new hardware (?) - GTX 970 4GB MSI

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Sesquashtoo, I've been very happy with my 680, but now I'm also frustrated. First, 2Gb memory are not enough. I can't load it with lvl 17 Simheaven photoscenery at extreme resolution and HDR. It's one or the other. And except for a very good reason (like one day, the occulus rift finally entering the market and asking for every frame we can give it) I can't fly without HDR now.

Speaking of HDR, I'm wondering if I'll be finally able to activate 8x AA, which is a killer right now (8fps !) AA is the weak point of HDR right now.

 

------------------------------------------------

 

Hello Pascal,   here is the way I have XPX.30 set up for running with my EVGA 680 2GB Super Clocked, and these were the settings that were in play today, for my screenshot snap-fest.  I just wonder what else I can squeeze out of video...that this doesn't do for me, if photoscenery has never truly appealed to me.  For you though...yes...perhaps on that account alone, going to a 970 or 980 is the way for you.  I am going to wait until Andras releases his v3 Mesh..and see what happens to my rendering.  If I have to go higher, truly...than 2GB's...then that will be the push for me.  Rendering quality, though?  I dunno....the 680 has been the best R.O.I. I have ever seen to date....and is a most hard R.O.I. 'act' to follow....

 

http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/QEw

 

http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/QEj

 

http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/QEe

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch

[FogGobbler 0]

Hey guys. Well I bought my MSI GTX 970 last week and on Saturday I was able to install it, eagerly to see my fps climb dramatically..

 

..well ..

 

it didn´t happen :-( . Flying around the KBUR area I only get about 30 fps in Carenado Mooney, but with microstutters and freezes. 

 

Flying in the KBOS area with the B1900D is not possible = slideshow :-( . That is so strange.. I had a GTX 680 before and I really can´t see any improvement at all. 

 

My rig : i7 2600k oc 4.6, 16GB ram, MSI GTX 970,Win7 64, xplane 10.30, newest nvidia drivers. My settings are quite high, but certainly not maxed out.

 

I tried disabling the pagefile and also set it to 1.5 x ram, but that didn´t have any effect. 

 

Does anybody have an idea what´s going wrong?

Bye,Oli

[NATK50 8]

Maybe you didn´t remove the old drivers and shaders from GTX 680.

[FogGobbler 0]

You mean the old nvidia drivers? Yes, I uninstalled them and installed a fresh driver version. 

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Hey guys. Well I bought my MSI GTX 970 last week and on Saturday I was able to install it, eagerly to see my fps climb dramatically..

 

..well ..

 

it didn´t happen :-( . Flying around the KBUR area I only get about 30 fps in Carenado Mooney, but with microstutters and freezes. 

 

Flying in the KBOS area with the B1900D is not possible = slideshow :-( . That is so strange.. I had a GTX 680 before and I really can´t see any improvement at all. 

 

My rig : i7 2600k oc 4.6, 16GB ram, MSI GTX 970,Win7 64, xplane 10.30, newest nvidia drivers. My settings are quite high, but certainly not maxed out.

 

I tried disabling the pagefile and also set it to 1.5 x ram, but that didn´t have any effect. 

 

Does anybody have an idea what´s going wrong?

Bye,Oli

Fog, since doing a full system clean...paying attention to every part, of my internals, I have (with a good overclock on my GTX680) climbed now into sustainable  55-70 FPS, with an easy climb and peaks today even past 130 FPS. See screenshot forum for the screen grabs and FPS counter highlighted.  I offer a suggestion, that you do a full clean as well, with a good high-pressure can duster, that also has a certified circuit-friendly cleaner propellant as well. In the HANGAR CHAT forum, I have highlighted the exact product I used, and where you can purchase it from, in a three-can pack for under $20.00   Doing this has been an amazing eye-opener.  Like I said, I am now getting simply (for me, past use..) unheard-of , FPS performance from my CPU/GPU and Motherboard, (it's obviously not all do do with JUST the GPU you are running.  I now see that the whole system in itself, is responsible...each part of it...is responsible for the final FPS count.  I went from 33-37 to 55-77 FPS range now, all the time..and with peaks as high, as 130 FPS.  That speaks for cleaning, much more than anything I can type to you.....   I hope you get final good results with your 970 card, as many are basing their FPS-boost hope also in the purchase of that series....

 

Mitch

[RocketDuck 7]

Something is definitely wrong with your setup if you get worse performance. I bought a GTX 980 and I'm running with everything at a near max setting. With a Carenado (C210) plane at a payware airport (Mykonos) I get a minimum of 30fps. And that is with resolution at extreme and stuff like that :-)

 

Before I had a GTX680TI and the improvement is massive.

 

My best guess would be that your CPU is holding you back. Try dialing down some of the CPU intensive settings and see if that doesn't help.

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

I wonder if the 980 will be much improvement over the 770 4GB I use at the moment. I'm on the fence wether to upgrade, or wait.....

[RocketDuck 7]

I don't think it will be worth the price to upgrade from a 770 to a 980. The 770 is still a good card and it has the same amount of VRAM as the 980. If you play other games, you could buy another 770 and SLI them. That would give you good performance for a relative low cost :-)

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

I wonder if the 980 will be much improvement over the 770 4GB I use at the moment. I'm on the fence wether to upgrade, or wait.....

What I think, is that the entire..the entire system must be looked at.  LIke I said, before I did a fin-by-fin, chip-by-chip, all-component deep clean of my system, my GTX680 would never go (and whose to say that it was to be ONLY blamed on my poor GPU...!!!) beyond a constant 33-37 FPS.  After my deep clean of my entire internals...hell...I am always NO LESS than 47-65 for most scenes, (with the EXACT same P3D/FSX sim configurations, nothing was touched, pre or post cleaning...) and many, many times my system will top out OVER 130 FPS...

 

So...it is quite apparent to me...that just if you keep ramming a newer GPU into your system, without paying attention to each part....yes...each part...not only the GPU/CPU combo,.......that we are chasing down the wrong  howl in the night....  I'll bet you right now...that anybody with a GPU, in the 500/600/700 series range...and that has not done some serious maintenence work on the whole system...probably has NEVER SEEN what their present GPU/CPU/SYSTEM SET CHIPS/MEMORY MODULES can actually do...for the FPS count...right now...before a new series XXX, and expensive GPU is put in place.  Don't believe me?   Look at my screenshot  grabs dated from the last three weeks, all showing massive FPS performance, ...then look back at any of my screen grabs from about a month ago and further back...and you will only see 33-37--40 FPS at the max (and that was an FPS spike, not mean average...).  That's all my system would EVER give me...with constants such as the same driver suite, the same in-sim settings, etc.  Bottom line to this user....FPS is generated by your WHOLE system, combined, and its level of cleanliness (heat holds down FPS production).

 

With now getting constant, 45-60/(highs of 130 plus!) FPS counts,from a GTX680,....has just saved me $300-$500 (or greater expense!) dollars!     There has been many posts so far about those that honestly are reporting almost nil-to in the boring range, difference in going to even the latest 900 generation GPU from their previous 600/700 series card.  Some have reported a modest 10-15 percent FPS increase from 3-10 FPS...for an over $350.00 and up, outlay!  If this is good R.O.I. than those users have money to burn.....   I'd like to see more people show what their cards are actually producing, in a screenshot grab..and ALWAYS show the FPS counter as I do.  Most people do NOT display what their FPS count is to generate the scene rendered.  I seem to be the only user that does this on a constant M.O.  Screengrabs are B.S. free zones...and what's also good about them, is that even if a user dumbed down all sliders to produce a 45-60-80 FPS screenshot, you'd clearly see with a simmer's eye...for we all know what level of sliders produce to create the scene for texture and scene complexity settings.  Before you decide, ask users you respect to post a series of screenshots for you...users that say they have such and such a card and series,....with both the FPS and flight x/y, altitude, speed lines fully visible...THEN and only then can you see for yourself....for yourself, with their system specs under their User Names,...and with also yourself, seeing the complexity of cloud base, ground textures, the general scenery complexity, and at what altitude taken....is if your pondering of a new $350 and up addition to your system, is worth it......or not.

 

People........please show  BOTH red information lines in all screen-shots...for that helps ALL users viewing to get a handle on what your system as published, can do...with the visual settings they see are happening, etc, and then can compare it to their own system.  When people state that they get **THIS** and **THAT** from their new graphic card...etc....let us all actually SEE for ourselves, as well....  I call THAT, a truly B.S.-free 'view zone'....then, and only then.

 

The only reason now, that I at present would go beyond my GTX680 2GB, would be to have more video-RAM on the future card...and something that I can not add on to my card at present, like a daughter-board.  I (yes..this is a personal opinion, yes...and I stated all within this envelope...) feel that a lot of folks are spending money for FPS increase, that just isn't going to to be there, to meet their expectations as the new card is being delivered to their door.  The entire system it sits in...must be looked at....   My 22 cents.....

 

Mitch

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

My system is super clean, and brand new:) I think I will hang around for a good 6-8GB card when they eventually come.....

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

My system is super clean, and brand new:) I think I will hang around for a good 6-8GB card when they eventually come.....

That is the only reason...that I would upgrade now. Yep...myself included.  People have the FPS producing power in their systems, right now...but for whatever reason to date, have not seen their system's full FPS producing potential. By just throwing a new multi-hundred dollar GPU into the mix...isn't going to unleash it either. The whole system, needs looking at, ....

 

I found that out, most 'graphically' (excuse the pun...)...and my money, and statement,.... is displayed in my screen-shots....yeppers.....

[alpilotx 505]

Sorry to say this Sesquashtoo, but what you say about the cleaning sound a bit like "woodoo" instead of hard science (except if your system was literally filled up with dust). As you, yourself say, there are a lot (really, really lot!!!) of factors influencing the FPS in X-Plane, and quite a few of them are subtle in their nature (and rarely understood by users) but can have big effects. That said ... as someone who has seen a lot of hardware (from big servers to workstations) over the last 20 years, I can assure you that plain dust removal is a very very very unlikely cause for your FPS win. Well, or at least - to remain unscientific field - the probability of "dust removal" being the main cause is magnitudes smaller than many other potential factors (and thus I would rule it out  for quite some time ...).

 

By the way, screenshots alone do not prove anything about the reason ... they only show the effect (the result)!

 

So, I would say, there are many other factors (some of which might go even unnoticed) which have a higher potential:

 

Outside X-Plane

• driver version changes (not just display, but mainboard etc.)
• OS updates (which might have changed some data flow paths or just some security measures)
• virus Scnanners, personal firewall 8being active / inactive ... or having their own updates which made them more or less efficient)
• Other software running at the same time in the backround (or not running)
• and of course the entire hardware environment (but we would consider it for the moment as unchanged - thous I wouldn't expect any effects from there ... and the least(!!!!) from dust removal)

Inside X-Plane (this is the most important source of extreme FPS variations):

• of course, any rendering setting changes can make FPS differences as big as going from 100-200 FPS to 1-2 FPS (depending on your hardware, this is absolutely possible)
• then even with only vanilla scenery, a remote, sparsely vegetated, seaside region can have easily 3-4-times higher FPS than going the New York City
• if you go to higher density scenery like HD Mesh Scenery, this factor can even further grow.
• add on top some local, high object count airports, and your FPS might tank ... while you go only a bit further away, and everything is fine
• the choice of aircraft can also massively influence your FPS ... like a default F22 being very light, but some heavy Carenado plane (or even far more complex stuff) can easily cut your FPS by half even with the exact same scenery!
• The direction in which you look, also massively influences the FPS. Look at a blue sky over NYC and you get 80 FPS, look down at the city at the same time and get 15 FPS (if your rendering settings are set high).
• And then we even have those occasional, quite funny effects of the AA settings .... sometimes you can have low FPS at "2xSSAA + FXAA", then just switch to FXAA, switch back to your 2xFSAA and you get much better FPS. Who knows where this comes from (maybe some internal memory layout on your graphics card controlled by some driver anomaly ... god knows ... but it happens).

As you see ... a lot of factors (and i am sure, I didn't even list all). But I still insist, that "dust in the computer" ranks lower than most of these listed here (and YES, I have seen and have used PCs with quite some dust inside - and without it).

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

As you see ... a lot of factors (and i am sure, I didn't even list all). But I still insist, that "dust in the computer" ranks lower than most of these listed here (and YES, I have seen and have used PCs with quite some dust inside - and without it).

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Yes...of course...indeed,...and I agree with you whole-heartedly.  I'm not saying that it is the only reason...but it CAN be a factor in producing less total FPS, than perhaps a system, could.... that is probably over-looked in most cases.  Now...as I said, my system wasn't a dust-keg...no way...but with doing nothing else, other than a most deep-level cleaning of all the inside, and from the motherboard up...I more than doubled my FPS post-clean..and have stayed that way, from many system cycles, off and on.  They are here to stay.  I'm only saying that an excellent clean, can do no harm...and can also add to the hope you see better FPS, with anything you might do to achieve it.  We all know...heat, degrades system performance.  For myself, I'm always going to have a 'make sure' mentality to clean my system's interior in as much as in thinking about performance by hardware....

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch

[manuthie 242]

The only time I could imagine when dust removal might have an effect on fps would be when the dust prevented propper cooling of your graphics card or cpu so they were throttled down for thermal reasons.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

The only time I could imagine when dust removal might have an effect on fps would be when the dust prevented propper cooling of your graphics card or cpu so they where throttled down for thermal reasons.

Yes, that would be the most likely culprit, you would think.  I also now feel, that the system chips and memory chips have a play in obtainable FPS, as well, though...they get hot, and if there is a coating of air-borne oil molecules, this would act act as an air insulator of sorts, and would impede optimum  air contact to wick away produced heat.  I did a full chemical clean, so any invisible pollutants would have been stripped from the motherboard, add-ons, and all contacts therein.

 

I'm not saying HERE..is what happened to garner me such an incredible FPS gain on my system, but I am saying that this is the only thing really, that I did, before I turned back on the system...and had over double the FPS output, that I have ever enjoyed since installing the GTX680.  If something good happens, I mention it...and anything that I did out of the ordinary, that could have contributed to the outcome. No matter what though, how many computer users regularly remove contaminants from their system interior on a regular basis?  The truth?.....not many  I know that I never did...I just kept an eye on it..and when dust bunnies showed up...that's the time I would act...and not take into consideration the pollutants on the motherboard and hardware installed into it, that can not be seen, but act as an insulator layer of their own merit.  For myself, I have decided to create a three-month chemical/duster bomb clean interior maintenance schedule, and that will part of owning the system.  Oh hey...I hear the coffee beeping in the microwave, lol....be right back, lol......

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch