Hey guys.

 

I've been having issues playing FSX on my gaming PC.

 

FSX would sometimes CTD for no obvious reason other than showing "Flight Simulator X has stopped working", and in worse cases, would cause a BSOD with "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION" errors. 

 

Compatibility mode with Windows Vista SP2 was selected prior to FSX being started.

 

FSX is the only game where this is occurred. Temps are cool and stable. Other games like Battlefield 3, Team Fortress 2 and PlanetSide 2 are all stable. Even FlightGear runs well.

 

Here are my system's specs if it will help.

 

CPU: Intel Core i7 4700MQ 2.4GHz - 3.4GHz boosted

GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4600 (integrated), NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2GB GDDR5 (discrete)

RAM: 8GB Samsung DDR3L 1600MHz RAM

OS: Windows 8.1 Update 1

 

I look forward to the reply of anyone here.

 

Thanks.

For the BSOD, you need to update your hardware/system drivers. I use a program called Driver Genius. There are many of them out there. They all work basically the same but essentially the program will scan your system for outdated USB, System Bus, HDD, SSD drivers (Windows Update does not update these; just the video card and then it will only recommend it as an option). Once the scan is complete it will show you all of the things on your computer that are out of date. If you want the program to update the drivers for you, then it becomes payware and you have to pay a small registration fee. If you are familiar with the Internet and Google, you can search for the driver(s) yourself and update them. Manufacturers are constantly updating their USB ports and HDD's and chipsets as they discover new bugs.

 

I also found a fix that might apply to Windows 8 users only - http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1656392/fix-dpc-watchdog-violation-error-windows.html.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards,

Driver Genius.  That's brilliant.  I'm going to download that right away.

Compatibility mode with Windows Vista SP2 was selected prior to FSX being started.

 

Not saying it's causing your issue, but changing compatibility settings on programs that are compatible, can seriously upset things.