Terrible Performance -- FS9

[outlaw2001it 0]

Just to let ya know...2GB of memory is fine for running FS9. I'm Running a 3 GHZ Pentium D/Nvidia 9500 GT (1 GB of memory), 1920x1080x32 resolution with everything maxed out (except for mip map quality - 6) , and getting roughly 35 FPS (average). Have the following addons: Ultimate Terrain, FS Water, Ultimate Traffic, FS Genesis land mesh/class, Ground Environment Pro. The problem could possibly be your memory setting within your BIOS. On my motherboard if my memory selection is set to Auto in my BIOS...it will actually drop my memory clock speed down to 533 MHZ...instead of it's operating speed of 667 MHZ...significant difference in FS9. Excessive programs running in the background will have a damper on your system. You can look at your msconfig file (Start menu, run, msconfig), and determine what programs you want to run when your system starts up. Or you can shut down programs within your task manager while your running FS9, and then log off, log back on, or reboot your system when finished flying. Check you system configuration in the Control Panel, and make sure you have nothing with an asterisk, or question mark. Check Dell's website for other drivers you may need. One more thing...let Windows handle the Virtual memory (system managed size). J.R.

[davegriff 0]

I'll go along with the 2Gb mem as ok too. Its all I have and haven't yet seen FS use it to the full under xp32; nor do I suffer bsod's or oom'sDave

[Guest yyz_727]

Larry,A couple of trouble shooting tips that may help:Check task manager to see what is running on your computer and how much CPU and memory is being by used [turn off as many non-essential programs / utilities as you can]A couple of great freeware programs that will improve / clean-up your machine [these can be found at Download.com] [run these once a week] CC Cleaner FreeRam Auslogics DefragHope This Help!Cheers from Toronto

[davegriff 0]

Further thought re my reply in #8 and the suggestion to what flyforever was referring to leads me to think he was actually referring to the Windows last access timestamping. This can possibly slow file accessing.Try stopping it and see if FS runs any better. This I think only works in XP and Vista.To turn off time-stamping go to Start/run and enter "fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1" (without the quotes)To turn time-stamping back on enter "fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 0" (without the quotes)Fsutil is intended for system administrators so will require administrative privileges (so I suggest you dont run any other commands through it unless you're sure what you're doing)Dave

[pgaudet 0]

Larry:First of all defrag your hard drive if you haven't already.Also since you are using nvidia video card - use nhancer if not already - how to set it up can be found in the forum here and on the other flight sim sites.Finally try these changes to your FS9.CFG file.MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=42000 - the default value of over 90000 is way to high - as they human eye can't see that far nor should you try to in FS9. Plus the reduction will give a better 'haze' in the sim as to hide some of those jagged texture blocks you can see when flying high.TEXTURE_BLDG=3TEXTURE_GND=5UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=30TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=200 <--- try itTextureMaxLoad=10 <----- this is a new line and goes right under the TEXTURE_BANDWITH_MULT entryTERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=4TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=4.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=3.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1Mode=800 X 600 X 32 <---- you have this under the heading of:[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA.........]it should be the same resolution as your machine is set to (i.e if your desktop is running at 1650 X 1024 then set it the same in FS9.CFG).A line reading Trilinear=1 should only be under this heading too.Try those to start and let me know how things go for you.Remember to backup your FS9.CFG file before making the changes.Thanks.Paul.

[Dirk98 354]

Larry:First of all defrag your hard drive if you haven't already.Also since you are using nvidia video card - use nhancer if not already - how to set it up can be found in the forum here and on the other flight sim sites.Finally try these changes to your FS9.CFG file.MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=42000 - the default value of over 90000 is way to high - as they human eye can't see that far nor should you try to in FS9. Plus the reduction will give a better 'haze' in the sim as to hide some of those jagged texture blocks you can see when flying high.TEXTURE_BLDG=3TEXTURE_GND=5UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=30TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=200 <--- try itTextureMaxLoad=10 <----- this is a new line and goes right under the TEXTURE_BANDWITH_MULT entry

Paul, what would you recommend for the last 2 lines (TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH and TextureMaxLoad=) on a stronger system like Core2 E8600 @4.27Ghz + gtx580?Thanks,Dirk.

[davegriff 0]

>> the default value of over 90000 is way to high - as they human eye can't see that far <<LOL :( A man went to his optician and said "I think I need glasses, I'm short-sighted"The optician took him outside and said "What's that up there?""The sun" he replied."Well just how far do you want to see?"Dave

[davegriff 0]

dirk98Remember framerates must be set limited to use the use the TextureMaxLoad setting.See here for explanation: http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/2005/11/the_stutters.shtmlDave

[Dirk98 354]

Also, what are:TEXTURE_BLDG=TEXTURE_GND= I have them both at 1.Thanks,Dirk.

dirk98Remember framerates must be set limited to use the use the TextureMaxLoad setting.See here for explanation: http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/2005/11/the_stutters.shtmlDave

Dave, I have them limited at 30. I'm reading that blog now, trying to figure out what is the best TextureMaxLoad setting for my hardware.Thanks,Dirk.

[pgaudet 0]

Paul, what would you recommend for the last 2 lines (TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH and TextureMaxLoad=) on a stronger system like Core2 E8600 @4.27Ghz + gtx580?Thanks,Dirk.

Dirk:With your rig I would try 400 for TEXTURE_BANDWITH_MULT and you could leave TextureMaxLoad=10 as is. You could try bumping it up a little to see if it makes a difference but I thought the limit was 10 but I could be wrong.Also with your rig you could set the following entries to the following values:TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=4You could try 9.900000 for the first 2 above and see if you can notice a differenceAs far as TEXTURE_BLDG and TEXTURE_GND goes I believe they give a bit more power to displaying the buildings and ground textures. I have mine at 3 and 5 respectively and not he default 1.Give em a try and I'd like to hear how you get along with them and if you see any vast improvement over what you are getting now.Thanks.Paul.

[Dirk98 354]

Dirk:With your rig I would try 400 for TEXTURE_BANDWITH_MULT and you could leave TextureMaxLoad=10 as is. You could try bumping it up a little to see if it makes a difference but I thought the limit was 10 but I could be wrong.Also with your rig you could set the following entries to the following values:TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=4You could try 9.900000 for the first 2 above and see if you can notice a differenceAs far as TEXTURE_BLDG and TEXTURE_GND goes I believe they give a bit more power to displaying the buildings and ground textures. I have mine at 3 and 5 respectively and not he default 1.Give em a try and I'd like to hear how you get along with them and if you see any vast improvement over what you are getting now.Thanks.Paul.

Paul, I'll check this out. I try out different settings every once in a while just out of curiosity. Sometimes it's placebo, sometimes I think I see an improvement, and more often I can't see any difference.Thanks,Dirk.

[MarkRey 16]

FWIW - once had similar issues - reinstalling Directx cured it.

[LarryF 0]

Thanx Outlaw -- Yours system sounds quite similar to what I have now. I bumped my memory up to 4 gig of RAM, Windows XP reports it as 3.25 gig. I guess that because my Nvidia 8500GT graphics card has 1 gig on board. I'm still getting a jumpy movement and stuttering sound when I change views.I will check my BIOS settings and other graphics settings.Larry

Just to let ya know...2GB of memory is fine for running FS9. I'm Running a 3 GHZ Pentium D/Nvidia 9500 GT (1 GB of memory), 1920x1080x32 resolution with everything maxed out (except for mip map quality - 6) , and getting roughly 35 FPS (average). Have the following addons: Ultimate Terrain, FS Water, Ultimate Traffic, FS Genesis land mesh/class, Ground Environment Pro. The problem could possibly be your memory setting within your BIOS. On my motherboard if my memory selection is set to Auto in my BIOS...it will actually drop my memory clock speed down to 533 MHZ...instead of it's operating speed of 667 MHZ...significant difference in FS9. Excessive programs running in the background will have a damper on your system. You can look at your msconfig file (Start menu, run, msconfig), and determine what programs you want to run when your system starts up. Or you can shut down programs within your task manager while your running FS9, and then log off, log back on, or reboot your system when finished flying. Check you system configuration in the Control Panel, and make sure you have nothing with an asterisk, or question mark. Check Dell's website for other drivers you may need. One more thing...let Windows handle the Virtual memory (system managed size). J.R.

[LarryF 0]

Nhancer isn't compatible with the 8500GT graphics card, according to NVidia. Every site I go to to download it, I get error message ... Access denied.

Larry:First of all defrag your hard drive if you haven't already.Also since you are using nvidia video card - use nhancer if not already - how to set it up can be found in the forum here and on the other flight sim sites.Finally try these changes to your FS9.CFG file.MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=42000 - the default value of over 90000 is way to high - as they human eye can't see that far nor should you try to in FS9. Plus the reduction will give a better 'haze' in the sim as to hide some of those jagged texture blocks you can see when flying high.TEXTURE_BLDG=3TEXTURE_GND=5UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=30TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=200 <--- try itTextureMaxLoad=10 <----- this is a new line and goes right under the TEXTURE_BANDWITH_MULT entryTERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=4TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=4.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=3.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1Mode=800 X 600 X 32 <---- you have this under the heading of:[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA.........]it should be the same resolution as your machine is set to (i.e if your desktop is running at 1650 X 1024 then set it the same in FS9.CFG).A line reading Trilinear=1 should only be under this heading too.Try those to start and let me know how things go for you.Remember to backup your FS9.CFG file before making the changes.Thanks.Paul.

I give up!!! I increased memory. Re-installed all the drivers for Nvidia, Dell sound chip, re-instated all the default aircraft. It just will not work the same as it did before the hard drive change.Thanks for trying.FS2004 - retired.

[outlaw2001it 0]

On the memory issue...Windows XP home edition (32 bit) can only recognize up to 3.5 GB of memory because of the architecture. Right now the problem seems to be hardware (new drive, data cable, something not connected properly), but can't say for sure. If you replaced the hard drive...maybe you bumped something in the case, and didn't realize it. Go back into the case, and check to see that everything is connected properly. Something that may look connected but only is partially connected could have an effect on the system. If everything looks good, try reinstalling FS9 (no addon's), and see what happens. Good Luck!!!