Why lock frame rates in FSX?

[lukehall 10]

Hi,

 

I have read much about it and have tried a huge number of tweaks and settings for my FSX setup, including locking the frame rate. On average, I see about 25 in the NGX on the ground at Gatwick with my frame rate set to unlimited. If I configure a locked frame rate at say 30 fps, I see about a 5 fps drop on the ground!

 

Therefore, it's not getting up to 30 but instead reducing my rates lower. I don't undrstand!

 

It's probably also worth saying that whatever I try tweaking wise, I still get the very best results if i leave everything largely untouched :-)

 

Best wishes,

[sidh 29]

I see drop WHEN I lock frame rates.. Setting it unlimited it's much higher FPS!

[aceridgey 330]

I lock my fps as given advice from Word Not Allowed.

 

Yes physical FSX fps will be lower. But with the vsync tweak set to half in nvidia inspector coupled with the internal fps limiter when I am on 30fps there is no better smoothness you can get for FSX.

 

By locking the fps you are giving the simulator a little breathing space and you wont get stutters in the external models where fps jumps from 100+ to 5fps.

 

At this moment in time (I am open to debate and will follow this with interest) I would recommend locking fps and putting the vsync to 1/2 in nvidia inspector

 

Alex

[sgreen91 182]

If I'm not mistaken the reason for locking the frames in FSX to 30 is take advantage of vsync in Nvidia Inspector.  This will give you a very smooth experience in the sim but as you see it will also kill your framerate at addon airports (not so much default).   I had a choice of disabling all addon airports due to frames so I could have smoothness or have the occasional jitter at unlimited.

 

At KPHX by Flightbeam with FPS locked at 30 my frames would be 17-20.  Unlimited and I'm 25-30 so I also stick with unlimited.

[lodestar 186]

It's like Alex said above. You can get better fps, better average fps, but there is no better smoothness you can get.

 

Two things - 1.For smoothnest you need steady FPS. 2.Everything above 30fps is a waste of resources, they can be used for something else.

Now, if your fps goes above and below 30fps, that's not steady at all. It's more steady if goes only below, right? With good and tuned system + properly tuned FSX you should be able to keep fps at 30, 90% of time. So, it will not go too much below 30. My average fps(in fsuips log)is allways arround 27-28 or higher. That is realy smooth.

An additional important thing is that you need locked fps if you want bufferpools=0 tweak to work.

I don't care about higher fps, if i get spikes from 30 to 50 or higher, i will get higher average fps, but i will get stutters too, slower scenery loading, and BF=0 will not work for me(that means worse performance). More then enough arguments for me 

[lukehall 10]

Interesting stuff - thanks for your answers.

 

It's too tempting to assume that high FPS equals best simming. Especially when we spend more time tweaking than enjoying the sim!

[Groovin_DC-10 51]

I get better results setting it to unlimited within FSX and locking it at 30 in Inspector with 1/2 refresh rate.

[Q_flyer 766]

Luke, you'll get so many differing technical expanations here :smile:  

 

The truth is, every user should experiment and use what works best for them.

 

I think that locking frame rates is best where an add-on is giving high frame rates, above the potential lock value.    Eg... let's say a frame rate friendly add-on that is ranging in it's FPS between 30 and 60.       Locking will prevent the variation and potentially give a smoother experience. It will also prevent the processor from performing at the higher numbers (eg 60 FPS in that example) which you could argue stops unnecessary processor workload;   so you could see the benefit of that in other areas (eg AI traffic or weather etc).

 

But for add-ons where the frame rate is performing generally below 30 FPS, locking at 30 FPS can sometimes result in worse performance in my experience.

 

My sweet spot was running Unlimited in FSX, but using an external limiter (anti-lag in my case) to limit frames.  But for others, that is not the best way.

 

It's just common sense I know, but all users should experiment between locked (FSX), unlocked, and unlocked (locked externally) and use whichever gives them the best results.

[ARCO 245]

Interesting discussion indeed. I agree with the suggestion that the FSX limiter on 30 does make FSX much smoother, I did experience simming with and without and could see a difference pleading in favour of using the FSX limiter. One important question though regarding the settings in Inspector.

 

With the latest NVidia driver (320.49) and version of NVidia Inspector (1.9.7.2) for my NVidia GTX 680 2GB, I do not find 1/2 refresh rate in VSync but a list of other alternatives such as 

• Flipinterval 2
• Flipinterval 3
• Flipinterval 4
• Forceon
• Forceoff
• Passive

What would you then select as the equivalent of 1/2 refresh? I selected Flipinterval 2 (whatever that stands for!...) .

 

Thanks for your advice. 

[sidh 29]

The external limiters uses d3d9.dll .. So we cannot use it with ENB, SweetFX  or FXAA . That's the drawback!

[masneoquil 66]

The external limiters uses d3d9.dll .. So we cannot use it with ENB, SweetFX  or FXAA . That's the drawback!

Use the FPS limiter from within NVidia Inspector.

Then you can use SweetFX at least.

I'm using it!  B)

[Adam T Lutley 12]

I've employed most of Word Not Allowed's tweaks and then experimented with settings and tweaks to get the most out of my setup. I'm have a higher end system running at 4.5 Ghz but its not 5 Ghz with a NVIDIA Titan. I found the VSync tweak to work great until I'm in a scenario where I need every bit of FPS I can get. when I'm at FlyTampa's KMDW with REX generated T storms, for example, taking a 5 FPS hit when you're already in the high teens is not acceptable to me. In short, there is no one size fits all setting and tweak profile that works for every one. Some are no brainers, such as the HIGHMEMFIX tweak. Others require some try it and see implementation. Regards

[Ralgh 43]

With my old computer I just ran it at unlimited and everything was fine. I built a new one with a 4.4ghz overlock and discovered when running the MD-11 the FPS showed very high like 80 FPS but the video was very notchy. I set the FSX frame limiter to 30 and it dropped to about 10 FPS. The NGX worked fine without the limiter but also dropped with it. Next it tried a third party limiter (anti lag I think it is) set to 30 FPS and now everything works great and hold right around 30 FPS. Based on my experience I'd agree with what's been said about try the different options and see what works best for you.

[jabloomf1230 2,452]

If you don't see screen "tearing" don't enable vsync either in the cfg file or in NI. If you don't get stuttering, don't lock the refresh rate either.

[ArjenVdv 190]

I lock my fps as given advice from Word Not Allowed.

 

Yes physical FSX fps will be lower. But with the vsync tweak set to half in nvidia inspector coupled with the internal fps limiter when I am on 30fps there is no better smoothness you can get for FSX.

 

By locking the fps you are giving the simulator a little breathing space and you wont get stutters in the external models where fps jumps from 100+ to 5fps.

 

At this moment in time (I am open to debate and will follow this with interest) I would recommend locking fps and putting the vsync to 1/2 in nvidia inspector

 

Alex

+1 I concur.

 

However in PMDG planes you can get this tweak to work without an FPS limiter! Just disable it in FSX and go into your PMDG options menu and set displays refresh rate to 60. Don't ask me why, but it works, you'll have the same smoothness as before only now you won't have a loss of framerates. Try putting it to 15 or 30 and you'll see choppyness again. 

I've employed most of Word Not Allowed's tweaks and then experimented with settings and tweaks to get the most out of my setup. I'm have a higher end system running at 4.5 Ghz but its not 5 Ghz with a NVIDIA Titan. I found the VSync tweak to work great until I'm in a scenario where I need every bit of FPS I can get. when I'm at FlyTampa's KMDW with REX generated T storms, for example, taking a 5 FPS hit when you're already in the high teens is not acceptable to me. In short, there is no one size fits all setting and tweak profile that works for every one. Some are no brainers, such as the HIGHMEMFIX tweak. Others require some try it and see implementation. Regards

Yeah that's the downside of this tweak. As soon as it starts struggling to maintain 30 FPS you'll get microstuttering. Luckily though I can maintain 30 FPS in 98% of the flight. Only when I get on the ground with bad weather and IVAO online traffic my FPS drops to like 25 and it's not too nice to look at but I guess there's nothing else I can do except for upgrading, which in this case can make all the difference even if you gain 2 FPS.