I've got a problem, recently. I switched my AI Traffic over from RetroAI Traffic (what I normally fly with) to modern just for a change of pace. I use GAITraffic 3.03 (BTW, does anyone know what happened to them?). Well, when I loaded the sim up at FSDT KJFK, FPS was, get this, 5 FPS. Five. Unacceptable Slideshow.

So, I went on a quest, freeing up over 100 GB of hard drive space, reinstalling the traffic, making sure that the NVIDIA Card I have was running the program, this that and the other, and I managed to get my FPS to a steady 12, but I used to be able to run all the same settings with a solid 30 FPS limited. What's happened? If I kill the AI Traffic, FPS soars to 30 without any fluctuation, so something must've changed in my AI...

Specs are under my username.

 

 

What's happened? If I kill the AI Traffic, FPS soars to 30 without any fluctuation, so something must've changed in my AI...

 

Here are a couple of thoughts Chris. First and most importantly ( I think ), are the textures in your new AI set up all in the correct format and without any missing alpha channels? AI using textures that are not in one of the native FS9 formats hurt performance and any texture that even though it is in the correct format yet has a missing alpha can really hurt. Please, if you have not, check out the Pinned topic at the top of the FS9 forum. You didn't say what AI models were being used or in what numbers. The age of the models makes some difference as newer seems to be somewhat more efficient. At least in most cases but not always and usually look better, again not always. Last, if the flight plans ( the total of all installed ) you are using has a very large number of aircraft then in and around a forty nm radius performance will take a hit until the traffic is sorted out in about ten to fifteen minutes after you start a flight.

I hope this helps some.

 

Regards,

Mel

I haven't checked my textures yet...good idea! Though personally I don't believe it would cause such a drastic drop in performance, I'll have a look. I use a lot of newer type models (later developed AIA, FAIB, UTT, etc.) when I can. I know having a lot of traffic at other airports nearby can cause issue, but it's never been an issue before, even on older laptops.

 

 

Though personally I don't believe it would cause such a drastic drop in performance, I'll have a look.

 

Yes it can make a big difference as suggested by the large increase in performance when the AI is switched off.

 

I started with the AI because of your comment about good performance with the AI off. With your PC specifications I can't really suspect much else. Have you made FS9 large address aware to take advantage of the extra RAM? If not, it would help balance the larger 2Gb GPU capabilities and may help.

 

Regards,

Mel

 

Have you made FS9 large address aware to take advantage of the extra RAM? If not, it would help balance the larger 2Gb GPU capabilities and may help.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Are you asking me if I have alloted extra RAM to the program? I tried this once but it led to excessive crashes, so I don't really want to try it again.

 

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Are you asking me if I have alloted extra RAM to the program? I tried this once but it led to excessive crashes, so I don't really want to try it again.

 

Making FS9 Large Address Aware is a modification to the FS9 executable (fairly simple and easy) that allows the program to use more RAM that the program was originally designed for. To do this you need a simple program called "CFF Explorer" ( google that) and to search here at AVSIM for "large address aware" for the easy to follow instructions. With your 64 bit and 8Gb of RAM it can only help and could not hurt at all. If you are interested and can't find the instructions I will be happy to PM you with a step by step after you get the CFF Explorer program. BTW it only takes a couple of minutes.

 

Mel

Chris.

 

Mel's advice is the best you will get all year!  Don't hesitate.

 

Your processor apparently running at just 2.4 is a bit of a worry though.  I know you stated you were getting 30fps but all you need is one rogue (missing) texture on one AI aircraft for a loop to be created which will kill your frames.

 

A program, Process Monitor (ProcMon), may be helpful in this regard.  It is not as simple to use as CFF Explorer however.