Short & Sweet: The amazing tweaks that work!

[Mr767 6]

I recently reinstalled FSX after a break that lasted no less than four years. I constantly found myself tweaking more than flying.

 

Not so in 2013. FSX is an all new beast, enabled by improvements in hardware and some all new efficient tweaks.

 

I was basically able to reinstall FSX and instantly get a cool, steady 30 fps regardless of where I fly.

 

This is how you do it. Please note that all changes must be applied accurately in order to achieve the performance gain.

 

1. Changes in fsx.cfg: 

 

[bUFFERPOOLS]

Usepools=0

 

2. Install Nvidia Inspector. Use the standard FSX-profile or download a modified one. The most important here is to ascertain that the Vertical Sync-paramter is set to: 1/2 refresh rate. 

 

3. Set FSX internal fps to: 30

 

I would also highly recommend changing the terrain level of detail parameter. Increasing this will dramatically improve scenery sharpness. My setting is:

 

[TERRAIN]

LOD_RADIUS=7.500000

 

Thanks to Word Not Allowed and Nick N. Without them I'd probably still be cursing FSX!

[Q_flyer 766]

Very much disagree with your Point (3).

 

The internal FSX limiter is broken and you will almost always get better results using Unlimited in FSX, and then setting a frame limit of 30 in nVidia Inspector, or CCC (for ATI users).

 

The FSX Limiter is not efficient and seems to involve a large processing overhead to limit frames, so not using it, hands that processing power back.    Limiting frames at driver level tends to be much more efficient.

[Mr767 6]

Very much disagree with your Point (3).

 

The internal FSX limiter is broken and you will almost always get better results using Unlimited in FSX, and then setting a frame limit of 30 in nVidia Inspector, or CCC (for ATI users).

 

The FSX Limiter is not efficient and seems to involve a large processing overhead to limit frames, so not using it, hands that processing power back.    Limiting frames at driver level tends to be much more efficient.

 

I hope you are right, and I will give it a go. Thank you.

[fakeflyer737 991]

OMG! Why so many threads about this!!!

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thanks to Word Not Allowed and Nick N. Without them I'd probably still be cursing FSX!

NickN never recommended 7.5 and he surely does not recommend UsePools=0. And Word Not Allowed once recommended 9.5 but now does not recommend anything over 6.5 for LOD_Radius as you'll see OOM's depending on the scenario. This is what the AVSIM FSX Configuration Guide recommends too. Nothing higher than 6.5 (which I totally agree with!). Your best bet is to simply follow the AVSIM FSX Configuration Guide or post your eventual CTD in the CTD Forum.

 

@Q_flyer - Dave, I totally disagree with using an external frame rate limiter such as in the NI or CCC. It does not work as well as using the FSX fps limiter (who told you it was broken? It is not). I cannot believe I have not seen you post a crash up in the CTD Forum yet! :Just Kidding:

 

Best regards,

[LHookins 3,102]

Have the True Experts concluded that HIGHMEMFIX=1 is no longer necessary, or was that simply omitted from the OP's list?

 

Hook

[simmerhead 885]

I would not use a LOD_RADIUS above 4.5 unless I was only running default aircraft and scenery.

 

With a LOD_RADIUS of 6.5 you will soon run into trouble if you have detailed aircraft, detailed vector scenery, high levels of autogen, detailed mesh and cloud intensive weather.

 

 

And don't forget the most important tweak of all:

 

[Graphics]
HIGHMEMFIX=1

[WotanUK 289]

 

 

, and then setting a frame limit of 30 in nVidia Inspector, or CCC (for ATI users).

 

CCC doesn't have a frame rate limiter, are you thinking of RadeonPro?

 

I would conservatively estimate that for each hour i spend flying i spend a good 15 minutes tweaking, such is the life of FSX.

 

The only must have config improvement is the HIGHMEMFIX=1.  I haven't noticed a great deal of difference when applying the others 

[Mr767 6]

Very much disagree with your Point (3).

 

The internal FSX limiter is broken and you will almost always get better results using Unlimited in FSX, and then setting a frame limit of 30 in nVidia Inspector, or CCC (for ATI users).

 

The FSX Limiter is not efficient and seems to involve a large processing overhead to limit frames, so not using it, hands that processing power back.    Limiting frames at driver level tends to be much more efficient.

I did some tests taking off from the same airport. Using the internal limiter, fps appear to be more consistent - close to 30 fps. Using the frame limiter with Nivida Inspector, fps will sometimes drop as low as 18, but then again raise above 40. Overall my general impression is that using the latter alternative produce a smoother flying experience. Thanks a lot for your tip.

[Mr767 6]

NickN never recommended 7.5 and he surely does not recommend UsePools=0. And Word Not Allowed once recommended 9.5 but now does not recommend anything over 6.5 for LOD_Radius as you'll see OOM's depending on the scenario. This is what the AVSIM FSX Configuration Guide recommends too. Nothing higher than 6.5 (which I totally agree with!). Your best bet is to simply follow the AVSIM FSX Configuration Guide or post your eventual CTD in the CTD Forum.

 

@Q_flyer - Dave, I totally disagree with using an external frame rate limiter such as in the NI or CCC. It does not work as well as using the FSX fps limiter (who told you it was broken? It is not). I cannot believe I have not seen you post a crash up in the CTD Forum yet! :Just Kidding:

 

Best regards,

Thank you very much for a very thorough answer! I guess all the good tweaking advice got me lost in terms of references. Regardless, using Usepools=0 combined with internal fps set to 30 was exactly what changed my fsx experience. It literally went from 18 - 24 at a fairly complex airport to a steady 30 fps, nearly everywhere - including cloudy conditions in the sky. Having wasted too many hours tweaking through the years, I know this is probably the single most efficient tweak I ever came across.

As to LOD=7.5, I never experienced any trouble from that, but I will test 6.5 to see if I can gain some stability, reduce artifacts etc. 4.5 is unbearable with a triple monitor configuration. The scenery to the far left and right simply becomes too blurry, reminding me of the old FS2000-days. And who want to go back there?  :wacko:

[Jim Young 2,356]

The bufferpool tweak does not work on all systems. An older system, yes, this is great. But for the newer i7's please stay away from it. I've had my LOD_Radius up to 9.5 (like Word Not Allowed and others) and it worked great for a while and I thought it was a nice tweak but suddenly got unexplained OOM's and reducing it to 6.5 works great for me. If you have a fast system (and we do not know), then try to stay away from tweaks. The only tweaks I employ are the LOD 6.5 and the Texture_Max_Load=2048 (4096 can make things in regards to fps a little scary and really takes away the fun factor of fsx/p3dv2).A triple monitor situation is much different. Blurry textures are caused by your system not being fast enough to render the textures fast enough. High settings will cause this (in the fsx.cfg and display driver). High settings do not always indicate you are going to have the "oh-my-gosh" eye-candy. In the monitor forum I have pinned a topic regarding 3 monitor setups plus there are some experts down there who know what's the best setup as many have done gone through it themselves.Next month or early next year, new monitors are going to be released that will totally eliminate stuttering and the blurries. The monitors or technology will only work with graphics cards like mine (GTX780). So I have been holding my breath for January to arrive.Best regards,

Have the True Experts concluded that HIGHMEMFIX=1 is no longer necessary, or was that simply omitted from the OP's list?

 

Hook

The highmemfix=1 is not a tweak. It is an actual fix that the developers forgot to include in Acceleration/SP2.

 

Best regards,

[Dazkent 113]

In the relatively short time I have been using FSX I have come to learn what works for one system may not do for another, I tried the external frame limiting using my ATI card and it made things worse, so i use the internal one locked to 30 in FSX. Now when I get a new system next year I expect to start from scratch again

 

[Bozdog 63]

Hi Jim  you say "The bufferpool tweak does not work on all systems. An older system, yes, this is great. But for the newer i7's please stay away from it."

 

What do yo mean by this? I  have an i7 3770k with a GTX 680 over 3 monitors my Buffer pool s is set to  "Usepools=0"  do you recommend something other than this, or leave it out totally?

Cheers

Steve

 

[Lawyer+Pilot 126]

Very much disagree with your Point (3).

 

The internal FSX limiter is broken and you will almost always get better results using Unlimited in FSX, and then setting a frame limit of 30 in nVidia Inspector, or CCC (for ATI users).

 

The FSX Limiter is not efficient and seems to involve a large processing overhead to limit frames, so not using it, hands that processing power back. Limiting frames at driver level tends to be much more efficient.

This was debunked some time ago. The wisdom now suggests using the internal limiter (30) and enabling 1/2 vsync in Inspector--assuming your monitor has a 60hz refresh rate.

[Jim Young 2,356]

Hi Jim  you say "The bufferpool tweak does not work on all systems. An older system, yes, this is great. But for the newer i7's please stay away from it."

 

What do yo mean by this? I  have an i7 3770k with a GTX 680 over 3 monitors my Buffer pool s is set to  "Usepools=0"  do you recommend something other than this, or leave it out totally?

Cheers

Steve

I would stay away from it. You might see some stuttering depending on your other settings. You can simply comment out the lines in your fsx.cfg (place two slashes // in front of each line and that line will not load) and see if it's worse or better. If it works for you and you like it, then by all means continue to use it.

 

Best regards,