Affinity Mask setting for i7-3770k help

[captain420 3,099]

I need help on setting the proper affinity mask in my fsx.cfg. I'm not sure if I have hyperthreading on or off but under the CPU-Z app it says Core: 4 and Threads: 8. So I'm assuming I have hyperthreading enabled?

 

If so what should my affinity mask be set to?

[hs118 707]

Although it can be done with scripting, would recommend FSXAssist for this. Setting affinity on just FSX is likely to degrade performance. Proabably going to start a brouha with this but here we go....

 

http://uchisworld.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/more-like-rocket-surgery/

[ShawnG 1,823]

my own opinion?  delete the affinity mask tweak.  it can make flights a little smoother, but at a cost of losing a texture core.  I'm sure someone will be along to give you the "official" answer,  but that's my advice.

[martin-w 3,234]

For FSX disable HT and set Affinity Mask to 14.

 

[JOBSCHEDULER]

AffinityMask=14

 

HT does not benefit FSX and you will see a 10 degree reduction in CPU temp with it off.

 

It's up to you to then test, to decide for yourself if AF 14 offers any benefit or not.

[captain420 3,099]

K I'll leave it off, since it has been off and I haven't any problems with it that way. 

[OldMaintChief 7]

With no AM entry, all main cores are used, and no HT cores, with HT on or off (same ae AM=15). The purpose of the tweek is to tell FSX to ignore core 0 and move to core 1 and put the threads on cores 2 and 3 (AM=14). If HT is on, AM=254 will cause FSX to also use the 4 HT virtual cores. This setting will cause the cpu temp to rise. Mine goes from 62C too 75C. The tweek should make FSX smoother without affecting fps very much.

Dave

[JimmiG 244]

I haven't really found any benefit from forcing the sim to use the HT cores. In theory, there might be a small increase in terrain compositing performance, but the sim doesn't seem to benefit from having more than 4 cores available.

 

Personally I just leave the line out altogether. I don't notice any FPS improvement from disabling core #0, but terrain compositing performance goes down slightly.

[lodestar 186]

martin-w gived you the best advice. 

 

If you don't need HT, just disable it and set AM to 14. With HT on, affinity mask should be 84.

You should test it, i have fps locked at 30 and i'm getting at least 6-7 more fps with affinity mask 14(28-29fps vs 21-22 without AM), and fsx is smoother. This happens in NGX VC on Aerosoft EDDT + REX and AS2012. 

And this is important for me, i don't care if theoretically some scenery is not loaded fast in backround... Just test it.

[Red Tails 2]

Firstly I respect everyone's opinion, which I'm sure is based on their own experience.  This is mine, I have the same CPU as Captain420 with HT enabled, and run an Affinity Mask of 80. This is because HT is good outside of FSX and I don't want to go into the bios every minute to enable/disable it. AM 80 will use physical cores 3 & 4 and ignore the virtual ones, leaving 1 & 2 free for the OS and running programs, weather etc. 

 

Extensive testing and benchmarking on my PC showed a marked improvement with HT on and AM80. For me,FSX ran smoother and faster, the case was opposite with no AM or AM 84. FSX loads faster, add-ons launch quickly whilst FSX is loading. Core temps are 47-54c, no heating problems but I do have the vast Coolermaster Cosmos and Corsair H80i.  

 

I bought FSX in 2006, and I've read so many articles, tried so many tweaks, upgraded so many times - one thing I've leanrt for sure is - what works for me may not work for you and vice versa, even with similar or identical specs.  

 

Give it a try, you've nothing to lose and possibly much to gain.

[DannyH73 16]

I have a great utility that shows me the core usage in real time when running FSX in full screen. I've found that after testing on my rig (using a 6 core watercooled i7-980x) I found that setting affinitymask to use all the physical cores provides me with the best use for my setup.This avoids thread collisions which led to stutters on my system.

 

Note I say "my" system. I still think everyone needs to test and see what works best for them.

 

New chipset architectures has meant what once was law might no longer be relevant, so when the parts for my new system arrive later this week I'll be testing all over again to see what works best.

[fluffyflops 1,848]

For FSX disable HT and set Affinity Mask to 14.

 

[JOBSCHEDULER]

AffinityMask=14

 

HT does not benefit FSX and you will see a 10 degree reduction in CPU temp with it off.

 

It's up to you to then test, to decide for yourself if AF 14 offers any benefit or not.

I have a 3770k and an Asus board.

 

Turned off the hypertheard option in the bios and added the above to my fsx.cog

 

Have done 2 test flights today in both dx 10 off and also on

 

I got noticeably better performance with both so Martin thank you very much. I owe you a pint

[martin-w 3,234]

Good news.

 

:smile:

[MarkSC 122]

I did some benchmarking using FRAPS on my i3570k overclocked to 4.4 Ghz and using no other tweaks except highmemfix and found that affinitymask at 14 yielded a 2 fps average increase. That is with windows 8. I expected no increase at all so I was mildly surprised. I tested with three flights and all averaged 2 fps higher. This was with frame rate locked at 30 and flying north from KSEA. Based on that,it's hardly an essential tweak, but I've kept it active on my system.

[GodAtum 69]

Just edited my affinitymask=84 and went from 12fps to 50fps in the default cessa!

[JimmiG 244]

I did some benchmarking using FRAPS on my i3570k overclocked to 4.4 Ghz and using no other tweaks except highmemfix and found that affinitymask at 14 yielded a 2 fps average increase. That is with windows 8. I expected no increase at all so I was mildly surprised. I tested with three flights and all averaged 2 fps higher. This was with frame rate locked at 30 and flying north from KSEA. Based on that,it's hardly an essential tweak, but I've kept it active on my system.

 

There might be a tiny increase however you have one thread less for compositing the terrain which may cause blurries. Best way is to experiment and see what works best for you. For me, removing the affinitymask line altogether resulted in the best performance and quality.