level.What I did to overcome this (and to avoid the wild jumps) is simple... I run pretty much every slider MAXED out and I fly complex payware, If you DONT want to max out your slider or fly complex a/c then your other alternative is to limit your frames externally AND run a HIGH fiber_frame_time_fraction (such as .75) this WONT affect the CPU much, but the main thread will be more in sync with the others (because it has to keep up with the .75 value) As always, experiment and report back, YMMV

[SpiritFlyer 987]

Hey *******,Great to see you re-posting this FSX information as it is so valuable to those who can and do use it. Soon enough it will be "MS Flight" that will have our full attention I expect. Perhaps this time MS will do it right from day one and no more tweaks will be required, although "adjustments" will always be helpful. I bet they do!Kind regards,

[Hirgab 9]

Thank you for all your hard efforts! These tweaks helped me immensely. I have sent you a PM.

[bojote 20]

Great to see you re-posting this FSX information as it is so valuable to those who can and do use it.

Hi Sthepen! yeah, much of it is scattered, and I keep receiving PM's about those. and the BP=0 conclusions is a very long read for some. I simply compiled the most relevant ones, which most of you already have implemented with great results.

[RobertK 0]

<br /><br /><br />Its on page 20, post number 483. You need to cut and paste the text into a new waterconstants.xml file.Best wishesSteve

Thank you for the help, appreciated. :)Regards,Robert

[Pegasus1 1]

[sCENERY]SmallPartRejectRadius=4

Putting this also give some more FPS. You won't realize any difference in quality while flying. When you use outside camera view of aircraft, and zoom out, the aircraft will disappear sooner as default. That's the only thing. Therefore you get much more FPS in your cockpit. Value 1 is default. Value 2 will already give some more FPS, value 4 is great for me and gives best performance in my system. Anything more than 4 give not more FPS.Good luck,Pegasus.

[Virtualwombat 4]

Thanks Guys! Applying these tweaks made a significant difference to my system.Cheers,Noel.

[thunderbolt294 0]

[sCENERY]SmallPartRejectRadius=4

Putting this also give some more FPS. You won't realize any difference in quality while flying. When you use outside camera view of aircraft, and zoom out, the aircraft will disappear sooner as default. That's the only thing. Therefore you get much more FPS in your cockpit. Value 1 is default. Value 2 will already give some more FPS, value 4 is great for me and gives best performance in my system. Anything more than 4 give not more FPS.Good luck,Pegasus.

I thought that the small part reject radius tweak didn't apply to SP2

[Pegasus1 1]

Try it and you will see ;) i don't know why I never red of it before here on avsim. For me, it's the absolute FPS booster :) maybe you're lucky and it works for you also. Cheers,Pegasus.

[Vulcan 14]

First of all ******* thank you for all your hard work developing these tweaks which I am sure most of us have employed.Second, a big thank you for compiling your tweaks into one manageable post. I am sure a lot of us got lost part way through developments as we struggled to keep up with long posts and small changes to the tweaks so this compilation is a God send for us.

[bojote 20]

Using the above tweaks:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXtZeowbvk4Test conditions:Manhattan X, GEX, REX, Ultimate Terrain USA, Shader 3.0 Mod, Cold front Weather theme, time is around dusk. Just an experimental video with all sliders maxed out.