What are the Best Performance Tweaks?

[MrYorkiesWorld 3]

Hi guys,

 

I'm wanting to make a few tweaks to my CFG that could possibly help me get smoother performance etc out of P3D v3.

 

I've not made any changes just yet but can anyone recommend the best tweaks that will increase frames and let me run P3D as smoothly as possible?

 

My PC is a Chillblast PC specifically designed for FSX and P3D, however as we all know sometimes a few tweaks are necessary just like in FSX to get everything running at its best.

 

Any suggestions guys?

 

My Hardware:

 

Intel Core i7 4790k 4.0 Ghz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

 

Cheers!

-Yorkie

[Poppet 710]

Maybe im wrong but cant the i7-4790-K  be overclocked more then 4 Ghz ?

 

You have a plenty good system there,  What kind of performance/Fps are you getting currently Yorkie?      Personally i wouldn't use Tweaks as V3 is pretty much a a plug and play Sim,   some folks use Tweaks but its debatable really if there gaining anything.   Would be interesting to hear from someone who uses Tweaks and gains from them 

[MrYorkiesWorld 3]

Maybe im wrong but cant the i7-4790-K  be overclocked more then 4 Ghz ?

 

You have a plenty good system there,  What kind of performance/Fps are you getting currently Yorkie?      Personally i wouldn't use Tweaks as V3 is pretty much a a plug and play Sim,   some folks use Tweaks but its debatable really if there gaining anything.   Would be interesting to hear from someone who uses Tweaks and gains from them 

 

I think it can be overcloked quite a bit to be honest but so far I haven't tried that - when I'm set up at London Gatwick for example in the PMDG 737-800 I do get around 40 fps when in the virtual cockpit, and then way more when I change the view t an outside view - it's mainly the smoothness such as when I use Ezdok the camera movements are a little stuttery at times... Would you say there's anything that can be done in terms of getting rid of those stutters? They only happen in the virtual cockpit but can get slightly annoying at times

 

Cheers!

-Yorkie

[vgbaron 3,714]

Agree with Poppet Yorkie. If you can kick up the CPU to 4.4 or so you should be in fat city.

 

Vic

[ryanbatc 13,028]

Throwing money at new parts hehe

[Poppet 710]

As Vic said,  if you want to experiment (and you know what your doing)  Overclock it 

 

 it's mainly the smoothness such as when I use Ezdok the camera movements are a little stuttery at times... Would you say there's anything that can be done in terms of getting rid of those stutters? They only happen in the virtual cockpit but can get slightly annoying at times

 

 

Stutters stutters,   Stutters can be caused by a thousand different things,  Every system is different,  every system runs different programs in the background.   Unfortunately in most cases its only you who can get to the bottom on a stuttery Sim.

 

 I did have stutters (small) but i found it helped (a lot) when i locked my frames at 32 + Vsinc On + triple Buffering,  but that's just my set up.   Also try all the usual stuff, lower settings and so on etc etc 

[JYW 2,989]

I had the usual tweaks set up in FSX (PoolSize, Affinity Mask and Fiber Frame Time) - I did experimentally try them in P3D v3 (after a careful back up of my Prepar3D.cfg), but found that none of them improved performance at all (or in any combination).

 

As said above, P3Dv3 is now optimized to make the best use of any GPU and CPU and these tweaks are now, I think, consigned to the history books of FSX.

 

I'm seeing fantastic performance (frames and smoothness) in P3Dv3, and the above tests were really just experiments.   I have all settings higher that I had them in FSX, plus more AA/AF, plus HDR lighting, cockpit shadows etc, and have around 15-20% more FPS (and better smoothness) than in FSX.    

 

Stutters in P3Dv3 can be related to not having AA/AF optimized correctly.   Try setting everything in NI (or Nvidia Control Panel) to default / "Use application settings", then applying AA/AF solely within P3Dv3.     If you are using NI, set "AntiAliasing Transparency" to "Sparse Grid Supersampling x 4".

 

Good luck!

[squadros 2]

Yes, P3D3 still benefits from tweaks. You can follow this thread:

 

http://www.avsim.com/topic/477057-a-frame-time-analysis-of-p3d-v3-effects-of-cpu-affinity-frame-lock-and-ht/

[Mickeyj 35]

The only tweak that might or could help is Fiber_Frame_Time_Fraction=0.01. Do not go to 0 as this will remove all autogen buildings for some reason.

 

"This variable determines the amount of CPU time given to loading scenery data as a fraction of the time spent rendering. For example, the default value of 0.33 means that for every 3 milliseconds spent rendering, FS will give 1 millisecond to the scenery loader. If necessary, you can use a larger value to devote more time to loading (any number between 0.01 and 0.99). Or, if you don't have a problem with the blurries and you want slightly higher frame rates, then you can use a smaller value. 
Should you choose to use this "tweak", here's how to do it: Insert a line directly under the [MAIN] section and enter"

[Jimm 437]

As Vic said,  if you want to experiment (and you know what your doing)  Overclock it 

 

 

Stutters stutters,   Stutters can be caused by a thousand different things,  Every system is different,  every system runs different programs in the background.   Unfortunately in most cases its only you who can get to the bottom on a stuttery Sim.

 

 I did have stutters (small) but i found it helped (a lot) when i locked my frames at 32 + Vsinc On + triple Buffering,  but that's just my set up.   Also try all the usual stuff, lower settings and so on etc etc 

Before I add on to Poppet's statements, I want to be clear that I got sucked into this one, only because I have almost the same exact specs as the OP, with the only difference being that I run it all on a laptop.

 

Ok, so the 4790 can be overclocked, as mine was from the manufacturer, courtesy of the intel XTU application.  Mine is set just a tick under 4.5ghz, which is a good thing considering that I can now compete with the big boys.  There are plenty, and I mean plenty, of websites dedicated to overclocking and if you search hard enough, you'll find some good ones about the 4790, which I understand is one of the better chips to overclock due to it being very easy.  Just be careful not to push too far into the thermal limits or you'll then have an instant paperweight.

 

Anywho, so a thing about stutters...see, the thing about stutters is...well, what you need to know about stutters...ah heck, you'll get'em, it's gonna happen but as Poppet says, it can be controlled by the user so don't go full on, guns blaz'n with tweaks.  Try out P3D just the way it is, and then slowly add what is needed, which is pretty minor now with v3.  I run minimal tweaks outside of the sim, and I stay pretty conservative with the internal settings.  After reading post after post of people's tweaks and settings, I found a pretty good balance, but that's due to having a different rig than anyone else.  Yep, no two systems are the same, so your question about settings and tweaks is a general one, loaded at best.

 

You should do just fine with a setup like the one you showed us.  Get it up and running, backup cfg files, change your settings to suit your desired environment.  If something goes haywire, don't panic, keep calm, find your backup and start over.  Keep in mind that at it's core, P3D runs great, it's just after you start installing 3rd party content that the performance starts to go downhill and that's where you have to keep up with it and make sure you maintain the settings you want.  I fought mine for a while until i found the sweetspot.  You'll still have to compromise, but in the end, if you have a running sim that satisfies you, then you done good.

 

-Jim

[ErichB 3,651]

For the first time since 2006, I have decided not to apply any tweaks to my config.   Those which have been suggested provided no material improvement to my setup, so I've stripped them out.  I have done exactly the same as Elaine, and locked my FPS at 30 with tripple buffering and VSync on.  My setup is stable and provides reasonable performance in loaded scenarios.   

 

I think the silver bullet tweak era we experienced with FSX is sadly no longer valid as a general application

[Jimm 437]

For the first time since 2006, I have decided not to apply any tweaks to my config.   Those which have been suggested provided no material improvement to my setup, so I've stripped them out.  I have done exactly the same as Elaine, and locked my FPS at 30 with tripple buffering and VSync on.  My setup is stable and provides reasonable performance in loaded scenarios.   

 

I think the silver bullet tweak era we experienced with FSX is sadly no longer valid as a general application

Good point Eric.  I set up v3 with very minimal tweaks outside of the sim...in fact, I think only a couple of settings for my graphics are changed.  Everything else is in sim and she runs great.

 

-Jim

[Nyxx 6,994]

What works for one person/PC does not mean it will work/benefit another. You have to find what works for you, but...

 

Since V3 you don't "need" any, but..

 

If you have HT on, then a good AM does help a lot, I wont say here what I use that's just what works for me. Look up topics on it and read Steve W post's. 

 

Try running FPS unlimited and see how you go, if texture loading is good and 95% of the time everything is smooth then=job done. 

If not.

Try FPS lock @30 or 31 and use tripple buffering with and without VSync on.

If and only if you have FPS locked you can then try Fiber_Frame_Time_Fraction=0.01, if things then go blurry then try 0.10, if still blurry try 0.20, if still blurry, delete it and don't use it.

 

Also try SWAP_WAIT_TIMEOUT=30 , that waits for 30 frames to be drawn before....

Read LM page here for "tweaks" they talk about.

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

Remember no matter who tells you what to use, its only worth it if you can see the diffrence if you cannot dont use it. Add one at a time and test it. Never add more than one at a time.

 

Look for FPS gain

Smoothness, no stutters

Texture Loading.

 

Good luck.

[Mischung 48]

The only thing I use as a "tweak" is an affinity mask for my i4790K with HT=on:

 

- Logic Core 0 is close to 100% as it handles the main thread

- I just masked out logic core 1 for P3D, to give the main thread the complete physical core 0 (which is logic 0 + logic 1)

- I use process lasso (you can use any program you like), to give all other programs an affinity to use the remaining cores (logic 2,3,4,5,6,7)

 

To give the main thread priority over all other tasks does help a lot! (Steve W helped a lot to open my eyes in that case :smile: )

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

I really wouldn't mess with any of these settings unless you are experiencing the exact issue that Phil Taylor describes in this extremely old MSDN blog entry regarding FSX :

 

 

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ptaylor/archive/2007/05/15/new-tweaks-in-sp1.aspx

 

Most likely these legacy FSX tweaks will do either nothing or worse in P3d because of both changes in the code base and advances in hardware.