Confused about Virtual Memory Size Recommendations - OOM Issues - What is the best size for the paging size?

[Joachim 6]

Interesing feedback, thanks!

[Joachim 6]

RAM and Virtual memory are not the same thing. 8GB of RAM is recommended, and default paging file - leave it to system managed. This if you have Windows 7 / 64bit which is also highly recommended and absolutelly the best for FSX.

 

To avoid OOM errors:

 

-  set Texture_Max_Load in fsx.CFG to maximum 2048, never above

 - REX clouds 1024, max 2048, DXT optimized

 - Microsoft patch for heap limitation applied: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947246

 - i use SceneryConfigEditor every time before i start FSX, to enable only scenery i need for my next flight http://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/files/V1.0/

Important is to disable all payware, especially photoscenery. I enable only 1-2 continents(2 for long haul)and 2-3 airports. 

- Virtal memory management should be system managed on windows 7 / 64bit(don't change default paging file like some people suggest)

 

Well I promised I would write some feedback and here it is; I have not had any OOM issues for a longer while now.  I am using MAX_TEXTURE_LOAD 2048 as my standard now and use the scenery config editor to enable only the scenery I need for a flight. This really seems to keep my VAS stable, while before it was going up and down. I monitor the VAS by using FSUIPC (see post on page 1)

 

It's amazing to see what difference disabling many sceneries has, I must have some scenery consuming a lot of memory, even when I am not flying there. While one would think these are not active, they are... as the article(s) describes. So I made groups for FSX Default scenery, FTX Essential, FTX Non-Essential, Add-on Scenery, etc. and the Scenery Editor tool really helps to easily disable/enable in one go.

[Don t moderate me this way 882]

Try with all scenery enabled. If it works with your graphics settings you can save those steps deactivating scenery before each flight. If it doesn't work think about trading a little more of your current settings for saving the scenery activating/deactivating hassle.

 

Just a suggestion, of course ...

[WebMaximus 372]

Well I promised I would write some feedback and here it is; I have not had any OOM issues for a longer while now.  I am using MAX_TEXTURE_LOAD 2048 as my standard now and use the scenery config editor to enable only the scenery I need for a flight. This really seems to keep my VAS stable, while before it was going up and down. I monitor the VAS by using FSUIPC (see post on page 1)

 

It's amazing to see what difference disabling many sceneries has, I must have some scenery consuming a lot of memory, even when I am not flying there. While one would think these are not active, they are... as the article(s) describes. So I made groups for FSX Default scenery, FTX Essential, FTX Non-Essential, Add-on Scenery, etc. and the Scenery Editor tool really helps to easily disable/enable in one go.

 

Great to hear you seemed to have got rid of those nasty OOM errors!

 

I'm a little bit puzzled though how come you see this huge improvement when I only had some 100 MB extra memory available after disabling all my scenery both FSX default as well as payware as I reported in post #45 above but guess it comes down to what kind of scenery you're using.

[megs8888 20]

How do you restore default paging file in Win7 64 Bit please.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[lodestar 186]

 

 

It's amazing to see what difference disabling many sceneries has, I must have some scenery consuming a lot of memory, even when I am not flying there

 

That's nice to hear!

 

 

 

I'm a little bit puzzled though how come you see this huge improvement when I only had some 100 MB extra memory available after disabling all my scenery both FSX default as well as payware as I reported in post #45 above but guess it comes down to what kind of scenery you're using

 

It's not that simple - yes, it depends what kind of scenery you're using, but it depends also how much time you spend over that sceneries, if you are panning arround etc... I did some tests with new 777 on this, i will start a new thread probably today - i think i have found some interesting facts, and some useful tips to spare some VAS. I need to test some more things before i post.

 

 

 

How do you restore default paging file in Win7 64 Bit please

 

Watch from 2:54min in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88KDezVlSH0

Just check option on the top - "Automatically manage paging file for all drives"

[megs8888 20]

Thank you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[WebMaximus 372]

 

 

It's not that simple - yes, it depends what kind of scenery you're using, but it depends also how much time you spend over that sceneries, if you are panning arround etc... I did some tests with new 777 on this, i will start a new thread probably today - i think i have found some interesting facts, and some useful tips to spare some VAS. I need to test some more things before i post.

 

Sounds interesting, looking forward to hear more about your findings!

[Joachim 6]

 

 

I did some tests with new 777 on this, i will start a new thread probably today - i think i have found some interesting facts, and some useful tips to spare some VAS. I need to test some more things before i post.

 

cool, please do! And let us know where you posted that.

 

@WebMaximus - strange right? Maybe I have one scenery that has poor management of the VAS? I would have to go through my sceneries one by one to see if it's one in particular. 

Try with all scenery enabled. If it works with your graphics settings you can save those steps deactivating scenery before each flight. If it doesn't work think about trading a little more of your current settings for saving the scenery activating/deactivating hassle.

 

Just a suggestion, of course ...

 

Maybe and thanks for your suggestions but I find it really easy using the Scenery Editor with groups to enable/disable sceneries. I'm bound to add more scenery as time goes on and it will only prevent issues and less memory usage.

[lodestar 186]

cool, please do! And let us know where you posted that.

 

Someone was faster than i was: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/419812-vas-usage-11-gb/#entry2787490

[Joachim 6]

thanks Zeljko will check it out

[BilboBaggins 82]

I enjoy NickN's rants, it's like those online videos about how you've been fooled all those years and if you only bought gold, stockpiled it in your closet and slept on the floor on a straw mat, you'd be happy and a millionaire in no-time!

 

I exaggerate, but a few brief thoughts of my own after decades of flight simulation experience:

 

- Despite my ongoing cynicism about MS, I generally feel most of the default Windows performance choices were made for reasons, so trying to "fix" them is usually urban legend.. I prefer as stock a setup as I can sustain.

- New add-ons definitely stress the overall FSX memory and drive storage environment.  It's your responsiblity to understand that and manage it.  It won't all fit at max at the same time.  Put the combo together that works for a particular flight/scenario/aircraft add-on/area of flying, stick with it, and then change it when you change focus.  That's the ultimate solution.

- Usually, no matter what the problem, you can get most things to work well enough.  Don't freak at the developer or go into deep diatribes over pseudo-knowledge of complex things (Nick's obsession at the moment seems to be converting .dds textures, fine......), be patient, work things out for yourself, usually the solution is simpler than you think.  And no one solution solves all problems.

- What worked last time in FSX won't work today.  Live with that.  Every day is a new day and FSX is always full of surprises.  You'll find a sweet spot and then blam! Something weird happens - Nvidia driver update madness, SimConnect corruption, .NET loses its mind, some dark hidden part of the FSX cache lingers in the dark waiting to chomp you, etc. etc. etc. -- the key here is not to go ape over it.  Learn the joy of problem-solving, and above all, don't point fingers.  No-one else knows your system better than you.  Sometimes a simple reinstall of FSX (done properly) is all it takes.  Sometimes, some sound/video/Windows/USB driver update drives the computer insane.  It's all part of the flow.

- Silly things are always happening.  Simpler is usually better.  If you get more complicated, have a fall-back plan so you can recover from your madness.

- FSX encourages OCD.  Have a beer, relax, you're here to have fun, not change the molecular structure of the universe.

 

p.s. I _like_ 4096 textures, sorry, call me an idiot; I see the difference and enjoy it! :B And if it bugs me, I can change the texture_max_load channel any time!

[JimmiG 244]

What I've found is that FSX (and P3D too) will not clear out scenery you've flown over from memory. It just keeps piling up until you pass the 4GB limit. Even if you fly out over the ocean for 2 hours, you will never get all your VAS back.

 

So for example, if you fly from OrbX Darrington to Monroe, to Harvey, to Fall City to Swanson, you *will* exhaust the VAS (unless you turn every single slider way down), because 4GB is not enough to keep *all* those airports in memory at once. However if you plan your flight so that it's e.g. Darrington to Harvey, save the flight and exit the sim for that $100 hamburger, reload the flight and fly to Swanson, it will work just fine.

 

I first started running into these OOMs when I upgraded my system. Previously, I stayed out of Seattle altogether because of the poor frame rate, and when I did fly there, my settings were lower so VAS was never a problem. I've spent a lot of time with FSUIPC monitoring VAS usage and I have managed to tweak it so that on a flight from Monroe to Swanson, I now have about 450MB of VAS at the end. Previously I would run out completely just as I entered the pattern at Swanson.

 

Short of disabling addons completely, there's no miracle cure. You'll be able to gain a few tens of MB's here and a few tens there until you manage to stay just below the limit. I found a set of 1024 clouds in REX that I really liked, which shaved of quite a few MB's vs the 4096/2048 clouds. I removed all AI traffic except OrbX GA and reduced AI traffic to 50%, ships and road traffic to 7%, disabled airport vehicles, disabled some of the static aircraft at each OrbX airport and replaced the 2048 apron textures from REX with 512 textures, reduced Cirrus clouds to 512 and few other small tweaks.

 

In the end, you simply have to accept that OOMs can happen. FSUIPC will play a warning sound when it's getting near the limit. At this point, having a key bound to Refresh Scenery can help. If that doesn't work and the sim crashes anyway, FSUIPC saves the flight once a minute by default. You'll be up and running again in a minute, with a fresh new 4GB pool of VAS. It's annoying, but tolerable.

[Joachim 6]

 

 

You'll be up and running again in a minute, with a fresh new 4GB pool of VAS. It's annoying, but tolerable.

 

haha... nicely put! The same can be said about a lot of things of FSX but it's still the best ;-)

 

 

p.s. I _like_ 4096 textures, sorry, call me an idiot; I see the difference and enjoy it! :B And if it bugs me, I can change the texture_max_load channel any time!

 

Interesting, yeah... I can understand why you would want to use such high textures but FSX was really designed for less because it standards to 1024. All the nice add-ons are pushing our FSX to the limits and over the limit. Hopefully Prepar3D might allow for more VAS usage in the future, don't know how VAS is handled now in Prepar3D.