Gradual FPS drop while just sitting on ground

[chad556 1]

My specs are to the left of this post under my profile picture. Needless to say I have pretty darn good PC. One that ran FSX with whatever I threw at it remarkably. P3D on the other hand is unusable for me right now. Here's the scenario: I load up P3d in legacy mode due to using FSinn for VATSIM. Before connecting any weather programs, or FSinn, I select my flight perimeters from the scenario screen. For this example I will load up in the iFly 737, but The problem happens with any plane, even default. I load up at the default PHNL airport in windowed mode and show a decent 30fps. Over the course of 15 minutes without touching anything in the sim or keyboard, the FPS gradually drops to around 5fps or below (yes I said 5 aka slide show) and stays there. I have tried pressing the alt key...no change. Switching to full screen and back...no change. Tuning vsyc on and off... no change. Pulling all sliders to the left in different increments... no change. Now depending on the aircraft, the final resting spot for the fps will vary, though each plane looses roughly 70% or more over 15 minutes while sitting on the ground.

 

Yesterday I departed PHNL despite the slide show 3fps to the runway, and oddly enough, the fps rose to about 15-20fps once I was about 1000 feet off the ground. its was definitely flyable and relatively smooth from that point, but even 20fps is lower than I expected. I didn't land due to time constraints, but I'm curious if anyone else is having a similar issue.

 

Any advice? 

[Dutch727 543]

I can verify this somewhat, although what I'm seeing isn't exactly what you are seeing.  My performance loss isn't as dramatic and follows a predictable pattern.  I suspect this is dependent on the environment your airplane is sitting in.

I have quite a modest system - 3.2Ghz dual-core Intel with a GT640 2GB card.  When I pop into my local medium-sized airport in a twin Cessna, I immediately see 34-35 FPS.  So nice!  (I have most of my sliders at the medium range, with all fancy features such as shadows off.)  Yet if I just sit there doing nothing, after about 4-5 mins there's a sudden plunge of framerates down to 20-25 range.  It stays there for a while and then a gradual sliiiiiide down to the 15-20 range where it stays.

 

Now 15-20 in P3D v2 is very flyable...but it's not as nice as 30-35 which is buttery smooth and delicious.

I wish I knew what to change to stop this deterioration.

Under FSX-DX10 at the same airport, same airplane, same weather, and equivalent medium settings all around I start out at 35-40 FPS and it pretty much stays there, and only deteriorates if I fly into an area of denser scenery or add lots of clouds -- although clouds don't have the impact in DX10 they did in DX9, and almost no impact in P3D.

 

All in all I'm happy, and once some bugs are fixed and maybe some performance improvements P3D looks like the future.  Right now performance is all FSX has going for it.  I have to stick to GA airplanes in P3D, whereas I can fly heavier iron in larger more dense places in FSX and keep out of that molasses feeling you get when the frame rates get towards single digits.

Although -- P3D seems to handle the denser autogen areas much more smoothly than FSX.  I get 15-18 FPS at KLGA in P3d, whereas it drops to 10-14 in FSX, everything else pretty much the same.   But outside the dense areas, FSX shines on my system, P3D still struggles.

Dutch

[chad556 1]

Thanks for chiming in, I was beginning to think I was the only person with this issue. Sounds very similar to what I experience. Oddly enough if I load up at the default Langley afb, the frames stay at a constant 60fps

[Dutch727 543]

I found it!  I don't know if this will help you, but I eliminated my problem.

 

It was the "level of detail radius".  On FSX I have this at medium because to expand it to high drops my FPS by about 10.  With FSX there's low-medium-high with medium being slider in the middle.  Which is where I had my P3D slider.  But on closer inspection...middle is "high" for P3D.  I dialed mine back to medium.

 

And lo!  My 30-35 FPS stays now.  Even when I fly around.  30-35 everywhere!  Finally P3D feels like a keeper.

Of course, I suffer from a medium LOD radius which means there's some scenery detail adjustment within my view range, but I have to live with this until I can upgrade my CPU.

Now FSX-DX10 and P3D-V2 have roughly the same settings and roughly the same performance.  Except, I admit, P3D looks simply better and more realistic, from the clouds to the no-pop autogen.  The only drawbacks for me now are the awful AA on the runways and the insane temps from the external Wx engines, and I trust 2.1 will fix these.

 

Patience and changing your settings one at time will find your culprit, I do believe.

 

Dutch

[DarkstarF16 72]

First, make sure that you definitely have aero enabled. Click start and type aero into the search box you should be presented with some options. Select the one that offers to repair aero. Delete your shaders and then start P3D.