FSX Zero Bufferpools Tweak - System Requirements?

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Referring here to Bojote's topic . . . .

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/275328-bufferpools-poolsize0-the-holy-grail-of-fsx-performance

 

Jack's Guide to the tweak on MYCOCKPIT.ORG . . .

 

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20310

 

and many other places around the web, the "Zero Bufferpools" tweak for FSX is practically never mentioned alongside its own hardware and software requirements.

 

For example, the utility nHancer is no good with nVidia drivers above version 256. I believe that makes nHancer useless with the brand new nVidia cards. But is nHancer absolutely ESSENTIAL for the "Zero Bufferpools" tweak?  (If it is, the tweak is as good as dead now, no?)

Similarly, the software UIAUTOMATIONCORE.DLL is recommended only for Windows 7 (64). Will the DLL fail under an XP environment? Is, therefore, a Windows 7 (64) operating system absolutely essential for the "Zero Bufferpools" tweak?

Thanks!
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[JimmiG 244]

The tweak affects the core FSX rendering engine, so it's not dependent on drivers or operating system. From what I understand, the main requirement is that you have some GPU power to spare. Best way to find out if it works for you is to try it. Most tweaks are like that, not all will be ideal for your particular system.

 

Replacing the uiautomationcore.dll file from Windows7 with the one from Vista is done because FSX is not 100% compatible with Windows 7 and will crash occasionally. It's not a tweak, but a fix.

[ZKOKQ 984]

 

 

For example, the utility nHancer is no good with nVidia drivers above version 256.

And further to what Jimmy posted, nHancer has been replaced long ago by Nvidia Inspector.

[martin-w 3,234]

nHancer and Nvidia Inspector are not relevent in terms of BP=0.

 

The requirement is that your graphics card has 1 gig memory or greater.

 

Worked great for me with my GTX 580 and great with my 4 GB GTX 770. Please note though, for me, frame rate increase is only noticed in a demanding weather scenario. So test in heavy weather.

[Paul J 349]

Here's some more info on BP, rss, and how to arrive at a size which will work on your system.

 

First, though - "zero bufferpools" is a misnomer.

 

"UsePools=0" means FSX is not to control the size, number or function of the object data buffers - it allows the GPU itself to do this - creating what buffers are needed and what size they are.

 

"UsePools=1" is used when you want FSX to control the size, manner and function of the buffers.

 

There must be buffers!

 

All the Best,

 

pj

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

Pj, what setting do you use?

[Paul J 349]

"0" because the 780 can take all that the proc can push, Ian.

 

When I had the 580 in DX9, I could use "0", too, but not in DX10: I had to go to "1" with a slightly larger buffersize and an RT of 512k. As soon as the 780 went in, I did a few more circuits at Vancouver and it was very obvious that "0" would work.

How well the card (and the system - fps-wise) will respond depends upon the amount of ram which the card has, and in some degree - it's clock speed; but its memory interface width and memory bandwidth - here for the 680 and here for the 780 are the two figures which count (for FSX). 

 

A good read is Steve's initial experiments (using DX9) on his blogsite.

[simmerhead 885]

I run my FSX at very high settings [DX9] and UsePools=0 did not go well on my system that runs a GTX580.

 

I run this setup instead:

 

[bUFFERPOOLS]
UsePools=1
Poolsize=8388608
RejectThreshold=126976

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

I see I see. So what settings would one recommend for the gtx770 4gb?

In dx10 I may add.

[Paul J 349]

It all depends on your system's "balance", Ian, but a "0" would probably work.

You have to put it in and then test.

Once you've got some reliable, repeatable test data, the next to test would be a "1", with an RT of 65536 (64k), then 131072 (128k), then 262144, etc.. The 770 is no slouch, so I would expect a "0" or a "1" with a very low RT.

 

(I would suggest, too, that you put your system's specs (including overclock) into your Profile, so that it appears under your Avatar pic, left. It makes it easier to give a better guess for any particular setting!)   :lol:

 

Have fun!

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

Thanks for all the help so far. I'm almost there, time constraints providing.... I have one final issue, my sound is crackling and popping and causing stutters! This is with both my usb headset and my onboard sound card? Any ideas of things I could change?

[Paul J 349]

Either get the latest drivers or a dedicated sound card. Crackling isn't good. It can even be a hardware failure happening. You need to troubleshoot this one.

[Pe11e 812]

I had crackling and popping  in sound that caoused lot of stutters. I have Creative Audigy 2 and GTX 560 OC. I got rid of the crackling and popping with these BP entries:

 

[bUFFERPOOLS]
UsePools=1
RejectThreshold=64000

 

The higher RT value is (128k, 256k, or more) the worse DPC latency is, and I have more crackling and stutters. Last night I was flying my A2A C172 around Zurich for an hour, and on approach to FlyLogic Birrfield, the crackling and popping appeared again, checked the DPC latency, it was in red all over again. I will try UsePools=0, or some other values, but this FSX behaviour is driving me crazy. I have this high DPC latency problem ONLY in FSX, tested.

[rss 0]

Thanks, you guys.  You are humble and lovable!  :-)

[jayfresh 0]

what setting is good then for a evga gtx 660 non ti sc signature 2