Regardless of locked or unlocked frames, is it recommended to run the FSX process at a higher priority? 

 

No - the computer needs some breathing space, Jordan, and fsx - with all of it's addons, being a 2005 - 2007 application, living in an operating system for which it was never designed, on hardware which didn't exist when released - is already "somewhat unstable", so there's no sense in introducing yet another "risk factor". Much better to drop a good number of "un-essential features" back - each one just a bit, like - bring road traffic from 18 down to 14, cloud coverage from 8 down to 7, distance to 3 or 4, lensflare off, texture resolution from 28 to 27, AG from 4 to 3, etc., - none of these being really noticeable, and not touching AA, SGSS or AF. Here's a list of the killers that can be touched slightly, no single change having any great impact, but all taken together - will make for a smoother-running sim, and with more constant frames.

 

The one thing I did test which relates to frame rate fluctuation, was HT on vs HT off, as it's been very much a rule that an overclocked cpu needs to have HT off to keep itself stable and/or cool. Well - yes - while one is in the process of actually working at th overclock - but if it's not critically overheating on the Prime95, OCCT, IBT or whatever - why not try it? There has been much discussion around Affinity Mask, and so I wondered if bringing more cores on-line might just smooth out the "26 - 29", 28 - 31", "24 - 27 - 29 - 26 - 30 - 30" frame bouncing that we often get. I tried it, and - on my machine - it definitely did have an affect by "levelling-out" this jumping around.  Try it and see how it goes.

 

All the Best,

 

pj

I have a 3570k OC'ed to 4.4 with a new gtx780 and 16 gigs of RAM. Both the OS and FSX with their own dedicated SSDs. I just can't manage to get more than 8 to 10fps sitting on FSDT's JFKv2 at dusk with traffic sliders at 10%. This is with MyTraffic 4.5c.

 

If any of you is getting similar (depressing) results with a similar setup as mine please let me know. This is both in DX9 and DX10 (using Steve's payware).

 

cheers

-E

RTFM (Please), Enrique. My sig at bottom. Tx. :wink:

 

pj

Hi Paul, I've read your guide, NickN's, Word Not Allowed's, Tab's ... even tried Venetubo. It seems to be an issue specific to AI traffic, as using the sim without it my fps climb to 35-45fps in dense weather at JFKv2.

Thanks.

-E

 

 

 Example flight LSZH (FSDT scenery), fair weather, full AI Traffic (UT2 2013) and standard Bell in VC, DX10 enabled via Steve's fixer, FullHD screen resoltion etc.If more details are needed, feel free to ask.

 

 

 

 

 

Now:

 

BTW: System specs are: i5-3570K running at 4.5GHz, 2x4GB DDR3 2133MHz CL9 RAM and a EVGA GTX-780 SC ACX graphics card.

 

Verdict: I still wonder continuously about some FPS numbers of certain users in the FS world. I never reach them, although some of them running even lower hardware. And yes, I set up my FSX according to Nicks guide over at simforums, removed all but the recommended FSX.cfg tweaks and still, ther must be something different. Or all other people cheat according their FPS numbers, which I really doubt.

 

 

Try and see the differents in FPS without UTII at 100%. I think you will get a 50% boost in fps. It really is a FPS killer AI

 

Michael

I am sure it is. But as flying around in an empty SIM without any AI Traffic is one of the biggest immersionkiller for me, this is no option. I already spent hours in converting textures to the .dds format, eliminating AI models that are not FSX native and trying to avoid high res ai traffic textures that I think it should work. However, maybe I have to go further down with those %. I realized that I do not run UT2 at 100%, but at 75%. Maybe I should go down to 50%. Could be a good compromise.

I am sure it is. But as flying around in an empty SIM without any AI Traffic is one of the biggest immersionkiller for me, this is no option. I already spent hours in converting textures to the .dds format, eliminating AI models that are not FSX native and trying to avoid high res ai traffic textures that I think it should work. However, maybe I have to go further down with those %. I realized that I do not run UT2 at 100%, but at 75%. Maybe I should go down to 50%. Could be a good compromise.

^_^  FSX in a nutshell again . Compromise upon another compromise.

 

I have UTII at 25% and still need to lower my Autogen to Normal or Dense in forinstance EGLL .Otherwise its OOM before reaching the gates for sure (Even in DX10)

 

But the driver 332.21 seems to fit fine .

 

 

Btw. I think Unlimited FPS with swapwaittimeout=10 is the most smooth experience in FSX DX10 as i have ever seen. Dont know why though. Maybe some one can explain this ?

 

Michael 

Could you please specify quickly where to put the swapwaittimeout line in your fsx.cfg? And do you use it along with a specific fiber_frame_time_fraction number?

Could you please specify quickly where to put the swapwaittimeout line in your fsx.cfg? And do you use it along with a specific fiber_frame_time_fraction number?

 

[MAIN]FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION 0.15 [TERRAIN]SWAP_WAIT_TIMEOUT=10 [DISPLAY]TextureMaxLoad =15 

 

The above setting can get some blurry effect because it is not an aggressiv setting but in the air it works pretty good on my system.

 

Michael 

[MAIN]FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION 0.15 [TERRAIN]SWAP_WAIT_TIMEOUT=10 [DISPLAY]TextureMaxLoad =15 

 

The above setting can get some blurry effect because it is not an aggressiv setting but in the air it works pretty good on my system.

 

Michael 

 

What exactly do Swap_wait_Timeout and TextureMaxLoad do for the sim? 

What exactly do Swap_wait_Timeout and TextureMaxLoad do for the sim? 

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/317709-blurries-fix-for-fsx-experimental/

 

Michael

Well, Michael, I have to hand it to you. You just pushed me back a few years to a slew of posts which calculated some of these figures - not started by me by any means, but I quickly became a "convert, as "the science" and math were quite logical, and - moreso - gave some good results. There was a whole webpage/XL spreadsheet, too, devoted to this on the DigitalThemePark site at that time (it has since been pulled) which listed dozens of GPU/graphics settings combinations. Unfortunately it was torn to pieces, and ridiculed by a (then) most respected "Guru" of FSX, and as a result, the whole concept died.... well, my friend - YOU just resurrected it! I went back to my "old figures" - TBM=157 (GTX580), TextureMaxLoad=21 - and guess what? With frames set at 32 in FSX, the A2A C172 at Anacortes gives an-almost-ROCK-SOLID 30 frames, with none of the "usual" dips to "24 - 27 - 26 - 19 -30 - 29 - 24 - 28 - 25 - 29 - 29 - 27 - 29", etc.,.... It sits at 31 - 31 - 30 - 32 - 30 - 32 - 30 - 31 - 3- 30 - 29 - 32 - very much more smooth, and completely without those dips. As you know - I run a pretty "Lean Machine", at 5 with a 780, and since following your lead, I have once again been completely surprised by another "discovery"!

This means a complete re-visit of the calculation texts, and sites, if they exist, plus more testing and testing and testing. It will result in a partial re-write of the "How-To" doc, and so - PLEASE - feel free to add your 20 cents!

 

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=157
UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=32
TextureMaxLoad=21  //  15  Michael Moe  //  6 = default

 

All the Best,

 

pj

Ok, this getting interesting here. However, some warning bells ring in my head. Anyway, I removed the Affinitymask line now from my sim, configured the nVidia Inspector newly (had to adapt the LOD BIAS setting, all other settings I had already), switched to unlimited both in FSX and in Inspector and guess what, I got a noticeable FPS increase. With my test scenario, I reach now constantly above 20FPS, even when flying around the terminal (LSZH), even without lowering the AI traffic amount. Nice. Interesting though: I did NOT add the swap_wait_timeout line so far.

 

Now some additional things. First, Paul, am I correct that you use now also with your i5 / 780 combi the indicated values? If yes, I will try that as well, as I have basically the same hardware setup.

 

Regarding the warning bells: Nick over at the simforums teaches us to reduce the FSX.cfg to the max. Adding TBM and TextureMaxLoad again is certainly not what he recommends. It is also one of Nicks main tasks to stop simmers from calculating and watching FPS, as the "smooth and fluent" experience of FSX can be independent from the FPS numbers. While I absolutely agree regarding FSX.cfg tweaks (less is better), I really disagree regarding FPS. Due to the fact that I am a quiet used first person shooter player, my eyes somehow react on low FPS and I surely realize a difference between 20 and 30 FPS. So what to do now? If I follow this thread here, it is basically starting again with tuning the FSX.cfg by adding more and more lines and playing around with those settings. But come on, I see the increase in FPS. Is this now the wrong approach? According to Nick, yes. We should ignore the counter and judge by the smoothness of the FSX. But as you also realised with your variable FPS in the A2A Cessna, the numbers sometimes DO matter, no? I am still a little bit confused here...

 

Long story short: I will try the TBM and TextureMaxLoad on my unlimited setup as soon as possible and I will report back.

Well, Michael, I have to hand it to you. You just pushed me back a few years to a slew of posts which calculated some of these figures - not started by me by any means, but I quickly became a "convert, as "the science" and math were quite logical, and - moreso - gave some good results. There was a whole webpage/XL spreadsheet, too, devoted to this on the DigitalThemePark site at that time (it has since been pulled) which listed dozens of GPU/graphics settings combinations. Unfortunately it was torn to pieces, and ridiculed by a (then) most respected "Guru" of FSX, and as a result, the whole concept died.... well, my friend - YOU just resurrected it! I went back to my "old figures" - TBM=157 (GTX580), TextureMaxLoad=21 - and guess what? With frames set at 32 in FSX, the A2A C172 at Anacortes gives an-almost-ROCK-SOLID 30 frames, with none of the "usual" dips to "24 - 27 - 26 - 19 -30 - 29 - 24 - 28 - 25 - 29 - 29 - 27 - 29", etc.,.... It sits at 31 - 31 - 30 - 32 - 30 - 32 - 30 - 31 - 3- 30 - 29 - 32 - very much more smooth, and completely without those dips. As you know - I run a pretty "Lean Machine", at 5 with a 780, and since following your lead, I have once again been completely surprised by another "discovery"!

This means a complete re-visit of the calculation texts, and sites, if they exist, plus more testing and testing and testing. It will result in a partial re-write of the "How-To" doc, and so - PLEASE - feel free to add your 20 cents!

 

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=157

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=32

TextureMaxLoad=21  //  15  Michael Moe  //  6 = default

 

All the Best,

 

pj

 

 

 

Hi Poul

 

I was as surprised as you and i had 20-30 hours of testing with this before posting the above setting so i felt oblicated to at least make other testing this again.

 

You did not mention what swapwaittimeout setting you are/were using ?.

 

Another thing that really caught my attention during testing is like you said . Better Stability in FPS EVEN with Unlimited and so smooth even at 3.9/4.0GB VAS down to 20-22 FPS. No stutter at all. This has never been my experience

 

Offcause the price with swapwaittimeout=10 is at risk of blurry effect i guess,  but i actually think i found a sweet spot at least for IFR flying.

 

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=80

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=Unlimited

TextureMaxLoad=15  Michael Moe  //  6 = default

Swapwaittimeout=10

 

 

Michael

Good Morning:

 

Here's one of the tools that was used, and I used it today with the 780.. I had remm'd the TextureMaxLoad and SwapTimeOut, so there was no external interference with the outcome:

 

Memory Clock=6000; GDDR5; Target FR=33:G.Texture Res.=2048, results were:

 

[Display]

MAX_TEXTURE_DATA=4364

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=213

UPPER_FRAME_RATE=33

 

[Graphics]

TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=2048

 

which I tried, the results being high, but with fairly wide fluctuation, so I added back the (old 2008 - 9 setting) TextureMaxLoad of 21, and put the Swap_Wait_Timeout to your "10", and that worked just fine, (frame locked at 33) but this time she was very consistent - none below 29, and averaging a quite smooth 31. I'm unsure of the calculator, given this result, as it was very similar to the stock TBM of 120 and default TextureMaxLoad of 6, i.e. high fps, but fluctuation fairly widely.

I suspect the secret is the Swap_Wait combined with the TextureMaxLoad of 21 (in my case). The only other "not usual" setting I use is the STALE_BUFFER_THRESHOLD=33, under [Graphics].

 

pj