Working & Effective P3D V2.4 performance tweaks?

[YokeBloke 2]

Actually the smoothest flight experience wins. FPS is not as important as you have been led to believe. I use to be the guy screaming 'I'm not getting 200 FPS like I was before I added add-ons! WHY!? WHY!? I paid 185715818 dollars for my PC and it should be able to do my taxes while I fly at 500+ FPS!' I groaned at people who kept saying 'ignore the FPS, look at how the FPS you got is moving across the screen'. After writing witty comments like the ones above and fighting logic with all my might I finally understand what they were talking about. My blood pressure dropped and my risk for heart failure while tweaking and loading add-ons decreased greatly.

 

Tweak less. Fly more. Don't let Frame Passion Syndrome (FPS) get you.

 

 

'Here here' totally agree… just the VAS problem is the new headache!

Now using the totally brilliant 'SimStarter' even the VAS problem is easier to manage.

 

Clive.

[Michael Moe 493]

That's normal, because the main thread of P3d has pinned one core to 100%. There are no tweaks that will help everyone overcome this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Has anyone noticed that unchecking all cores for P3D.exe and then activate all cores again would spread the load more unto the other 3 cores ? Does this meen that we can push the Core 1 even further doing this ?

 

Hmm

 

Strange

 

Michael Moe

[Stratocruiser1 134]

I can't seem to find FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION anywhere in my P3D v2.4 cfg file to make the change. Is this a new line of text you add? If so where do you add it? In for example the [Display] area? And is there an = at the end before the number?

Thanks.

[Nemo 1,305]

I can't seem to find FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION anywhere in my P3D v2.4 cfg file to make the change. Is this a new line of text you add? If so where do you add it? In for example the [Display] area? And is there an = at the end before the number?

Thanks.

You have add it in the [main] area

[Jonathan Berthier 99]

Just check the Learning Center for a complete reference of what you can do  :wink:

http://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv2/LearningCenter/getting_started/performance/tuning_guide.html

[Kuragiman 227]

Oh yes the results are great. But the guide assumes that you use the corresponding Nvidia Inspector settings to import. And this one uses "Antialiasing - Transparent Multisampling - 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling" and "4x MSAA" in Game. And this settings overload my Graphiccard when it comes to a higher cloud coverage. Did you follow the guide without using the Nvidia Inspector Profile?

 

Regards Sven

 

No.  I used is profile import as a base then modified for my own needs.   I turned off all AA, especially SGSS because that utterly ruins the smoothness of the simulator when there are clouds on the screen and I run with a TON of clouds.   Everything else I left the same in his profile.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Has anyone noticed that unchecking all cores for P3D.exe and then activate all cores again would spread the load more unto the other 3 cores ? Does this meen that we can push the Core 1 even further doing this ?

 

Hmm

 

Strange

 

Michael Moe

All that usually happens is that you force the P3d main thread to a different core. Sometimes it helps, but mostly it does not.

[spirit_66 2]

I can't seem to find FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION anywhere in my P3D v2.4 cfg file to make the change.

You don't need this in P3D v2.4. But if you use it then read what's written about it in this forum.

Spirit

[sejannasch 1]

 

 

No.  I used is profile import as a base then modified for my own needs.   I turned off all AA, especially SGSS because that utterly ruins the smoothness of the simulator when there are clouds on the screen and I run with a TON of clouds.   Everything else I left the same in his profile

 

Thank you, this looks really nice. And it's the first time i can use high cloud settings with ASN and REX :-)

[Kuragiman 227]

Thank you, this looks really nice. And it's the first time i can use high cloud settings with ASN and REX :-)

 

It's impressive how much punishment P3D can take with the right settings.     You're welcome.

[Noel 4,484]

I've been preaching that for quite a while. FPS is for bragging rights, smoothness is for enjoyment. I haven't looked at my FPS in a long while - as long as the sim is smooth, I really don't care. Actually, the lower the better because it allows more processing to be used for textures, etc.

 

I REALLY believe that if more people would just flat ignore FPS and tweak for perfectly smooth operation, they'd be a lot less frustrated.

 

Vic

 And yet, there is no question 'smooth' is not an absolute value, there is a range one would accept as what constitutes smooth enough.   I find 60 fps w/ Vsync enabled on my 1920x1200 60hz screen offers close to maximum perceivable 'buttery' smoothness.   For every frame below a certain threshold, maybe around 23 or 24, smoothness diminishes precipitously until it's really frame-by-frame, though not necessarily variable interval frame-by-frame, i.e. herky jerky.  For me it's tolerable down to around 17-18 or so, and despite it's not herky-jerky, it's still very poor performance by comparison.  So for me, FPS beyond an acceptable level of smoothness is definitely more than bragging rights, as there is for me best 'smoothness' at that 60 fps point.   

[Noel 4,484]

 

 

Has anyone noticed that unchecking all cores for P3D.exe and then activate all cores again would spread the load more unto the other 3 cores ? Does this meen that we can push the Core 1 even further doing this ?
 
Hmm
 
Strange
 
Michael Moe

 

 

I think what's called 'the main thread' is hard-coded to one physical or virtual core, and can't be spread onto other cores.  If all that the main thread constitutes could be fully spread to HT enabled multicore CPUs in fully optimized parallel fashion that could be somewhat of a holy grail for users.  But alas, others smarter than me about this issue have suggested it's not really possible due to the nature of flight simulation, meeting the demands of synchronizing an entire world.  Still though, intuitively, it seems possible perhaps w/ some outside the box engineering.  Some of this parallel processing is exploited w/ your extra physical and virtual cores by having them work at loading terrain textures.

I've been preaching that for quite a while. FPS is for bragging rights, smoothness is for enjoyment. I haven't looked at my FPS in a long while - as long as the sim is smooth, I really don't care. Actually, the lower the better because it allows more processing to be used for textures, etc.

I REALLY believe that if more people would just flat ignore FPS and tweak for perfectly smooth operation, they'd be a lot less frustrated.

Vic

I don't see 'smooth' as an absolute value, there is a range one would accept as what constitutes smooth enough.   I find 60 fps w/ Vsync enabled on this 1920x1200 60hz screen offers pretty much maximum perceivable 'buttery' smoothness.   For every frame below a certain threshold, maybe around 23 or 24, smoothness diminishes precipitously until it's really frame-by-frame, though not necessarily variable interval frame-by-frame, i.e. herky jerky.  For me it's tolerable down to around 17-18 or so, and despite it's not herky-jerky, it's still very poor performance by comparison.  So for me, FPS beyond an acceptable level of smoothness is definitely more than bragging rights, as there is for me best 'smoothness' at that 60 fps point.   

 

Some have conjectured customized GPU drivers could be game changers for the CPU limited nature of this engine.  I hope so as without that I think planes like the PMDG T7 will struggle in and out of the type of airports they would typically fly in and out of.   And because of this very issue noted here, SLI really will not appreciably lessen the CPU workload unless that customized GPU driver changes the basics meaningfully:

 

The good news is that you can increase all GPU-heavy IQ settings to the max and it probably won't degrade performance any further.

[vgbaron 3,486]

I don't see 'smooth' as an absolute value, there is a range one would accept as what constitutes smooth enough. I find 60 fps w/ Vsync enabled on this 1920x1200 60hz screen offers pretty much maximum perceivable 'buttery' smoothness. For every frame below a certain threshold, maybe around 23 or 24, smoothness diminishes precipitously until it's really frame-by-frame, though not necessarily variable interval frame-by-frame, i.e. herky jerky. For me it's tolerable down to around 17-18 or so, and despite it's not herky-jerky, it's still very poor performance by comparison. So for me, FPS beyond an acceptable level of smoothness is definitely more than bragging rights, as there is for me best 'smoothness' at that 60 fps point.

In essence I agree with you but I see "smoothness" not as a quantifiable value but perceived display and motion. No stutters, no pauses, no popups, no flashing colors, just smooth continuous flow of the action. I just do not believe it is a function of FPS. If tht were the case then everyone who could run at 60fps would see smooth operation and you know as well as I that is not the case. OTOH, others, like myself "generally" have smooth operation between 20 & 30 - and above but my point is, if your sim is SMOOTH at 20, there is NO point in going to 60. If you see an improvement at 60 then it simply means you were NOT smooth at 30.

 

My aim is to get the smoothest operation I can at the lowest FPS. Each system will be different but say it is possible at 20-30 if your system will do it.

 

There are s many different hardware and software combinations floating around now that there are very few "one size fits all" suggestions.

 

Vic

[Noel 4,484]

If you see an improvement at 60 then it simply means you were NOT smooth at 30.

 

My aim is to get the smoothest operation I can at the lowest FPS. Each system will be different but say it is possible at 20-30 if your system will do it.

 

Hehe, I generally agree w/ you too Vic, the part about prioritizing perception of smooth over higher frame rate.   But 'perception of smooth' being just that, subjective and more difficult to quantify, one person's 'smooth' is another person's 'not quite'.   I see the issue as 'smooth enough' versus not 'smooth enough', and if 100% smooth, absolute freedom from any hint of stuttering, absolutely perfect VC panning, etc, it's generally closer at 60 frames than 30 frames.   This being said, on my machine 30 is usually very close to perfect, and that falls off rather precipitously the lower I go starting somewhere around 22-24.  When I get to 18 for example, there is no question I can perceive frame-by-frame, albeit the intervals are consistently spaced, but one loses fluidity nonetheless.   I agree w/ many P3D users who will say the sim runs smoother at lower frame rates than FSX ever did for them.

[greggerm 312]

Perhaps instead of describing this as "smooth at 25 FPS", we should be better say that people prefer a consistent 25 FPS rather than variable rates.

 

Like most here, I can easily see the difference between 25 and 35... 45... 60 frames per second, and obviously the higher rates make motion look smoother.  BUT, a consistent 25 FPS is far superior to a situation where you've got 35, then 25, then 30, then 25, then 30....  throw in a microstutter here and there and you've got the makings of complaints.

 

My tweaking process is about getting the best possible consistent framerate with various scenarios. Once you get some consistency, the impression of smoothness is not very far behind...