Hi all. I'm right in the middle of trying to tweak FSX to run fairly smoothly (only a new convert to the application). I've tried most of techniques on this forum I think (Word Not Allowed, Venetubo, NickN) and they have helped but I haven't been able to get a smooth flight yet.

Before I continue I thought I'd get the advice of you good people on my hardware setup to see if it's worthwhile pursuing tweaking further or if I have hardware limitations.

To start with I will say that my PC isn't an FSX dedicated machine, I run it for other games and non-gaming things as well as FSX, so I am after a compromise of performance and usability for other things.

 

So my PC is as follows:

Windows 7 64bit

i7 2600 quad core at 3.4Ghz

8G DDR3 RAM

ASUS GTX560Ti

FSX installed on non-system drive (1TB) non-SSD

 

Not the most stellar of machines but it runs OK at the moment - I get stutters but I could live with it if I had to. FPS without limiters range from over 100 down to 19 at times. Locking at 30FPS helps but doesn't resolve the stuttering. There's a few more things I can try but I don't really want to waste my time if my hardware is limiting me. Especially as I see most run CPU's OCed to 4Ghz and up.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Cheers.

Locking at 30FPS helps but doesn't resolve the stuttering. There's a few more things I can try but I don't really want to waste my time if my hardware is limiting me.

Ok, first of all, you are by no means on bad hardware. But I have 5 quick questions for you:

1. Do you use the 1/2 v-sync tweak together with locking to 30FPS within FSX?

2. What 1TB HDD do you use for FSX?

3. What is your system drive?

4. Is your 2600 CPU the non "K" version?

5. What mobo/chipset do you have? Do you have a Dell computer or similar that won't let you change much in the BIOS?

Hi SAAB340.

1. I've tried a lot of variations of 1/2 vsync, full vsync, no vsync, all with and without both nvidia inspector and internal limiters.

2. It's a 2TB SATA HDD partitioned into c: and d:. It runs at 5400RPM so not top of the line.

3. c: is the primary system partition and FSX runs on the d: partition.

4. System properties lists the CPU as Intel® Core i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.40GHz, so I guess not.

5. PC is an Acer Aspire M3970. Not sure what the mobo/chipset is but I can change things in the BIOS I believe. I'd rather not if I can get away with it. I'm assuming you will advise to turn hyperthreading off but unless this has no effect on other more modern games then I'd rather not turn it off.

 

I've done the research into what tweaks are needed for FSX and there are a few different opinions it seems. I'm prepared to tinker some more but I don't want to waste my time if it won't do any good with the hardware I've got. I've spent a lot of time tweaking already with limited success and I'm keen to get flying proper.

 

Cheers.

Ok. The stutters are caused by your hardware. To be more specific, it's your HDD that is causing the stutters. FSX is still sharing the same physical HDD as the OS even thou they are at separate partitions. And that HDD is a 5400rpm drive. That's the worst setup for stutters within FSX. For stutters it's best to keep FSX and the OS on two separate drives unless you use SSD. And neither of them is allowed to be a slow response time 5400rpm drive I have done extensive reaserch in the area and you can read about it here if you are interested in more details.

 

The chipset in the Acer Aspire M3970 is unfortunatly a H67 that doesn't permit any overclocking. Even thou you don't have the unlocked "K" CPU all SandyBridge CPUs still permit 4 bins (400Mhz) overclocking for each turbo multiplier but only on chipsets that support overclocking. (That's how I understand it. Can someone please correct me if I'm wrong saying that the H67 chipest doesn't support this "limited" overclocking either)

 

I'm actually frequently using HyperThreading as an advantage for FSX so I'm not going to tell you to turn it off. But you do require to configure the AffinityMask accordingly. Use either AM=84 or 249. (249 will yield you less FPS but faster loadtimes and better texture loading, but also a higher risk of getting something else on the same physical core as the main thread)

 

Just want to check that it's when you can maintain the locked 30FPS and at the same time use 1/2 rate v-sync that you still get stutters? This should be butter smooth if you use good storage. You'll still get stutters when you can't maintain the locked value. If you can't maintain 30FPS you'll have to lower the sliders or live with the stutters. But your slow HDD is unfortunatly capable of giving you hard enough stutters so they are noticible through the 1/2 rate v-sync tweak.

Thanks SAAB340. That's just the info I was after. I had a suspicion something in my hardware meant I'd never get a smooth flight no matter how much I tweaked things.

I'll live with the stutters for now until I can spring for a new hard drive.

Much appreciated.

SAAB,

 

Not to dilute your advice or confuse the issue here, but I've yet to see stuttering caused by the HDD. Ever. Yes, that hard drive is very limiting with load times and terrain texture clarity in higher speed aircraft -- But I've been able to help most members with stutters by suggesting lower AA settings or slightly lower autogen settings. Specifically if their using high supersampling settings.

The first thing I would do is get FSX onto its own drive, no need to go for SSD or anything, just a reasonable sized drive separate from your O.S - Any SATA will be fine, SATA 3 or 6, 7200 RPM is the standard these days 5400 is a bit slow but I doubt you would see a problem once you get FSX onto its own dedicated drive.