Which affinity mask?

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Hi everyone, I finished upgrading to a new build i'm finally at a point with the build where I am now tuning my addons, the sim experience among other things. One thing I wanted to ask is should I add an affinty mask to my CFG or should I leave it as is. My other question is, does P3D add an affinity mask automatically, because I believe it doesn't correct? 

 

My New Build

Gigabyte GA Z170X Mobo

i7 6700K at 4.6 Ghz

16GB DDR4 RAM

GTX 970 4GB < Brought over from my old build until I can get a new one.

PNY 480GB SSD (Sim)

1TB WD 7200RPM (Windows)

W10 64BIT

H100i V2 Liquid Cooler

 

 

So here is the reason for the question, at the moment I have most of my FSDT scenery installed

KFLL

KLAS

JFKv2

KIAH

KORD

PHNL

 

When I was approaching KLAS today on the Airbus X 1.31 I started getting a lot of stutters as I approached the airport (after the 5NM loading radius) , I could tell its because of the loading of the scenery, things like runway lights, taxi lights smaller things. I thought that's odd, I have been getting 65-75 FPS all the flight, even departing JFKv2 and no fluctiation but approaching the airport here it seems like there is something odd. So I looked at my CFG and I noticed that my CFG had 

 

Affinitymask 14 

FTFF 0.33

 

Added and I had not done a Affinity mask, I took it off and I can tell the sim is more fluid (Ground textures are not blurry, panning feels better) but I then look at the task manager monitor and I can tell most of the load for the sim is on Core 1. So should I add Affinity mask? Here is a snippet. Thanks

 

 

 

Here is my CFG as I currently have it. 

[GRAPHICS]
SCREEN_CAPTURE_MAX_JOBS=10
VIDEO_CAPTURE_WIDTH=480
VIDEO_CAPTURE_HEIGHT=360
VIDEO_CAPTURE_FPS=30
VIDEO_CAPTURE_BIT_RATE=800000
VIDEO_CAPTURE_IS_THREADED=True
VIDEO_CAPTURE_INFO_SEND_RATE=20
VIDEO_CAPTURE_MAX_FRAME_SIZE=500000
VIDEO_CAPTURE_TTL=255
HDR_BRIGHTNESS=1.060000
HDR_BLOOM_THRESHOLD=3.000000
HDR_BLOOM_MAGNITUDE=1.010000
HDR_BLOOM_BLUR_SIGMA=0.800000
TONEMAP_DAY_EXPOSURE_KEY=0.280000
TONEMAP_NIGHT_EXPOSURE_KEY=0.130000
HDR_SATURATION=1.100000
ViewGroup_Number=-1
MIPMAP_VC_PANELS=1
TESSELLATION=1
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=2048
NUM_LIGHTS=4
COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1
AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1
LANDING_LIGHTS=1
DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1
LENSFLARE=1
HDR=1
DYNAMIC_REFLECTIONS=0
SHADOW_QUALITY=1
TERRAIN_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=0
CLOUD_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=3
OBJECT_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=3
CONTENT_NO_SHADOW=0
INTERIOR_SHADOWS_CAST=1
EXTERIOR_SHADOWS_CAST=1
SIMOBJECT_SHADOWS_CAST=0
TERRAIN_SHADOWS_CAST=0
VEGETATION_SHADOWS_CAST=0
BUILDING_SHADOWS_CAST=0
CLOUD_SHADOWS_CAST=1
INTERIOR_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
EXTERIOR_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
SIMOBJECT_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0
TERRAIN_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
VEGETATION_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0
BUILDING_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=4
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=5
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=7
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12
GROUND_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=2048
CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.850000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.850000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.850000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.850000
EFFECTS_QUALITY=0
EFFECTS_DISTANCE=0
TEXTURE_QUALITY=3
IMAGE_QUALITY=0
See_Self=1
Text_Scroll=1
HIGHMEMFIX=1
ForceFullScreenVSync=1
[WEATHER]
CLOUD_FACING_MODE=0
WindshieldPrecipitationEffects=1
MinGustTime=10
MaxGustTime=500
MinGustRampSpeed=1
MaxGustRampSpeed=200
MinVarTime=5
MaxVarTime=50
MinVarRampSpeed=10
MaxVarRampSpeed=75
TurbulenceScale=1.000000
WeatherGraphDataInDialog=0
AdjustForMagVarInDialog=1
DynamicWeather=0
DownloadWindsAloft=0
DisableTurbulence=0
CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=8
DETAILED_CLOUDS=1
OPTIMIZE_DENSE_CLOUDS=0
CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=8
THERMAL_VISUALS=0
VolumetricFog=1
[DISPLAY]
ChangeTime=4.000000
TransitionTime=4.000000
TEXTURE_FILTERING=16
MSAA=2
SSAA=0
VSYNC=1
FXAA=0
TRIPLE_BUFFER=1
SKINNED_ANIMATIONS=1
TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=30
UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=30
WideViewAspect=0
FullScreenBackground=1
FullScreenAutoFill=1
ActiveWindowTitleTextColor=255,255,255
ActiveWindowTitleBackGroundColor=0,28,140,64
NonActiveWindowTitleTextColor=255,255,255
NonActiveWindowTitleBackGroundColor=24,33,87,64
InfoUpperLeftTextColorUser=255,0,0
InfoUpperLeftTextColorNonUser=255,127,0
InfoUpperLeftBackGroundColor=0,0,0,0
InfoUpperRightTextColor=255,0,0
InfoUpperRightBackGroundColor=0,0,0,0
InfoLowerLeftTextColor=255,255,255
InfoLowerLeftBackGroundColor=255,0,0,128
InfoLowerRightTextColor=255,255,255
InfoLowerRightBackGroundColor=255,0,0,128
InfoBrakesEnable=True
InfoParkingBrakesEnable=True
InfoPauseEnable=True
InfoSlewEnable=True
InfoStallEnable=True
InfoOverspeedEnable=True
InfoWeaponSystemEnable=True
InfoCountermeasureEnable=True
InfoUpperRightTextEnable=True
Fullscreen=False
TextureMaxLoad=6
[SCENERY]
MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=16
POP_FREE_AUTOGEN=1
AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD=2
AUTOGEN_TREE_MAX_DRAW_DISTANCE=9500.000000
AUTOGEN_TREE_MIN_DISTANCE_TO_LOD=2500.000000
IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=4
SmallPartRejectRadius=1
[MAIN]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter, Submersible, ExternalSim, Avatar
LabelsSupported=Airplane, Helicopter
Location=1074,11,3634,1091,\\.\DISPLAY1
LocationFullScreen=0,0,3620,1527,\\.\DISPLAY1
ShowInfoText=1
Maximized=2
HideMenuNormal=0
HideMenuFullscreen=1
[PANELS]
IMAGE_QUALITY=1
SAVE_AND_LOAD_PANEL_STATE=0
MAX_VC_TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=1024
PANEL_OPACITY=100
QUICKTIPS=0
PANEL_MASKING=1
PANEL_STRETCHING=1
UNITS_OF_MEASURE=0
PANELS_ALWAYS_ON_TOP=1
[CONTROLS]
Controls_Default=Standard
Controls_Current=Standard
KBDAIL=64
KBDELEV=64
KBDRUD=64
[TextInfo.1]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
WindDirectionAndSpeed=1,6
[TextInfo.2]
FrameRate=1,1
LockedFrameRate=1,2
GForce=1,3
FuelPercentage=1,4
[TextInfo.3]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
WindDirectionAndSpeed=1,6
FrameRate=2,1
LockedFrameRate=2,2
GForce=2,3
FuelPercentage=2,4
[SlewTextInfo.1]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
[SlewTextInfo.2]
FrameRate=1,1
LockedFrameRate=1,2
[SlewTextInfo.3]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
FrameRate=2,1
LockedFrameRate=2,2
[Avatar]
DefaultAvatar=Civilian Male White Shirt Blue Jeans
[DynamicHeadMovement]
LonAccelOnHeadLon=-0.020000
LonAccelOnHeadPitch=-0.010000
RollAccelOnHeadLat=0.010000
YawAccelOnHeadLat=-0.100000
RollAccelOnHeadRoll=0.100000
MaxHeadAngle=5.000000
MaxHeadOffset=0.300000
HeadMoveTimeConstant=1.000000
[VirtualCopilot]
VirtualCopilotActive=0
[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970.0.0]
Mode=3620x1527x32
[USERINTERFACE]
SHOW_SCENARIO_WINDOW=1
PAUSE_ON_LOST_FOCUS=0
PROMPT_ON_EXIT=1
RestoreTimeOnMove=1
ScreenshotImageFormat=0
SHOW_MISSION_CAPTIONS=1
Map_Orientation=2
MUTE_ON_LOST_FOCUS=1
[TrafficManager]
AirlineDensity=20
GADensity=0
FreewayDensity=5
ShipsAndFerriesDensity=0
LeisureBoatsDensity=0
IFROnly=0
AIRPORT_SCENERY_DENSITY=0
[AContain]
ShowLabels=0
ShowUserLabel=0
ShowLabelManufacturer=1
ShowLabelModel=1
ShowLabelTailNumber=0
ShowLabelDistance=1
ShowLabelAltitude=1
ShowLabelAirline=0
ShowLabelAirlineAndFlightNumber=0
ShowLabelFlightPlan=0
ShowLabelContainerId=0
ShowLabelAirspeed=0
ShowLabelHeading=0
LabelDelay=1000
LabelColor=FFFF0000
EnableRibbonVisuals=0
ShowRibbonUser=0
ShowRibbonGroundAI=0
ShowRibbonAircraftAI=0
RibbonFidelity=5.000000
RibbonMaxDistance=3218.689941
[TERRAIN]
LOD_RADIUS=3.500000
TESSELLATION_FACTOR=85
MESH_RESOLUTION=21
TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=25
AUTOGEN_VEGETATION_DENSITY=1
AUTOGEN_BUILDING_DENSITY=1
DETAIL_TEXTURE=1
WATER_REFLECT_CLOUDS=1
WATER_REFLECT_USERAIRCRAFT=1
WATER_REFLECT_SIMOBJECTS=0
WATER_REFLECT_TERRAIN=0
WATER_REFLECT_AUTOGEN_VEGETATION=0
WATER_REFLECT_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS=0
WATER_REFRACT_CLOUDS=0
WATER_REFRACT_USERAIRCRAFT=0
WATER_REFRACT_SIMOBJECTS=0
WATER_REFRACT_TERRAIN=0
WATER_REFRACT_AUTOGEN_VEGETATION=0
WATER_REFRACT_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS=0
ENABLE_BATHYMETRY=0
WATER_CLARITY=30
WATER_DETAIL=2
UseGlobalTerrainView=False
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_TREES_PER_CELL=4500
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=3000
SWAP_WAIT_TIMEOUT=10
[ATC]
AutoOpenAirTrafficWindow=1
UsePilotVoice=1
ShowATCText=1
PilotVoice=0
COMM_MSG_AI_ATC_COLOR=0XFF8C00
COMM_MSG_ATC_AI_COLOR=0X00008B
COMM_MSG_ATC_USER_COLOR=0X006400
COMM_MSG_USER_ATC_COLOR=0XA52A2A
COMM_MSG_ATIS_COLOR=00000000
[INTERNATIONAL]
ASLAT=2
ASLON=1
MEASURE=0
[REALISM]
PFactor=1.000000
Torque=1.000000
GyroEffect=1.000000
CrashTolerance=1.000000
General=1.000000
UnlimitedFuel=False
AllowEngineDamage=True
TrueAirspeed=False
AutoCoord=False
RealMixture=True
StressDamage=False
GEffect=True
ManualLights=True
GyroDrift=False
CrashWithDyn=False
CrashDetection=False
OnCrashAction=0
[ATTACHMENTS]
WeaponHighlight=False
HighlightDuration=1.000000
AutoWeaponSwitching=False
UnlimitedWeapons=False
UnlimitedCountermeasures=False
IgnoreAttachmentWeight=True
IgnoreAttachmentForces=True
[RECORDER]
RecordAITraffic=True
RecordAirportVehicles=True
RecordLeisureBoats=True
[SIM]
SYSCLOCK=0
OPTIMIZE_PARTS=1
[SOUND]
SOUND=1
SOUND_QUALITY=2
SOUND_LOD=0
PrimaryPlaybackDevice={DEF00000-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}
VoicePlaybackDevice={DEF00002-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}
VoiceCaptureDevice={DEF00003-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}
SOUND_FADER1=0.500000
SOUND_FADER2=0.500000
SOUND_FADER3=0.700000
SOUND_FADER4=-0.500000
[STARTUP]
DEMO=0
STARTUP_DEMO=
LOAD_SCENARIO_TOOLS=1
LoadCorePlugins=1
LoadWindow=1
[PointOfInterestSystem]
CycleSetting=0
[FACILITIES]
COUNTRY=
STATE=
CITY=
GTL_BUTTON=4096
[MISC]
Com_Rate=7
[MOUSE]
EnableGestures=False
[FSDREAMTEAM]
AntiPopUp=4
ViewOptimization=1
AltitudeCull=1
GroundTraffic=1
[MULTICHANNEL]
condAccountPassword=0
[MULTIPLAYER]
condAccountPassword=0
FrameSyncRate=0

[Navigator43 25]

For an i7 affinity mask should be 84 as far as I know. If it's P3D then no tweaks are needed. But then again I could be wrong

[Beardyman 604]

AF mask was widely discussed.

So far those who knows more than average user advice to use AF.

If u experience heavy stutters then it might be an indication that ur system is overloaded, and even proper AF may not fix the problem.

You can try FTFF with parameter 0.01, but beware of possible blurries.

 

You can also try program called "Process Lasso" - u can assign side tasks like weather, or traffic software to separate core which will not interfere P3D load.

Works great and it is free.

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Thanks, yes I had process lasso previously, the system is running really well right now I am using 30FPS locked I'm not getting stutters, my main concern is that P3D is not using my cores correctly and that's why it's putting core 1 at the peak and the others not so much. Most of the stutters I suspect came from not having an anti pop up setting on the add-on manager.

 

 

AF mask was widely discussed.

So far those who knows more than average user advice to use AF.

If u experience heavy stutters then it might be an indication that ur system is overloaded, and even proper AF may not fix the problem.

You can try FTFF with parameter 0.01, but beware of possible blurries.

 

You can also try program called "Process Lasso" - u can assign side tasks like weather, or traffic software to separate core which will not interfere P3D load.

Works great and it is free.

[gboz 157]

My other question is, does P3D add an affinity mask automatically, because I believe it doesn't correct?

 

Yes, P3D does not add an Affinity mask by itself.

So were did your Affinity=14 come from?

 

gb.

then look at the task manager monitor and I can tell most of the load for the sim is on Core 1

 

This will be the case even with an Affinity mask added.

Depending on the mask it may not be core 1 but it will be the first core.

 

gb.

 

So should I add Affinity mask?

 

Hours of fun reading about Affinity Masks here:

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

 

gb.

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Yes, P3D does not add an Affinity mask by itself.

So were did your Affinity=14 come from?

 

I'm thinking Active Sky 16. Only other program installed that messes with the CFG.

 

Depending on the mask it may not be core 1 but it will be the first core.

 

So even if I use AM14/85 I will still see the same surge on one of the cores.

[gboz 157]

 

 

So even if I use AM14/85 I will still see the same surge on one of the cores.

 

Yes, afraid so.

The first core always does most of the heavy work.

The other cores will get plenty of work loading textures though.

 

As aushie said in post#2 AM14 is usually for a non-HT cpu

Give AM=85 or AM=116 a try.

 

gb.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Either 85 or 116 will free up the second logical core on the "heavy work" core.

 

14 would not be very helpful on a  4 core + HT processor.

 

As stated above, try either value as a test.

[SteveW 1,792]

Good advice here! gboz and Bert.

 

I can add that we should beware of using Process Lasso on apps that manage their awn AffinityMask setting, leave them to do their stuff on their own since the result might not be what we intended.

[willy647 193]

affinity 14 will only give you 3 out of the 8 cores available - not a good idea !

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Either 85 or 116 will free up the second logical core on the "heavy work" core.

 

14 would not be very helpful on a  4 core + HT processor.

 

As stated above, try either value as a test.

 

Thanks Bert. I will give those a try.

 

 

Good advice here! gboz and Bert.I can add that we should beware of using Process Lasso on apps that manage their awn AffinityMask setting, leave them to do their stuff on their own since the result might not be what we intended.

Thanks ,

 

 

What about the FTFF setting any recommendations?

[SteveW 1,792]

Thanks Bert. I will give those a try.

 

 

 

Thanks ,

 

 

What about the FTFF setting any recommendations?

FFTF is more about concurrency in the background tasks, so you'll find it hard to see any difference with changing it or different scenery loads.

[Nyxx 6,993]

Default is

FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.30

 

What does it do? It gives .3 of every second of processor time to load textures. 

 

 FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.01  giving not time at all for texture loading and giving all processor time to running the sim. But in P3D it seems to work.

 

But....

 

If you find texture loading poor try 0.10 or 0.20 if still poor delete line giving back the default 0.30.

 

I stopped using it. Seems to work better in v2

[SteveW 1,792]

Kind of, it's splitting time between loading and doing something with it in the background tasks, the renderer continues more or less unaffected.

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Thank you all for the responses. This is what I've done.

 

Deleted CFG. Then added AM-85

Simulator is smooth and reaching 30-35 FPS with Airbus X and KLAS. I noticed that with the sim locked to 30FPS it was smooth with the exception of the terrain. It seemed like the terrain was catching up with a locked FPS. So I went unlimited and it works much better much more fluid but I worriedi that blurry textures will re appear later with unlimited. So I find my self making a decision between fluidity and possible blurry terrain?